Intraspecific differentiation in the lesser Japanese mole in eastern Honshu, Japan, indicated by nuclear and mitochondrial gene analyses.

The lesser Japanese mole, Mogera imaizumii, recognized by Motokawa and Abe (1996), occurs in eastern Honshu, western Honshu and Shikoku. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA were analyzed for mole samples from eastern Honshu to elucidate intraspecific differentiation. Analyses of sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (Cytb) and of a restriction fragment length polymorphism of the nuclear 28S ribosomal RNA gene spacer (rDNA-RFLP) revealed two genetic types, partially corresponding to Hutterer's (1993) taxa, M. wogura (= M. imaizumii) and M. minor. Most samples showed either of two combinations of mitochondrial / nuclear gene types. However, two specimens showed a different combination. This incongruent combination of mitochondrial and nuclear genes might have derived, in part, from an introgression event between genetically differentiated populations after secondary contact during the evolutionary history of the lesser Japanese mole in eastern Honshu.