Hybrid zones of house mice of genus Mus (Rodentia, Muridae) in Russia and neighbouring countries: role of hybridisation in evolution of commensal taxa.

Kotenkova E.V.

P. 25-32

The significance of hybridisation in the evolution and diversification of commensal taxa of Mus musculus s.l. species group is discussed. Allozyme analysis has shown that Transcaucasian populations of commensal house mice possess an admixture of musculus and domesticus genes. This region is either a zone of secondary contact between musculus and domesticus, with very wide introgression of domesticus genes into the genome of musculus, or these are relict populations descended from non-differentiated forms with ancestral polymorphism. The main feature of this zone is the unusually large extent of domesticus genes, which occur throughout the entire Transcaucasia (about 350 000 km 2 ). Data and observations favour the view suggest that Transcaucasian house mouse populations are relicts of an early-differentiated form of M. musculus, preserving much of the ancestral gene pool. The second possible hypothesis is that populations of Transcaucasia are result of hybridisation of ancient not finally differentiated forms of house mice. It is possible that ancient “oriental” lineage and ancient form of musculus were colonised the Transcaucasia and mixed in this territory. The Adzharian populations would then be a product of contact between these forms and early of fully differentiated M. domesticus from Turkey. Large zones of hybridisation are present also in other regions of Asia. Analysis of hybrid populations of house mice in Russia demonstrates the particular significance of hybridisation in the evolution of commensal taxa. This enhanced role in commensals is linked to their unique ability to expand their geographic ranges through human agency and even survive as commensals in areas that are beyond their physiological tolerance.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.3.1.05

• Argiropulo A.I. 1940. [The Fauna of the USSR. Mammals. Т.3. Vyp.5. Family Muridae - Mice]. Moskva-Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR. 170 p. [in Russian].
• Bonhomme F., Catalan J., Britton-Davidian J., Capman V.M., Morivaki K., Nevo E. & Thaler L. 1984. Biochemical diversity and evolution in the genus Mus // Biochemical Genetics. Vol.22. No.3-4. P.275-303.
• Boursot P., Auffray J.C., Britton-Davidian J. & Bonhomme F. 1993. The evolution of house mice // Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. Vol.24. P.119-152.
• Boursot P., Din W., Anand R., Darviche D., Dod B., von Deimling F., Talwar G.P. & Bonhomme F. 1996. Origin and radiation of the house mouse: mithochondrial DNA phylogeny // Journal of Evolutionary Biology. Vol.9. No.4. P.391-415.
• Din W., Anand R., Boursot P., Darviche D., Dod B., Jouvin-Marche E., Orth A., Talwar G.P., Cazenave P-A. & Bonhomme F. 1996. Origin and radiation of the house mouse: clues from nuclear genes // Journal of Evolutionary Biology. Vol.9. No.5. P.519-539.
• Frisman L.V. & Korobitsyna K.V. 1990. [Genetic differentiation of house mice in the South of the Soviet Far East] // Genetica. Vol.26. No.12. P.2147-2155 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Frisman L.V., Korobitsyna K.V.& Yakimenko L.V. 1990. Genetic differentiation of USSR house mice: electrophoretic study of proteins // Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. Vol.41. No.1. P.65-72.
• Frisman L.V., Korobitsyna K.V., Yakimenko L.V.& Vorontsov N.N. 1990. [What biochemical groups of house mice distribute in the territory of the USSR] // Allenova T.V., Korobitsyna K.V. & Kosoi M.T. (eds.). [Evolutionary Genetic Studies of Mammals]. Vladivostok: DVO AN SSSR. T.1. P.35-54 [in Russian].
• Golenischev F.N. & Malikov V.G. 2003. [Evolutionary and systematic aspects of historical interrelations of discretely heterogenic genetic pools] // Golenischev F.N. & Baranova G.I. (eds.). [Theriological Investigations]. No.3. P.23-40 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Gunduz I., Coskun T., Malikov V., Vaziri A., Polyakov A.V. & Searle J.B. 2000. Mitochondrial DNA and chromosomal studies of wild mice (Mus) from Turkey and Iran // Heredity. Vol.84. No.4. P.458-467.
• Heptner W.G. 1930. Uber die Rassen von Mus m. musculus im ostlichen Kaukasus (Cis- und Transkukasien) // Zoologisher Anzeiger. Bd.89. Hf.1-2. S.5-22.
• Korobitsyna K.L., Yakimenko L.V., Frisman L.V., Moriwaki K. & Yonekawa H. 2000. [Genetic investigations of wild house mice from hybrid zones of Russian Far East] // Agadjanian A.K. & Orlov V.N. (eds.). [Systematics and Phylogeny of Rodents and Lagomorphs]. Moskva: Teriologicheskoe Obshchestvo. P.79-81 [in Russian].
• Kotenkova E.V. 2000. [Commensal and wild-living mice of Mus musculus s.l. species complex: systematics, distribution, lifestyle, isolating mechanisms and evolution]. Avtoreferat Dissertatsii na Soiskanie Uchenoi Stepeni Doctora Biologicheskih Nauk. Moskva. 55 p. [in Russian].
• Kotenkova E.V. 2003. Systematics and distribution of the house mice of Russia and neighbouring countries, with special regards to zones of high genetic polymorphism // Singleton C.R., Hinds L.A., Krebs C.J. & Spratt D.M. (eds.). Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management. ACIAR Monographs. Vol.96. P.148-150.
• Kotenkova E.V., Ambarian A.V., Kandaurov A.S. & Meshkova N.N. 2003. Exploratory behavior and response to olfactory cues by the Mus musculus species group: implications for the origins of Transcaucasian forms of Mus // Singleton C.R., Hinds L.A., Krebs C.J. & Spratt D.M. (eds.). Rats, Mice and People: Rodent Biology and Management. ACIAR Monographs. Vol.96. P.151-154.
• Kotenkova E.V. & Naidenko S.V. 1999. Discrimination of con- and heterospecific odors in different taxa of the Mus musculus species group: Olfactory cues as precopulatory isolating mechanism // Johnston R.E., Muller-Schwarze D. & Sorensen P. (eds.). Advances in Chemical Communication in Vertebrates. Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, July 20-25 1997. New York: Kluwer Academic & Plenum Publishers. P.299-308.
• Kotenkova E.V., Meshkova N.N. & Zagoruiko N.V. 1994. Exploratory behaviour in synantropic and outdoor mice of superspecies complex Mus musculus // Polish Ecological Studies. Vol.20. No.3-4. P.377-383.
• Lavrenchenko L.A. 1994. [Analysis of craniometric characters of house mice Mus musculus sensu lato (Rodentia, Muridae): a multivariate approach] // Zoologicheskii Zhurnal. T.73. No.7. P.169-178 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Marshall J.T. 1998. Identification and Scientific Names of Eurasian House Mice and Their European Allies, Subgenus Mus (Rodentia: Muridae). Springfield: Virginia. 80 p.
• Mezhzherin S.V. & Kotenkova E.V. 1989. [Genetic marking of subspecies of the house mice of the USSR] // Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR. T.304. No.5. P.1272-1275 [in Russian].
• Mezhzherin S.V. & Kotenkova E.V. 1992. Biochemical systematics of house mice from the central Palearctic region // Zeitschrift für zoologische Systematik und Evolutionsforschung. Bd.30. Hf.3. P.180-188.
• Mezhzherin S.V., Kotenkova E.V. & Mikhailenko A.G. 1994. [Hybrid zones] // Kotenkova E.V. & Bulatova N.S. (eds.). [House Mouse]. Moskva: Nauka. P.37-50 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Mezhzherin S.V, Kotenkova E.V & Mikhailenko A.G. 1998. The house mice, Mus musculus s.l., hybrid zone of Trans-Caucasus // Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. Bd.63. Hf.2. P. 154-168.
• Mezhzherin S.V., Kotenkova E.V., Zikov A.E. & Mikhailenko A.G. 1992. Morphological and genetic variability of house mice Mus musculus s. lato of western Palearctic region // Karaseva E.V. (ed.). [Commensalism of Rodents and Regulation of Their Density]. Moskva: Rossiiskaya Akademiya Nauk. P.231-255 [in Russian].
• Milishnikov A.N. 1994. [Comparative protein variability in populations] // Kotenkova E.V. & Bulatova N.S. (eds.). [House Mouse]. Moskva: Nauka. P.116-139 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Milishnikov A.N,. Lavrenchenko L.A., Rafiev A.N. & Orlov V.N. 1990. [High level of introgression of Mus domesticus genes into populations of M. musculus s. str. in Transcaucasia] // Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR. Vol.311. No.3. P.764-768 [in Russian].
• Milishnikov A.N., Rafiev A.N. & Orlov V.N. 1994. [Genetic variation in populations of the house mouse Mus musculus L. 1758 s. stricto from western, central, and south-eastern parts of species range] // Genetica. Vol.30. No.7. P.906-912 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Moulina C.J., Aussel P., Bonhomme F., Boursot P., Nielsen J.T. & Renaud F. 1991. Wormy mice in a hybrid zone: A genetic control of susceptibility to parasite infection // Journal of Evolutionary Biology. Vol.4. No.4. P.679-687.
• Orth A., Adama T., Din W.& Bonhomme F. 1998. Hybridation naturelle entre deux sous-especes de souris domestique, Mus musculus domesticus et Mus musculus castaneus, pres du lac Casitas (Californie) // Genome. Vol.41. No.1. P.104.-110.
• Orth A., Lyapunova E., Kandaurov A., Boissinot S., Boursot P., Vorontsov N. & Bonhomme P. 1996. L'espece polytypigue Mus musculus in Transcaucasie // Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences, Paris. Series 3: Sciences de la vie. Vol.319. No.5. P.435-441.
• Prager E.M., Orrego C. & Sage R.D. 1998. Genetic variation and phylogeography of central Asian and other house mice, including a major new mithochondrial lineage in Yemen // Genetics. Vol.150. No.2. P.835-861.
• Potanskyi V.G.& Kotenkova E.V. 1992. [Experimental study of precopulatory isolating mechanisms between three genetically differentiated forms of house mice genus Mus] // Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Biologicheskaiya. No.6. P.881-887 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Rafiev A.N. 1990. [Protein polymorphism of house mice (genus Mus) in the territory of the USSR]. Avtoreferat Dissertatsii na Soiskanie Uchenoi Stepeni Kandidata Biologicheskih Nauk. Moskva. 26 p. [in Russian].
• Sage R.D., Atchley W.R. & Capanna E. 1993. House mice as a model in systematic biology // Systematic Biology. Vol.42. No.4. P.523-561.
• Sage R.D., Heyneman D., Lim K.-C. & Wilson A.C. 1986. Wormy mice in a hybrid zone // Nature. Vol.324. No.6092. P.60-63.
• Schnell G.D. & Selander R.K. 1981. Environmental and morphological correlates of genetic variation in mammals // Joule J. & Smith M.H. (eds.). Mammalian Population Genetics. Athens: University of Georgia Press. P.60-99.
• Sokolov V.E, Kotenkova E.V. & Lyalyukhina S.I. 1990. [Biology of the House and Mound-building Mice]. Moskva: Nauka. 207 p. [in Russian, with English summary].
• Shidlovskii M.V. 1947. [Rodents of the Black Sea coast of Georgia] // Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta AN Gruzinskoi SSR. Vol.7. P.212-221 [in Russian].
• Shidlovskii M.V. 1958. [Small mammals of Klukhorskyi region] // Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta AN Gruzinskoi SSR. Vol.16. P.215-222 [in Russian].
• Shidlovskii M.V. 1976. [Guidebook of Rodents of Transcaucasia]. Tbilisi: Metsniereba. 255 p. [in Russian].
• Thaler L., Bonhomme F., Britton-Davidian J. & Hamar M. 1981. The house mouse complex of species: sympatric occurrence of biochemical groups Mus 2 and 4 in Rumania // Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde. Bd.46. Hf.3. P.169-173.
• Vinogradov B.S. & Gromov I.M. 1952. [Rodents of the Fauna of the USSR. Guidebooks on the Fauna of Russia, Issued by Zoological Institute of Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Vyp.48]. Moskva, Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR. 297 p. [in Russian].
• Vereshchagin N.K. 1959. [Mammals of the Caucasus: History of Fauna Formation]. Moskva-Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR. 703 p. [in Russian].
• Yakimenko L.V. & Korobitsyna K.L. 2000. [Cytogenetic and morphological investigation of house mice of southern Transbaikalia] // Agadjanian A.K & Orlov V.N. (eds.). [Systematics and Phylogeny of Rodents and Lagomorphs]. Moskva: Teriologicheskoe Obshchestvo. P.188-191 [in Russian].
• Yakimenko L.V., Korobitsyna K.L, Frisman L.V., Moriwaki K. & Yonekawa H. 2000. [Genetic studies on house mice from the hybrid area of the Primorskii Territory] // Genetica. Vol.36. No.1. P.77-86 [in Russian, with English summary].
• Yonekawa H., Moriwaki K., Goton O., Miyashita N., Yoshibumi M., Shi L., Cho W.S., Zhen X-L.& Tagashira Y. 1988. Hybrid origin of Japanese mice Mus musculus molossinus : Evidence from restriction analysis of mithochondrial DNA // Molecular Biology and Evolution. Vol.5. No.1. P.63-78.