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We analysed a fragment (247 bp) of cytochrome b of mitochondrial DNA sequenced using 353 samples of yellow-necked mice Apodemus flavicollis trapped in seven forests and along three woodlot transects in north-eastern Poland. Our aims were to identify the phylogeographic pattern and mtDNA structure of the population and to evaluate the role of environmental conditions in shaping the spatial pattern of mtDNA diversity. We found out that three European haplogroups occurred sympatrically in north-eastern Poland. Inferences based on mtDNA haplotype distribution and frequency defined five subpopulations. The mtDNA-based structure of mice significantly correlated with winter temperature: frequency of Haplogroup 1 was positively, and that of Haplogroup 3 negatively correlated to mean temperature of January in the year of trapping. Synthesis of the published pan-European data on the species phylogeography also showed that the possibly 'thermophilous' Haplogroup 1 has the westernmost occurrence, whereas the more 'cold-resistant' Haplogroup 3 occurs much further to north-east than the other haplogroups. The observed patter may be a byproduct of the tight coevolution with nuclear genes, as we have earlier found that − in mice population in NE Poland − the spatial pattern of nuclear DNA was best explained by January temperature. Alternatively, the observed association of mitochondrial genetic variation with temperature is possible to be adaptive as cytochrome b is involved in the process of ATP production via oxidative phosphorylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The survival of isolated small populations is threatened by both demographic and genetic factors. Large carnivores declined for centuries in most of Europe due to habitat changes, overhunting of their natural prey and direct persecution. However, the current rewilding trends are driving many carnivore populations to expand again, possibly reverting the erosion of their genetic diversity. In this study we reassessed the extent and origin of the genetic variation of the Italian wolf population, which is expanding after centuries of decline and isolation. We genotyped wolves from Italy and other nine populations at four mtDNA regions (control-region, ATP6, COIII and ND4) and 39 autosomal microsatellites. Results of phylogenetic analyses and assignment procedures confirmed in the Italian wolves a second private mtDNA haplotype, which belongs to a haplogroup distributed mostly in southern Europe. Coalescent analyses showed that the unique mtDNA haplotypes in the Italian wolves likely originated during the late Pleistocene. ABC simulations concordantly showed that the extant wolf populations in Italy and in south-western Europe started to be isolated and declined right after the last glacial maximum. Thus, the standing genetic variation in the Italian wolves principally results from the historical isolation south of the Alps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]