Blood Biochemical Polymorphisms in Rabbits Presently Bred in Spain: Genetic Variation and Distances amongst Populations

Abstract

A total of 816 rabbits, belonging to breeds presently bred in Spain (Spanish Common, Spanish Giant, Butterfly, Lyone de Bourgogne, New Zealand White, Californian and a hybrid line obtained from crosses between selected individuals of the latter two), were tested using nine blood electrophoretic markers: Hb, Ak, Co, Tf, Es-l, Es-2, Es-3, Ada and Pgd. The latter five proteins were found polymorphic, each being controlled by one locus and showing autosomal co-dominant Mendelian inheritance. Three of these loci (Es-1, Es-2 and Pgd) have two alleles, and the remaining two (Es-3 and Ada) have three alleles. These polymorphic loci were used to study the population structure and breed similarities genetically.