Phylogeography of Chinese house mice (Mus musculus musculus/castaneus): distribution, routes of colonization and geographic regions of hybridization

Abstract

House mice (Mus musculus) are human commensals and have served as a primary model in biomedical, ecological and evolutionary research. Although there is detailed knowledge of the biogeography of house mice in Europe, little is known of the history of house mice in China, despite the fact that China encompasses an enormous portion of their range. In the present study, 535 house mice caught from 29 localities in China were studied by sequencing the mitochondrial D-loop and genotyping 10 nuclear microsatellite markers distributed on 10 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed two evolutionary lineages corresponding to Mus musculus castaneus and Mus musculus musculus in the south and north, respectively, with the Yangtze River approximately representing the boundary. More detailed analyses combining published sequence data from mice sampled in neighbouring countries revealed the migration routes of the two subspecies into China: M. m. castaneus appeared to have migrated through a southern route (Yunnan and Guangxi), whereas M. m. musculus entered China from Kazakhstan through the north-west border (Xinjiang). Bayesian analysis of mitochondrial sequences indicated rapid population expansions in both subspecies, approximately 4650-9300 and 7150-14 300 years ago for M. m. castaneus and M. m. musculus, respectively. Interestingly, the migration routes of Chinese house mice coincide with the colonization routes of modern humans into China, and the expansion times of house mice are consistent with the development of agriculture in southern and northern China, respectively. Finally, our study confirmed the existence of a hybrid zone between M. m. castaneus and M. m. musculus in China. Further study of this hybrid zone will provide a useful counterpart to the well-studied hybrid zone between M. m. musculus and Mus musculus domesticus in central Europe.

Yangtze River, an insignificant genetic boundary in tufted deer (Elaphodus cephalophus): the evidence from a first population genetics study

“…It is a more effective dispersal barrier for the house mice ( Mus musculus ) (Jing et al, 2014), but less significant for the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) (Zhang et al, 2008). For the tufted deer, it is apparent that crossing a large river, such as the Yangtze River, is very difficult for its poor swimming ability (Sheng et al, 1992).…”

“…In general, mtDNA CR sequences could provide the population demography information at longer time scale (e.g. from tens of thousands years to hundreds of thousands years) (Jing et al, 2014; Pan et al, 2014; Zhang et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2015). In contrast, nuclear microsatellite loci is usually good at detecting relatively recent population events (e.g.…”

“…The wide channel, turbulent flow and many steep cliffs caused it to become a natural geographical barrier for some animals, including the house mice, Mus musculus (Jing et al, 2014), and early humans (Lynn, 1997; Chu et al, 1998; Su et al, 1999). Even some tributaries of the Yangtze River also function as important geographical barrier.…”

Ancient onset of geographical divergence, interpopulation genetic exchange, and natural selection on theMc1rcoat-colour gene in the house mouse (Mus musculus)

“…Therefore, knowing the genetic background of the species throughout its range would be useful. In addition, tracking the dispersal of mouse lineages should enable insights into the prehistoric movements of the humans that the mice accompanied (Boursot et al, 1993;Bonhomme & Searle, 2012;Cucchi, Auffray & Vigne, 2012;Gabriel, Mathias & Searle, 2013;Jones et al, 2013;Jing et al, 2014). The origin of M. musculus before its human-mediated dispersal is most commonly identified as either India (Boursot et al, 1993Din et al, 1996) or the Middle East (Prager, Orrego & Sage, 1998;Suzuki et al, 2013), based on various molecular markers, including mitochondrial DNA, allozymes, and nuclear intron sequences.…”

The Pace of Hybrid Incompatibility Evolution in House Mice

“…Two pairs of subspecies show partial reproductive isolation, particularly in the form of hybrid male sterility (Forejt and Iványi 1974;Britton-Davidian et al 2005;Vyskočilová et al 2005;Good et al 2008a;White et al 2012a), indicating speciation is in progress. House mouse subspecies also hybridize in the wild (Boursot et al 1993;Sage et al 1993;Duvaux et al 2011;Jing et al 2014), providing opportunities to connect the genetics of reproductive isolation phenotypes in the laboratory with gene flow in nature. The existence of gene flow violates the assumption of complete allopatry after divergence used in the snowball model.…”