A Cat’s Eye on Madagascar

The worldwide diffusion paths of modern cats can be investigated with molecular genetic tools. Microsatellite markers have been used to track the dispersion of cat populations from the presumed site of domestication to their current sites and have been used to determine genetic relationships, geographical origins, and the levels of genetic loss due to inbreeding. Through these analyses, the Mediterranean area was reconfirmed to be the probable site of domestication of the modern cat and, for example, it has been demonstrated that Persians cats are more aligned with European/American than with Mediterranean or Asian clusters. These results have also been confirmed also using high throughput SNP chips. Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa, known also to be a repository of biodiversity, with the 90% of wildlife unique to Madagascar. The cat population of the island has never been investigated. Using the collected samples provides an opportunity to identify the origin of the cats of this island. A panel of 36 markers and over 1700 random bred cats from over 40 countries around the world was used for the analysis. All cats had over 85% of their data successfully assessed. Inferred ancestry of individuals was evaluated using the Software Structure with a range of K values. The analyses revealed that the Madagascar cat population has its main similarity with cats sampled in south-west Asia areas.