High genetic distinctiveness of wild and farm fox ( Vulpes vulpes L.) populations in Poland: evidence from mitochondrial DNA analysis

Abstract

In Poland, the number of wild red foxes ( Vulpes vulpesL.) and the size of the fur-farming industry are growing. Thereis concern that the gene pool of the wild foxes is being infiltrated by that of the farm animals. We analyzed three groups Polishfarm foxes and wild-living animals from Poland and North America to investigate the gene flow or introgression between farm andwild red foxes. We took into account the breeding history of the species and the evolutionary relationships between fox populationson different continents. We compared the haplotypes based on the concatenated nucleotide sequences ofMT-CO1(mitochondriallyencoded cytochrome c oxidase I) andMT-ATP6(mitochondrially encoded ATP synthase 6) genes. It was confirmed that investigatedfur-farm animals originated from wild individuals living in North America. We found a haplotype common to wild foxes from Europe(Poland) and wild North American individuals. The common haplotype shared by both investigated wild-living groups could indicatesome degree of introgression between Polish farm and wild-living populations. Haplotypes characteristic of North American foxes weretransferred to the Polish wild population and have been established. However, the pairwise Φ STvalues make it clear that North Americanwild and Polish wild foxes are genetically distinct evolutionary groups.