Phylogenetic relationships and genetic polymorphisms in wild Indian mice

Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was used to examine the extent of variability in 11 Indian wild derived commensal house mice (Mus musculus) populations and compared with inbred strains of musculus and domesticus subspecies as well as commonly used laboratory inbred strains C57BL/6J and DBA/2J. Arbitrary designed 10 mer oligonucleotide primers with 60-70% (G+C) content were used to amplify DNA template. Out of 52 primers screened initially on the laboratory strains, 20 were selected for analysis on the basis of amplification product in the size range of 200-1400 bp. Among 353 total polymorphic bands, 220 bands (64%) were found to be polymorphic in Indian wild mice, 85 bands (25%) in wild derived inbred strains and 37 bands (11%) in laboratory mice strains. The amplification patterns produced by primers were statistically analysed by Jaccard's similarity coefficient the value of which ranged from 0.56 to 0.80. High level of genetic diversity was seen in the Indian wild mice populations as compared to the controls. The UPGMA phenogram grouped mice population into two major clusters except Bikaner [BIK], Bilaspur [BIL] and Ranikhet [RK] populations which were placed outside the close-knit clusters. Inspite of low values of bootstrap estimates obtained by Wagner and Dollo parsimony analysis, the results were comparable with UPGMA phenogram when constitution of the populations in the major cluster was considered. Indian mice populations appeared to be diverse from laboratory inbred mice strains.