the Institute of Ecology, Ilia State University, 3/5 K. Cholokashvili Ave., Tbilisi 0162, Georgia.
J Hered. 2014 May-Jun;105(3):345-53. doi: 10.1093/jhered/esu014. Epub 2014 Mar 12.
We studied the distribution of the mitochondrial DNA haplotypes and microsatellite genotypes at 8 loci in 102 gray wolves, 57 livestock guarding dogs, and 9 mongrel dogs from Georgia (Caucasus). Most of the studied dogs had mitochondrial haplotypes clustered with presumably East Asian dog lineages, and most of the studied wolves had the haplotypes clustered with European wolves, but 20% of wolves and 37% of dogs shared the same mitochondrial haplotypes. Bayesian inference with STRUCTURE software suggested that more than 13% of the studied wolves had detectable dog ancestry and more than 10% of the dogs had detectable wolf ancestry. About 2-3% of the sampled wolves and dogs were identified, with a high probability, as first-generation hybrids. These results were supported by the relatedness analysis, which showed that 10% of wolves and 20% of dogs had closest relatives from an opposite group. The results of the study suggest that wolf-dog hybridization is a common event in the areas where large livestock guarding dogs are held in a traditional way, and that gene flow between dogs and gray wolves was an important force influencing gene pool of dogs for millennia since early domestication events. This process may have been terminated 1) in areas outside the natural range of gray wolves and 2) since very recent time, when humans started to more tightly control contacts of purebred dogs.
我们研究了来自格鲁吉亚（高加索地区）的 102 只灰狼、57 只家畜护卫犬和 9 只杂种犬的线粒体 DNA 单倍型和 8 个微卫星基因座的基因型分布。大多数研究犬的线粒体单倍型与东亚犬系聚集在一起，大多数研究狼的线粒体单倍型与欧洲狼聚集在一起，但 20%的狼和 37%的犬共享相同的线粒体单倍型。STRUCTURE 软件的贝叶斯推断表明，超过 13%的研究狼具有可检测的犬血统，超过 10%的犬具有可检测的狼血统。大约 2-3%的采样狼和犬被确定为第一代杂种，具有很高的概率。相关分析支持了这些结果，该分析表明，10%的狼和 20%的犬具有来自相反群体的近亲。研究结果表明，狼-犬杂交是在传统方式饲养大型家畜护卫犬的地区常见的事件，自早期驯化事件以来，犬与灰狼之间的基因流是影响犬基因库数千年的重要力量。这个过程可能已经在灰狼自然分布范围之外的地区终止，并且自最近以来，人类开始更严格地控制纯种犬的接触。
