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Phylogeography of the Common Vole Microtus arvalis, the Obscurus Form (Rodentia, Arvicolinae): New Data on the Mitochondrial DNA Variability

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Abstract

Genetic diversity of the common vole Microtus arvalis Pall., 1778 of the obscurus form was examined by analyzing the variability of two markers, the cytochrome b gene (1143 bp) and the fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region (800 bp). One hundred forty-five individuals were captured at 39 locations from the Crimean Peninsula in the west to northern Altai in the east. On the basis of the analysis of the cytochrome b gene sequences, all M. arvalis individuals of the obscurus form from the regions under consideration were assigned to the previously identified Sino-Russian clade, distributed in the main part of the range of the obscurus form. On the basis of concatenated sequences of the two mtDNA markers, the internal structure of the Sino-Russian clade was established and two subclades, Crimean and Eurasian, were identified. In the Eurasian subclade, related haplotypes form several geographically localized groups (Vyatka–Ural, Volga–Ural, Southern Ural, Southern Cis-Urals 1, and Southern Cis-Urals 2). The groups are connected with each other through a widespread set of poorly differentiated haplotypes found from the Cis-Urals to Western Siberia. Two haplotypes from the North Altai and northern foothills of the Altai Mountains are included in the Eurasian subclade. However, these haplotypes are separated from each other and from haplotypes of other groups by distances comparable with the intergroup distance for this subclade. Demographic analysis enables the conclusion that the history of the Sino-Russian clade of M. arvalis of the form obscurus has regional specificity. Haplotypes found in seven locations on the Crimean Peninsula are most likely the result of a single expansion event, whereas for the Eurasian subclade, several successive waves of expansion can be proposed.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Zoological museum of the institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg and our collegs A.V. Borodin, T.V. Strukova, S.B. Rakitin, and D.A. Toporkova (Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg) for kindly providing collection specimens for the analysis and S.V. Zykov, M.A. Fominykh, L.I. Amerkhanova, E.V. Zinoviev, E.P. Izvarin, E.Yu. Zakharova, T.S. Oslina, A.O. Shkurikhin (Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg), and R.Yu. Dudko (Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk) for their help in organizing field studies and catching small mammals. Special thanks to the Joint Directorate of the Orenburg and Shaitan-Tau State Nature Reserves, personally to O.V. Soroka and inspectors of the Talovskaya Steppe, Aituirskaya Steppe, and Aschisay Steppe sites for assistance in organizing and carrying out small mammal catching in the Orenburg Reserve, and the Administration of the Buzuluksky Bor National Park for assistance in organizing catching on the territory of the national park. We also thank G.A. Tsaur and the staff of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Immunophenotyping, and Pathomorphology of the Children’s Oncology and Hematology Center, Regional Children Hospital No. 1 (Yekaterinburg) for the opportunity to use an ABI Prism 3130 genetic analyzer (Applied Biosystems, United States).

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant no. 16-04-01486-a) and the Integrated Program of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (grant no. 18-4-4-43).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 620144, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    P. A. Sibiryakov, V. L. Semerikov, L. E. Yalkovskaya & E. A. Markova

  2. Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, 395034, Simferopol, Russia

    N. N. Tovpinets

  3. Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 630091, Novosibirsk, Russia

    T. A. Dupal

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  1. P. A. Sibiryakov
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Sibiryakov, P.A., Tovpinets, N.N., Dupal, T.A. et al. Phylogeography of the Common Vole Microtus arvalis, the Obscurus Form (Rodentia, Arvicolinae): New Data on the Mitochondrial DNA Variability. Russ J Genet 54, 1185–1198 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795418100137

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