70 years of research on the American mink (Neovison vison schreb., 1777) genetics - where are we now?

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to present the current state of knowledge about the genetics of the American mink (Neovison vison Schreb., 1777) - a species that achieved in the twentieth century an unprecedented ecological success associated with the dynamic development of its economic use. However, despite the large popularity and economic importance of the American mink as a fur animal, and the scale of the problems associated with its introduction beyond the range of natural occurrence, genetic research, particularly molecular genetics and genomics of this species, show relatively little progress. The article contains a comprehensive description of the studies undertaken on the genetics of the species, both in terms of cytogenetics, molecular genetics, genomics, population genetics and phylogenetics. The progress of the genome sequencing project of the American mink is also described as well as its transcriptome annotation. The article also deals with still unexplained and not completed, despite 70 years of genetic research, issues such as the standard karyotype, the precise molecular basis of coat color inheritance and systematic position of the species.