Genetic markers in the Spitsbergen reindeer

Blood samples from 81 Spitsbergen reindeer together with reference samples from 11 continental Norwegian reindeer have been examined by different electrophoretic techniques with regard to the following genetic marker systems: Red cells: Hb, PGM, 6-PGD, GPT, ESD, GLO, and AcP. Serum: A1 and Tf. In all markers except Tf (transferrin) Spitsbergen reindeer types showed the same electrophoretic patterns as did the continental Norwegian reindeer, i.e. they probably were homozygous for the alleles seen in the reference animals. In the Tf system, three different phenotypes were observed in the Spitsbergen group, designated TfG2, TfG2G3, and TfG3. The distribution of phenotypes fits well with one autosomal codominant Tf locus with two common alleles TfG2 and TfG3, neither of which has been seen in continental Norwegian reindeer. It is concluded that the Tf phenotype distribution observed indicates a relatively large genetic distance between Spitsbergen and continental Norwegian reindeer.