Phylogenetic relationships of intraspecific forms of the house mouse Mus musculus: Analysis of variability of the control region (D-loop) of mitochondrial DNA.

ABSTRACT

Analysis of the control region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or D-loop of 96 house mice (Mus musculus) from Russia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan has been used to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships and phylogeographic patterns of intraspecific forms. New data on the phylogenetic structure of the house mouse are presented. Three phylogroups can be reliably distinguished in the eastern part of the M. musculus species range, the first one mainly comprising the haplotypes of mice from Transcaucasia (Armenia); the second one, the haplotypes of mice from Kazakhstan; and the third one, the haplotypes of mice from Siberia and some other regions. The morphological subspecies M. m. wagneri and M. m. gansuensis have proved to be genetically heterogeneous and did not form discrete phylogroups in the phylogenetic tree.