Variability of Haplotypes among Different Populations of Woodpigeon (Columba Palumbus) in Southern Europe and in the Eastern Baltic Region

A Columbidae species-specific primer pair PAL-2 was constructed. It was based on the alignment of the available GenBank sequences of homological D-loop fragments of Columbia livia, Columba janthina, Columba junoniae and Columba bollii. Using these newly developed primers, Woodpigeons (Columba palumbus) from wintering and breeding populations of southern Europe and from breeding population of the eastern Baltic region were examined by sequencing 368 bp mtDNA D-loop fragments. In total, 31 different haplotypes were detected among 89 Woodpigeons sampled in southern Europe and 13 haplotypes were found among 33 birds sampled in the eastern Baltic region. The neighbour-joining method revealed phylogenetic relationships between different haplotypes and the possible ancestry of individual birds. The most frequent haplotypes were detected in the majority of Woodpigeons sampled in southern Europe and in the eastern Baltic region. However, seven haplotypes were detected only in breeding birds sampled in the eastern ...