Genetic distinctiveness of the greater long-tailed hamster, Tscherskia triton nestor (Rodentia: Mammalia), from Jeju Island, Korea: cytochrome oxidase I and cytochrome b sequence analyses

Abstract

To examine the taxonomic status of Tscherskia triton nestor, which inhabits in Korea, we first obtained partial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) (657 bp) and cytochrome b (426 bp) sequences of T. t. nestor from the Korean Jeju Island and Tscherskia triton fuscipes from northeastern China, and these sequences were compared with the corresponding sequences of Tscherskia triton, available from GenBank. In the COI analysis, T. t. nestor from Jeju was distinct from T. t. fuscipe from northeastern China, with the average Jukes–Cantor distance of 3.45%, and in the cytochrome b analysis, T. t. nestor from Jeju was divergent from T. t. fuscipes from northeastern China and T. t. triton from the North China Plain, with the average distance of 3.88%. We conclude that these sequencing results on the distinctiveness of T. t. nestor from Jeju support the current classification of T. t. nestor from Korea, although further analyses with mitochondrial sequences of T. t. nestor from the mainland Korea and nuclear sequences of T. triton from Korea and China are necessary to confirm our findings. In addition, we considered genetically distinct T. t. triton from Jeju as an allopatric phylogroup, which needs special protection for its conservation. Additionally, we found the lack of cytochrome b sequences between T. t. fuscipes from northeastern China and T. t. triton in the North China Plain, although further systematic analyses to clarify the taxonomic status of T. t. fuscipes are necessary.