An estimation of the degree of the genetic divergence of sibling species Microtus arvalis and Microtus subarvalis (Rodentia) based on electrophoretic analysis.

The electrophoretic mobilities of 52 enzymes and proteins were used as measures of the genetic similarity between the sibling species Microtus arvalis and M. subarvalis. The two vole species differed in the electrophoretic mobilities of seven (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, adenylate kinase, diaphorase, lactate dehydrogenase-A, alpha-galactosidase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and hemoglobin) of these markers. This allowed us to accept the seven markers assayed as species-specific markers. Based on the frequency distribution of the genes at the polymorphic loci of M. arvalis and M. subarvalis, the degree of their genetic similarity was estimated as 0.312 and the genetic distance as 1.164 by Nei's formula. The estimates for genetic similarity were close to those obtained for species recognized as distinct.