Genetic polymorphism in populations of voles and shrews from the Kronotsky Reserve (Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia)

Abstract

We studied genetic polymorphism of four mammal species Myodes rutilus, Myodes rufocanus, Sorex isodon, from four localities, the Valley of Geysers, Uzon volcanic caldera, the Death Valley, and the Shore of Kuril Lake. In total, 172 individuals were genotyped using the inter-simple sequence repeat technique. We observed the lowest polymorphism in shrews S. caecutiens. In this species, 68.8 % of bands were polymorphic, and Nei’s genetic diversity (h) was 0.27, while these values in S. isodon were 81.3 % and 0.29, respectively. Populations of M. rufocanus were the most polymorphic among the studied species (P = 91.4, h = 0.34). Polymorphism in M. rutilus from Kamchatka (P = 87.2, h = 0.29) was similar to that from Western Siberia. In addition, we found a high genetic differentiation of rodent populations. The interpopulation component of genetic variability was about 30–40 % (GST = 0.31 in M. rutilus and 0.39 in M. rufocanus). Gene flow among populations of M. rutilus from Kamchatka was two times lower than that of populations of the species from taiga ecosystems in Siberia. Key words: Myodes, Sorex, Differentiation of populations, Genetic variability, ISSR markers, Kamchatka Peninsula