Genomic Resources and Genetic Diversity of Captive Lesser Kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis). Genome sequence of Kudu

The lesser kudu ( Tragelaphus imberbis ) is aspiral ‐ horned antelope native tonortheastern Africa. Individuals kept in zoological gardens are suspected to be highly inbred due to few founder individuals and a small breeding stock. A morphological study suggested two distinct subspecies of the lesser kudu. However, subspecies designation and population structure in zoological gardens has not been analyzed using molecular markers. We analyzed one mitochondrial marker and two nuclear intron loci (total: 2,239 nucleotides) in 52 lesser kudu individuals. Of these, 48 individuals were bred in captivity and sampled from seven different zoos. The four remaining individuals were recently captured in Somalia and are currently held in the Maktoum zoo. Maternally inherited mitochondrial sequences indicate substantial amounts of genetic variation in the zoo populations, while the biparentally inherited intron sequences are, as expected, less variable. The analyzed individuals show 10 mitochondrial haplotypes with a maximal distance of 10 mutational steps. No prominent subspecies structure is detectable in this study. For further studies of the lesser kudu population genetics, we present microsatellite markers from a low ‐ coverage genome survey using 454 sequencing technology.

小捻羚（Tragelaphus imberbis）是原产于非洲东北部的螺旋角羚羊。由于奠基者个体稀少且繁殖种群规模有限，动物园圈养的小捻羚个体被推测存在高度近交现象。一项形态学研究曾提出小捻羚存在两个独立亚种，但目前学界尚未利用分子标记对动物园种群的亚种划分与群体结构展开分析。本研究对52只小捻羚个体的1个线粒体分子标记与2个核内含子位点（总计2239个核苷酸）进行了扩增分析：其中48只为圈养繁育个体，样本采自7家不同的动物园；剩余4只为近期在索马里捕获的个体，目前饲养于马克图姆动物园（Maktoum zoo）。母系遗传的线粒体序列结果显示，动物园种群存在可观的遗传变异；而双亲遗传的内含子序列正如预期，变异程度相对更低。本次分析的个体共携带10种线粒体单倍型，单倍型间的最大突变距离为10个突变步长。本研究未检测到显著的亚种结构。为推进小捻羚群体遗传学的后续研究，本研究通过454测序技术对低覆盖度基因组进行测序，开发出了相应的微卫星标记。