Microsatellite primers from the Eurasian badger, Meles meles

Eurasian badgers, Meles meles, have been shown to possess limited genetic population structure within Europe; however, field studies have detected high levels of philopatry, which are expected to increase population structure. Population structure will be a consequence of both contemporary dispersal and historical processes, each of which is expected to be evident at a different scale. Therefore, to gain a greater understanding of gene flow in the badger, we examined microsatellite diversity both among and within badger populations, focusing on populations from the British Isles and western Europe. We found that while populations differed in their allelic diversity, the British Isles displayed a similar degree of diversity to the rest of western Europe. The lower genetic diversity occurring in Ireland, Norway and Scotland was more likely to have resulted from founder effects rather than contemporary population density. While there was significant population structure (F ST = 0.19), divergence among populations was generally well explained by geographic distance (P < 0.0001) across the entire range studied of more than 3000 km. Transient effects from the Pleistocene appear to have been replaced by a strong pattern of genetic isolation by distance across western Europe, suggestive of colonization from a single refugium. Analysis of individuals within British populations through Mantel tests and spatial autocorrelation demonstrated that there was significant local population structure across 3-30 km, confirming that dispersal is indeed restricted. The isolation by distance observed among badger populations across western Europe is likely to be a consequence of this restricted local dispersal.

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“…(2005). An additional five loci ( Mel 1, Bijlsma et al . 2000; Mel 10, Mel 11, Mel 14 and Mel 15, Domingo‐Roura et al .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolation by distance and gene flow in the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) at both a local and broad scale

Pope

Domingo‐Roura²,

Erven

et al. 2005

Molecular Ecology

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“…We screened a total of 112 microsatellite loci for polymorphism in 8 individuals of S. gracilis (from the islands and mainland) using primers originally developed for the following mustelids: Taxidea taxus (Davis and Strobeck 1998), Meles meles (Bijlsma et al 2000;Carpenter et al 2003;Domingo-Roura et al 2003), Gulo gulo (Davis and Strobeck 1998;Walker et al 2001), Lontra canadensis (Beheler et al 2005), Lutra lutra (Dallas and Piertney 1998;Walker et al 2001), Mustela erminea (Fleming et al 1999), Neovison vison (Fleming et al 1999;O'Connell et al 1996), and Martes americana (Davis and Strobeck 1998); and for 1 mephitid: Mephitis mephitis (Dragoo et al 2009). Only 3 of these loci showed clearly interpretable variation: Mel1 (Bijlsma et al 2000), Meph22-70, and Meph22-76 (Dragoo et al 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only 3 of these loci showed clearly interpretable variation: Mel1 (Bijlsma et al 2000), Meph22-70, and Meph22-76 (Dragoo et al 2009). However, approximately 12 other loci showed microsatellite variation that was obscured by bands from nonspecific amplifications.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic differentiation of island spotted skunks,Spilogale gracilis amphiala

Floyd

Vuren

Crooks

et al. 2011

Journal of Mammalogy

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“…In addition, our cross-species amplification indicated that 22 primer pairs from 40 microsatellite loci of the European badger could be amplified in all 12 hog badger samples tested. As Bijlsma et al (2000) were able to investigate the genetic diversity of European badgers by using just 7 microsatellite loci, we selected 10 of the 22 primer pairs at random to label with fluorescent dye for further gene scanning. Our criterion for considering a microsatellite locus to be reliable was that it had more than 2 alleles that could be amplified in all 12 test samples.…”

Section: Microsatellite Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The illegal exploitation of hog badgers (Arctonyx collaris) in China: genetic evidence exposes regional population impacts

Chen

Newman

Liu

et al. 2015

Conservation Genet Resour

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Although the impacts of the legal and illegal wildlife trade are broadly recognised for flagship species (e.g., elephant, rhino and tiger), less is known about how exploitation affects more common, and less charismatic species. This is of especial concern in Asia in general, and particularly in China, where demands for wild game species, and derived products are increasing, but a lack of data on illegal bushmeat hunting limits the development of effective species and ecosystem conservation measures. Genetic monitoring provides an informative tool to assess the pressures on regional populations, particularly for species that are difficult to monitor, for example, using arboreal or subterranean refugia. Here, using microsatellite markers, we investigated the effect of hunting on the genetic diversity of a regional population of the hog badger. Samples were collected from hog badgers confiscated from illegal traffickers and local hunters by forest authorities in the market towns of Wufeng and Yuguan, which lie 40 km apart in Hubei Province, China. To isolate novel hog badger microsatellite loci, we constructed a biotin-enriched microsatellite DNA library. Furthermore, we also tested the suitability of microsatellite loci designed for the European badger in the hog badger. Using these microsatellite markers, we found that these seized hog badgers exhibited a high level of genetic diversity-mean alleles per locus (A) were 8.33 and mean expected heterozygosities (H E ) were 0.77. Despite 40 km separation between sample sites, spatial segregation was not apparent from genetics. This suggests that our confiscated hog badgers belong to the same meta-population. Although limited by a lack of geographical data on the source of these hog badgers, preventing the analysis of isolation by distance effects, hunting likely eroded hog badger population social structure, promoting gene flow among demes. We conclude that the exploitation of this wild source population seems unsustainable.

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Microsatellite primers from the Eurasian badger, Meles meles

Cited by 17 publications

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Isolation by distance and gene flow in the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) at both a local and broad scale

Isolation by distance and gene flow in the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) at both a local and broad scale

Genetic differentiation of island spotted skunks,Spilogale gracilis amphiala

The illegal exploitation of hog badgers (Arctonyx collaris) in China: genetic evidence exposes regional population impacts

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