Genetic isolation of Korean populations of Apodemus peninsulae (Rodentia: Muridae) from their neighboring populations

The Korean populations of Apodemus peninsulae are characterized by high levels of haplotype diversity (Hd = 0.980) and nucleotide diversity (π = 0.00844) and forms a geographically distinct genetic lineage from their neighboring haplotypes. The Tajima’s D and Fu’s Fs tests to estimate demographic history of Korean populations show that the Korean A. peninsulae might have experienced population expansion. These results might be understood in relation to the role of the Korean Peninsula as one of Northeast Asian refugia during the Quaternary glacial ages. A possible scenario is that the ancestral populations have arrived in the Korean Peninsula during the Quaternary glaciations and then they might have evolved as local populations, with population expansion, which are endemic to the Korean Peninsula. The Korean populations appear not to have experienced genetic exchange with their neighboring populations since their colonization in the Korean Peninsula.