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| Eckert, I.; Suchentrunk, F.; Markov, G.; Hartl, G.B. | |
| Genetic diversity and intergrity of German wildcat (_Felis silvestris_) populations as revealed by microsatellites, allozymes, and mitochondrial DNA sequences | |
| 2010 Mammalian Biology (75): 160-174 | |
As a consequence of persecution and habitat fragmentation, wildcats (_Felis silvestris silvestris_) in Western Europe have experienced a severe reduction in population numbers and sizes. The remaining wildcat populations are considered to be endangered by losses of genetic variability and by hybridisation with free-ranging domestic cats. To investigate genetic diversity within and among wild and domestic cat populations in Germany and to estimate the extent of gene flow between both forms, we analysed a total of 266 individuals. PCR-amplification and sequencing of 322 base pairs of a highly variable part of the mitochondrial control region (HV1) of 244 specimens resulted in 41 haplotypes with 31polymorphic sites. Additionally, eight microsatellite loci were examined for those 244 cats. Moreover, a total of 46 wild cats and 22 domestic cats could be genotyped for 13 polymorphic out of 31 enzyme loci. Genetic variability in both groups was generally high. Variability in domestic cat populations was higher than in wildcat populations. Almost no differentiation between domestic cat populations could be found (FST for microsatellites=3%). In contrast, wildcat populations differed significantly from one another (FST for microsatellites=9.55%) Within the smaller wildcat populations, a reduction of genetic diversity was detectable with regard to the nuclear DNA.Wildcat and domestic cat mitochondrial haplotypes were separated, suggesting a very low level of maternal gene flow between both forms. In microsatellites and to a somewhat lesser extent in allozymes, wildcats and domestic cats showed distinct differentiation, suggesting an only low extent of past hybridisation in certain populations. The microsatellite data set indicated a significantly reduced effective population size (bottleneck) in the recent past for one German wildcat population. |
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