Abstract
The correlation between the level of chromosomal abnormalities and demographic parameters has been studied using individuals from a local wildlife population of the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) from a Middle Ural locality in the southern taiga subzone (57°15′ N, 58°44′ E). Variations in the rate of structural chromosomal aberrations, gaps, and changes in the number of chromosomes in the bone marrow cells of the bank vole has been examined using routine cytogenetic methods. The effect of demographic parameters, i.e., population density, age, sex, and reproductive status, has been estimated using log-linear analysis. It has been shown that the share of individuals with an elevated rate of cells that carry structural chromosomal abnormalities and gaps decreases with increases the population size. This pattern agrees with the standpoint that a lower rate of mutations in somatic cells enhances survival of organisms. This pattern can have established as a consequence of natural selection, which induces the rearrangement of the genetic structure in the population or as a byproduct of other processes in the population that accompanies the changes in its size. A high population density leads to an increase in the share of individuals that display an elevated rate of cells with abnormal chromosome numbers among the yearling voles. A similar effect may result from an asymmetric interference competition between adults and yearling individuals. Our results demonstrate that the proportion of animals that display an elevated rate of somatic cells with structural chromosomal abnormalities and aberrant chromosome numbers considerably increases with age, which agrees with both the theoretical concepts and experimental data. Neither sex nor involvement in reproduction has any significant effect on the level of cytogenetic instability.
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Original Russian Text © M.I. Cheprakov, S.B. Rakitin, 2012, published in Zhurnal Obshchei Biologii, 2012, Vol. 73, No. 4, pp. 253–258.
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Cheprakov, M.I., Rakitin, S.B. Correlation between level of chromosomal aberrations and demographic parameters. Biol Bull Rev 3, 209–213 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086413030043
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086413030043