Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A highly informative microsatellite panel for individual identification and sex determination of jungle cats (Felis chaus)

  • Application Essays
  • Published:
Conservation Genetics Resources Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The jungle cat (Felis chaus), a small-sized felid, is distributed across Southeast and South Asia to Egypt in Africa. In India, it is one of the most common small cat species but no reliable methods are available to monitor its population status. We describe a non-invasive genetic monitoring technique using fecal samples for individual identification and sex determination of jungle cats. We evaluated 21 feline microsatellites and optimized a panel of 11 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci that yield a cumulative Probability of Identity between siblings value of 5.51×10−6. We used this panel to identify 110 individuals from 118 jungle cat scats collected from tiger reserves in Central India. We identified 22 males and 35 females by amplifying a fragment of the Amelogenin protein gene. This panel will be helpful to study genetic structure, gene flow, relatedness, sex ratio, and population estimation in jungle cats.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bhagavatula J, Singh L (2006) Genotyping faecal samples of Bengal tiger Panthera tigris tigris for population estimation: a pilot study. BMC Genet 7:48

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dutta T, Sharma S, Maldonado JE, Wood TC, Seidensticker J (2012a) A reliable method for individual identification and gender determination of wild leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) using non-invasive samples. Conserv Genet Resour 3:665–667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutta T, Sharma S, Maldonado JE, Wood TC, Panwar HS, Seidensticker J (2012b) Fine-scale population genetic structure in a wide-ranging carnivore, the leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in central India. Divers Distrib 1–12. doi:10.1111/ddi.12024

  • Kalinowski ST, Taper ML, Marshall TC (2007) Revising how the computer program CERVUS accommodates genotyping error increases success in paternity assignment. Mol Ecol 16:1099–1106

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Menotti-Raymond M, David VA, Lyons LA et al (1999) A genetic linkage map of microsatellites in the domestic cat (Felis catus). Genomics 57:9–23

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mukherjee S, Ashalakshmi CN, Home C, Ramakrishnan U (2010) An evaluation of the PCR-RFLP technique to aid molecular-based monitoring of felids and canids in India. BMC Res Notes 3:159

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim KL, Mckelvey KS, Riddle aE, Schwartz MK (2005) Felid sex identification based on noninvasive genetic samples. Mol Ecol Notes 5:60–61

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raymond M, Rousset F (1995) Genepop (Version 1.2): population genetics software for exact tests and ecumenicism. J Hered 86:248–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice WR (1989) Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43:223–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousset F (2008) Genepop’007: a complete re-implementation of the genepop software for Windows and Linux. Mol Ecol Resour 8:103–106

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma S, Dutta T, Maldonado JE, Wood TC, Panwar HS, Seidensticker J (2013) Spatial genetic analysis reveals high connectivity of tiger (Panthera tigris) populations in the Satpura-Maikal landscape of Central India. Ecol Evol 3(1):48–60. doi:10.1002/ece3.432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taberlet P, Griffin S, Goossens B et al (1996) Reliable genotyping of samples with very low DNA quantities using PCR. Nucleic Acid Res 24:3189–3194

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Valière N (2002) GIMLET: a computer program for analyzing genetic individual identification data. Mol Ecol Notes 2:377–379

    Google Scholar 

  • van Oosterhout C, Hutchinson WF, Wills DPM, Shipley P (2004) MICRO-CHECKER: software for identifying and correcting genotyping errors in microsatellite data. Mol Ecol Notes 4:535–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vanak AT, Mukherjee S (2008) Identification of scat of Indian fox, jungle cat and golden jackal based on morphometrics. J Bombay Nat Hist Soc 105:212

    Google Scholar 

  • Waits L (2004) Using noninvasive genetic sampling to detect and estimate abundance of rare wildlife species. In: Thompson WL (ed) Sampling rare or elusive species: concepts, designs, and techniques for estimating population parameters, 1st edn. Island Press, Washington, pp 211–228

    Google Scholar 

  • Waits LP, Luikart G, Taberlet P (2001) Estimating the probability of identity among genotypes in natural populations: cautions and guidelines. Mol Ecol 10:249–256

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), Friends of the National Zoo, Kathryn Fuller science for nature fund of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), International Bear Association, and George Mason University. We thank the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Wildlife, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, and field directors and staff of all five tiger reserves (Kanha, Satpura, Melghat, Pench MP and Mh) for providing research permissions and logistical help. We thank Robert Fleischer, Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics, SCBI, and Yogesh S. Shouche, National Center for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune, Maharashtra, India, for providing laboratory space and facilitating lab work; Nancy Rotzel, Libby Dougan, and Hitendra Munot for logistical support, and Susan Lumpkin for editorial comments. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for suggestions that greatly improved the quality of this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, 3001-7012 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC, 20013, USA

    Sandeep Sharma, Trishna Dutta, Jesús E. Maldonado & John Seidensticker

  2. Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., David King Hall MSN 5F2, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Sandeep Sharma, Trishna Dutta, Jesús E. Maldonado & Thomas C. Wood

  3. 208, Kanchanjunga Towers, GH-18, Sector 56, Gurgaon, 122011, India

    Hemendra Singh Panwar

Authors
  1. Sandeep Sharma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Trishna Dutta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jesús E. Maldonado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Thomas C. Wood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hemendra Singh Panwar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. John Seidensticker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandeep Sharma.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sharma, S., Dutta, T., Maldonado, J.E. et al. A highly informative microsatellite panel for individual identification and sex determination of jungle cats (Felis chaus). Conservation Genet Resour 5, 863–866 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-013-9873-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-013-9873-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation