Abstract
We report a panel of 12 microsatellite markers, including nine novel polymorphic loci isolated in the European polecat and three loci previously developed in closely related species, for genetic studies of polecats and ferrets. We tested the panel at fine geographic scales in polecat and domestic ferret populations of Britain and Portugal and at a broad geographic scale, using 50 polecat samples from across Western Europe. At the fine geographic scales, we recorded one to five alleles per locus and observed and expected heterozygosities ranging from 0 to 0.80 and from 0 to 0.74, respectively. These values increased markedly in the European sample of polecats. No linkage disequilibrium was detected between any pair of loci and all genotypic frequencies complied with Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium expectations. The microsatellite panel allowed the molecular discrimination of polecats and domestic ferrets in Britain, where hybridisation between the two species has been documented. Thus, these loci may be useful not only in genetic studies of polecats and ferrets but also in studies to assess hybridisation between these two mustelid species.
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Vincent Wildlife Trust, Andrew Kitchener, Johnny Birks, British Ferret Club, Droitwich Ferret Welfare, Greenmeadow Farm Community, Haven Vets, Linz Morrison, South Wales Animal Rescue, Alberto Cavaco (AFN), António Mira, Clara Grilo, Octávio Mateus, Portuguese Associations of Hunters, Andreas Kranz, Hans-Heinrich Krüger, Helen Müri, Hermann Ansorge, Jan Herr, Laura Elorza (CRF Mártioda), Massimo Scandura, Matteo Visceglia (CRAS-Riserva Naturale di San Giuliano), Michelle Cento, Morten Elmeros, Pedro Abad (Karpin Abentura) and Sandrine Ruette (ONCFS) for providing polecat and ferret samples. We would also like to thank Mafalda Basto, Sara Santos and Rebecca Citroen for their help in the lab. MC and CF acknowledge financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, MCTES, Portugal) through, respectively, the Ph.D. fellowship SFRH/BD/32488/2006 and the Ciência 2007 contract C2007-UL-342-CBA1.
Declaration
The authors of this manuscript declare that all experiments performed in this study comply with the current laws in Portugal and Britain. Furthermore, we declare that we have no conflict of interest concerning the published data.
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Costa, M., Fernandes, C., Rodrigues, M. et al. A panel of microsatellite markers for genetic studies of European polecats (Mustela putorius) and ferrets (Mustela furo). Eur J Wildl Res 58, 629–633 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-012-0627-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-012-0627-1