MtDNA variability in the field vole (Microtus agrestis L., 1761), Arvicolinae, Rodentia) in the Urals and adjacent territories

Maria Krokhaleva, krohaleva_ma@ipae.uran.ru, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS
Lidia Yalkovskaya, lida@ipae.uran.ru, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS
Petr Sibiryakov, sibiryakov@ipae.uran.ru, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS
Evgenia Markova, e.markova@ipae.uran.ru, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS
Aleksandr Borodin, bor@ipae.uran.ru, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS

The data on mtDNA variability (complete cyt b gene) in M. agrestis in the Cis-Urals, the Southern, Middle, Northern Urals, and Western Siberia obtained for the first time expand significantly the geography of investigations of the species genetic diversity. Analysis of the genetic variability of the field vole with the inclusion of new data does not contradict present views on the genetic structure of the species but reveals genetic heterogeneity of populations within the Eastern subclade, which has not been considered previously. To clarify the genetic structure of the wide-ranging Eastern subclade of M. agrestis (from Norway to Lake Baikal), further studies of the species in Northern Eurasia are necessary.