Open Access
How to translate text using browser tools
1 April 2002 Molecular Phylogeography of the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Populations in Xinjiang of China: Comparison with other Asian, European, and North American Populations
Halik Mahmut, Ryuichi Masuda, Manabu Onuma, Manami Takahashi, Junko Nagata, Masatsugu Suzuki, Noriyuki Ohtaishi
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

To illustrate phylogeography of red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations of Xinjiang, we determined their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences, and then investigated geographic variations and phylogenetic relationships between Xinjiang populations and other populations from Asia, Europe, and North America. The C. elaphus mtDNA control region shared different copy numbers of tandem repeats of 38 to 43-bp motifs which clearly distinguished the Western lineage from the Eastern lineage of this species in Eurasia. The western lineage comprised the Tarim populations from southern Xinjiang and the European populations, all of which had four copies of the motifs. By contrast, the Eastern lineage consisted of populations from northern Xinjiang (Tianshan and Altai Mountains), other Asian areas (Alashan, Gansu, Tibet, Mongolia, and northeastern China), and North America, all of which shared six copies of the motifs. MtDNA phylogenetic trees showed that there are two major clusters of haplotypes which referred to the Western and Eastern lineages, and that subgroupings of haplotypes in each cluster were congruent with their geographic distributions. The present study revealed that a boundary separating the Western lineage from the Eastern lineage occurs between Tarim Basin and Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. Meanwhile, North American populations were genetically closer to those of northern Xinjiang, northeastern China, and Mongolia, supporting that C. elaphus immigrated from northeastern Eurasia to North America through the glacier-induced land-bridge (Beringia) which had formed between the two continents after Late Pleistocene.

Halik Mahmut, Ryuichi Masuda, Manabu Onuma, Manami Takahashi, Junko Nagata, Masatsugu Suzuki, and Noriyuki Ohtaishi "Molecular Phylogeography of the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Populations in Xinjiang of China: Comparison with other Asian, European, and North American Populations," Zoological Science 19(4), 485-495, (1 April 2002). https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.19.485
Received: 19 October 2001; Accepted: 1 December 2001; Published: 1 April 2002
KEYWORDS
Cervus elaphus
mitochondrial DNA
PHYLOGEOGRAPHY
red deer
Xinjiang
Back to Top