[Comparative analysis of the level of heterozygosity for glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI) locus in silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) of domesticated and control populations].

This communication is the first step of the studies on the correlation between protein polymorphism and the level of phenotypic diversity. The level of heterozygosity for glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI) locus was analysed in two populations of silver foxes. One of them has been selected for domestic behaviour during many years. This selection vector gave rise to many phenotypic novelties; 46% of the foxes analyzed has aberrant phenotypes. Another population was control bred under the same conditions of experimental farm of Siberian Dept. Russian Sci. with a commercial purpose. All the foxes analyzed from this population, except one, had a standard phenotype. Among 96 domestic foxes under analysis, only one heterozygotes for the GPI locus was detected. Among 112 control foxes, six were heterozygotes. In other words the data obtained indicate no correlation between the level of morphological diversity and the state of heterozygosity of the GPI locus.