Genetic Distinctness of the Korean Red-backed Vole (Myodes regulus) from Korea, Revealed by the Mitochondrial DNA Control Region

Abstract

To identify Korean red-backed voles (Myodes regulus) from Korea by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing, we obtained mtDNA control region sequences of 17 red-backed voles from Korea and northeast China, and these sequences were compared with the corresponding haplotypes of Myodes obtained from GenBank. We identified five red-backed voles from Mt. Changbai and Harbin as M. rufocanus and another three redbacked voles from Harbin as M. rutilus, respectively. Moreover, nine red-backed voles from Korea, showing the average nucleotide distance of 0.66% among nine haplotypes, were different from other species of Myodes, and the average distance between nine haplotypes of red-backed voles from Korea and seven haplotypes of M. rufocanus was 6.41%, whereas the average distance between nine haplotypes of red-backed voles from Korea and five haplotypes of M. rutilus was 14.8%. We identified the red-backed voles from Korea as M. regulus, and found that M. regulus is distinct in its mtDNA control region sequences as well, although we propose further analyses with additional specimens from East Asia using nuclear and mtDNA markers to confirm the distinctness of M. regulus.