School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NJ, UK.
Genes (Basel). 2021 Jan 21;12(2):138. doi: 10.3390/genes12020138.
The European water vole () is a rodent within the subfamily Arvicolinae. In Britain, water voles have declined rapidly during the last century, making them a conservation priority. The relationship of to other genera within Arvicolinae remains debated. Additionally, the impact that captive breeding programs in Britain are having on the genetic diversity of water voles is unknown. We use available mitochondrial genomes to construct the phylogeny of species within Arvicolinae, followed by sequencing the mitochondrial DNA control region of 17 individuals from a captive population of water voles in Britain to assess their genetic diversity and population structure. Our study first provides an updated phylogenetic tree of Arvicolinae using the mitochondrial genome of 31 species. Second, our results show considerable genetic diversity in the captive population of water voles, when compared with natural populations in Britain. We confirm the grouping of British water voles into two clades, with all captive individuals found in the English/Welsh clade. Moreover, captive water voles clustered closely with populations in the South East and East of England. The mitochondrial genome provides a useful marker to study the phylogenetics of this rodent clade and in addition, our study provides support for the breeding program at Wildwood Trust and provides a framework for future conservation genetics studies in this species.
欧洲水鼠（）是亚科中的一种啮齿动物。在英国，水鼠在上个世纪迅速减少，因此成为保护的优先事项。 与亚科内其他属的关系仍然存在争议。此外，英国圈养繁殖计划对水鼠遗传多样性的影响尚不清楚。我们使用现有的线粒体基因组构建亚科内物种的系统发育，然后对英国圈养水鼠种群的 17 个个体的线粒体 DNA 控制区进行测序，以评估它们的遗传多样性和种群结构。我们的研究首先使用 31 种物种的线粒体基因组提供了更新的亚科系统发育树。其次，与英国的自然种群相比，我们的结果显示圈养水鼠种群具有相当大的遗传多样性。我们证实了英国水鼠分为两个分支，所有圈养个体都属于英格兰/威尔士分支。此外，圈养水鼠与英格兰东南部和东部的种群聚类密切。线粒体基因组是研究这种啮齿动物进化枝系统发育的有用标记，此外，我们的研究为野生信托基金会的繁殖计划提供了支持，并为该物种的未来保护遗传学研究提供了框架。
