Genetic diversity of wild reindeer (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rangifer tarandus</Emphasis>) of Taimyr: Analysis of polymorphism of the control region of mitochondrial DNA

Based on an analysis of the polymorphism of nucleotide sequences (n = 111) of the mtDNA control region (left domain), the genetic diversity of the largest population of wild reindeer Rangifer tarandus in Eurasia, which inhabits Taimyr peninsula, was studied. High levels of haplotype (H) and nucleotide (π) diversity (0.987 and 0.018, respectively) were revealed, which indicate the long existence and the sufficiently stable growth of this population. The absence of long periods of abrupt decrease in the number of the Taimyr wild reindeer population and/or facts of formation of its genetic diversity as a result of mixing of genetically distant conspecific populations is supported by the data on the pattern of mismatch distributions and the topology of the phylogenetic tree. The low level of genetic differences between reindeer from the western, central, and eastern groups reflects their common origin and close relationship.