Phylogeny of Hardun (Stellagama stellio) Anatolian populations and the effect of Melanocortin 1 receptor MC1R gene on coloration
Project no. 22483 · Status: Kapanmış · 2021
Summary
The complex interactions of genetic factors and mechanisms in reptiles affect pigmentation phenotypes, resulting in color variations. This complexity illustrates the importance of studying in detail the processes underlying color variations and the respective inherited genes. In this project, morphological, morphometric and genetic studies were carried out on Stellagama stellio (Hardun) populations, which is one of the 4 species of the Agamidae family in Turkey, which is included in the Squamata order, Sauria (Lacertilia) subordo, and findings on phenotypic plasticity and ecomorphology were obtained on 80 individuals from 9 provinces. In this study, it was shown that the blue coloration became common in western populations for both the dorsal and ventral body. İzmir population is also different from the others with orange transverse extensions on the edges of the star pattern. Vibrant colors around the eyes are lost in eastern populations. The ventral head has a striped pattern in İzmir and Hatay, while it is spotted in Konya populations. These plastic properties can be a result of changing temperatures, humidity, proximity to the sea and salinity. Genetic analyzes on the ND4 gene divided the studied populations into 4 clades. Accordingly, Hatay differs from other localities and constitutes the furthest clade. In the Hatay sample, the samples taken from the east and west of the Anatolian diagonal were not genetically differentiated, instead the samples from the north and south were separated. This may be due to the fact that east and west are connected from the Konacık region, which is the southernmost end of the diagonal. Within the second clade, there are examples of Konya and Adana. Although Konya samples formed a subclade, Adana samples did not. The third clade was Denizli, Burdur, Afyon, and the fourth clade was Manisa, İzmir, Çanakkale.