| Summary: | Farmed salmon escape and interbreed with wild Atlantic salmon on a large scale. We studied introgression of mitochondrial haplotypes from farmed Atlantic salmon originating from the Eastern Atlantic phylogenetic group to wild salmon of the Barents-White Sea phylogenetic group. We find that farmed genetic introgression introduced novel, non-native haplotypes into the Barents-White Sea phylogenetic group. The mitochondrial genome has important functional effects and is inherited as a haploid from the mother. Hence, the observed introgression across natural genetic barriers is expected to cause long-lasting functional maladaptation of the hybrids in the maternal line. As the use of farmed Atlantic salmon from non-native phylogenetic groups is widespread in aquaculture, the impact on wild Atlantic salmon may be more severe than previously recognized. Our results highlight the ecological risks of releasing non-native wild and domesticated animals. Funding provided by: Norwegian Environment Agency Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/023jta124 Award Number: Funding provided by: The Research Council of Norway Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/00epmv149 Award Number: 254852 Funding provided by: The Research Council of Norway Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/00epmv149 Award Number: 275862 Funding provided by: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Crossref Funder Registry ID: https://ror.org/04aha0598 Award Number:
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