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MBE Advance Access published online on November 20, 2008
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msn266
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Research Article

Genetic diversity in the Paramecium aurelia species complex

Francesco Catania1,*, François Wurmser2, Alexey A. Potekhin3, Ewa Przybos4 and Michael Lynch1

Indiana University
1 Department of Biology, Indiana University, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405
2 Laboratory Evolution, Genomes and Speciation; CNRS-UPR9034, Av. de la Terrasse 91198 Gif sur Yvette, Cedex, France and Universitè Paris-Sud 11, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
3 Laboratory of Protozoan Karyology, St Petersburg State University Oranienbaumskoye sh., 2, Stary Peterhof, 198504 Saint Petersburg, Russia
4 Department of Experimental Zoology, Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland

* Corresponding author: Francesco Catania; Email:fcatania{at}indiana.edu; phone: 812-856-0115

Received for publication August 23, 2008. Revision received October 27, 2008. Accepted for publication November 11, 2008.

Current understanding of the population genetics of free-living unicellular eukaryotes is limited and the amount of genetic variability in these organisms is still a matter of debate. We characterized – reproductively and genetically – worldwide samples of multiple Paramecium species belonging to a cryptic species-complex, P. aurelia, whose species have been shown to be reproductively isolated. We found that levels of genetic diversity both in the nucleus and in the mitochondrion are substantial within groups of reproductively compatible P. aurelia strains, but drop considerably when strains are partitioned according to their phylogenetic groupings. Our study reveals the existence of discrepancies between the mating behavior of a number of P. aurelia strains and their multi-locus genetic profile, a controversial finding that has major consequences for both the current methods of species assignment and the species problem in the P. aurelia complex.

Key Words: Paramecium • Genetic diversity • Effective population size • Speciation • Cryptic species • Mating group switching


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