A genetic investigation of enzyme polymorphisms shared by wolf and dog: suggestions for conservation of the wolf in Italy

Abstract

In order to provide suggestions for conservation and management of the wolf Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 in Italy, a total of 46 wolves from central Italy and 53 mongrel dogs were surveyed for electrophoretic variation within and among populations. Six out of 41 presumptive gene loci exhibited polymorphism in the wolf (P = proportion of polymorphic loci = 0.146, 99 per cent criterion), whilst only 3 loci were variable in the dog (P = 0.073). Expected average heterozygosity in the Italian wolf (mean H E = 0.037) was comparable to values reported previously for protein variation in natural wolf populations. By contrast, the dog showed a comparatively low heterozygosity (mean H E = 0.020), which may be a consequence of domestication. Nei's (1978) absolute genetic distance between wolf and dog (D = 0.012) was very similar to values reported in previous investigations, thus confirming that they are closely related forms. Relative genetic differentiation (Wright's FST = 0.167) between wolf and dog was considerably higher than the mean genetic diversity found among several dog breeds. The lesults of the present genetic investigation on the wolf population from central Italy suggested that its genetic resources are quite intact. The extent of differences in allelic frequencies at loci polymorphic both in wolf and dog did not suggest substantial wolf-dog interbreeding, which has been thought to be one of the major threats to the genetic integrity of the Italian wolf population.

Mortality parameters of the wolf in Italy: does the wolf keep himself from the door?

“…Although protection could have played an ancillary role in the recovery of the wolf, most likely the biological resilience of this species to quickly adapt to positive environmental changes, for example the comeback of forests (Apollonio, 1996) and the associated sharp increase of wild artiodactyls (the natural prey of the wolf) (Pedrotti et al , 2001), has been the key factor promoting its increase in the last 30 years in Italy. Interestingly, even the feared reduction of genetic variability and/or hybridization with free‐ranging dogs (Boitani, 1984) have not occurred or, alternatively, hybrids failed to pass on their genes to later generations (Randi, Lucchini & Francisci, 1993; Lorenzini & Fico, 1995; see also Vilà & Wayne, 1999). Among large mammals, the wolf can have a particularly large litter size (up to 8 cubs/litter; Jędrzejewska et al , 1996), a wide spectrum of food resources (e.g.…”

Long‐distance wolf recolonization of France and Switzerland inferred from non‐invasive genetic sampling over a period of 10 years

“…Because all members of the genus Canis are known to hybridize, a hybrid between a female dog and a male wolf will be identified as dog and not wolf (and vice versa). However, several studies using both mtDNA (Wayne et al, 1992;Randi, Francisci & Lucchini, 1995;Vilà & Wayne, 1999;Randi et al, 2000) and allozyme markers (Randi, Lucchini & Francisci, 1993;Lorenzini & Fico, 1995) do not demonstrate serious introgression between dogs and wolves in Europe.…”

The Wayward Dog: Is the Australian native dog or Dingo a distinct species?

“…Nevertheless, in our view there is enough evidence in hand now to be confident of the main framework of the story. The critical evidence comes from investigation of three contrasting genetic componentsthe maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA; Vilà et al 1997Vilà et al , 1999Savolainen et al 2002;Leonard et al 2002;Pang et al 2009;Pilot et al 2010;Druzhkova et al 2013;Thalman et al 2013), the paternally inherited Y-chromosome (Bannasch et al 2005;Sacks et al 2008Sacks et al , 2013Brown et al 2011;Ding et al 2012), and the biparental autosomal genes and other components of the nuclear genome (Wayne & O'Brien 1987;Lorenzini & Fico 1995;Garcia-Moreno et al 1996;Hedrick et al 1997;Lindblad-Toh et al 2005;Gray et al 2009;vonHoldt et al 2010vonHoldt et al , 2011Vaysse et al 2011;Axelsson et al 2013;Wang et al 2013;Freedman et al 2014;Skoglund et al 2015).…”