Data from: Real-time assessment of hybridization between wolves and dogs: combining non-invasive samples with ancestry informative markers

Wolves and dogs provide a paradigmatic example of the ecological and conservation implications of hybridization events between wild and domesticated forms. However, our understanding of such implications has been traditionally hampered by both high genetic similarity and the difficulties in obtaining tissue samples (TS), which limit our ability to assess ongoing hybridization events. To assess the occurrence and extension of hybridization in a pack of wolf-dog hybrids in Northwestern Iberia, we compared the power of 52 nuclear markers implemented on TS with a subset of 13 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) typed in non-invasive samples (NIS). We demonstrate that the 13 AIMs are as accurate as the 52 markers that were chosen without regard to the power to differentiate between wolves and dogs, also having the advantage of being rapidly screened on NIS. The efficiency of AIMs significantly outperformed ten random sets of similar size and an additional commercial set of 18 markers. Bayesian clustering analysis implemented on AIMs and NIS identified nine hybrids, two wolves and two dogs. Four hybrids were unambiguously assigned to F1xWolf backcrosses. Our approach (AIMs + NIS) overcomes previous difficulties related to sample availability and informative power of markers, allowing a quick identification of wolf-dog hybrids in the first phases of hybridization episodes. This provides managers with a reliable tool to evaluate hybridization, and estimate the success of their actions. This approach may be easily adapted for other pairs of wild/domesticated species, thus improving our understanding of the introgression of domestication genes into natural populations.狼与犬为野生与驯化类群间的杂交事件所带来的生态学与保护学影响提供了典范案例。然而，长期以来，我们对这类影响的认知受制于两类瓶颈：一是狼与犬极高的遗传相似性，二是组织样本（Tissue Samples, TS）获取难度大，这极大限制了我们对当前正在发生的杂交事件进行评估的能力。为评估伊比利亚西北部某狼犬杂交种群中杂交事件的发生情况与波及范围，我们对比了两类分子标记的检测效能：一是基于组织样本（TS）开发的52个核标记，二是可在非侵入性样本（Non-invasive Samples, NIS）中完成分型的13个祖先信息标记（Ancestry Informative Markers, AIMs）子集。本研究证实，这13个祖先信息标记的检测精度与未经筛选区分狼与犬效能的52个核标记相当，且具备可在非侵入性样本中快速完成检测的优势。祖先信息标记的检测效能显著优于10个同规模随机标记组，以及一套包含18个标记的商业化标记组。基于祖先信息标记与非侵入性样本开展的贝叶斯聚类分析，共鉴定出9只杂交个体、2只狼以及2只犬。其中4只杂交个体被明确归为F1代与狼的回交个体。本研究采用的（祖先信息标记+非侵入性样本）方法，解决了此前受制于样本可获取性与标记信息效能的双重难题，可在杂交事件的早期阶段快速鉴定狼犬杂交个体。该方法可为野生动物管理者提供可靠工具，用于评估杂交事件并估算其管理措施的实施成效。该方法可轻松适配其他野生/驯化物种类对，从而加深我们对驯化基因向自然种群发生基因渐渗的认知。