Genetic Variability of the Mongolian Gerbil Meriones unguiculatus in the Northwestern Part of the Range

The variability of two mitochondrial genome markers, cytochrome b gene (cytb) and subunit I of cytochrome oxidase gene (COX1), was studied for the first time in populations of the northwestern part of the range of Meriones unguiculatus. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses were carried out on the basis of both our own and molecular data deposited in the world databases. The level of genetic variability and differentiation of the Mongolian gerbil in the studied region based on COX1 polymorphism were assessed. It has been suggested that the populations of the northwestern part of the range of M. unguiculatus were formed owing to rapid expansion from one or several small ancestral populations from the east to the west in the Middle Holocene.