Coat Gene Profiles of Several Cat Populations in Cuba, Costa Rica, Colombia, Paraguay, Chile and Argentina, and Possible Genetic Origins of These Cat Populations

Abstract

Until the present moment, only a scarce number of Latin American domestic cat populations have been studied from a population genetic standpoint. For this reason, the cat populations of La Havana (Cuba), San Jose (Costa Rica), Bogota and Ibague (Colombia), Asuncion (Paraguay), Santiago (Chile) and Buenos Aires (Argentina) were sampled for several coat genes. The results obtained were as follows: (1) there was a strong genetic resemblence between several Hispanic American cat populations (especially, those of Buenos Aires, San Jose and the two Colombian populations studied) and those from South Western United States (California, Texas and Colorado), which adds suport to the suspicion that these populations probably have a common origin; (2) The cat population of Santiago (Chile), contrarily to the other Hispanic American populations studied, showed a strong genetic resemblance with some Anglo North American populations; and (3) The I (long hair) and d(dilution) alleles showed systematic higher frequencies in the Hispanic American populations than those observed in Spain. Although the Hispanic American populations were not identical to the current Spanish populations (with the exception of Asuncion), this historic genetic experiment was very different to that found for the British populations and their overseas colonies.