Migration route estimation of the Jeju striped field mouseApodemus agrarius chejuensis(Rodentia, Muridae)

Abstract

The taxonomic relationship between two Korean field mice species, Apodemus agrarius coreae and A. a. chejuensis, as well as their possible historic migration routes, was examined by molecular genetic analysis of the complete mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of 73 mice collected from the Korean Peninsula and Jeju Island. Our findings suggest that A. a. coreae and A. a. chejuensis populations expanded and dispersed rapidly. Bayesian and network analysis showed that A. a. chejuensis is a clearly distinct population, and that A. a. chejuensis originated from the ancestral lineage of A. a. coreae. Based on our data, we hypothesize that the A. a. coreae population originated from eastern China or elsewhere. After the last glacial epoch, the lineage isolated from A. a. coreae had adapted to the new environment of Jeju Island, and with the reproductive isolation caused by the geographic barrier, this lineage eventually became a distinct population.

Phylogeography of the striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius Pallas, 1771) in light of new data from central part of Northern Eurasia

“…15 haplotypes from China and South Korea have not been assigned to any group. The two most differentiated groups have been formed by the populations from the Jeju and Taiwan Islands (Group 2 and Group 4), whose evolutionary history has been reviewed in detail previously [9,17]. The other six haplogroups (Group 1, 3, 5-8) have been represented by mainland populations, indicating a more complex genetic structure A. agrarius than recent studies have shown [18].…”

“…By now, a considerable amount of data on the genetic differentiation, phylogeography, and evolutionary history of A. agrarius has been obtained by analyzing the mitochondrial genome. The phylogenetic relations of continental and island populations of South Korea [7][8][9], the genetic diversity of populations of the Russian Far East and isolated populations in the Far North (Magadan Region) [10,11], and the history of colonization of the Danish islands by striped field mouse [12] have all been studied this way. Hypotheses regarding the time, consecutiveness and the possible causes of intraspecific genetic differentiation and the history of the formation of the modern A. agrarius range have been proposed based on cytochrome b gene data [10,11,[13][14][15][16][17], which have been confirmed in a recent work involving significant amount of material from both parts of the species distribution area [18].…”

“…However, the question of the possible A. agrarius differentiation inside the mainland part of the range still remains open. The studies using the complete cytochrome b sequences have not focused on this problem [9,11,17], but the analysis of partial cytochrome b sequences has demonstrated contradictory results. Some studies have suggested the existence of several mainland lineages of A. agrarius [16]; the others have shown the genetic homogeneity of mainland populations [18].…”

A novel genotype of Hantaan orthohantavirus harbored by Apodemus agrarius chejuensis as a potential etiologic agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Republic of Korea

“…The ancestral population of A . chejuensis on Jeju Island may have originated from the Korean peninsula or eastern China [ 35 ]. Han et al and Koh et al estimated the population of A .…”

Development of 17 polymorphic microsatellite loci from Jeju striped field mouse, Apodemus agrarius chejuensis (Rodentia: Muridae), by 454 pyrosequencing

“…In Korea, four subspecies ( A. a mantchuricus, A. a. chejuensis, A. a. pallenscens , and A. a. coreae ) have been reported, but only A. a. chejuensis on Jeju Island has a definitive geographic barrier from the other subspecies [ 3 ]. Based on differences in morphology [ 4 – 7 ], physiology [ 8 ], and mitochondrial DNA [ 9 – 11 ], the taxonomic status of A. a. chejuensis has changed frequently in rank between species and subspecies. The striped field mouse is the first known vector of Hanta virus, which killed roughly 3000 United Nations soldiers per year during the Korean War, which has attracted great attention by epidemiologists [ 12 ].…”