MOLECULAR-GENETIC TYPING OF 3 FORMS OF WO OD AND FIELD MICE BELONGINGTO A TRANSPALEARCTIC GENUS (APODEMUS, MURIDAE, RODENTIA)

The genomes of three species of wood mouse (Apodemus falzfeini and A. ponticus from the Caucasus and A. argenteus from Japan) were compared by means of restriction analysis of nuclear DNA. The species are diffe rentiated from each other and from previously studied species, Each sp ecies has its species-specific features. Within the genus Apodemus, A. ponticus is most closely related to the European species A. sylvaticu s and A. flavicollis. A. falzfeini has a peculiar type of restriction with EcoR I (specific for dispersed repeats) and Hind III (specific fo r satDNA). The genome of this species contains three families of EcoR I repeats previously found in various species (European and Asian) of wood mouse and Hind III components characteristic of both wood and fie ld mice, A. argenteus differs from all other forms of Apodemus, the ge nome of which contains the 375-bp Hind III satellite, by the presence of a EcoR I satDNA fraction consisting of 240-bp repeating units.