Biochemical comparisons in Holarctic lemmings of the genera Dicrostonyx and Lemmus (Rodentia: Arvicolinae).

Abstract 1. 1. Hemoglobin (Hgb), transferrin (Tf), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) were examined by starch-gel electrophoresis in Asian and North American populations of Dicrostonyx torquatus and Lemnus sibiricus . 2. 2. Holarctic D. torquatus shared hemoglobins of identical mobility as did samples of Holarctic L. sibiricus . Of the four Tf alleles recognized in D. torquatus , the two more common examples were found in both Asian and North American samples. 3. 3. In L. sibiricus , where two Tf alleles occurred, one was found throughout the Holarctic while the other was prevalent on Wrangel Island. 4. 4. Asian and North American D. torquatus were characterized by different, monomorphic G6PD alleles as were Asian and North American L. sibiricus . 5. 5. Polymorphism for LAP occurred in Holarctic D. torquatus (four alleles) and L. sibiricus (three alleles) with North American samples of both genera distinguishable from Asian populations. 6. 6. Taxonomic implications of these data are discussed together with the potential value of protein electrophoresis as a tool for demographic and systematic studies in the two genera.