title: Population structure of wild musk shrews (Suncus murinus) in Asia based on mitochondrial DNA variation, with research in Cambodia and Bhutan.
abstract: The musk shrew (Suncus murinus) is a small mammalian species belonging to Insectivora. It is widely distributed in Asia. To identify the genetic relationship among wild musk shrew populations and examine its migration route, we investigated the populations of Cambodia and Bhutan by using mitochondrial DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and compared them with other Asian populations previously described. Four haplotypes were detected in Cambodia and eight in Bhutan. A total of 53 haplotypes were detected in Asia and were classified largely into two groups, the Continental and Island types, based on a minimum spanning network. From the distribution of mtDNA types in wild musk shrews, three major population groups are identified in Asia: South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Malay. It is suggested that the Malay population group was a mix of South and Southeast Asian population groups and that this was a contact area of the two groups. In addition, other contact areas between the South and Southeast Asian groups exist in Myanmar, but unlike the Malay, the Myanmar area was the border of these groups.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Furocho, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurachi
authors.forename: Ba-Loc
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Chau
authors.forename: Vu-Binh
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.forename: Tashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dorji
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Maung Maung
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Nyunt
authors.forename: Yoshizane
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Loan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chhum-Phith
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Namikawa
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamagata
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D001631:Bhutan; D002160:Cambodia; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012788:Shrews / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial