Аннотация:White-naped crane Antigone vipio (Pallas 1811) is a vulnerable species, and has a
narrow breeding range divided into the western and eastern parts with corresponding two
patterns of flyways. Western population of the species breeds in the northeastern
Mongolia and Transbaikalian region of Russia and migrates south to China for wintering.
Birds from the eastern population breed in the Far Eastern region of Russia and
northeastern China and fly across Korean Peninsula to Japan. Some cranes from this
population overwinter in Korean Demilitarized Zone. We are unaware of any data on
population genetic structure of the White-naped crane. For the first time we tried to reveal
spatial genetic differentiation between two geographically distant breeding groupings of
this species using mitochondrial DNA Control Region (CR) and ND2 gene sequence data.
Biological material for DNA analysis (blood samples, plucked and molted feathers) was
taken from wild White-naped cranes and captive birds taken from the wild in Russian part
of the species range. We sequenced 642 bp of CR and 694 bp of ND2 of 7 and 11 individuals
from western and eastern populations, respectively. ND2 turned out to be
completely monomorphic within the analyzed sample while the CR was highly
polymorphic with 21 polymorphic sites. In total, we found 12 CR haplotypes in the
studied sample. In general, the haplotype diversity of the species was high
(h=0.960±0.026), but total nucleotide diversity (π=0.0049±0.0007) and average number
of nucleotide differences (k=3.1895) were low. Four haplotypes were found only in the
western population, six haplotypes were specific for the eastern one, and two haplotypes
were shared among these samples. Both populations were characterized by similar levels
of haplotype and nucleotide diversity and absence of fixed differences between them.
Genetic differentiation between samples from two parts of the fragmented species range
was weak: FST=0.01111 and GST=0.00245. In general, low differentiation is common for
the migratory bird species including cranes. The tests for deviation from selective
neutrality of Tajima (D=−1.284) and Fu and Li (D=−1.843) were negative and nonsignificant.
Data reflect no evidence of recent bottle-neck effect in total population of the
White-naped crane in the past. Median-joining network of CR haplotypes did not reveal
highly diverged lineages. All haplotypes from both populations, shared and private,
originated from a single haplotype 3 found in the eastern grouping. This study based on
molecular data indicates shallow genetic differentiations between western and eastern
White-naped crane breeding groups that may reflect their incomplete isolation caused
putatively by occasional sharing of the two existing flyways by birds from both
populations.