The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) is one of the semi-aquatic mammals which were introduced from North America in various regions around the world (Danell, 1996; Musser ir Carleton, 2005). The microsatellites markers were used only for the Canadian muskrat populations (Laurence et al. 2009) and there are no genetics studies (using microsatellite) of muskrat in Europe or Russia. The aim of this study was to evaluate genetic structure (using microsatellite markers) of muskrat populations in Lithuania and South Karelia, Russia.
A total of 179 samples of muskrat were investigated genetically: 71 muskrat from Lithuania and 108 – Russia. The genetic variability was compared using 7 polymorphic microsatellite loci (Oz08, Oz17, Oz22, Oz30, Oz41, Oz43, Oz44).
Population analysis revealed moderate to high levels of genetic variability (in Lithuania: He = 0.35-0.88, Ho = 0.29-0.94; In Russia: He = 0.74-0.90, Ho = 0.44-0.80). The numbers of polymorphic loci were 100 % and size ranged from 183 to 272 base pairs in Lithuania and Russia. The numbers of alleles per locus ranging from 5 to 15 in Lithuania (in a total of 67 alleles) and from 8 to 19 – Russia (in a total of 91 alleles). Each locus was tested for departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and all loci exhibited significant in Russia populations and 6 loci in Lithuania. The results of principal coordinate analysis (PCA) by genetic similarity showed that the two populations separated and formed two different groups – Lithuanian and Russian. The results showed that the genetic diversity was higher in Russia population of muskrat than in Lithuania, but lower if to compare with muskrat population from Canada (Laurence et al. 2009; Laurence et el., 2013).