Genetic and phenotypic characteristics in assessments of population differentiation of the eastern sand lizard (<i>Lacerta agilis exigua</i>)

Abstract

Aim. Comparison of two methods (genetic and morphological) for assessing the polymorphism of populations of the eastern sand lizard (Lacerta agilis exigua) in two ecologically different localities.Material and Methods. For this, we used the method of polylocus genotyping of genomic DNA regions flanked by inverted repeats of microsatellites and fragments of long terminal repeats of endogenous retroviruses, as well as the assessment of a number of phenotypic characteristics. The material was lizards (a total of 55 adults) caught in two localities: in the Novonikolaevsky District of the Volgograd Region and in the vicinity of the Strizhament mountain, Stavropol Territory.Results. Of the two methods for assessing the state of the population genetic structure of the eager lizard, the most informative for identifying interpopulation and sex differences was a comparative analysis of the spectra obtained using microsatellite sequences and sites of endogenous retroviruses. This method made it possible to identify the most polymorphic DNA markers, which make it possible to obtain the most informative spectra in terms of the number of loci and polymorphism necessary for describing the genetic structures and their dynamics in the eastern darting lizard with high resolution.Conclusion. The studies carried out allowed us to identify the most informative indicators for describing population structures and their dynamics in the eastern darting lizard. For the first time, data were obtained indicating that the greatest contribution to interpopulation differentiation in different localities of capture is made by the variability of males compared to females.

Keywords

• sand lizard
• population differences
• polylocus genotyping
• dna markers
• morphometry
• pholidosis