An improved and reliable molecular sexing technique for Asiatic black bears, Ursus thibetanus

Mukesh,; Sharma, Lalit Kumar; Charoo, Samina Amin; Sathyakumar, Sambandam

doi:10.1007/s12686-013-9988-3

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Eight loci were finally selected (see result) for further analyses based on the ease of use in multiplex PCR, amplification efficiency, readability and success, having a relatively small (< 0.25) probability of identity (P ID ), and having a high value (> 0.5) of polymorphic information content (PIC) [29]. We used the Amelogenin gene with the primers SE47/SE48 for molecular sexing of individual Asiatic black bears [44–46]. Samples were first multiplexed with the primer sets of three highly variable loci (MU23, G10B and MU50), and then discarded if they did not produce scorable results at any locus.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High genetic diversity and distinct ancient lineage of Asiatic black bears revealed by non-invasive surveys in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

et al. 2018

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Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) have a widespread distribution in mountain landscapes, and are considered vulnerable globally, but are low-priority species for conservation in Nepal. Habitat fragmentation, illegal hunting, and human-bear conflict are the major threats to Asiatic black bears across their global range. Having an adequate level of genetic variation in a population helps with adapting to rapidly changing environments, and thus is important for the long-term health of bear populations. Accordingly, we conducted non-invasive surveys of bear populations in the Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) to elucidate genetic diversity, genetic structure, and the phylogenetic relationship of Asiatic black bears from this region of Nepal to other subspecies. To assess levels of genetic diversity and population genetic structure, we genotyped eight microsatellite loci using 147 samples, identifying 60 individuals in an area of approximately 525 km2. We found that the Asiatic black bear population in the ACA has maintained high levels of genetic diversity (HE = 0.76) as compared to other bear populations from range countries. We did not detect a signature of population substructure among sampling localities and this suggests that animals are moving freely across the landscape within the ACA. We also detected a moderate population size that may increase with the availability of suitable habitat in the ACA, so bear-related conflict should be addressed to ensure the long-term viability of this expanding bear populations. Primers specific to bears were designed to amplify a 675 bp fragment of the mitochondrial control region from the collected samples. Three haplotypes were observed from the entire conservation area. The complete mitochondrial genome (16,771 bp), the first obtained from wild populations of the Himalayan black bear (U. t. laniger), was also sequenced to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of closely related subspecies of Asiatic black bears. The resulting phylogeny indicated that Himalayan black bear populations in Nepal are evolutionary distinct from other known subspecies of Asiatic black bears.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High genetic diversity and distinct ancient lineage of Asiatic black bears revealed by non-invasive surveys in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

et al. 2018

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“…Fluorescence-based genotyping was performed on ABI 3130 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystem, Foster City, USA) and alleles were manually scored using GeneMapper software version 3.7 (Applied Biosystems, USA). Molecular sexing was attempted through simultaneous amplification of the partial fragments of SRY and Amelogenin genes in a single PCR and their profiles were viewed through capillary electrophoresis [ 23 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studying bear movement patterns using traditional field techniques is difficult due to their crepuscular/nocturnal behavior, large home range sizes and their use of steep and rugged terrain. Therefore, molecular markers and non-invasive genetic sampling have been used in several studies to study the various important aspects of ecology and genetics of free ranging animals including gene flow [ 17 ], population genetic structure [ 18 , 19 ], population demography [ 20 ], genetic diversity [ 21 , 22 ], sex identification [ 23 , 24 ], individual identification [ 18 , 25 ] and evolutionary history [ 22 , 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict Bear Translocation: Investigating Population Genetics and Fate of Bear Translocation in Dachigam National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India

et al. 2015

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The Asiatic black bear population in Dachigam landscape, Jammu and Kashmir is well recognized as one of the highest density bear populations in India. Increasing incidences of bear-human interactions and the resultant retaliatory killings by locals have become a serious threat to the survivorship of black bears in the Dachigam landscape. The Department of Wildlife Protection in Jammu and Kashmir has been translocating bears involved in conflicts, henceforth ‘conflict bears’ from different sites in Dachigam landscape to Dachigam National Park as a flagship activity to mitigate conflicts. We undertook this study to investigate the population genetics and the fate of bear translocation in Dachigam National Park. We identified 109 unique genotypes in an area of ca. 650 km2 and observed bear population under panmixia that showed sound genetic variability. Molecular tracking of translocated bears revealed that mostly bears (7 out of 11 bears) returned to their capture sites, possibly due to homing instincts or habituation to the high quality food available in agricultural croplands and orchards, while only four bears remained in Dachigam National Park after translocation. Results indicated that translocation success was most likely to be season dependent as bears translocated during spring and late autumn returned to their capture sites, perhaps due to the scarcity of food inside Dachigam National Park while bears translocated in summer remained in Dachigam National Park due to availability of surplus food resources. Thus, the current management practices of translocating conflict bears, without taking into account spatio-temporal variability of food resources in Dachigam landscape seemed to be ineffective in mitigating conflicts on a long-term basis. However, the study highlighted the importance of molecular tracking of bears to understand their movement patterns and socio-biology in tough terrains like Dachigam landscape.

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“…For many wildlife population studies, non-invasive sampling and modern molecular genetics tools augment and sometimes replace traditional field methods in unveiling the important characteristics like species identification (Waits and Paetkau 2005;Silva et al 2014), population genetic fitness (Paetkau and Strobeck 1994), sex discrimination (Mukesh et al 2013a), individual identification (Mukesh et al 2013b) and evolutionary history (Taberlet and Bouvet 1992) of elusive, rare and/or endangered species which are otherwise difficult to study. Genomic DNA can be easily obtained from the remnants epithelial cells often encase the fecal pellets without harming or even observing the animals for generating species-specific sequences (Chancellor et al 2012) and individual-specific genotypes (Bellemaina et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species identification and molecular sexing from feces of Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu)

Mukesh

Sharma

Charoo

et al. 2015

Conservation Genet Resour

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We developed an easy and efficient molecular genetics technique where species identification and sexing of Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu) was carried out simultaneously in a single PCR. The technique has assigned the sexes of known and unknown individuals without any ambiguity and has proven its applicability in identifying sexes of several other cervids including chital, sambar and hog deer.

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An improved and reliable molecular sexing technique for Asiatic black bears, Ursus thibetanus

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

High genetic diversity and distinct ancient lineage of Asiatic black bears revealed by non-invasive surveys in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

High genetic diversity and distinct ancient lineage of Asiatic black bears revealed by non-invasive surveys in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

Conflict Bear Translocation: Investigating Population Genetics and Fate of Bear Translocation in Dachigam National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Species identification and molecular sexing from feces of Kashmir stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu)

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