[Genetic differentiation of subspecies of the house mouse Mus musculus and their taxonomic relationships inferred from RAPD-PCR data].

Genetic differentiation of six subspecies of the house mouse Mus musculus (Mus musculus musculus. M. m. domesticus, M. m. castaneus, M. m. gansuensis, M. m. wagneri, and M. m. ssp. (bactrianus?) was examined using RAPD-PCR analysis. In all, 373 loci of total length of about 530 kb were identified. Taxon-specific molecular markers were detected and the levels of genetic differences among the subspecies were estimated. Different degree of subspecific genetic differentiation was shown. The most similar subspecies pairs were M. m. castaneus--M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus--M. m. gansuensis. In our phylogenetic reconstruction, M. m. wagnery proved to be most different from all the other subspecies. Genetic distances between it and other subspecies were two- to threefold higher than those between the "good"' species of the subgenus Mus (e.g., between M. m. musculus and M. spicilegus, M. musculus and M. abbottii). The estimates of genetic similarity and the taxonomic relationships between six house mouse subspecies inferred from RAPD partially conformed to the results based on cytogenetic and allozyme data. However, they were considerably different from phylogenetic reconstructions based on sequencing of the control mtDNA region, which reflects mutual inconsistency of different systems of inheritance.