title: Comparative genome mapping of the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) reveals greater similarity to rat (Rattus norvegicus) than to the lab mouse (Mus musculus).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and congeneric species are the most common North American mammals. They represent an emerging system for the genetic analyses of the physiological and behavioral bases of habitat adaptation. Phylogenetic evidence suggests a much more ancient divergence of Peromyscus from laboratory mice (Mus) and rats (Rattus) than that separating latter two. Nevertheless, early karyotypic analyses of the three groups suggest Peromyscus to be exhibit greater similarities with Rattus than with Mus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparative linkage mapping of an estimated 35% of the deer mouse genome was done with respect to the Rattus and Mus genomes. We particularly focused on regions that span synteny breakpoint regions between the rat and mouse genomes. The linkage analysis revealed the Peromyscus genome to have a higher degree of synteny and gene order conservation with the Rattus genome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that: 1. the Rattus and Peromyscus genomes more closely represent ancestral Muroid and rodent genomes than that of Mus. 2. the high level of genome rearrangement observed in Muroid rodents is especially pronounced in Mus. 3. evolution of genome organization can operate independently of more commonly assayed measures of genetic change (e.g. SNP frequency).
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and the Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA. clifton.ramsdell@gmail.com
authors.forename: Clifton M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ramsdell
authors.forename: Adrienne A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lewandowski
authors.forename: Julie L Weston
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Glenn
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Vrana
authors.forename: Rachel J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Dewey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005819:Genetic Markers; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D051381:Rats / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity; D026801:Synteny
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005819:Genetic Markers