Clear phylogeographic pattern and genetic structure of wild boar Sus scrofa population in Central and Eastern Europe

Marcin Woźniak,Maryna Shkvyria,Tomasz Grzybowski,Aleksei N. Bunevich,Gabriel Danila,Magdalena Niedziałkowska,Joanna Ligmanowska,Szilvia Kusza,Tomasz Podgórski,Ewa Tarnowska,Bogumiła Jędrzejewska,Anna Radziszewska,Iwona Ratajczyk

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-88991-1

Abstract

The wild boar Sus scrofa is one of the widely spread ungulate species in Europe, yet the origin and genetic structure of the population inhabiting Central and Eastern Europe are not well recognized. We analysed 101 newly obtained sequences of complete mtDNA genomes and 548 D-loop sequences of the species and combined them with previously published data. We identified five phylogenetic clades in Europe with clear phylogeographic pattern. Two of them occurred mainly in western and central part of the continent, while the range of the third clade covered North-Eastern, Central and South-Eastern Europe. The two other clades had rather restricted distribution. In Central Europe, we identified a contact zone of three mtDNA clades. Population genetic structure reflected clear phylogeographic pattern of wild boar in this part of Europe. The contribution of lineages originating from the southern (Dinaric-Balkan) and eastern (northern cost of the Black Sea) areas to the observed phylogeographic pattern of the species in Central and Eastern Europe was larger than those from the regions located in southern France, Iberian, and Italian Peninsulas. The present work was the first mitogenomic analysis conducted in Central and Eastern Europe to study genetic diversity and structure of wild boar population.

Highlights

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) is one of the most numerous ungulates in Europe and the terrestrial mammal species with the widest geographical range[1]
We report on a study on phylogeny and phylogeography of wild boar in six countries of Central and Eastern Europe, based on 101 sequences of complete mitogenomes and 548 mtDNA control region (D-loop) sequences of the species (Fig. 1, Tables 1, S1)
The most distinct genetically were clade 6 and the haplotype BGWB1 of the clade 3 (Figs. 2, 3), all found in individuals from South-Eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania;26)

Summary

Introduction

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) is one of the most numerous ungulates in Europe and the terrestrial mammal species with the widest geographical range[1]. It naturally occurs over large areas in Europe (except for the most northern parts of the continent), Asia and North Africa. In Europe in the 17-nineteenth centuries, the wild boar number decreased due to climate cooling and overhunting by humans. Since 2007, when ASF (African swine fever) was introduced to Georgia, the disease has been spreading across Eurasia affecting wild boar and domestic pigs from Western Europe[12] to Eastern Asia[13,14]. The contact zone of the European and the Asian lineages of wild boar occurs in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea in I ran[20] and the Caucasian Mountains[21]

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Discussion

Conclusion