Paternity identification of red panda using microsatellite genotyping

Yunfang Xiu, Bichun Li*, Yucun Chen, Yani Zhang, Suhui Xu, Ahmed Kamel El-Sayed

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens)is an endangered species inhabiting a narrow region between the Himalaya Mountains and the Henduan Mountains. The studbook of captive red pandas in China has 968 registered individuals, of which 355 are living(as of 2013) but in this studbook, some pedigree information is unclear. In order to revise this studbook, microsatellite amplification was conducted on 41 captive red pandas with 19 pairs of red panda specific primers, and paternity relationship was analyzed. The paternity test results and species' original record information were analyzed using Pedigraph Software, and a genetic pedigree of Fuzhou captive red pandas was established. Our findings show that when the mother-child relationship was known, the combined paternity exclusion probability of the 19 loci was 0.99999968. Genotype reliability testing of the 19 loci in six offspring with known parents revealed that the genotypes of 19 loci of offspring and parents completely comply with Mendelian Law, indicating that these loci can be used to ascertain the paternity of red pandas. The biological fathers of 15 offspring from the Fuzhou captive population were identified successfully. Paternity results showed that every litter has only a single father in spite of mating some female red pandas with multiple males in one breeding season. By genotype comparison, seven pairs of twins in the Fuzhou population were all found to be dizygotic twins and with the exception of studbook individuals #920 and #921, all of the other offspring from the Fuzhou population were sired by two males, #487 and #898, indicating different reproductive success rates. Our findings have practical significance for strengthening the management of endangered animal populations and designing scientific breeding plans using modern breeding technologies.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)55-64
Number of pages10
JournalActa Theriologica Sinica
Volume35
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Ailurus fulgens
  • Genetic pedigree
  • Microsatellite
  • Paternity identification

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