Mitochondrial DNA variation in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) from Italy: Evidence of admixture in one of the last C. c. italicus pure populations from central-southern Italy

Abstract

We present sequence data of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region from 28 samples from southern Italy (Orsomarso, Pollino National Park, Basilicata and Calabria), one of the last putative pure population of Capreolus capreolus italicus. MtDNA variation in these samples is compared to the one from 243 samples from 17 locations across the Italian peninsula and 41 samples from several populations across Europe. Level of mtDNA genetic structuring as high as the one recorded among the European populations was found among the Italian populations (ΦST = 0.58). The high ΦST value between the southern and central populations and the other Italian samples (ΦST = 0.59) together with the occurrence of unique haplotypes supports the assignment of these samples to their own subspecies, C. c. italicus. However, the population from Orsomarso also includes mtDNA haplotypes genealogically related to ones occurring in northern and central Apennine populations. This finding could result from incomplete lineage sorting or from unrecorded translocations of animals into the Orsomarso population. The management implications of this finding are discussed.