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Genetic structuring in a relictual population of screaming hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus) in Argentina revealed by a set of novel microsatellite loci

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Abstract

The screaming hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus) is a mammal species containing disjunct and isolated populations. In order to assess the effect of habitat fragmentation and geographic isolation, we developed seven new microsatellite loci isolated from low-coverage genome shotgun sequencing data for this species. Among these loci, six microsatellites were found to be polymorphic with 8–26 alleles per locus detected across 69 samples analyzed from a relictual population of the species located in the northeast of the Buenos Aires Province (Argentina). Mean allelic richness and polymorphic information content were 15 and 0.75, with observed and expected heterozygosities ranging from 0.40 to 0.67 and 0.58 to 0.90, respectively. All loci showed departures from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The analysis of population structure in this relictual population revealed three groups of individuals that are genetically differentiated. These newly developed microsatellites will constitute a very useful tool for the estimation of genetic diversity and structure, population dynamics, social structure, parentage and mating system in this little-studied armadillo species. Such genetic data will be particularly helpful for the development of conservation strategies for this isolated population and also for the endangered Bolivian populations previously recognized as a distinct species (Chaetophractus nationi).

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Acknowledgments

We thank L.G. Pagano and M.C. Ezquiaga for their invaluable assistance during fieldwork. Our thanks also extend to the farm owners (Landa Family) and workers that allowed access to their property. Stéphane Garnier and two anonymous reviewers provided comments that helped improved a previous version of the manuscript.

Funding

This work has been financially supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas of Argentina (PIP No. 11420100100189), Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica of Argentina (PICT-2010-1978), Universidad Nacional de Luján, Argentina (Fondos Finalidad 3.5), and Universidad Nacional de La Plata. This study has benefited from an “Investissements d’Avenir” grant managed by Agence Nationale de la Recherche (CEBA, ref. ANR-10-LABX-25-01). This is contribution ISEM 2016-124-S of the Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Nacional de Luján, Luján, Argentina

    Maximiliano Nardelli, Ezequiel Alejandro Ibáñez, Dara Dobler, Marcelo Hernán Cassini & Juan Ignacio Túnez

  2. Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, UMR 5554, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Fabienne Justy & Frédéric Delsuc

  3. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores (CEPAVE), CCT-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina

    Agustín Manuel Abba

  4. Laboratorio de Biología del Comportamiento, IBYME-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Marcelo Hernán Cassini

Authors
  1. Maximiliano Nardelli
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  2. Ezequiel Alejandro Ibáñez
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  3. Dara Dobler
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  4. Fabienne Justy
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  5. Frédéric Delsuc
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  6. Agustín Manuel Abba
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  7. Marcelo Hernán Cassini
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  8. Juan Ignacio Túnez
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Correspondence to Maximiliano Nardelli.

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Nardelli, M., Ibáñez, E.A., Dobler, D. et al. Genetic structuring in a relictual population of screaming hairy armadillo (Chaetophractus vellerosus) in Argentina revealed by a set of novel microsatellite loci. Genetica 144, 469–476 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-016-9915-0

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