Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
Published on: February 3, 2023
Genetic signatures of a range expansion in natura: when clones play leapfrog
Ronan Becheler1, Constance Xhaard2, Etienne K Klein3
1UMR IAM INRA Université de Lorraine 54000 Nancy France.
Abstract:
The genetic consequences of range expansions have generally been investigated at wide geographical and temporal scales, long after the colonization event. A unique ecological system enabled us to both monitor the colonization dynamics and decipher the genetic footprints of expansion over a very short time period. Each year an epidemic of the poplar rust (Melampsora larici-populina) expands clonally and linearly along the Durance River, in the Alps. The colonization dynamics observed in 2004 showed two phases with different genetic outcomes. Upstream, fast colonization maintained high genetic diversity. Downstream, the colonization wave progressively faltered, diversity eroded, and differentiation increased, as expected under recurrent founder events. In line with the high dispersal abilities of rust pathogens, we provide evidence for leapfrog dispersal of clones. Our results thus emphasize the importance of colonization dynamics in shaping spatial genetic structure in the face of high gene flow.
More Related Videos
10:08Genetic Mapping of Thermotolerance Differences Between Species of Saccharomyces Yeast via Genome-Wide Reciprocal Hemizygosity Analysis
Published on: August 12, 2019
07:40A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
Published on: March 13, 2011
Related Concept Videos
Genetics of Speciation
Gene Flow
Limits to Natural Selection
The Evidence for Evolution
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes