Mutant Allele Frequencies in Domestic Cat Populations in Arkansas and Tennessee

Abstract

We conducted surveys of mutant allele frequencies of four cat populations in Arkansas and Tennessee during 2002. Our calculations and analyses support that Southwestern cat populations were relatively more genetically similar to each other than compared to cat populations in other areas of North America. However, the cat population of Fort Smith is slightly different from the other cat populations studied in the Southwestern United States. Although there is a clear significant spatial geographic pattern for many mutant coat allele frequencies in the United States and Canada cat populations (d, l, S, and W), our results revealed that there is not a significant isolation-by-distance model affecting these cat populations. Our data also support the historical migration hypothesis because our calculated allele frequencies were genetically similar to cat populations located in ancestral areas of Europe. Different phenograms, including new European cat genetic profiles, showed that the Southwestern cat populations studied are of a clear British origin. Therefore, migration routes of early Arkansas and Tennessee settlers help explain the similarities of allele frequencies among domestic cat populations.

The level of genetic differentiation in cats (Felis catus L.) in Western European, North American, and Eastern European populations

“…In the cities of Western Europe, as well as in United States, its frequency usually exceeds 40% and in Glasgow, Dublin, London, New castle, and Paris it was 75% (Searle, 1949;Todd, 1964Todd, , 1966Dreux, 1967;Clark, 1975;Todd N.B. and D N I N Todd L.M., 1976;Blumenberg and McDonald, 1978;Blumenberg et al, 1979;Todd and Lloyd, 1979;Lloyd, 1982;Shostell et al, 2005). In the cities of Byelorussia and Russia on the whole, a low frequency was revealed of the allele t b occurrence and in several populations this allele was completely absent (Table 1).…”

“…Data on two large Russian cities were also used for a com parative analysis of structure and genetic differentia tion (Borodin et al, 1978) and of 14 cities of various countries of Western Europe, as well as the USA and Canada (Searle, 1949;Todd, 1964Todd, , 1966Dreux, 1967Dreux, , 1975Clark, 1975;Todd N.B. and Todd L.M., 1976;Blumenberg and McDonald, 1978;Blumenberg et al, 1979;Todd and Lloyd, 1979;Lloyd, 1982;Shostell et al, 2005).…”

“…The frequencies of mutant and normal allele occurrence of color are characteristic of every popula tion and reflect their genetic structures. Allelic frequencies of coat color genes of domestic cats have currently been described for all the devel oped countries (Searle, 1949;Dreux, 1967;Clark, 1975;Todd and Lloyd, 1979;Lloyd, 1982;Ruiz Gar cia, 1990;Ruiz Garcia et al, 2005;Shostell et al, 2005). Studies have analyzed the genetic structure of cats in some cities of Eastern European countries (Russia, Byelorussia) (Borodin et al, 1978;Gon charenko et al, 1998;Golubeva and Zhigachov, 2007).…”

Genetic Analysis of the Cat Population of North and South of Cali, Colombia

“…Desde 1947 se han llevado a cabo estudios en más de 400 poblaciones de gatos alrededor del mundo (Ruiz-García y Álvarez, 2000; Shostell et al, 2005;Ruiz-García y Álvarez, 2008), usando ciertos marcadores genéticos de fácil identificación fenotípica y que afectan los patrones de coloración del pelaje y malformaciones óseas (Ruiz-García, 1997).…”

A biogeographical population genetics perspective of the colonization of cats in Latin America and temporal genetic changes in Brazilian cat populations

“…Multiple studies of cat populations have been conducted in Europe (Lloyd and Todd, 1989;Ruiz-Garcia, 1994, 1997 and North America (Shostell et al, 2005). Given the large number of studies devoted to cat population genetics, it is surprising that few studies have included information about Latin America.…”