Genetic diversity and relatedness among African Painted dogs in North America

African painted dogs (Lycaon pictus, APD) are highly endangered, with fewer than 7,000 remaining in nature. Captive breeding programs can preserve a genetically diverse population and provide a source of individuals for re-introductions. However, most programs are initiated from few founders and suffer from low genetic diversity and inbreeding. The aims of this study were to use molecular markers to assess genetic variation, inbreeding, and relatedness among APDs in the North American captive population, to use these data to realign studbook records, and to compare these data to wild populations and to the European captive population to facilitate development of a global management plan. We sequenced mitochondrial and major histocompatibility (MHC) class II loci, and genotyped 14 microsatellite loci from 109 APDs from 34 institutions in North America. We identified three likely studbook errors and resolved ten cases of uncertain paternity. Overall, microsatellite heterozygosity was higher than reported in Europe, but effective population size estimates were lower. Mitochondrial sequence variation was extremely limited, and there were fewer MHC haplotypes than in Europe or the wild. Although the population did not show evidence of significant inbreeding overall, several individuals shared high relatedness values, which should be incorporated into future breeding programs.

非洲野犬（Lycaon pictus，简称APD）处于极度濒危状态，野外现存种群数量不足7000只。圈养繁育计划可保留遗传多样性丰富的种群，并为野化放归提供个体来源。然而，多数此类计划仅由少量奠基个体启动，因而面临遗传多样性低下与近交问题。本研究旨在通过分子标记技术，评估北美圈养种群非洲野犬的遗传变异、近交程度与亲缘关系；利用上述数据校正谱系登记记录；并将这些数据与野生种群及欧洲圈养种群进行比对，以助力全球管理计划的制定。我们对北美34家机构的109只非洲野犬的线粒体基因及主要组织相容性复合体（MHC）Ⅱ类基因座进行了测序，并对14个微卫星基因座进行了基因分型。我们共发现3处疑似谱系登记错误，并解决了10例父系归属不明的案例。总体而言，本研究中非洲野犬的微卫星杂合度高于欧洲圈养种群的已有报道，但有效种群大小估计值更低。线粒体序列变异程度极低，且MHC单倍型数量少于欧洲圈养种群与野生种群。尽管该种群整体未表现出显著近交的迹象，但部分个体间亲缘关系较高，这一结果应纳入未来繁育计划的考量范畴。