Microsatellite polymorphism and its association with body weight and selected morphometrics of farm red fox (Vulpes vulpes L.)

Abstract

Polymorphism of 30 canine-derived microsatellites was studied in a group of 200 red foxes kept on 2 Polish farms. 22 out of 30 microsatellites were selected to study association between marker genotypes and body weight (BW), body length (BL), body circumference (BC), tail length (TL), ear height (EH), length of the right front limb (FRLL), length of the right rear limb (RRLL), length of the right front foot (FRFL) and length of the right rear foot (RRFL). A total of 112 alleles and 243 genotypes were found at 22 autosomal microsatellite loci. Three monomorphic loci deemed as uninformative were excluded from the study. The association between marker genotypes and the studied traits was analysed using general linear model (GLM) procedure and least squares means (LSM). Linkage disequilibrium (LD) was estimated to assess non-random association between microsatellite loci. Out of 19 microsatellites studied four markers showed no association with the studied traits, three markers had a significant effect on one trait, and another three markers had significant effect on two traits. Among ten microsatellites with significant effect on four economically important traits (BW, BL, BC, TL) four were associated with two characters: marker FH2613 with BW and BC, marker FH2097withBL and BC, marker ZUBECA6 with BW and BC, whereas marker REN75M10 was associated with BL and TL. The strongest LD (r2 ranged from 0.15 to 0.33) was estimated between nine loci with significant effect on economically important traits (BW, BL, BC, TL).

Admixture analyses and phylogeographic relationships reveal complete genetic distinctiveness of Polish farm and wild red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and the North American origin of farm‐bred individuals

“…Compelling evidence that selective breeding has changed the genetic structure of the red fox population kept on Polish farms is provided by the fact that 10 of the 30 microsatellite markers used in this study (FH2613, FH3771, FH2097, FH3970, REN64E19, REN88H03, ZUBECA6, REN135K06, REN75M10, REN30J23) are significantly associated with economically important traits in farm red foxes (Zatoń‐Dobrowolska et al., ). This indicates that long‐term selective breeding has favoured those marker loci which are strictly associated with preferred phenotypes and has left a strong selection footprint in regions of the fox genome that are important for controlling important traits.…”

Exploring novel candidate genes from the Mouse Genome Informatics database: Potential implications for avian migration research

“…The correlation between genetic variation and phenotype is the basis for much of modern evolutionary, developmental and medical biology (Wong et al 2005;Vaysse et al 2011). By examining genetic polymorphisms that control certain traits, we can make inferences about phenotypic variation and perhaps even make predictions about disease risks at the individual or population level (HDCRG 1993;Zatoń-Dobrowolska et al 2014). Over the past 3 decades, genetic investigations on mice have described the functions of thousands of genes that have been made publicly available through the Mouse Genome Informatics Database (Alberts et al 2002;Blake et al 2014).…”

Association of MSTN gene polymorphism (C354T) with performance traits in raccoon dogs

“…An equally relevant trait influencing the price of pelts is the hair coat quality. Literature provides only few publications reporting identification of QTL and polymorphisms in nuclear and mitochondrial genes associated with important performance traits in furbearing animals (Elo et al 2006;Ślaska et al 2007, 2016Ślaska 2010;Zatoń-Dobrowolska et al 2014).…”

“…Currently, selection of animals for mating is based solely on the values of phenotypic traits (Lorek et al 2001;Gugołek et al 2002;Ślaska et al 2007. Yet, there is ongoing research focused on searching for molecular markers associated with economically important traits in fur-bearing animals that can be taken into account in animal selection targeted at faster breeding progress (Ślaska et al 2007, 2016Zatoń-Dobrowolska et al 2014).…”

“…Analyses of the genetics of quantitative traits carried out in fur-bearing animal populations mainly involve identification of single nucelotide polymorphism (SNP) and short tandem repeat polymorphisms, and attempt at finding the association between these polymorphisms and important performance traits in examined species (Elo et al 2006;Ślaska et al 2007, 2016Du et al 2010;Ślaska 2010;Zatoń-Dobrowolska et al 2014). This is particularly important from the point of view of breeding, as development of modern genotyping methods has provided a new source of information that can be used for selection of farm animals.…”