Genetic structure of different populations of domestic cat in Spain, Italy, and Argentina at a micro-geographic level

Genetic characteristics of the natural populations of domestic cat Felis silvestris f. catus Linnaeus, 1758 were studied in four cities (Barcelona, Catalonia; Palma on Majorca, Balearic islands; Rimini, Italy; Buenos Aires, Argentina) at microgeographic level. The application of different analytical techniques in different population structures (colonies and subpopulations) showed that the degree of genetic differentiation between cat population within these cities was very low, especially when it was compared with the genetic heterogeneity found for other mammals (Nei's and hierarchical gene diversity analyses and estimates of theoretical gene flow). The theoretical gene flow was very high, being F. catus in these urban contexts, in a situation very near to panmixia where there was very little spatial genetic structuration and heterogeneity with independence of the cities analyzed. Generally, the genetic structure of these four cat populations showed to be very similar although there were noteworthy ecological differences among the four cities analyzed. This means that the cat population dynamics in diverse cities should be affected by the same demographic and genetic parameters. Only, with certain spatial techniques, the Buenos Aires's cat populations showed some differences in some spatial autocorrelation correlograms with regard the other three cat populations analyzed.