title: Genetic heterozygosity in polecat Mustela putorius populations from western France.
abstract: Allozymic variations were investigated in 49 European polecats Mustela putorius from Western France by starch gel electrophoresis. Out of 31 surveyed loci, eight (25.8%) were shown polymorphic and observed heterozygosity averaged 0.057. Deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and heterozygote deficiency suggest that populations were not in panmixia. Heterozygotes for two loci or more totalled 42.9% of individuals. Thus, although carnivores were previously considered as less variable, polecat populations from Western France showed a high genetic variability.
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005289:Ferrets / Q000235:genetics*; D005602:France; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006579:Heterozygote; D008297:Male; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length