Variação temporal da diversidade genética de uma colônia de Tadarida brasiliensis (Chiroptera: Molossidae) no sul do Brasil

Abstract

Tadarida brasiliensis (I. GEOFFROY, 1824) is an insectivorous species of the order Chiroptera belonging to the family Mollossidae, being a species widely distributed in the American continent. In North America, ecological, genetic and morphological studies of the species are well studied. In Brazil, studies on the species are much more scarce, with only a few ecological works described in the literature. In view of the lack of studies on this species in South America, we seek to generate information about the genetic diversity of a colony of the species Tadarida brasiliensis in southern Brazil, using the marker cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI). Based on data already observed for the populations of T. brasiliensis in southern Brazil, the hypothesis tested is that seasonal differences would be found in the genetic diversity between males and females of the colony under study. The 158 individuals of the species were collected in the municipality of Capão do Leão, RS, Brazil, using a harp trap. For genetic analysis, DNA extractions were performed, followed by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique. Descriptive statistical calculations of T. Brasiliensis genetic diversity, haplotype networks and neutral evolution tests were performed. The results obtained for the COI gene in the analyzed colony, indicated a high number of haplotypes, high haplotypic diversity, low nucleotide diversity and low number of polymorphic sites in the analyzed individuals. A population structure was observed in two mitochondrial haplogroups, but there was no significant genetic diversity between males and females regardless of seasons and reproductive stages. The results obtained indicated that males and females are in the process of purifying selection, hitchhiking effect or recent population expansion. Despite the results generated, it is necessary to diversify the genetic diversity studies of the species in South America, expanding samples in other locations, in addition to using other molecular markers to confirm these results.