Isolation and Characterization of New Microsatellite Markers for the Invasive Softshell Clam, Mya arenaria (L.) (Bivalvia: Myidae)

The invasive softshell clam (Mya arenaria Linnaeus, 1758) is native to the northwestern region of the Atlantic Ocean. This species has been introduced in the northeast Pacific and along the European coasts, due to intense naval transports and aquaculture, and it is now present in all the European seas. In this paper we describe seven new microsatellite loci for Mya arenaria. The isolated loci are polymorphic with a number of alleles per locus between 6 and 14. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.417 to 0.951, and from 0.643 to 0.895, with an average of 0.716 and 0.775, respectively. These microsatellite markers should be useful in analyzing this species’ genetic diversity, which could explain various processes of its invasion history

Isolation and Characterization of the First Microsatellite Markers for the Endangered Relict Mussel Hypanis colorata (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Cardiidae)

Hypanis colorata (Eichwald, 1829) (Cardiidae: Lymnocardiinae) is a bivalve relict species with a Ponto-Caspian distribution and is under strict protection in Romania, according to national regulations. While the species is depressed in the western Black Sea lagoons from Romania and Ukraine, it is also a successful invader in the middle Dniepr and Volga regions. Establishing a conservation strategy for this species or studying its invasion process requires knowledge about the genetic structure of the species populations. We have isolated and characterized nine polymorphic microsatellite markers in H. colorata. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 28 and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.613 to 1.000. The microsatellites developed in the present study are highly polymorphic and they should be useful for the assessment of genetic variation within this species

Pan‐European phylogeography of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)

To provide the most comprehensive picture of species phylogeny and phylogeography of European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), we analyzed mtDNA control region (610 bp) of 1469 samples of roe deer from Central and Eastern Europe and included into the analyses additional 1541 mtDNA sequences from GenBank from other regions of the continent. We detected two mtDNA lineages of the species: European and Siberian (an introgression of C. pygargus mtDNA into C. capreolus). The Siberian lineage was most frequent in the eastern part of the continent and declined toward Central Europe. The European lineage contained three clades (Central, Eastern, and Western) composed of several haplogroups, many of which were separated in space. The Western clade appeared to have a discontinuous range from Portugal to Russia. Most of the haplogroups in the Central and the Eastern clades were under expansion during the Weichselian glacial period before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), while the expansion time of the Western clade overlapped with the Eemian interglacial. The high genetic diversity of extant roe deer is the result of their survival during the LGM probably in a large, contiguous range spanning from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caucasus Mts and in two northern refugia.202

Wild Pacific oyster Magallana gigas (Thunberg, 1793) populations in Romanian Black Sea waters – friend or foe?

A relatively small population of Magallana gigas was discovered near the Agigea harbor (Constanța, Romania) in 2017. The DNA barcoding method was used to confirm the morphological identification of the species. We consider this colony to be the first instance of a possibly stable Pacific oyster population in the Black Sea, outside of farming activities. The possible impact on native ecosystems is briefly discussed

Wild Pacific oyster Magallana gigas (Thunberg, 1793) populations in Romanian Black Sea waters – friend or foe?

A relatively small population of Magallana gigas was discovered near the Agigea harbor (Constanța, Romania) in 2017. The DNA barcoding method was used to confirm the morphological identification of the species. We consider this colony to be the first instance of a possibly stable Pacific oyster population in the Black Sea, outside of farming activities. The possible impact on native ecosystems is briefly discussed

Genetic diversity of the stag beetle, Lucanus cervus (Insecta, Coleoptera) in Romania based on ND1 mitochondrial sequences

Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the largest Coleoptera species in Europe and one of the most recognizable. It is a saproxylic species living in woodlands and wooded urban habitats and spending its larval stages inside tree trunks below or near soil level, feeding on decaying wood. The stag beetle has a wide distribution covering the entire Europe up to the Ural Mountains. In this paper, we attempted to describe the diversity and genetic structure of L. cervus populations in Romania using the NADH mitochondrial molecular marker. We identified 36 haplotypes arranged in a star-shaped structure with a central haplotype shared by many samples and linked by one or two mutational steps with other 35, represented by 1–3 samples. This pattern is frequently attributed to populations that have undergone recent range expansion, a phenomenon which is also sustained by the mismatch analysis. The analyzed populations revealed various degrees of genetic diversity. Many populations with relatively high levels of genetic diversity were found outside the Natura 2000 Network Special Areas of Conservation, while some populations included in protected areas proved to have low values of genetic variability. This underlines the need to review the designated protection sites for this species in Romania

Sinanodonta woodiana (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionidae): Isolation and Characterization of the First Microsatellite Markers

Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) is a large Unionid species with a real invasion success. It colonized Europe, Central America, the Indonesian Islands and recently North America. The species life cycle involves a larval parasitic stage on freshwater fish species which contributes to the spread of the mussel. In this paper we describe, for the first time, eight polymorphic microsatellite loci for the species Sinanodonta woodiana. The genetic screening of individuals confirmed that all loci were highly polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 7 to 14 and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.650 to 0.950. These loci should prove useful to study the species population genetics which could help to infer important aspects of the invasion process