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Development of a mitochondrial DNA marker that distinguishes domestic dogs from Washington state gray wolves

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Abstract

We describe a primer pair that amplifies a 203 base pair fragment containing 4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the cytochrome b region of the mitochondrial DNA that, when sequenced, conclusively distinguishes Washington state gray wolves from domestic dogs. The method is more efficient and cost-effective than other established methods for genetically distinguishing domestic dogs from gray wolves when using potentially degraded scat samples. Further testing may find that the SNP panel is also applicable to studies in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, as these wolves belong to the same distinct population segment as Washington state gray wolves.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Conservation Canine dog teams for their collection of scats used in this study. Positive control tissue samples were provided by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Washington Department of Wildlife. Jennifer White, Yue Shi, Yves Hoareau, Ada Kaliszewska, Tara Wilson, HJ Kim, Will Sano, Laura Prugh, Peter Mahoney, Tristan Nuñez, Taylor Ganz, and Mira Sytsma provided comments on the manuscript. Funding for this work was provided by the Maritz Family Foundation, the Dawkins Charitable Trust and the Arthur L. and Elaine V. Johnson Foundation. This manuscript is dedicated to Tuppence, the childhood dog of Ellen Reese.

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  1. Center for Conservation Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-1800, USA

    Ellen M. Reese, Misa Winters, Rebecca K. Booth & Samuel K. Wasser

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  1. Ellen M. Reese
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  2. Misa Winters
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  3. Rebecca K. Booth
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  4. Samuel K. Wasser
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Correspondence to Samuel K. Wasser.

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12686_2020_1130_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary file1 The Washington State gray wolf CanidSNP haplotype compared to those of domestic dog, coyote and red fox, with mitochondrial nucleotide positions of the gray wolf SNPs shown in bold and position within the mitochondrial genome shown by base pair number (top). The elk haplotype is included to reference the expected amplicon with this primer pair in cases where canid DNA is not present. Wolf, dog, coyote, and red fox haplotypes were determined from alignments available on GenBank (see Table S1), whereas the elk haplotypes were determined from scat sequences obtained during this study (accession numbers pending) (PDF 423 kb)

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Reese, E.M., Winters, M., Booth, R.K. et al. Development of a mitochondrial DNA marker that distinguishes domestic dogs from Washington state gray wolves. Conservation Genet Resour 12, 497–501 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-020-01130-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-020-01130-2

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