Lack of Genetic Variation in Cytochrome bin a Population of Smooth Softshell Turtles

Authors

David W. Weisrock, Iowa State University
Tamara S. Haselkorn, Iowa State University
Fredric J. Janzen, Iowa State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Research

Keywords

smooth softshell turtle, molecular phylogeny, mitochondrial DNA, genetic variation, Apalone mutica

Abstract

An important issue in intraspecific molecular phylogenetic studies concerns distribution of genetic variation within and among populations and, hence, within-population sample sizes used in analyses. To address this sampling issue, we sequenced a 795 base pair (bp) segment of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from 19 unrelated individuals from a Louisiana population of the smooth softshell turtle (Apalone mutica LeSueur). We found a complete lack of within-population variation in this large segment of mtDNA. This result supports the use of minimal within-population sample sizes in intraspecific molecular phylogenetic studies of Apalone using cytochrome b.

Publication Date

December 1998

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

105

Issue

4

First Page

158

Last Page

160

Copyright

© Copyright 1998 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Weisrock, David W.; Haselkorn, Tamara S.; and Janzen, Fredric J. (1998) "Lack of Genetic Variation in Cytochrome bin a Population of Smooth Softshell Turtles," Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS, 105(4), 158-160.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol105/iss4/5