Mitochondrial Heteroplasmy in Marsh Frog (Pelophylax ridibundus Pallas, 1771)

Abstract

The population features of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of P. ridibundus Pallas, 1771 and related species of green frogs from Nizhny Novgorod and Sverdlovsk oblasts were investigated for the first time. The existence of the R–E–L population system on the territory of Nizhny Novgorod oblast was confirmed. The presence of heteroplasmy was found in all examined samples of marsh frogs, as well as in hybrid, edible, frogs. These findings indicate the presence of hybridization and introgressions that took place in the history of the studied forms of each of the species. Considerable heterogeneity of animals from the territory of Sverdlovsk oblast in the nuclear and to a higher degree in the mitochondrial genome was demonstrated, which with high probability indicates that the populations existing in this territory originated from multiple introductions. The obtained data characterize the state of population systems, as well as the history of the formation of the modern phylogenogeographic pattern of green frogs on the studied territories.