Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population?
Despite continuous historical distribution of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) throughout Eurasia, the species displays considerable morphological differentiation that resulted in delimitation of a number of subspecies. However, these morphological discontinuities are not always consistent with patterns...
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ftulincoln:oai:eprints.lincoln.ac.uk:19510 2023-05-15T15:49:50+02:00 Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? Pilot, Malgorzata Dąbrowski, Michał J. Hayrapetyan, Vahram Yavruyan, Eduard G. Kopaliani, Natia Tsingarska, Elena Bujalska, Barbara Kamiński, Stanisław Bogdanowicz, Wiesław 2014-04-08 application/pdf https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/19510/ https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/19510/1/Pilot%20et%20al.%202014%20Plos%20ONE.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093828 en eng Public Library of Science https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/19510/1/Pilot%20et%20al.%202014%20Plos%20ONE.pdf Pilot, Malgorzata, Dąbrowski, Michał J., Hayrapetyan, Vahram, Yavruyan, Eduard G., Kopaliani, Natia, Tsingarska, Elena, Bujalska, Barbara, Kamiński, Stanisław and Bogdanowicz, Wiesław (2014) Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? PLoS ONE, 9 (4). e93828. ISSN 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093828 cc_by CC-BY C170 Population Biology Article PeerReviewed 2014 ftulincoln https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093828 2022-03-02T20:04:56Z Despite continuous historical distribution of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) throughout Eurasia, the species displays considerable morphological differentiation that resulted in delimitation of a number of subspecies. However, these morphological discontinuities are not always consistent with patterns of genetic differentiation. Here we assess genetic distinctiveness of grey wolves from the Caucasus (a region at the border between Europe and West Asia) that have been classified as a distinct subspecies C. l. cubanensis. We analysed their genetic variability based on mtDNA control region, microsatellite loci and genome-wide SNP genotypes (obtained for a subset of the samples), and found similar or higher levels of genetic diversity at all these types of loci as compared with other Eurasian populations. Although we found no evidence for a recent genetic bottleneck, genome-wide linkage disequilibrium patterns suggest a long-term demographic decline in the Caucasian population – a trend consistent with other Eurasian populations. Caucasian wolves share mtDNA haplotypes with both Eastern European and West Asian wolves, suggesting past or ongoing gene flow. Microsatellite data also suggest gene flow between the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. We found evidence for moderate admixture between the Caucasian wolves and domestic dogs, at a level comparable with other Eurasian populations. Taken together, our results show that Caucasian wolves are not genetically isolated from other Eurasian populations, share with them the same demographic trends, and are affected by similar conservation problems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus University of Lincoln: Lincoln Repository PLoS ONE 9 4 e93828 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Lincoln: Lincoln Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftulincoln |
language |
English |
topic |
C170 Population Biology |
spellingShingle |
C170 Population Biology Pilot, Malgorzata Dąbrowski, Michał J. Hayrapetyan, Vahram Yavruyan, Eduard G. Kopaliani, Natia Tsingarska, Elena Bujalska, Barbara Kamiński, Stanisław Bogdanowicz, Wiesław Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? |
topic_facet |
C170 Population Biology |
description |
Despite continuous historical distribution of the grey wolf (Canis lupus) throughout Eurasia, the species displays considerable morphological differentiation that resulted in delimitation of a number of subspecies. However, these morphological discontinuities are not always consistent with patterns of genetic differentiation. Here we assess genetic distinctiveness of grey wolves from the Caucasus (a region at the border between Europe and West Asia) that have been classified as a distinct subspecies C. l. cubanensis. We analysed their genetic variability based on mtDNA control region, microsatellite loci and genome-wide SNP genotypes (obtained for a subset of the samples), and found similar or higher levels of genetic diversity at all these types of loci as compared with other Eurasian populations. Although we found no evidence for a recent genetic bottleneck, genome-wide linkage disequilibrium patterns suggest a long-term demographic decline in the Caucasian population – a trend consistent with other Eurasian populations. Caucasian wolves share mtDNA haplotypes with both Eastern European and West Asian wolves, suggesting past or ongoing gene flow. Microsatellite data also suggest gene flow between the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. We found evidence for moderate admixture between the Caucasian wolves and domestic dogs, at a level comparable with other Eurasian populations. Taken together, our results show that Caucasian wolves are not genetically isolated from other Eurasian populations, share with them the same demographic trends, and are affected by similar conservation problems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pilot, Malgorzata Dąbrowski, Michał J. Hayrapetyan, Vahram Yavruyan, Eduard G. Kopaliani, Natia Tsingarska, Elena Bujalska, Barbara Kamiński, Stanisław Bogdanowicz, Wiesław |
author_facet |
Pilot, Malgorzata Dąbrowski, Michał J. Hayrapetyan, Vahram Yavruyan, Eduard G. Kopaliani, Natia Tsingarska, Elena Bujalska, Barbara Kamiński, Stanisław Bogdanowicz, Wiesław |
author_sort |
Pilot, Malgorzata |
title |
Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? |
title_short |
Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? |
title_full |
Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? |
title_fullStr |
Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? |
title_sort |
genetic variability of the grey wolf canis lupus in the caucasus in comparison with europe and the middle east: distinct or intermediary population? |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/19510/ https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/19510/1/Pilot%20et%20al.%202014%20Plos%20ONE.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093828 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/19510/1/Pilot%20et%20al.%202014%20Plos%20ONE.pdf Pilot, Malgorzata, Dąbrowski, Michał J., Hayrapetyan, Vahram, Yavruyan, Eduard G., Kopaliani, Natia, Tsingarska, Elena, Bujalska, Barbara, Kamiński, Stanisław and Bogdanowicz, Wiesław (2014) Genetic variability of the grey wolf Canis lupus in the Caucasus in comparison with Europe and the Middle East: distinct or intermediary population? PLoS ONE, 9 (4). e93828. ISSN 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093828 |
op_rights |
cc_by |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0093828 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
e93828 |
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1766384860168978432 |