Genetic Differentiation of Common Fox Vulpes Vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) on the Basis of the Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 (Igf1), Myosin-Xv (Myo15a) and Paired Box Homeotic 3 (Pax3) Genes Fragments Polymorphism

Single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was analysed for selected fragments of three genes - insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), myosin-XV (MYO15A) and paired box homeotic gene 3 (PAX3) - in farm and wild red foxes from two continents. The study was undertaken in order to verify whether the SNP characteristics of these genes enable farm-bred foxes to be distinguished from free-living foxes. The greatest number of changes were detected in the IGF1 gene. For each of the genes investigated specific SNP profiles characteristic only for farm foxes and only for wild foxes were noted. At the same time, specific SNP profiles were noted for wild foxes from North America and from Europe. The frequency of SNP (bases per SNP) in the gene fragments examined was 22 bp for IGF1, 34 bp for PAX3 and 56 bp for MYO15A. Single-nucleotide polymorphism is a very good molecular marker enabling characterization of nucleotide variation in the genes investigated between wild and farm individuals