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Clinal variation and heterozygote deficit at the lap-locus in Mytilus edulis

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Abstract

Electrophoretic investigations of Mytilus edulis populations on the New York and Connecticut coasts of Long Island Sound (USA) revealed a cline in the frequency of the Lap 94-allele at a 20 km zone at the entrance to the estuary. Significant deficits of heterozygotes were found in the region of the cline and are discussed in terms of a model of mixing between oceanic mussel populations of high gene frequency and estuarine populations of low frequency. The pattern of estuarine circulation is assumed to provide a mechanical basis for isolation between oceanic and estuarine populations and to determine the position of the gene frequency cline.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, Århus, Denmark

    H. H. Lassen

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolution, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    F. J. Turano

Authors
  1. H. H. Lassen
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  2. F. J. Turano
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Communicated by T.M. Fenchel, Aarhus

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Lassen, H.H., Turano, F.J. Clinal variation and heterozygote deficit at the lap-locus in Mytilus edulis . Marine Biology 49, 245–254 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391137

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00391137

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