title: Molecular phylogeography of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) in Northeastern Asia based on analyses of complete mitochondrial DNA sequences.
abstract: To further elucidate the migration history of the brown bears (Ursus arctos) on Hokkaido Island, Japan, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of 35 brown bears from Hokkaido, the southern Kuril Islands (Etorofu and Kunashiri), Sakhalin Island, and the Eurasian Continent (continental Russia, Bulgaria, and Tibet), and those of four polar bears. Based on these sequences, we reconstructed the maternal phylogeny of the brown bear and estimated divergence times to investigate the timing of brown bear migrations, especially in northeastern Eurasia. Our gene tree showed the mtDNA haplotypes of all 73 brown and polar bears to be divided into eight divergent lineages. The brown bear on Hokkaido was divided into three lineages (central, eastern, and southern). The Sakhalin brown bear grouped with eastern European and western Alaskan brown bears. Etorofu and Kunashiri brown bears were closely related to eastern Hokkaido brown bears and could have diverged from the eastern Hokkaido lineage after formation of the channel between Hokkaido and the southern Kuril Islands. Tibetan brown bears diverged early in the eastern lineage. Southern Hokkaido brown bears were closely related to North American brown bears.
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mano
authors.forename: Alexei V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Abramov
authors.forename: Gennady F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Baryshnikov
authors.forename: Pavel A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Kosintsev
authors.forename: Alexandr A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Vorobiev
authors.forename: Evgeny G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Raichev
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsunoda
authors.forename: Yayoi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fukui
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masuda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006239:Haplotypes; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D058974:Phylogeography; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D001503:Ursidae / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Hokkaido; Ursus arctos; brown bear; complete mitochondrial DNA; phylogeography