mtDNA diversity in rabbit population from Sicily (Italy).

Abstract The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (O.c) is a small game species living in some parts of the world and represents an important resource for many predators. It has been classified as a Near-Threatened species in the Red List of Italian Vertebrates even if it is also an agricultural pest species in many areas. It is a polytypic species present as two known subspecies: O.c. cuniculus and O.c. algirus. The Italian geographical distribution of the two subspecies is known, but mostly based on morphological, and biogeographic and historical literature data. In Sicily, there is no complete genetic description of the actual existing subspecies and previous studies have only reported the size differences of the Sicilian rabbit population. In this study, we analyzed genetic data, through mitochondrial (mt) cytochrome b (cytb) DNA, from 13 rabbit samples collected in different sites of Sicily, in a phylogenetic framework. We reconstructed the intraspecific phylogeny by comparing cytb mtDNA sequences of 13 newly isolated O.cuniculus haplotypes from Sicily and 7 individuals from other countries (Canada, France, Mexico, North Italy, South Africa, Spain, Sweden). Our results show that the rabbit population from Sicily has a mitochondrial type (lineage B) previously shown to be associated with O.c.cuniculus and is similar to sequences from rabbits in North-East Spain, Southern France, Sweden and South Africa.