Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in the European bison (Bison bonasus) population from Lithuania

Abstract

The European bison (Bison bonasus Linnaeus, 1758) is the largest herbivore in Europe. The historical distribution of bison was in western, central, and south-eastern Europe and the Caucasus. As a result of reintroductions and introductions, it now occurs in free-ranging and semi-free herds in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Slovakia. Levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation were examined to investigate the population structure of the European bison population in Lithuania. A 884-bp region of hypervariable domain of the mitochondrial control region was analyzed in 29 individuals and revealed only two distinct haplotypes. Current genetic diversity study revealed low mtDNA control-region sequence variation in the European bison population from Lithuania