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Population genetic structure of Sorex unguiculatus and Sorex caecutiens (Soricidae, Mammalia) in Hokkaido, based on microsatellite DNA polymorphism

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Ecological Research

Abstract

We investigated the genetic structure of Sorex unguiculatus and Sorex caecutiens populations in Hokkaido, Japan, using hypervariable microsatellite DNA markers. We used five microsatellite loci to type 475 S. unguiculatus individuals from 20 localities on the Hokkaido mainland and four localities from each of four offshore islands (and 11 shrews from one locality in southern Sakhalin for a particular analysis). We used six microsatellite loci to type 240 S. caecutiens individuals from 13 localities on the Hokkaido mainland. Genetic variation was high in mainland populations of both species and low in the island populations of S. unguiculatus. Allelic richness and island size were positively correlated for S. unguiculatus, suggesting that genetic drift occurred on those islands due to small population size. In addition, four insular populations of S. unguiculatus were genetically differentiated from the mainland populations, although clear phylogeographic clustering was not confirmed among populations on the Hokkaido mainland for either S. unguiculatus or S. caecutiens. Heterozygosity excess was observed in more than half of the populations including the mainland populations of the two species, suggesting recent bottleneck events in these populations. Population dynamics of the shrews might be explained by a metapopulation scheme. According to autocorrelation analysis, the extent of non-random spatial genetic structure was approximately 100 km. Isolation by distance was observed in S. unguiculatus, but not in S. caecutiens although there is a positive trend. The lack of correlation for S. caecutiens might have been due to small sample size. Thus, no obvious differences in population genetic structure were found between the two species on the Hokkaido mainland in the present study, while previous investigations using mitochondrial DNA sequences inferred that these two species might have rather different biogeographic histories.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. J. Davis, M. J. Toda and M. T. Kimura for comments on an early version of the manuscript. Y. Ishibashi and M. A. Iwasa gave us useful suggestions throughout the field and laboratory work. H. Abe, N. E. Dokuchaev, S. H. Han, K. Nakata, T. Saitoh, and K. Takahashi provided shrew samples. N. Etoh gave technical assistance in the laboratory experiments. T. Inuzuka, K. Kawai, C. Kawakubo, M. Kita, S. Kuroda, M. Noro, Y. Ohta, K. Okamura, H. Satoh, I. Satoh, M. Senda, W. Shimojima, K. Shishido, M. Tanizaki, T. Tohsuji and H. Tomizawa supported our field work. I. Hanski and G. Hinten gave us suggestions about population genetic analyses. Part of the study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japan Society for Science Promotion. We followed the American Society of Mammalogists guidelines for animal treatment (Animal Care and Use Committee 1998) in this study.

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  1. Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0819, Japan

    Yukako Naitoh & Satoshi D. Ohdachi

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  1. Yukako Naitoh
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  2. Satoshi D. Ohdachi
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Correspondence to Satoshi D. Ohdachi.

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Naitoh, Y., Ohdachi, S.D. Population genetic structure of Sorex unguiculatus and Sorex caecutiens (Soricidae, Mammalia) in Hokkaido, based on microsatellite DNA polymorphism. Ecol Res 21, 586–596 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0154-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-006-0154-1

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