A new view on the European feline population from mtDNA analysis in Polish domestic cats

Abstract

Domestic cats from Eastern Europe have been poorly represented in studies on mitochondrial DNA diversity for forensic purposes until now. The aim of the present study was to contribute to closing this gap. The genetic structure and the origin of a cat population in Poland were examined against the background of human migrations over the centuries. One hundred and eighty-one cats from animal shelters in seven cities were genotyped. Twenty-one mtDNA haplotypes were found, with only one haplotype present in each of the populations, at an average frequency of 63.54%, and 13 haplotypes being found only in single populations. The analysis revealed the unexpectedly high frequency of haplotype PL02, in previous studies observed only in single cats. Differences in the number of the haplotypes, from four to eight, were observed among the shelters. The findings are discussed with regard to a world-wide database of feline sequences and to the complicated history of Poland. The study underscores the necessity of creating local databases of haplotypes that are of high evidentiary value to the forensic investigations conducted in a given country.

Keywords: Domestic cat; European cat; Felis silvestris catus; Genetic diversity; Mitochondrial DNA.