title: Unexpected but welcome. Artificially selected traits may increase fitness in wild boar.
abstract: Artificial selection affects phenotypes differently by natural selection. Domestic traits, which pass into the wild, are usually negatively selected. Yet, exceptionally, this axiom may fail to apply if genes, from the domestic animals, increase fertility in the wild. We studied a rare case of a wild boar population under the framework of Wright's interdemic selection model, which could explain gene flow between wild boar and pig, both considered as demes. We analysed the MC1R gene and microsatellite neutral loci in 62 pregnant wild boars as markers of hybridization, and we correlated nucleotide mutations on MC1R (which are common in domestic breeds) to litter size, as an evaluation of fitness in wild sow. Regardless of body size and phyletic effects, wild boar sows bearing nonsynonymous MC1R mutations produced larger litters. This directly suggests that artificially selected traits reaching wild populations, through interdemic gene flow, could bypass natural selection if and only if they increase the fitness in the wild.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II Naples Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fulgione
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II Naples Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rippa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II Naples Italy.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buglione
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II Naples Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trapanese
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II Naples Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petrelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II Naples Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Maselli
keywords: MC1R gene; fitness; interdemic selection; pig; reproduction; wild boar