THE INFLUENCE OF SEX ON THE GENETIC STRUCTURE OF THE JACKAL (CANIS AUREUS) OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA.

The European golden jackal (Canis aureus) occupies a wide geographical range, spanning across northern and eastern Africa, northeastern Europe, and parts of southern Asia. In the past two decades, there has been a notable expansion of jackal populations into lowland areas in the northern regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with individuals migrating from Serbia and northeastern Croatia, thus establishing a stable population. A comprehensive population genetic study conducted by Nikitović et al. (2023) revealed intriguing insights into the genetic makeup of Bosnian jackals. Despite the absence of a discernible spatial pattern, the study revealed moderate genetic variability and the presence of two genetic clusters within the population. Intrigued by these findings, our study aimed to delve deeper into the genetic dynamics, specifically investigating whether sex plays a role in shaping the genetic structure of the jackal population in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Our analysis focused on 47 individuals sampled from the northern regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. To determine the sex of the specimens, we employed molecular techniques, amplifying the Amelogenin gene using The Canine GenotypesTM Panel 1.1 kit (Finnzymes, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Finland). We used 16 microsatellite loci to assess genetic structure and variability and employed various software including GenAlEx v6.5 for genetic variability parameters (Na, Ne, He, Ho, HWE), STRUCTURE v.2.3.4 for population structure analysis, Structure Harvester for determining the optimal number of genetic clusters, and Clumpak for visualizing results from STRUCTURE analyses. Our dataset comprised 18 females and 29 males, for which basic genetic parameters appeared similar. However, STRUCTURE analysis revealed the presence of four genetic clusters (K=4) without a clear spatial pattern. Despite this, our findings conclusively demonstrate that sex does not significantly influence the genetic structure of the jackal population in Bosnia and Herzegovina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]