Variations of mitochondrial control region in Iranian wolves and dogs populations

The wolf (Canis lupus) in Iran is widely distributed all over the country, except in the deserts. Recent studies showed that dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were domesticated by managing small packs of wolves in south-west and south-east of Asia, and consequently, they are very similar genetically. We used mitochondrial DNA control region (D-Loop) to compare the nucleotide parameters between wolf and dog populations in the country, since it shows a high mutation rate and is known as a good marker to identify intra-group variations. Our results revealed that there were no significant differences in the frequencies of adenine, cytosine, thymine and guanine bases of the control region between wolf and dog populations. Furthermore, nucleotide substitution patterns of this region uncovered a large value of transitions and transversions in both species. The results also demonstrated that wolf populations in Iran have maintained favorable genetic diversity, but habitat destruction is very likely to affect them in near future.