Abstract
Hybridization and introgression can impact the evolution of natural populations. Several wild canid species hybridize in nature, sometimes originating new taxa. However, hybridization with free-ranging dogs is threatening the genetic integrity of grey wolf populations (Canis lupus), or even the survival of endangered species (e.g., the Ethiopian wolf C. simensis). Efficient molecular tools to assess hybridization rates are essential in wolf conservation strategies. We evaluated the power of biparental and uniparental markers (39 autosomal and 4 Y-linked microsatellites, a melanistic deletion at the β-defensin CBD103 gene, the hypervariable domain of the mtDNA control-region) to identify the multilocus admixture patterns in wolf x dog hybrids. We used empirical data from 2 hybrid groups with different histories: 30 presumptive natural hybrids from Italy and 73 Czechoslovakian wolfdogs of known hybrid origin, as well as simulated data. We assessed the efficiency of various marker combinations and reference samples in admixture analyses using 69 dogs of different breeds and 99 wolves from Italy, Balkans and Carpathian Mountains. Results confirmed the occurrence of hybrids in Italy, some of them showing anomalous phenotypic traits and exogenous mtDNA or Y-chromosome introgression. Hybridization was mostly attributable to village dogs and not strictly patrilineal. The melanistic β-defensin deletion was found only in Italian dogs and in putative hybrids. The 24 most divergent microsatellites (largest wolf-dog FST values) were equally or more informative than the entire panel of 39 loci. A smaller panel of 12 microsatellites increased risks to identify false admixed individuals. The frequency of F1 and F2 was lower than backcrosses or introgressed individuals, suggesting hybridization already occurred some generations in the past, during early phases of wolf expansion from their historical core areas. Empirical and simulated data indicated the identification of the past generation backcrosses is always uncertain, and a larger number of ancestry-informative markers is needed.
Highlights
The routine application of multilocus genetic and genomic markers is providing deeper evidences on the evolutionary consequences of genetic admixtures
Natural hybrid zones are hotspots of genetic diversity, where novel gene assemblages are filtered by natural selection, exposing genetic variability to the adaptive processes and eventually leading to hybrid speciation [2,3]
We obtained the tissue samples from found-dead wolves legally collected by officers on behalf of the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), the Czech Agency of Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, the Biology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagreb University, Croatia
Summary
The routine application of multilocus genetic and genomic markers is providing deeper evidences on the evolutionary consequences of genetic admixtures. Hybridization in nature is no longer viewed as a sporadic, un-influential or merely negative process contrasting cladogenesis [1]. Natural hybrid zones are hotspots of genetic diversity, where novel gene assemblages are filtered by natural selection, exposing genetic variability to the adaptive processes and eventually leading to hybrid speciation [2,3]. Though genome integrity is not necessarily disrupted by hybridization [8], the longterm evolutionary consequences of introgression remain largely unpredictable. Introgression of alien genes may swamp genetic diversity [9], disrupt species-specific epistatic equilibria and local adaptations [10], and drive local populations [11] or entire species [12] to the verge of genetic extinction. Recent findings indicated that introgression of genes from domestic species may have unexpected beneficial consequences on the fitness of wild-populations [13,14,15]
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