‘Genetic Diversity of Microsatellite DNA Loci of Tibetan Antelope (Chiru, Pantholops hodgsonii) in Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve, Qinghai, China

The Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), indigenous to China, became an endangered species because of considerable reduction both in number and distribution during the 20th century. Presently, it is listed as an Appendix?species by CITES and as Category? by the Key Protected Wildlife List of China. Understanding the genetic diversity and population structure of the Tibetan antelope is significant for the development of effective conservation plans that will ensure the recovery and future persistence of this species. Twenty-five microsatellites were selected to obtain loci with sufficient levels of polymorphism that can provide information for the analysis of population structure. Among the 25 loci that were examined, nine of them showed high levels of genetic diversity. The nine variable loci (MCM38, MNS64, IOBT395, MCMAI, TGLA68, BM1329, BMS1341, BM3501, and MB066) were used to examine the genetic diversity of the Tibetan antelope (n = 75) in Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve (HXNNR), Qinghai, China. The results obtained by estimating the number of population suggested that all the 75 Tibetan antelope samples were from the same population. The mean number of alleles per locus was 9.4 ? 0.5300 (range, 7-12) and the mean effective number of alleles was 6.519 ? 0.5271 (range, 4.676-9.169). The observed mean and expected heterozygosity were 0.844 ? 0.0133 (range, 0.791-0.897) and 0.838 ? 0.0132 (range, 0.786-0.891), respectively. Mean Polymorphism Information Content (PIC) was 0.818 ? 0.0158 (range, 0.753-0.881). The value of Fixation index (Fis) ranged from ?0.269 to ?0.097 with the mean of ?0.163 ? 0.0197. Mean Shannon's information index was 1.990 ? 0.0719 among nine loci (range, 1.660-2.315). These results provide baseline data for the evaluation of the level of genetic variation in Tibetan antelope, which will be important for the development of conservation strategies in future.