Potential of cross-species microsatellite markers to assess population genetics of the endemic, endangered Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius)
详细信息 查看全文
- 作者：Andrea Luis ; Priya Davidar ; P. Anuradha Reddy
- 关键词：Caprinae ; Microsatellite markers ; Non ; invasive genotyping ; Nilgiri tahr ; Conservation genetics
- 刊名：European Journal of Wildlife Research
- 出版年：2017
- 出版时间：February 2017
- 年：2017
- 卷：63
- 期：1
- 全文大小：
- 刊物类别：Biomedical and Life Sciences
- 刊物主题：Zoology; Ecology; Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management;
- 出版者：Springer Berlin Heidelberg
- ISSN：1439-0574
- 卷排序：63
文摘
Nilgiri tahr, the only wild representative of the Caprinae subfamily in Southern India, is endangered due to population decline, decreasing range size and limited geographical distribution, which together with habitat loss and fragmentation, further reduce its long-term viability. Planning conservation and management strategies to rehabilitate the species will require information on its population status and genetics. With an objective to assess the population genetics of Nilgiri tahr, we identified a panel of polymorphic microsatellite markers that amplify across the Caprinae species. We screened 50 pellet samples collected from four herds belonging to the largest remnant population of Nilgiri tahr in Eravikulam National Park, with 19 microsatellite markers, of which 17 polymorphic markers were selected for further tests. We observed varied levels of polymorphism (2–8 alleles) and heterozygosity (0.0476–0.8421). Probability of identity for individuals was 0.0018 at 10 loci and for siblings was 0.0062 at 13 loci, signifying the usefulness of these markers to study wild herds. Overall, observed and expected heterozygosities were Ho = 0.4280 ± 0.2376 and He = 0.4464 ± 0.2265, respectively, and the FIS value was 0.0138 (p = 0.63). Our results validate the use of cross-species markers in wild populations of Nilgiri tahr to identify individuals and determine genetic diversity, which can be further used to understand population dynamics of this species.