Genetic and demographic responses of mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) populations exposed to mercury for multiple generations
โ Scribed by Christopher Paul Tatara; Margaret Mulvey; Michael C. Newman
- Book ID
- 102202544
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 126 KB
- Volume
- 18
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0730-7268
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โฆ Synopsis
Genetic and demographic responses of mosquitofish were examined after multiple generations of exposure to mercury. Previous studies of acute lethal exposures of mosquitofish to either mercury or arsenic demonstrated a consistent correlation between time to death and genotype at the glucosephosphate isomerase-2 (Gpi-2) locus. A mesocosm study involving mosquitofish populations exposed to mercury for 111 d showed significant female sexual selection and fecundity selection at the Gpi-2 locus. Here the mesocosm study was extended to populations exposed to mercury for several (approx. four) generations. After 2 years, control and mercury-exposed populations met Hardy-Weinberg expectations and showed no evidence of genetic bottlenecks. The mean number of heterozygous loci did not differ significantly between the mercury-exposed and control populations. Significant differences in allele frequencies at the Gpi-2 locus were observed between the mercury-exposed and control populations. Relative to the initial and control allele frequencies, the Gpi-2 100 allele frequency was lower, the Gpi-2 66 allele frequency increased, but the Gpi-2 38 allele frequency did not change in mercury-exposed populations. No significant differences were found in standard length, weight, sex ratio, or age class ratio between the control and mercury-exposed populations. Allele frequency changes at the Gpi-2 locus suggest population-level response to chronic mercury exposure. Changes in allele frequency may be useful as indicators of population response to contaminants, provided that the population in question is well understood.
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