ALLOZYMES AND BLUE-WINGED GENETIC AND SIMILARITY OF GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLERS FRANK B. GILL TheAcademyof NaturalSciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103USA ABSTRACT.--I studiedvariation in plumagecolorand allozymesin Golden-wingedWarblers (Vermivora chrysoptera) from Minnesotaand in Blue-wingedWarblers(V. pinus)from Missouri and from easternPennsylvania.Color characterscoreswere lessthan 2 in Missouri pinusand greater than 26 in Minnesota chrysoptera. The level of genetic divergence(D = 0.001) is comparableto that of conspecificpopulationsof other passerinebirds. I found no fixed alleles that could serveas geneticmarkersfor studiesof the evolutionarygeneticsof thesewarblers. Received15 October1986, accepted15 February1987. HYBRIDIZATION between Blue-winged Warbiers (Verrnivora pinus) and Golden-winged Warblers (V. chrysoptera) has interested evolu- calities 150 km apart in north-central Minnesota fer and Knapp 1981; Will 1986). The two warbiers hybridize wherever pinus,which is expanding its range northward, encounters chrysoptera,a northern probable sister species (Short 1963,Gill 1980).The compositionof local populations changesfrom pure chrysoptera initially, to mixturesof both specieswith a variety of hybrid and backcross phenotypes,and then to introgressedpinus.Despite past ornitholog- 1963,Gill 1980), and the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, in particular, may (Hubbard Co. near Itasca State Park and Kanebac Co., Mille LacsWildlife Area) were combinedinto a single tionary biologistsfor 100 years,first as a per- sample. The specimensfrom Itasca State Park were from the northwestcornerof the rangeof this species plexing taxonomic problem and an exercisein and 300 km northwest of the nearest known pinus Mendelian genetics (Sage 1889, Faxon 1913, population in Minnesota(B. A. Fall pers.comm.,ParParkes 1951), then as testimony to the process melee 1977).The specimensfrom Mille LacsWildlife of allopatric speciation(Mayr 1942, 1963;Short Area were from a populationlocated80 km north of 1963;Gill and Murray 1972a),and recently as a the nearestknown breeding pinus(Fall pers. comm.). problem of behavior and ecology (Ficken and Missouri pinuswere collectedin the easternOzark Ficken 1967, 1968a-d, 1969; Gill and Murray Mountains in Shannon and Oregon counties. Mis1972a,b; Murray and Gill 1976;Gill 1980;Con- souri was part of the original range of pinus(Short ical interest in these warblers, the genetic con- sequencesof hybridization remain to be explored. To establish a baseline of information on in- trogression,I surveyedmorphologicaland allozyme variability in allopatricpopulationsof thesespecies.I usedchrysoptera from north-central Minnesotaand pinusfrom Missouriand from southeasternPennsylvania. METHODS Warblers were collected in Minnesota (n = 29), Mis- souri (n = 20), and Pennsylvania(n = 28). Most were be the ancestral home of this warbler. To the best of our knowledge, chrysoptera has never bred in this region (Widmann 1907, M. B. Robbins pers. comm.). Pennsylvaniapinuswere collectedin extreme northeastern Lancaster Co. in the southeastern part of the state. Vermivorapinushas been present as a breeding speciesin southeasternPennsylvania for over a cen- tury (Stone 1894, Gill 1980), whereaschrysoptera is a migratory transient. All specimens were frozen on dry ice or liquid nitrogen (Missouri)within 1 h of collection.The frozen specimenswere transferredto storageat -70øC before extraction of tissuesand preparation as study skins, which are depositedin the collectionsof The Academyof Natural Sciencesof Philadelphia and the Bell Museumof Natural History of the University of Minnesota.I analyzed color charactersof adult male specimensfollowing establishedprocedures(Gill and Murray 1972a,Gill 1980).The seriesof skinsof chrysopterataken in Hubbard Co., Minnesota, in 1984 and Clearwater Co., Minnesota, in 1986 was supplemented with 14 specimensfrom the Bell Museum of Natural History. Electrophoreticanalysesof enzymespresentin the breedingmales;a few werebreedingfemalesoryoung tissues of warblers collected in 1984 and 1985 were fledglings.The specimens of chrysoptera from two lo- conductedat the Evolutionary GeneticsLaboratoryof 444 The Auk 104:444-449. July 1987 July1987] Warbler Genetics 445 Cornell University (CLEEG). Horizontal starch-gel electrophoresisand genic nomenclaturefollowed the techniquesof May et al. (1979). An electricpotential of 200-250 V (less than 90 mA) was applied until a dye marker had migrated 3-8 cm from the origin; optimal migration distancesfor a given buffer system varied among the proteins. Before the actual survey of allozymevariability,48 enzymesfrom muscle,heart, liver, and brain tissueswere screenedusing four standard buffers (Appendix). Allelic compositionswere determinedat 40 presumptiveloci (Appendix). In addition to the two speciesof Vermivora, enzymeactivity at the same loci in 3 specimensof Yellow-rumped [] Missouripinus(n=18) [] Pennsylvania pinus(n•17) • Minnesota chrysoptera Warblers (Dendroica coronata coronata) served as an 0-1 2-3 4-5 25 27 outgroup. I usedthe computerpackageBIOSYS-1to calculate indicesof geneticvariability, conformanceto HardyWeinberg expectations,F statisticsof Wright (1978), and genetic distance estimatesof Nei (1978). RESULTS Total Character Index Fig. 1. Color variation in samplesof Vermivorapinusfrom Missouri and Pennsylvania and V. chrysoptera from northern Minnesota. All chrysoptera specimens had black throats; all pinushad plain-colored throats. Morphological comparisons.--Allspecimensin the three samplesconformedto typical pinusor typical chrysoptera phenotypes.Total colorcharacter scoreswere either lessthan 5 at the pinus end of the characterindex spectrumor greater than 26 at the chrysoptera end (Fig. 1). Depar- were more brightly coloredthan Pennsylvania specimens.This difference was more apparent in the intensity of the bright yellow underparts than in the shade of the yellow-green upper- tures from extreme character states, therefore, parts. were subtle ones,such as tracesof yellow evident only upon closeexaminationand compar- Allelic variation within populations.--Over all samples,16 of the 40 loci (40%) surveyedwere polymorphic. At 8 of these 16 loci, alternative ison. Minnesota chrysoptera exhibited some variation in plumage coloration. Total color character scoresranged from 27 to 32, reflecting tracesof yellow pigmentation, primarily in the color of the upperparts, less often in the color of the underparts, and in a few individuals, reflectingslight separationof wing barsor pale wing-bar coloration. Seven individuals had alleles constituted less than 5% of the alleles in the population.Polymorphicloci constituted2535% of the loci within populations (Table 1). Missouri pinus,the population with the most polymorphicloci (35%),had rare allelesat 4 loci that were monomorphicin Pennsylvaniapinus. All loci that were polymorphicin Pennsylvania pinusalsowere polymorphic in Missouri pinus. some (6) or much white (1) on the chin. The levels of polymorphismin these Vermivora Missouri pinusscored0 or "pure" pinusin all warblersare the sameasthoseobservedin pascolorcharactersexceptwing-bar color,in which serinebirds generally as well as in other wood half of the specimenshad smallamountsof yel- warbler species (Barrowclough and Corbin low (character state 1). Thus, total color char- 1978).Valuesof mean heterozygosity,0.05-0.06, acterscoreswere divided equallybetween0 and also conform to the averagefor birds (0.063 _+ 1. Most (11/17) Pennsylvania pinushad slight 0.032 SD; Barrowclough et al. 1985). yellow in the wing bars,and a few (3) individAllelic frequenciesat variable loci conformed uals had broadened wing bars or gray in the to Hardy-Weinberg equilibria with only one rump feather coloration. Total character scores minor exception,a slight deficiencyof heteroranged from 0 to 4. One individual had some zygotes at the Pgd locus in chrysoptera (exact black pigment in the auriculars, which sug- probability = 0.026). Only striking departures gestedthe black ear patch of chrysoptera. There would achieve significancein the Chi-square also was a more subtle color difference between testwith moderate-sizesamples.Wright's (1978) the two pinuspopulations.Missouri specimens F statistics,specifically F•s(an index to the fix- 446 FRANKB. GILL [Auk, Vol. 104 TABLE1. Genetic variability at 40 loci in populations of Verrnivorachrysoptera and V. pinus.Standard errors are given in parentheses. Mean sampleMean no.of Population size/locus chrysoptera %loci alleles/locus polymorphic• 20.0 1.4 27.5 (0.0) (0.1) Mean heterozygosity Observed Expectedb 0.052 0.058 (0.017) (0.020) pinus Missouri 19.9 Pennsylvania (0.1) 20.9 (0.1) 1.5 (0.1) 1.3 (0.1) 35.0 0.065 0.071 25.0 (0.020) 0.059 (0.020) (0.022) 0.060 (0.021) A locuswas consideredpolymorphicif the frequencyof the mostcommonallele did not exceed0.99. Unbiased estimatein Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (see Nei 1978). ation of alleles in individuals relative to the rest souri, Pennsylvania) and chysoptera were treated as three populations of the samespecies,the mean F,• was 0.011 + 0.0025 (SE), which indicatesthat only about 1% of the allelic variation variable loci were low. The mean value of is distributed among populations.The remain0.002 + 0.028 (SE) was not significantly differ- der resides within populations. This value is ent from 0. I conclude that the warbler popu- well within the range expectedfrom intraspelations sampled were natural panmictic units cific comparisonswithin passerines (Corbin without broad distortionsof allelic frequencies. 1983, Barrowclough 1983). Allelic variationbetweenpopulations.--Alleles Missouri pinusand Pennsylvaniapinusexhib- of its subpopulation,or departuresfrom local panmixia), complementthe testsof conformity to Hardy-Weinbergequilibria. Valuesof F•sfor fixed or commonin one speciesalsowere fixed or common in the other species.I found no electrophoreticmarkersfor detailedstudiesof geneticintrogression.Somedistinguishingrare alleles were present at 9 loci in pinus(Pep-l, Pep-2,Ck2,Ada,Mpi, Tpi, Gdh,Gapdh,Pep-l), and at 3 loci in chrysoptera (Idh2, Pgm, Ada). ited practicallyno geneticdifferentiationat the loci I examined (D = 0.000). Allelic frequencies at each locuswere extremely similar, with only one slight disparity. The principal differences between these two populationsreside in the presenceor absenceof rare alleles. These alleles, however, are too subject to sam- pling errorsto be useful as markers. DISCUSSION Nei's (1978) D estimatesthe differentiation of populationsor taxa in terms of the number of allelic substitutionssince they had a common ancestor. The low value of D = 0.001 indicates Northern Minnesota remains a home of "pure" chrysoptera north of expanding pinus populations.Minnesotachrysoptera exhibitsome pinusand chrysoptera are lessdistinct than conspecificpopulationsof passerinebirds on average(D = 0.0024;Corbin 1983).Comparisonof pinusand chrysoptera with an outgroupspecies, the Yellow-rumpedWarbler, yielded valuesof D = 0.15(pinusvs. coronata) and D = 0.16(chrysoptera vs.coronata), which fallswithin the range (0.13-0.16)obtainedby Barrowcloughand Cor- variation in the amount of yellow present in the plumage.Not all have pure gray upperparts vs. Dendroica comm.). Also, no "Brewster's Warbler" hybrid or pure white underparts.The colorand width of the wing bars vary slightly. Possibly,such variation is due to past hybridization with unnoticed pioneering pinus,but, with one exception, pinusis unknown at this locality.A female pinustried but failed to pair with a male chrybin (1978) for severalother speciesof Vermivora sopteraat Itasca in 1986 (T. Highsmith pers. coronata. Wright's statisticF•t provides a convenient phenotypes,the first indicatorsof hybridizameasureof genetic differentiation among pop- tion, have been recorded in these well-known ulationsin termsof the progresstowardfixation populations.I concludethat the variation in of alternative alleles in different populations plumagecolorationevident in my sampleis inI suspectthat in(Barrowclough 1980, 1983). When pinus(Mis- herent in "pure" chrysoptera. July1987] Warbler Genetics 447 ß& K. W. CORBIN. 1978. Genetic variation and dividuals with traces of yellow in the body differentiation in the Parulidae. Auk 95: 691-702. plumage are first-year males, but studies of ß , N. K. JOHNSONß & R. M. ZINK. 1985. On the known-age birds are required to be certain. nature of genic variation in birds. Current OrMissouri pinusrepresent pure, and perhaps nithol. 2: 135-154. ancestral,phenotypes and genotypes.Tracesof CONFER, J. L., & K. KNAPP. 1981. Golden-winged yellow in the wing bars evident in half of the Warblersand Blue-wingedWarblers:the relative specimensapparently reflect natural variation successof a habitat specialistand a generalist. Auk 98: 108-114. rather than introgressionof chrysoptera genes (Short 1963,Gill and Murray 1972a).The status COR•3IN, K. W. 1983. Genetic structure and avian of the Pennsylvaniapinusspecimensexamined systematics.Current Ornithol. 1: 211-244. is lesscertain than that of Missouripinus.The FAXON, W. 1913. Brewster's Warbler. Mem. Mus. Comp. Zool. 40: 311-316. variability in wing-bar colorand width and particularly the presenceof black in the auriculars FICKEN,M. S., & R. W. FICKEN.1967. Singing behaviour of Blue-winged and Golden-winged warof one specimensuggestsomeintrogressionof biers and their hybrids. Behaviour28: 149-181. ,& . 1968a. Courtship of Blue-winged Warblers and their hybrids. Wilson Bull. 80: 161- chrysoptera genes.The size characteristicsof this population also were closer to Minnesota chrysopterathan to Missouripinus(Gill unpubl. data). 172. This could reflect unstudied geographicalsize ,& . 1968b. Territorial relationshipsof Blue-winged Warblersß Golden-winged War- variation in pinus. Despitestriking differencesin colorand song, blers, and their hybrids. Wilson Bull. 80: 442451. pinusand chrysopteraare no more different in ß & --. 1968c. Ecology of Blue-winged their level of enzyme differentiation than are Warblers, Golden-winged Warblers, and some morphologicallyindistinguishablepopulations other Vermivora. Amer. Midl. Natur. 79: 311-319. of passerine birds. Additional efforts to locate --, & -1968d. Reproductive isolating diagnosticallozyme markers for studiesof the mechanismsin the Blue-winged and Goldenevolutionary genetics of introgression in the winged warbler complex.Evolution 22: 166-179. pinusx chrysoptera complex are not likely to be --, & --. 1969. Responsesof Blue-winged rewarding, bu•:alternative approaches,such as Warblers and Golden-winged Warblers to their restriction enzyme analysis of mitochondrial own and the other species'song.Wilson Bull. 81: 69-74. DNA, may be productive (Mack et al. 1986). GILL,F. B. 1980. Historical aspectsof hybridization between Blue-winged and Golden-winged warbiers. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --, Auk 97: 1-18. & B. G. MURRAY, JR. 1972a. Discrimination ! am grateful to K. W. Corbin, B. Fall, J. Gerwin, T. HighsmithßM. B. RobbinsßJ. Rossß and H. B. Tordoff and Golden-winged warblers. Evolution 26: 282- for assistance in the fieldwork, and to D. Parmelee 293. behaviorand hybridization of the Blue-winged for the loan of specimensfrom the Bell Museum of --, & . 1972b. Songvariationin sympatric Natural History. ! thank B. May and his staff at the Blue-wingedand Golden-winged warblers. Auk 89: 625-643. Cornell Laboratory of Evolutionary and Ecological Genetics(CLEEG)for conductingthe electrophoretic MACKß A. L., F. B. GILL, R. COLBURN, & C. $POLSKY. analyses.J. Hendricksonhelped with the computer 1986. Mitochondrial DNA: a sourceof genetic analyses.G. Barrowclough,B.Chernoff,K. W. Corbin, markers for studies of similar passefine bird W. E. Lanyon, and R. M. Zink kindly criticized the species.Auk 103: 676-681. MARKERT, C. L., & ][. FAULHABER. 1965. manuscript. Lactate de- hydrogenase isozymepatternsof fish.J.Exp.Zool. 159: 319-332. MAY, B., J. E. WRIGHTß& M. STONEKING. 1979. Joint LITERATURE CITED BARROWCLOUGH, G. F. 1980. Gene flow, effective population sizes,and genetic variance components in birds. 1983. Evolution Biochemical 34: 789-798. studies of microevolu- segregation of biochemical loci in Salmonidae: resultsfrom experimentswith Salvelinus and review of the literatureon other species.J.Fisheries Res. Board Canada 36: 1114-1128. MAYR,E. 1942. Systematics and the origin of species. tionary processes.Pp. 233-261 in Perspectivesin New York, Columbia ornithology (A. H. Brushand G. A. Clark, Jr., Eds.).New York, CambridgeUniv. Press. 1963. Animal speciesand evolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts,Harvard Univ. Press. Univ. Press. 448 FRANK B.GILL MURRAy, B. G., JR., & F. B. GILL. 1976. Behavioral [Auk,Vol. 104 APPENDIX. interactionsof Blue-wingedand Golden-winged warblers. Wilson dividuals. Genetics 89: 583-590. PARKES,K. C. 1951. The genetics of the Golden- winged and Blue-wingedwarbler complex.Wilson Bull. 63: 5-15. PARMELEE,D. F. 1977. Annotated checklist of the birdsof ItascaStatePark and surroundingareas. Loon pinusa chry- Bull. 88: 231-254. NEI, M. 1978. Estimation of average heterozygosity and geneticdistancefrom a small number of in- 49: 81-95. RIDGEWAY,G. J., S. W. SHERBURNE, &:R. D. LEWIS. 1970. Polymorphism in the esterasesof Atlantic herring. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc.99: 147-151. SAGE, J.H. 1889. The interbreedingof Helminthophila pinusand H. chrysoptera. Auk 6: 279. SELANDER, g. K., M. H. SMITH, S. Y. YANG, W. E. JOHNSON,&: J. B. GENTRY. 1971. IV. Biochemical Continued. Locus PA MO soptera Tissueb Bufferc Glucosephosphate isomerase(Gpi) [5.3.1.9] 1 2 3 0.952 0.024 0.024 0.950 0.0 0.050 0.975 0.025 0.0 M S4 Glutamatedehydrogenase(Gdh) [1.4.1.2-4] 1 2 1.000 0.0 0.975 0.025 1.000 0.0 H CT Glutathione reductase-1(Grl) [1.6.4.2] 1 2 3 0.917 0.083 0.00 0.944 0.028 0.028 0.895 0.026 0.079 H R Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase-1 (Gapdh-1)[1.2.1.12] 1 0.810 0.875 0.850 L R polymorphismand systematics in the genusPero2 0.190 0.125 0.150 myscusI. Variation in the old-field mouse(Perodehydrogenase myscuspolionotus). Stud. Genet. VI, Univ. Texas Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (Gapdh-2) [1.2.1.12] Publ. 7103. 1 1.000 0.975 1.000 M CT SHORT,L. L. 1963. Hybridization in the wood war2 0.0 0.025 0.0 biersVermivora pinusand V. chrysoptera. Proc.13th Intern. Ornithol. Congr.: 147-160. Isocitratedehydrogenase-2(Idh2) [1.1.1.42] STONE,W. 1894. The birds of easternPennsylvania 1 1.000 1.000 0.975 L CT 2 0.0 0.0 0.025 and New Jersey.Philadelphia,Delaware Valley Ornithol. Club. WIDMANN,O. 1907. A preliminary catalog of the birds of Missouri. Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci. 17: 1-288. cath Mannosephosphateisomerase(Mpi) [5.3.1.8] 1 2 3 0.952 0.024 0.024 0.950 0.0 0.050 0.975 0.025 0.0 M M WILL,T. C. 1986. The behavioralecologyof species replacements:Blue-winged and Golden-winged Nucleosidephosphorylase(Np) [2.4.2.1] 1 0.357 0.425 0.525 L M warblers in Michigan. Ph.D. dissertation, Ann 2 0.643 0.550 0.475 Arbor, Univ. Michigan. 3 0.0 0.025 0.0 WRIGHT,S. 1978. Evolution and the geneticsof populations, vol. 4. Variability within and among Peptidasewith glycyl-leucine(Pep-gl-1)[3.4.13.1] natural populations. Chicago, Univ. Chicago 1 0.952 0.925 0.925 M R Press. APPENDIX. Allozymic frequencies in Blue-winged and Golden-wingedwarblers.EC numbersare given in brackets. MO soptera Tissueb 4 5 0.575 0.400 0.0 0.0 0.025 0.800 0.150 0.05 0.0 0.0 M 1.000 0.0 0.0 Peptidasewith glycyl-leucine(Pep-gl-2)[3.4.13.1] 1 0.975 0.025 1.000 0.0 0.952 0.048 0.950 0.050 1.000 M R 0.0 1 2 0.905 0.071 0.800 0.100 0.875 0.075 3 4 0.024 0.0 0.075 0.025 0.050 0.0 M S4 S4 Phosphoglucomutase (Pgm) [2.7.5.1] 1 2 1.000 0.0 1.000 0.0 0.975 0.025 M R Phosphogluconatedehydrogenase-2(Pgd) [1.1.1.46] Creatine kinase-2 (Ck2) [2.7.3.2] 1 2 0.075 0.075 [3.423.9] Bufferc Adenosine deaminase (Ada) [3.5.4.4] 0.690 0.286 0.0 0.024 0.0 0.0 0.048 Peptidase with phenyl-alanyl-proline (Pep-Pap-l) A. Polymorphic loci 1 2 3 0.0 3 2 pinus• chryLocus PA 2 H CT 1 2 3 0.690 0.286 0.024 0.775 0.200 0.025 0.700 0.275 0.025 H CT July 1987] WarblerGenetics APPENDIX. Continued. APPENDIX. Continued. pinusa chryLocus PA MO soptera Tissueb Buffer • Triosephosphateisomerase(Tpi) [5.3.1.1] 1 2 1.000 0.0 0.975 0.025 449 1.000 0.0 H MO soptera Tissueb (Idh-1) [1.1.1.42] (Ldh-l,2) [1.1.1.27] Malate dehydrogenase-l,2 (Mdh-l,2) [1.1.1.37] Malic enzyme (Me) [1.1.1.40] Methylumbellifferyl phosphatase-l,2 (Mup-l,2) M [2.7.1.20] Aspartate aminotransferase (Aat) [2.6.1.1] Creatine kinase-1 (Ck- 1) [2.7.3.2] M CT M CT cath M CT cath Diaphorase-1(Dia) [1.6.4.3] Esterasewith methylumbellifferyl butyrate (Est-b-3) L S4 origin Phosphoglucokinase (Pgk) [3.1.1.1] General protein-7 (Pro-7) General protein-8 (Pro-8) L M R R Phosphogluconatedehydrogenase(Pgd) [1.1.1.46] Sorbitol dehydrogenase M, H, L CT, S4 L S4 cath Adenylate kinate-l,2 (Ak-l,2) [1.1.1.8] Guanine deaminase (Gda) [3.5.4.3] L CT M S4 M L S4 CT cath L M M S4 M S4 M S4 L S4 M R cath Lactatedehydrogenase-l,2 L Glutamatepyruvate transaminase-1 (Gpt-1) [2.6.1.2] Glycerol-3-phosphatedehydrogenase-2(G3p-2) Buffer½ Isocitratedehydrogenase CT cath B. Monomorphic loci a-mannisidase (a-man) [3.2.1.24] pinusa chryLocus PA [3.1.3.-] Peptidasewith phenyl-alanyl-proline-2 (Pep-Pap-2) [3.4.13.1] [2.7.2.3] H R L S4, M (Sdh) [1.1.1.14] Superoxide dismutase-1 (Sod-l) [1.15.1.1] • PA = Pennsylvania, MO = Missouri. sM - pectoral muscle, L - liver, H heart. ' R pH 8.I, Ridgewayet al. (1970);CT = pH 6.1, May et al. (I979); M pH 8.7, Markertand Faulhaber(1965);S4 pH 6.3,adjustedfrom Selander et al. (1971).
© Copyright 2026 Paperzz