title: Eurasian house mouse (Mus musculus L.) differentiation at microsatellite loci identifies the Iranian plateau as a phylogeographic hotspot.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The phylogeography of the house mouse (Mus musculus L.), an emblematic species for genetic and biomedical studies, is only partly understood, essentially because of a sampling bias towards its most peripheral populations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Moreover, the present-day phylogeographic hypotheses stem mostly from the study of mitochondrial lineages. In this article, we complement the mtDNA studies with a comprehensive survey of nuclear markers (19 microsatellite loci) typed in 963 individuals from 47 population samples, with an emphasis on the putative Middle-Eastern centre of dispersal of the species.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on correspondence analysis, distance and allele-sharing trees, we find a good coherence between geographical origin and genetic make-up of the populations. We thus confirm the clear distinction of the three best described peripheral subspecies, M. m. musculus, M. m. domesticus and M. m. castaneus. A large diversity was found in the Iranian populations, which have had an unclear taxonomic status to date. In addition to samples with clear affiliation to M. m. musculus and M. m. domesticus, we find two genetic groups in Central and South East Iran, which are as distinct from each other as they are from the south-east Asian M. m. castaneus. These groups were previously also found to harbor distinct mitochondrial haplotypes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We propose that the Iranian plateau is home to two more taxonomic units displaying complex primary and secondary relationships with their long recognized neighbours. This central region emerges as the area with the highest known diversity of mouse lineages within a restricted geographical area, designating it as the focal place to study the mechanisms of speciation and diversification of this species.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Evolutionary Genetics, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany. ehardouin@bournemouth.ac.uk.|Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Christchurch House, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK. ehardouin@bournemouth.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Emilie A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hardouin
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Pl. E. Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France. annie.orth@univ-montp2.fr.
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Orth
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Evolutionary Genetics, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany. meike.teschke@dfg.de.
authors.forename: Meike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Teschke
authors.affiliation: Rodentology Research group, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. biosystematique@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jamshid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Darvish
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Evolutionary Genetics, August-Thienemann-Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany. tautz@evolbio.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Diethard
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tautz
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Pl. E. Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France. francois.bonhomme@univ-montp2.fr.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bonhomme
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005828:Genetics, Population; D007492:Iran; D051379:Mice / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D058974:Phylogeography
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial