Population Structure of the Feral

Cats of Kuwait

Hasan Alhaddad

halhaddad@ucdavis.edu

University of California, Davis

Cat Domestication

1) Lipinski et al., 2008

Global Genetic Evaluation of Cat Populations1

Kuwait Feral Cat Samples

Microsatellite Genotyping

-  43 microsatellites (9 multiplexes (4-5 each).

-  Microsatellites were chosen based on (high heterozygosity –

high polymorphism - high chromosomal distribution).

Structure1 Analysis

Turkey

Cyprus

Iraq

Iran

Dubai

Lebanon

Israel

Kuwait

Egypt

Kenya

K. islands

Pop 1 Pop 2 Pop 3 Pop 4 Pop 5 Pop 6

1) Pritchard et al., 2000

-  10,000 and 100,000 iterations.

-  K=16

-  Delta K K=6

New Populations FIS

Population #

0.108

0.12

0.093

0.0810.085

0.112

0

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.1

0.12

0.14

1 2 3 4 5 6

Pop 1 Pop 2 Pop 3 Pop 4 Pop 5 Pop 6

FIS

Individuals within Kuwait Population

-  Kuwait cat population seem to be hybrids between Iraq and

Iran populations.

Acknowledgment

Lyons Lab:

- Dr. L. Lyons

- Jennifer Kurushima

- Others

K’S PATH:

- Aysha Alhumaidhi