This study provides a comprehensive genetic overview on the endangered Italian wolf population.
In particular, it focuses on two research lines.
On one hand, we focalised on melanism in wolf in order to isolate a mutation related with black
coat colour in canids.
With several reported black individuals (an exception at European level), the Italian wolf population
constituted a challenging research field posing many unanswered questions. As found in North
American wolf, we reported that melanism in the Italian population is caused by a different
melanocortin pathway component, the K locus, in which a beta-defensin protein acts as an
alternative ligand for the Mc1r. This research project was conducted in collaboration with Prof.
Gregory Barsh, Department of Genetics and Paediatrics, Stanford University.
On the other hand, we performed analysis on a high number of SNPs thanks to a customized Canine
microarray useful to integrate or substitute the STR markers for genotyping individuals and
detecting wolf-dog hybrids. Thanks to DNA microchip technology, we obtained an impressive
amount of genetic data which provides a solid base for future functional genomic studies. This
study was undertaken in collaboration with Prof. Robert K. Wayne, Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:unibo.it/oai:amsdottorato.cib.unibo.it:1729 |
| Date | 18 May 2009 |
| Creators | Greco, Claudia <1976> |
| Contributors | Randi, Ettore |
| Publisher | Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna |
| Source Sets | Università di Bologna |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Doctoral Thesis, PeerReviewed |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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