The role of latitude and the Carpathian Mountain barrier in the spatial spread and population bottlenecks of Schizophyllum commune

The study focuses on assessing the impact of latitude and the Carpathian Mountains on the dispersal of the model fungus Schizophyllum commune, and to identify both trends in genetic flow and bottlenecks between populations. The Carpathian Mountains exert a more substantial pressure on the dispersal of fungus than the latitude factor. The Mantel test revealed a weak but statistically significant correlation between the genetic component and the geographical coordinates of the samples, confirming the impact of latitude on the spatial spread of fungal populations. The relative migration network revealed that the southern population disseminates its genetic material to the northern populations much more intensively. In contrast, the genotypes of the northern populations spread more slowly toward the south. The relationship density between research populations provided insight into long-past events and allowed us to identify an ecological bottleneck and the degree of overcoming consequences. We can reasonably claim that new S. commune genotypes enter the western part of the Carpathians from both the south and the north; however, the flow from the north is prevalent. Identifying bottlenecks provides reference points for reconstructing the synchronization of evolutionary events at both local and global scales within the species.