Transferrin variation in caribou ( Rangifer tarandus L.) on the Canadian Arctic islands

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Røed, K. H., Staaland, H., Broughton, E., Thomas, D. C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1986
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Arctic; Svalbard; Peary; Parry; Boothia Peninsula; Arctic Population; caribou; Rangifer tarandus; svalbard reindeer
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z86-015; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z86-015

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to analyse transferrin variation in caribou from the Canadian Arctic islands. Sixteen alleles were detected in Peary caribou (Rangifer tarandus pearyi). The most common allele was Tf G2 , which increased in frequency from 0.167 at the Boothia Peninsula to 0.236 in the Peel population and 0.340 in the Parry population. The presence of this allele, which is the most common allele in Svalbard reindeer (R. t. platyrhynchus) and not detected in Norwegian reindeer (R. t. tarandus), suggests a common origin for the Peary caribou and the Svalbard reindeer. The large genetic distance in the transferrin locus between continental and island populations suggests the isolation of a High Arctic population in a northern refugium during the Wisconsin glaciation.