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Reindeer and Caribou Showed Broad Genetic Differences Across Russia, Alaska and Canada

Caribou herd on snowy tundra near Nome, Alaska
Research · Genetics & genomics

A circumpolar genetic analysis of reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) combined legacy microsatellite datasets from Alaska, Canada and Russia and recovered broad genetic differentiation among the three regions. The study was published in Genetica on 26 August 2026.

Older datasets first had to be made comparable

The researchers harmonised data from 1,544 animals representing 42 populations, using nine microsatellite loci shared among the underlying datasets. Microsatellites are short repeated stretches of DNA that can serve as markers of genetic variation. Because older studies were produced by different laboratories and genotyping systems, allele sizes could not simply be compared directly. The team therefore adjusted each genetic marker separately to reduce systematic differences between laboratories while retaining the genetic variation within each original dataset.

Alaskan populations occupied an intermediate genetic position

After harmonisation, several analytical approaches consistently separated Russian, Canadian and Alaskan populations at a broad scale. Alaskan populations occupied an intermediate position between the Canadian and Russian groups, a pattern the authors describe as consistent with historical connectivity through Beringia, the region around the Bering Strait that linked Asia and North America during periods of lower sea level.

The study primarily demonstrates a way to make heterogeneous legacy microsatellite datasets more comparable, while also providing a wider view of circumpolar population structure. The authors stress that the method complements rather than replaces direct cross-laboratory calibration when shared reference samples are available.

Sources and image credit

  1. Semina, M., Svishcheva, G., Kuznetsova, A., Kozyrenko, D., Laishev, K., & Stolpovsky, Y. (2026). Integrating microsatellite data via locus-specific mode-shift harmonisation reveals circumpolar population structure in reindeer and caribou (Rangifer tarandus). Genetica, 154(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-026-00288-1Primary peer-reviewed study. A harmonised dataset of 1,544 individuals from 42 populations at nine shared microsatellite loci showed broad differentiation among Russian, Canadian and Alaskan populations; Alaska occupied an intermediate position consistent with historical Beringian connectivity.

Image: Ben Townsend — caribou herd near Nome, Alaska, USA, photographed 25 November 2005; Wikimedia Commons/Flickr. Representative herd image, not animals from the genetic datasets. CC BY 2.0. · CC BY 2.0 · Source

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