Abstract
We analysed a fragment (247 bp) of cytochrome b of mitochondrial DNA sequenced using 353 samples of yellow-necked mice Apodemus flavicollis trapped in seven forests and along three woodlot transects in north-eastern Poland. Our aims were to identify the phylogeographic pattern and mtDNA structure of the population and to evaluate the role of environmental conditions in shaping the spatial pattern of mtDNA diversity. We found out that three European haplogroups occurred sympatrically in north-eastern Poland. Inferences based on mtDNA haplotype distribution and frequency defined five subpopulations. The mtDNA-based structure of mice significantly correlated with winter temperature: frequency of Haplogroup 1 was positively, and that of Haplogroup 3 negatively correlated to mean temperature of January in the year of trapping. Synthesis of the published pan-European data on the species phylogeography also showed that the possibly 'thermophilous' Haplogroup 1 has the westernmost occurrence, whereas the more 'cold-resistant' Haplogroup 3 occurs much further to north-east than the other haplogroups. The observed patter may be a byproduct of the tight coevolution with nuclear genes, as we have earlier found that − in mice population in NE Poland − the spatial pattern of nuclear DNA was best explained by January temperature. Alternatively, the observed association of mitochondrial genetic variation with temperature is possible to be adaptive as cytochrome b is involved in the process of ATP production via oxidative phosphorylation.
Highlights
Historical events such as isolation in glacial refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), landscape discontinuities created by ice sheets and recolonization routes at the end of Pleistocene are still detectable in genomes of contemporary living animals
SAMOVA results have shown that high percent of a total observed variation accounts for the variation within local populations and very low amount of variation was observed among populations within defined spatial groups
The results suggested presence of additional, eastern source of contemporary European population of yellow-necked mouse, apart from the recognized Balkan LGM refugium
Summary
Historical events such as isolation in glacial refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), landscape discontinuities created by ice sheets and recolonization routes at the end of Pleistocene are still detectable in genomes of contemporary living animals. As some phylogenetic studies showed, there had to be more refugial areas, placed somewhere in the eastern part of the continent but their exact localization is still under debate [3, 5, 6].
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