Phylogenetic analysis of Alpine voles of the Microtus multiplex complex using the mitochondrial control region

Haring, Elisabeth; Herzig‐Straschil, Barbara; Spitzenberger, Friederike

doi:10.1046/j.1439-0469.2000.384139.x

Cited by 33 publications

(41 citation statements)

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“…According to phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cytb) gene and the control region (CR), three morphologically cryptic vole species of the genus Microtus (subgenus Terricola, Arvicolinae, Rodentia) represent a well supported monophyletic group (Haring et al 2000;Martínková et al 2007) referred to as Microtus multiplex complex. After Martínková et al (2007) the primary divergence within the complex occurs between M. multiplex sensu stricto and the sister species M. liechtensteini (Wettstein, 1927) and M. bavaricus (König, 1962).…”

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“…After Martínková et al (2007) the primary divergence within the complex occurs between M. multiplex sensu stricto and the sister species M. liechtensteini (Wettstein, 1927) and M. bavaricus (König, 1962). Molecular analysis of mitochondrial DNA from M. bavaricus and M. liechtensteini revealed the lowest observed divergence between any vole species indicating a very recent origin of the two taxa (Haring et al 2000;Martínková et al 2007). Microtus bavaricus, the Bavarian pine vole, was considered as an endemic species of the Alps -only one locality in Bavaria, Germany (terra typica at GarmischPartenkirchen) was known (König 1982) before genetic analyses revealed that it exists also in northern Tyrol (Rofan Mt) in Austria (Haring et al 2000) (Fig.…”

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Microtus bavaricus discovered in Croatia: Southern refugium or geographical variation?

2010

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Microtus bavaricus discovered in Croatia: Southern refugium or geographical variation?

2010

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“…The sequences were downloaded from GenBank (Benson et al 2009); accession numbers are given in Table 1. Sequences were aligned in Geneious 8.1.3 (Kearse et al 2012), to identify the match between published PCR primers Pro+ (Haring et al 2000) and MicoMico (Alasaad et al 2011), and the mtDNA sequences of all target species.…”

Section: Reference Database and Pcr Primersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using the sequence alignment from our local reference database, we identified the mitochondrial control primers Pro+ (Haring et al 2000) and MicoMico (Alasaad et al 2011) as the most suitable candidate PCR primers. This primer set matched with all species of the Cricetidae and Muridae families known to occur in the north of The Netherlands (Fig.…”

Section: Pcr Primersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The amplified product was relatively small,~300 nt, providing a marker to study field samples with possibly degraded DNA which still allows screening for genetic variation within the population. The PCR primers Pro+ (Haring et al 2000) and MicoMico (Alasaad et al 2011), although developed for voles, can be expected to be conserved in other Muroidea species (Alasaad et al 2011).…”

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Molecular identification of temperate Cricetidae and Muridae rodent species using fecal samples collected in a natural habitat

et al. 2018

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Molecular species identification from biological material collected at field sites has become an established ecological tool. However, extracting and amplifying DNA from degraded field samples, such as prey remains and feces that have been exposed to the elements, remains a challenge and costly. We collected 115 fecal samples of unknown small mammals, resembling fecal droppings of voles and mice (i.e., Cricetidae and Muridae), from a salt marsh in The Netherlands. We modified a previously published protocol into a relatively low-cost method with a PCR success of 95%. We demonstrate that species identification is possible for both Cricetidae and Muridae species using fecal samples of unknown age deposited in the field. For 90 samples, sequences of the variable control region in the mitochondrial genome were obtained and compared to published DNA sequences of small mammals occurring in north European salt marshes. A single sample, probably environmentally contaminated, appeared as Sus scrofa (n = 1). We positively identified house mouse Mus musculus, being the positive control (n = 1), and common vole Microtus arvalis (n = 88). In 81 sequences of 251 nt without ambiguous bases, ten haplotypes were present. These haplotypes, representing the central lineage of the western subspecies M. arvalis arvalis, were separated by 20 mutations from published control region haplotypes of the western European lineages sampled in France. Unlike earlier studies of cytochrome b variation in coastal European populations, we did not find indications of recent purging of genetic variation in our study area.

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Is the diet cyclic phase‐dependent in boreal vole populations?

Neby,

Ims,

Kamenova

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Herbivorous rodents in boreal, alpine and arctic ecosystems are renowned for their multi‐annual population cycles. Researchers have hypothesised that these cycles may result from herbivore–plant interactions in various ways. For instance, if the biomass of preferred food plants is reduced after a peak phase of a cycle, rodent diets can be expected to become dominated by less preferred food plants, leading the population to a crash. It could also be expected that the taxonomic diversity of rodent diets increases from the peak to the crash phase of a cycle. The present study is the first to use DNA metabarcoding to quantify the diets of two functionally important boreal rodent species (bank vole and tundra vole) to assess whether their diet changed systematically in the expected cyclic phase‐dependent manner. We found the taxonomic diet spectrum broad in both vole species but with little interspecific overlap. There was no evidence of systematic shifts in diet diversity metrics between the phases of the population cycle in either species. While both species' diet composition changed moderately between cycle phases and seasons, these changes were small compared to other sources of diet variation—especially differences between individuals. Thus, the variation in diet that could be attributed to cyclic phases is marginal relative to the overall diet flexibility. Based on general consumer‐resource theory, we suggest that the broad diets with little interspecific overlap render it unlikely that herbivore–plant interactions generate their synchronous population cycles. We propose that determining dietary niche width should be the first step in scientific inquiries about the role of herbivore–plant interactions in cyclic vole populations.

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Phylogenetic analysis of Alpine voles of the Microtus multiplex complex using the mitochondrial control region

Cited by 33 publications

References 0 publications

Microtus bavaricus discovered in Croatia: Southern refugium or geographical variation?

Microtus bavaricus discovered in Croatia: Southern refugium or geographical variation?

Molecular identification of temperate Cricetidae and Muridae rodent species using fecal samples collected in a natural habitat

Is the diet cyclic phase‐dependent in boreal vole populations?

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