Labuschagne C, Dalton DL, Grobler JP, Kotzé A. SNP discovery and characterisation in White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) with application to parentage assignment.
Genet Mol Biol 2017;
40:84-92. [PMID:
28170027 PMCID:
PMC5409770 DOI:
10.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2016-0058]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2016] [Accepted: 05/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The white rhino is one of the great success stories of modern wildlife conservation,
growing from as few as 50-100 animals in the 1880s, to approximately 20,000 white
rhinoceros remaining today. However, illegal trade in conservational rhinoceros horns
is adding constant pressure on remaining populations. Captive management of
ex situ populations of endangered species using molecular methods
can contribute to improving the management of the species. Here we compare for the
first time the utility of 33 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and nine
microsatellites (MS) in isolation and in combination for assigning parentage in
captive White Rhinoceros. We found that a combined dataset of SNPs and
microsatellites was most informative with the highest confidence level. This study
thus provided us with a useful set of SNP and MS markers for parentage and
relatedness testing. Further assessment of the utility of these markers over multiple
(> three) generations and the incorporation of a larger variety of relationships
among individuals (e.g. half-siblings or cousins) is strongly suggested.
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