Pan-African genetic structure in the African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer): Investigating intraspecific divergence

Smitz Nathalie, Berthouly Cécile, Cornélis Daniel, Heller Rasmus, Van Hooft Pim, Chardonnet Philippe, Caron Alexandre, Prins Herbert, Van Vuuren Bettine Jansen, De Longh Hans, Michaux Johan. 2013. Pan-African genetic structure in the African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer): Investigating intraspecific divergence. PloS One, 8 (2):e56325, 17 p.

Quartile : Outlier, Sujet : MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES

Liste HCERES des revues (en SHS) : oui

Thème(s) HCERES des revues (en SHS) : Psychologie-éthologie-ergonomie; Staps

Résumé : The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) exhibits extreme morphological variability, which has led to controversies about the validity and taxonomic status of the various recognized subspecies. The present study aims to clarify these by inferring the pan-African spatial distribution of genetic diversity, using a comprehensive set of mitochondrial D-loop sequences from across the entire range of the species. All analyses converged on the existence of two distinct lineages, corresponding to a group encompassing West and Central African populations and a group encompassing East and Southern African populations. The former is currently assigned to two to three subspecies (S. c. nanus, S. c. brachyceros, S. c. aequinoctialis) and the latter to a separate subspecies (S. c. caffer). Forty-two per cent of the total amount of genetic diversity is explained by the between-lineage component, with one to seventeen female migrants per generation inferred as consistent with the isolation-with-migration model. The two lineages diverged between 145 000 to 449 000 years ago, with strong indications for a population expansion in both lineages, as revealed by coalescent-based analyses, summary statistics and a star-like topology of the haplotype network for the S. c. caffer lineage. A Bayesian analysis identified the most probable historical migration routes, with the Cape buffalo undertaking successive colonization events from Eastern toward Southern Africa. Furthermore, our analyses indicate that, in the West-Central African lineage, the forest ecophenotype may be a derived form of the savanna ecophenotype and not vice versa, as has previously been proposed. The African buffalo most likely expanded and diverged in the late to middle Pleistocene from an ancestral population located around the current-day Central African Republic, adapting morphologically to colonize new habitats, hence developing the variety of ecophenotypes observed today.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : buffle africain, génétique des populations, taxonomie, distribution géographique, phylogénie, phénotype, écotype, adaptation, variation génétique, évolution

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Afrique

Classification Agris : L60 - Taxonomie et géographie animales
L10 - Génétique et amélioration des animaux

Champ stratégique Cirad : Axe 6 (2005-2013) - Agriculture, environnement, nature et sociétés

Auteurs et affiliations

• Smitz Nathalie, Université de Liège (BEL)
• Berthouly Cécile
• Cornélis Daniel, CIRAD-ES-UPR AGIRs (FRA)
• Heller Rasmus, UCPH (DNK)
• Van Hooft Pim, Wageningen University (NLD)
• Chardonnet Philippe, International Foundation for the Conservation of the Wildlife (FRA)
• Caron Alexandre, CIRAD-ES-UPR AGIRs (ZWE) ORCID: 0000-0002-5213-3273
• Prins Herbert, Wageningen University (NLD)
• Van Vuuren Bettine Jansen, University of the Witwatersrand (ZAF)
• De Longh Hans, Leiden University (NLD)
• Michaux Johan, Université de Liège (BEL)

Source : Cirad - Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/568944/)

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