Genomic consequences of a century of inbreeding and isolation in the
Danish wild boar population
Abstract
Demographic events such as series of bottlenecks impact the genetic
variation and adaptive potential of populations. European megafauna,
such as wild boars (Sus scrofa), have experienced severe climatic and
size fluctuations that have shaped their genetic variation. Habitat
fragmentation as well as human-mediated translocations have further
contributed to the complex demographic history of European wild boar.
Danish wild boars represent an extreme case of a small and isolated
population founded by four wild boars from Germany. Here, we explore the
genetic composition of the Danish wild boar population in Klelund. We
genotyped all 21 Danish wild boars that were recently transferred from
the source population in Lille Vildmose into the Klelund Plantation to
establish a novel wild boar population. We compared the Danish wild
boars to high‐density single nucleotide polymorphism genotypes from a
comprehensive reference set of 1263 wild and domesticated pigs,
including 11 individuals from Ulm, one of two presumed founder locations
in Germany. Our findings support the European wild background of the
Danish population and no traces of gene flow with wild or domesticated
pigs were found. The narrow genetic origin of the Danish wild boars is
illustrated by extremely long and frequent runs of homozygous stretches
in their genomes, indicative of recent inbreeding. This study provides
the first insights into one of the most inbred wild boar populations
globally established a century ago from a narrow base of only four
founders.