A VKORC1 ‐based SNP survey of anticoagulant rodenticide resistance in the house mouse, Norway rat and roof rat in the USA

BACKGROUND We conducted a vitamin K epoxide reductase subcomponent 1 ( Vkorc1 )‐based nonsynonymous Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (nsSNP) screen with focus on the house mouse ( Mus musculus domesticus ), but that also considered the Norway rat ( Rattus norvegicus ) and roof rat ( R. rattus ) in the USA. RESULTS We detected six Vkorc1 nsSNPs underlying the amino‐acid polymorphisms Ala21Thr , Trp59Leu , Ile104Val, Val118Leu, Leu128Ser and Tyr139Cys in house mice (average coverage/SNP; n = 182 individuals), two nsSNPs underlying Arg35Pro and Gly46Ser in the Norway rat ( n = 93), with the notable absence of Tyr139Cys ( n = 179), and one nsSNP underlying Tyr25Phe in the roof rat ( n = 27). Inferred resistance frequency is 29.1% for mice (variability of states 0–98.8%), 6.5% (0–33.3%) for the Norway rat, and 39.3% (0–52.6%) for the roof rat based on Tyr25Phe frequencies. CONCLUSIONS Resistance detected in the USA in the 1980s likely was the consequence of Vkorc1 mutations in mice ( Leu128Ser and Tyr139Cys ), Norway rats ( Arg35Pro ) and roof rats ( Tyr25Phe ). Patterns of variant sharing between the USA and Europe indicate the importance of convergent evolution and gene flow in spreading resistance. The spread of nsSNPs in mice between continents appears to have been more effective than in Norway rats. We hypothesize that Arg35Pro may have originated in Norway rats in the USA, whereas Tyr139Cys variants originated in Europe. Tyr25Phe is the likely cause for resistance in roof rats. Further genetic testing in the USA is required to close sampling gaps, and population genomic data are needed to study the origin and spread of this adaptive trait.