An analysis of factors affecting genotyping success from museum specimens reveals an increase of genetic and morphological variation during a historical range expansion of a European spider.

Rok

2015

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prof. Mgr. Stanislav Pekár, Ph.D.

Obsah

Natural history collections house an enormous amount of plant and animal specimens,

which constitute a promising source for molecular analyses. Storage conditions differ

among taxa and can have a dramatic effect on the success of DNA work. Here, we analyze

the feasibility of DNA extraction from ethanol preserved spiders (Araneae). We tested genotyping

success using several hundred specimens of the wasp spider, Argiope bruennichi,

deposited in two large German natural history collections. We tested the influence of different

factors on the utility of specimens for genotyping. Our results show that not the specimen’s

age, but the museum collection is a major predictor of genotyping success. These

results indicate that long term storage conditions should be optimized in natural history

museums to assure the utility of collections for DNA work. Using historical material, we also

traced historical genetic and morphological variation in the course of a poleward range

expansion of A. bruennichi by comparing contemporary and historical specimens from a

native and an invasive population in Germany. We show that the invasion of A. bruennichi

is tightly correlated with an historical increase of genetic and phenotypic variation in the

invasive population.

Citace

Krehenwinkel H. & Pekar S. (2015): An analysis of factors affecting genotyping success from museum specimens reveals an increase of genetic and morphological variation during a historical range expansion of a European spider. PLoS ONE 10 (8): e0136337. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0136337