Abstract
Genetic differentiation of the rock-dwelling land snail Chondrina clienta was examined by enzyme electrophoresis in five isolated populations of an outlying area (the Baltic island of Öland, Sweden), and in one population from the species' main range (eastern Alps, Austria). Patterns of allelic variation were compared for 17 putative gene loci involving ten protein systems. All individuals from the five isolated populations on Öland were identically homozygous at all gene loci assayed. Snails from the eastern Alps were homozygous and allelically identical, but they differed by one isozyme band that was absent in animals from Öland and by different alleles fixed at three loci. The absence of isozyme variation and anatomical evidence indicate that self-fertilization may be the prevailing type of reproduction in C. clienta. The allelic identity of the five populations on Öland suggests that they were derived from a single strain, the origin of which probably consisted of one or few self-fertilizing individuals which colonized the island.
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Baur, B., Klemm, M. Absence of isozyme variation in geographically isolated populations of the land snail Chondrina clienta. Heredity 63, 239–244 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1989.97
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1989.97
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