Genetic variability in the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)

Abstract

An electrophoretic survey of blood markers of the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) was undertaken in order to ascertain the genetic variability in a sample of 85 individuals, mainly from Saudi Arabian (Taif) and Jordanian herds. Three out of 18 loci were found to be polymorphic (P = 16.7%) and the mean heterozygosity (H = 0.052) appears to be relatively high with respect to the severe demographic bottlenecks expressed by the species since the 1960s. No genetic differentiation was found between Arabian and Jordanian samples considered. Consequences of these findings for the management of the Taif herd and for such procedures as pedigree determination are discussed, and an example of this latter application is given for a case of doubtful parentage.

Measuring the genetic diversity of Arabian Oryx using microsatellite markers: implication for captive breeding

“…Earlier, a set of 3 polymorphic loci of a protein-based fingerprinting protocol had been applied for reliable identification of sires in the Arabian oryx herd at MSPA (Vassart et al, 1991). The mean allelic polymorphism in our study was comparatively higher (3.00 versus 2.10 or 1.17, respectively) than the mean number of alleles reported earlier in microsatellite (Marshall et al, 1999) or alloenzyme (Vassart et al, 1991) based genotyping of Arabian oryx.…”

“…Earlier, a set of 3 polymorphic loci of a protein-based fingerprinting protocol had been applied for reliable identification of sires in the Arabian oryx herd at MSPA (Vassart et al, 1991). The mean allelic polymorphism in our study was comparatively higher (3.00 versus 2.10 or 1.17, respectively) than the mean number of alleles reported earlier in microsatellite (Marshall et al, 1999) or alloenzyme (Vassart et al, 1991) based genotyping of Arabian oryx. Marshall et al (1999) reported that the set of microsatellite markers they used had limited power for parentage inference due to their low allelic polymorphism however the same markers were found to be suitable for forensic use and confirmed the identity of a poached animal.…”

“…During the event of a bottleneck, the so called rare alleles are lost easily than the common alleles rendering the population to be deficient in rare alleles. In case of Arabian oryx, the demographic bottlenecks have been reported to be too short a duration to exert a significant impact on heterozygosity (Vassart et al, 1991). Furthermore, because of the loss of rare alleles, the heterozygosity in the bottlenecked population turns to be higher than expected for the remaining alleles (Marshall, 2007).…”

“…Thus, a global perspective about developing more effective captive breeding programs is necessary to maintain the genetic diversity of this endangered species (Iyengar et al, 2007). Vassart et al (1991) have emphasized the need of carrying a large scale screening of different herds of Arabian oryx maintained in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world for genuine selection of candidates for introduction in wild or captive breeding programs.…”

Ten years of Arabian oryx conservation breeding in Saudi Arabia – achievements and regional perspectives

“…Animals forming the breeding nucleus of the NWRC herd represent a wider genetic base (Vassart et al, 1991), with the inclusion of animals derived not only from the World Herd, but also from the original Saudi, Qatari (5) and Abu Dhabi (2) genetic lineages.…”