Structure, organization and nucleotide diversity of the mitochondrial control region and cytochrome b of southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus)

Abstract

The southern water vole (Arvicola sapidus Miller, 1908) is an endangered rodent whose conservation guidelines should preserve the current genetic variability. We analyze the structure and organization of the mitochondrial control region (CR) in A. sapidus. The CR of this species is characterized by a low guanine-cytosine content, the absence of any repetitive motif within the two hypervariable regions, and the presence of the two extended termination-associated sequences and conserved sequence blocks. Nucleotide diversity comparisons between A. sapidus and the European water vole (Arvicola terrestris) revealed differences in the distribution of genetic variation. Furthermore, we provide primers for the amplification of short and highly polymorphic fragments of CR and cytochrome b especially designed for degraded materials. These markers offer molecular tools to assist in the establishment of future conservation and management guidelines, and will also facilitate studies at different spatial and evolutionary scales of this species.

Keywords::

• Conserved sequence blocks
• cytochrome b
• D-loop
• extended termination-associated sequences
• Muridae
• Rodentia

Acknowledgments

The authors are especially grateful to J. M. Llanes, M. Gutiérrez, M. González, F. Alda, J. Román, M. Delibes, the Molecular Ecology Laboratory and scientific collections housed at the Biological Station of Doñana. They are also indebted to a long list of biologists who provided samples for this study. The present work was funded by the Dirección General de Investigación (project BOS2001-2391-C02-01). A. C.-C. was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.