Abstract
The Tatra chamois is an endemic subspecies of Northern chamois, indigenous only in the Tatras, a wild animal genetic resource unique to Slovakia. The main goal of this study was to describe the distribution of mtDNA haplogroups in isolated populations inhabiting geographical areas in the Slovak part of the Tatras and the development of methodologies for reliable differentiation between the closely related Alpine and Tatra subspecies based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation. A partial sequence of the D-loop region was obtained to enable analysis of the mtDNA and subsequent estimation of the population haplotype structures. Despite the relatively short fragment of the D-loop region (final length 480 bp) analysed, reliable differentiation of the selected subspecies as genetically unique was obtained. Moreover, the study results indicated the occurrence of four haplotypes within the sampled population. Except for three previously published haplotypes, the analysis of the target mtDNA region suggested the occurrence of a new group, here noted as Tatra 10, indicating the existence of a new, unique haplotype. From the geographical point of view, this new haplotype, seems to be restricted to the area of the Western Tatras. Thus, our study provides new insight into the haplotype structure of the native Tatra chamois population in Slovakia and can be beneficial for the management of its conservation status. It should be emphasised that the Tatra chamois is regarded as a critically endangered species. Therefore, the systematic monitoring of genetic diversity, including the distribution of mtDNA haplotypes, is necessary to develop an appropriate conservation strategy.
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Abbreviations
- bp:
-
Base pair
- F:
-
Forward primer
- IUCN:
-
International Union for Conservation of Nature
- mtDNA:
-
Mitochondrial DNA
- NCBI:
-
National Center for Biotechnology Information
- R:
-
Reverse primer
- UV/VIS:
-
Ultraviolet – visible spectrophotometry
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Acknowledgments
The biological samples were obtained in cooperation with Tatra National Park Administration. We would like to thank all people that were involved in study and contributed to the collection of biological material, scientific institutions that provided their know-how, the Environmental foundation, and all those who care for the chamois protection in the Tatras.
This study was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the Contract no. APVV-14-0054 and APVV-17-0060. This project is being co-financed by the European Union, ITMS 26240220080. We support research activities in Slovakia.
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Authors whose names appear on the submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and therefore share collective responsibility and accountability for the results. NM was responsible for database building, analysis of data and results in tabular and graphical form. RŽ,DJ,MG were responsible for molecular and laboratory work and the data quality control, JP, PM, EF were responsible for the field work and collection of biological material, RK responsible for introduction, aims, discussion and conclusions.
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Moravčíková, N., Židek, R., Kasarda, R. et al. Identification of genetic families based on mitochondrial D-loop sequence in population of the Tatra chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra tatrica). Biologia 75, 121–128 (2020). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-019-00313-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-019-00313-z