Phylogeography of the European roe deer Capreolus capreolus as revealed bysequence analysis of the mitochondrial Control Region

To assess levels of genetic variation as well as the genetic differentiatio n among populations, 40 roe deer Capreolus capreolus (Linnaeus, 1758) from 8 European populations were analysed with regard to DNA sequence variation at the highly polymorphic part I of the mitochondrial Control Region. DNA w as extracted from liver samples, a 480bp sequence was amplified via PCR and subsequently sequenced, yielding 427bp scorable DNA sequence. A total of 2 2 polymorphic sites were found, defining 19 mitochondrial haplotypes. Level s of overall genetic variation were high with regard to haplotype diversity (delta =0.94) and moderate with regard to nucleotide diversity (pi = 0.97% ), as compared to other mammalian species. This is indicative of a large pr esent effective population size (N-e) and a former population bottleneck, p resumably during the last Pleistocene glaciation. The Norwegian roe deer po pulation appeared to be monomorphic, presumably as an effect of the very re cent colonization of Norway by roe deer. Among the central European populat ions studied, there is a significant correlation between net nucleotide div ersity and geographic distance among populations. On the contrary, Nei dist ances derived from allozyme data of a previous investigation on the same sp ecimens did not show any correlation with geographic distance. It is assume d, that maternal gene flow is restricted due to female philopatry, while nu clear gene flow is pronounced due to male dispersal. A phylogenetic analysi s of mitochondrial haplotype relationships revealed two groups of haplotype s with an uneven geographic distribution. One possible explanation is the e xistence of two separate Pleistocene refugia, where different mitochondrial lineages might have survived. Another possible scenario is one single refu gium in Western Europe with a subsequent postglacial recolonization of the continent from West to East. Patterns of nucleotide diversity (pi) and the assumed phylogeny of Eastern European mitochondrial haplotypes provide some evidence for the latter hypothesis. However, a more thorough analysis is n eeded both to accurately estimate levels of genetic variation and to settle the presumable phylogeography of roe deer in Europe.