Restricted gene flow in calomys musculinus (rodentia, muridae), the natural reservoir of junin virus

Random amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) markers were used to evaluate the relative contribution of gene flow as a determinant of the population genetic structure of the wild rodent Calomys musculinus (the reservoir of Argentine hemorrhagic fever [AHF]) in central Argentina. One hundred eighty-seven individuals from 13 populations (9 of them from the endemic zone of AHF and 5 from areas outside it) were analyzed using 78 polymorphic RAPD loci. Genetic variation within each population was high; each individual was characterized by a unique RAPD phenotype. C. musculinus populations showed a moderate to high genetic subdivision and a random pattern of differentiation. Populations separated by the same geographic distance showed very different degrees of genetic divergence. The results indicate that populations of C. musculinus have colonized their present ranges relatively recently and differentiation by genetic drift has proceeded faster than homogenization by gene flow at the macrogeographic scale analyzed (10–700 km). Calomys musculinus is a wild murid rodent widely distributed throughout most of Argentina. It is an opportunistic species, characterized by a high reproductive rate and the ability to colonize a wide variety of habitats, particularly disturbed ones like crop fields (Crespo et al. 1970; de Villafañe et al