Evidence for a mitochondrial lineage originating from the Arabian peninsula in the Madagascar house mouse (Mus musculus)

Abstract

Various subspecies of the house mouse (Mus musculus sensu lato) are known to have contributed to its worldwide expansion. However, the origin of mice on some larger islands such as Madagascar has remained unknown, with several sources being possible. In order to classify the Malagasy house mouse, individuals were trapped in 13 different localities distributed throughout the island. For 33 individuals the control region (D-Loop) of the mitochondrial DNA was partially sequenced and 21 males were typed for a Zfy-2 polymorphism of the Y chromosome. Malagasy mt DNA lineages constitute a narrow monophyletic group which sug-

Chromosomal dynamics of nucleolar organizer regions (NORs) in the house mouse: micro-evolutionary insights

“…MOL, which carries a MUS/CAS composite genome has, as expected, an intermediate position in the tree. However, the NOR tree highlights a discrepancy with previous studies in the position of GEN by way of considering it either as a sister taxon of DOM (Duplantier et al, 2002;Rajabi-Maham et al, 2008), or as closely related to CAS (Bonhomme et al, 2007). This apparent conflict with published data may stem from the genomic compartments analyzed (mitochondrial vs nuclear markers), and requires further analyses with increased sample sizes to be resolved.…”

“…The subspecific assignation of the studied specimens was determined from published molecular analyses of these individuals (mitochondrial and nuclear sequences; Duplantier et al, 2002;Auffray et al, 2003;Bonhomme et al, 2007). These studies revealed that the mouse from Madagascar had a mosaic genome: while it clearly harbored a distinct mitochondrial genome attributed to GEN (Prager et al, 1998;Duplantier et al, 2002), nuclear markers indicated an affinity with CAS (Bonhomme et al, 2007). Where possible, the samples were pooled by geographic origin; given the extensive data for DOM, the specimens were grouped into three regional clusters: the Mediterranean Basin, including southern Europe (S), northern Europe (N) and the Atlantic Coast (A).…”

“…This extensive NOR diversity indicated that high rates of inter-chromosomal transposition existed within the Mus genome in the absence of cytogenetically visible rearrangements. The house mouse is an Eurasian polytypic species with five currently recognized subspecies: M. m. domesticus, the Western European house mouse, occupies western Europe and the Mediterranean Basin to southwestern Iran; M. m. musculus, the eastern European house mouse, extends in fact from northern Europe to China; M. m. castaneus, the Asian house mouse, is present from central to southeast Asia (Bonhomme et al, 2007;Geraldes et al, 2008;Rajabi-Maham et al, 2008); M. m. molossinus, the Japanese house mouse, is restricted to Japan and neighboring countries and originated by hybridization between M. m. musculus and M. m. castaneus (Yonekawa et al, 2012); finally M. m. gentilulus, the Arabian house mouse, is the most recently rehabilitated subspecies occupying the southern Arabian peninsula (Prager et al, 1998;Duplantier et al, 2002). Two extant hybrid zones exist involving M. m. musculus, one with M. m. domesticus in Europe and the other with M. m. castaneus in China (Bonhomme et al, 2007).…”

“…This region is currently occupied by M. m. castaneus and represents the ancestral range of the species. Analyses based on mitochondrial or sex-linked sequences generally define monophyletic subspecific lineages, particularly in the peripheral populations of the subspecies, that is, Europe, Arabia, Japan and Southeast Asia (Prager et al, 1998;Duplantier et al, 2002;Geraldes et al, 2008;RajabiMaham et al, 2008). In contrast, the fewer studies using autosomal nuclear markers have highlighted the genetic interrelatedness of the subspecies gene pools due to an ancient episode of gene flow or to lineage sorting (Bonhomme et al, 2007;Geraldes et al, 2008;Duvaux et al, in press).…”

Trichostrongylina (Nematoda) from Malagasy muridae. III – Description of a new species ofHeligmonoidesBaylis, 1928 (Heligmonellidae) parasitic inMus musculus

“…The synlophe was studied following the method of DuretteDesset (1985) and for the nomenclature of the axis of INTRODUCTION T wo previous articles (Durette-Desset et al, 2002a, b) dealt with the trichostrongylid fauna of taxonomical analysis of endemic rodents from Madagascar namely the Nesomyinae with the genera Nesomys Peters, 1870 and Eliurus Milne-Edwards, 1885. The present study describes a new species belonging to the genus Heligmonoides Baylis, 1928, parasitic in Mus musculus (Muridae), a non-native rodent which colonized Madagascar probably from the Arabian Peninsula (Duplantier et al, 2002). A new definition and a dichotomous key of this genus are provided with comments of its host-spectrum and biogeographical distribution.…”