Journal of Heredity Advance Access originally published online on June 12, 2009
Journal of Heredity 2009 100(Supplement 1):S80-S89; doi:10.1093/jhered/esp034
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This article appears in the following Journal of Heredity issue: Symposium Issue: Fourth International Conference on Advances in Canine and Feline Genomics and Inherited Diseases, Saint Malo, Brittany, France, 21-24 May 2008. [View the issue table of contents]
Original Articles |
Genetic Characterization of Hybrid Wolves across Ontario
From the Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensic Centre, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada (Wilson, Grewal, and White); and the Department of Biology, Laurentian University, Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (Mallory)
Address correspondence to Dr Paul J. Wilson, Forensic Science Program, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7B8, Canada, or e-mail: pawilson{at}trentu.ca.
Four "races" of wolves have been described in Ontario as follows: 1) Canis lupus hudsonicus inhabiting the subarctic tundra, 2) A race (Ontario type) of the eastern timber wolf (Canis lupus lycaon) that inhabits the boreal forests, 3) A second race (Algonquin type) of C. l. lycaon that inhabit the deciduous forests of the upper Great Lakes, and 4) A small wolf (Tweed type) in central Ontario that has been proposed to be a hybrid between the Algonquin type wolf and expanding coyotes, Canis latrans. Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences and 8 microsatellite loci, we developed DNA profiles for 269 wolves from across Ontario. The distribution of mtDNA was predominantly coyote and the eastern wolf, Canis lycaon, in Algonquin Park and the southern Frontenac Axis with a combination of these mtDNA and gray wolf mtDNA in northern Ontario. Bayesian clustering grouped northern Ontario wolves independent of mtDNA with a second grouping of eastern and Tweed wolves from Algonquin. Individual clustering identified 3 groups represented by 1) northern Ontario wolves, 2) eastern wolves, and 3) Tweed wolves from the Frontenac Axis. Genomic representation analyses indicate that the Tweed wolves are hybrids between the coyote and the eastern wolf and represent the Ontario distribution of the eastern coyote, whereas the wolves in the upper Great Lakes region represent products of historic and/or continuing hybridization between C. lycaon and C. lupus. There was low structuring among wolves in these regions, and Algonquin suggesting a larger northern connected metapopulation with gene flow between the Ontario and Algonquin types.
Key Words: Canis lycaon • eastern wolf • genetics • gray wolf • hybridization
Corresponding Editor: Warren Johnson
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