Population Structure of Wild Musk Shrews (Suncus murinus) in Asia Based on Mitochondrial DNA Variation, with Research in Cambodia and Bhutan

Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Furocho, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601,Japan; Faculty of Agriculture, University of Cantho, Cantho, Hau Giang, Viet Nam; Faculty of Animal andVeterinary Sciences, Hanoi Agricultural University, Gialam, Hanoi, Viet Nam; RNR Research Center,Ministry of Agriculture, Jakar, Bhutan; Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University,Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8528, Japan; Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department, Ministry of Livestockand Fisheries, Yangon, Myanmar; Faculty of Agriculture, Kagoshima University, Gunmoto, Kagoshima890-0065, Japan; Faculty of Animal Science and Veterinary Science, Royal University of Agriculture,Phnom Penh, Cambodia Abstract: The musk shrew (Suncus murinus) is a small mammalian species belonging to Insectivora. It iswidely distributed in Asia. To identify the genetic relationship among wild musk shrew populations andexamine its migration route, we investigated the populations of Cambodia and Bhutan by usingmitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and compared them with other Asianpopulations previously described. Four haplotypes were detected in Cambodia and eight in Bhutan. A totalof 53 haplotypes were detected in Asia and were classified largely into two groups, the Continental andIsland types, based on a minimum spanning network. From the distribution of mtDNA types in wild muskshrews, three major population groups are identified in Asia: South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Malay. It issuggested that the Malay population group was a mix of South and Southeast Asian population groups andthat this was a contact area of the two groups. In addition, other contact areas between the South andSoutheast Asian groups exist in Myanmar, but unlike the Malay, the Myanmar area was the border of thesegroups. © 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Author Keywords: Asia; Migration route; mtDNA RFLPs; Population; Suncus murinus Index Keywords: mitochondrial DNA; article; Bhutan; Cambodia; controlled study; genetic variability;haplotype; island (geological); Malaysia; molecular phylogeny; Myanmar; nonhuman; population structure;restriction fragment length polymorphism; shrew; South Asia; Southeast Asia; suncus murinus; wild type;Animal Migration; Animals; Bhutan; Cambodia; DNA, Mitochondrial; Geography; Haplotypes; Phylogeny;Population Dynamics; Restriction Mapping; Shrews; Variation (Genetics); Insectivora; Mammalia; Suncus;Suncus murinus Year: 2007 Source title: Biochemical Genetics Volume: 45 Issue: 4-Mar Page : 165-183