Frisman L.V., Bogdanov A.S., Sheremetyeva I.N., Kartavtseva I.V., Pavlenko M.V., Rodimtseva D.V., Sheftel B.I., Lebedev V.S., Kovalskaya YU.M.
Genetika 2025; 61(5): 41-56
The allelic diversity and level of genetic differentiation of striped field Apodemus agrarius mouse populations in different parts of the species range were assessed based on 6 microsatellite loci. The study was performed on field mice from four islands of Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan), as well as samples from populations of large isolated continental massifs - eastern (6 samples from localities in the south of the Russian Far East and 1 combined sample from Central China). One combined sample from western isolate was analyzed too. A large number of common microsatellite alleles (62 of 84 identified) were found in island and mainland populations. In island populations, compared to continental populations, there is a depletion of the allelic composition and a greater mosaicism of allele frequencies, including unique ones. The obtained data indicate a higher level of differentiation of the striped field mouse populations on islands separated by straits from the mainland and from each other in the Holocene, compared to the differentiation of populations of vast western and eastern isolated continental massifs. Continental isolates were genetically differentiated from each other to approximately the same extent as spatially separated populations of the southern Far East and Central China within the eastern isolate. The obtained result suggests a relatively recent (possibly during the Holocene climatic optimum) penetration and rapid spread of the striped field mouse across Western Siberia and Europe, or the existence in the history of the species of several «waves of invasions» in the western direction.
