TY  - JOUR
A1  - Harmoinen, Jenni
A1  - Thaden, Alina von
A1  - Aspi, Jouni
A1  - Kvist, Laura
A1  - Cocchiararo, Berardino
A1  - Jarausch, Anne
A1  - Gazzola, Andrea
A1  - Sin, Teodora
A1  - Lohi, Hannes
A1  - Hytönen, Marjo K.
A1  - Kojola, Ilpo
A1  - Stronen, Astrid Vik
A1  - Caniglia, Romolo
A1  - Mattucci, Federica
A1  - Galaverni, Marco
A1  - Godinho, Raquel
A1  - Ruiz-González, Aritz
A1  - Randi, Ettore
A1  - Muñoz-Fuentes, Violeta
A1  - Nowak, Carsten
T1  - Reliable wolf-dog hybrid detection in Europe using a reduced SNP panel developed for non-invasively collected samples
T2  - BMC genomics
N2  - Background: Understanding the processes that lead to hybridization of wolves and dogs is of scientific and management importance, particularly over large geographical scales, as wolves can disperse great distances. However, a method to efficiently detect hybrids in routine wolf monitoring is lacking. Microsatellites offer only limited resolution due to the low number of markers showing distinctive allele frequencies between wolves and dogs. Moreover, calibration across laboratories is time-consuming and costly. In this study, we selected a panel of 96 ancestry informative markers for wolves and dogs, derived from the Illumina CanineHD Whole-Genome BeadChip (174 K). We designed very short amplicons for genotyping on a microfluidic array, thus making the method suitable also for non-invasively collected samples.
Results: Genotypes based on 93 SNPs from wolves sampled throughout Europe, purebred and non-pedigree dogs, and suspected hybrids showed that the new panel accurately identifies parental individuals, first-generation hybrids and first-generation backcrosses to wolves, while second- and third-generation backcrosses to wolves were identified as advanced hybrids in almost all cases. Our results support the hybrid identity of suspect individuals and the non-hybrid status of individuals regarded as wolves. We also show the adequacy of these markers to assess hybridization at a European-wide scale and the importance of including samples from reference populations.
Conclusions: We showed that the proposed SNP panel is an efficient tool for detecting hybrids up to the third-generation backcrosses to wolves across Europe. Notably, the proposed genotyping method is suitable for a variety of samples, including non-invasive and museum samples, making this panel useful for wolf-dog hybrid assessments and wolf monitoring at both continental and different temporal scales.
KW  - Canis lupus
KW  - Canis lupus familiaris
KW  - Hybridization
KW  - SNP genotyping
KW  - Non-invasive sampling
KW  - Museum samples
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/62984
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-629842
SN  - 1471-2164
N1  - The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is available in the Dryad repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7stk.
VL  - 22
IS  - art. 473
SP  - 1
EP  - 15
PB  - BioMed Central
CY  - London
ER  -