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Variation in genetic traits of the Baltic clam Macoma balthica from a tidal gradient in the subarctic

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Abstract

In a subarctic tidal gradient, strong heterogeneity in genetic traits of the Baltic clam Macoma balthica was found. The heterogeneity was stronger within the intertidal gradient, over a distance of only about 60 m, than along a horizontal gradient over a distance of 1200 km in clams from the west European coast. For the locus Idh1 and the average heterozygosity, a tidal cline was found. The frequency of allele Idh1-B decreased with tidal level, whereas the frequency of allele Idh1-C, as well as the average heterozygosity, increased. The possibility is discussed that the strong genetic heterogeneity and tidal clines are caused by differential selection related to the (subarctic) temperatures to which the higher tidal zones are more exposed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Vierstraat 28, 4401 EA Yerseke, The Netherlands e-mail: hummel@cemo.nioo.knaw.nl, , , , , , NL

    Herman Hummel & Roelof H. Bogaards

  2. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Columbusstrasse, D-27568 Bremerhaven, Germany, , , , , , DE

    Carmen-Pia Günther

  3. White Sea Biological Station, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, 199034 St.-Petersburg, Russia, , , , , , RU

    Vyacheslav Fedyakov

Authors
  1. Herman Hummel
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  2. Carmen-Pia Günther
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  3. Roelof H. Bogaards
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  4. Vyacheslav Fedyakov
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Received: 7 July 1997 / Accepted: 14 November 1997

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Hummel, H., Günther, CP., Bogaards, R. et al. Variation in genetic traits of the Baltic clam Macoma balthica from a tidal gradient in the subarctic. Polar Biol 19, 342–347 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050256

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050256

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