Identification of Sable (Martes zibellina L.) Populations in the Southern Part of the Species Range

• Published in: Russian journal of genetics 2021-10, Vol.57 (10), p.1179-1188
• Main Authors: Kashtanov, S. N., Shitova, M. V., Somova, M. M., Filimonov, P. A., Tyutenkov, O. Yu, Khodireva, A. A., Svishcheva, G. R., Meshchersky, I. G., Stolpovsky, Yu. A., Rozhnov, V. V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Genetics; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Human Genetics; Microbial Genetics and Genomics
• ISSN: 1022-7954; 1608-3369
• DOI: 10.1134/S1022795421100057

A panel of 15 microsatellite loci was used to study the modern structure of the sable gene pool in the southern part of the range. A high level of population differentiation was determined. The existence of several population clusters of the sable was revealed on the vast territory from Western Siberia to Transbaikalia. This part of the species range is distinguished by a high number of sables; another peculiarity is that the territories allowed for hunting alternate with a significant number of reserve territories. The abilities to identify individuals by population and regional affiliations were determined. In the study, the reliability of the prediction of population belonging (SCOR coefficient) of individuals to the pooled sample was estimated; the estimate showed that the accuracy (the number of correctly identified individuals) and reliability of identification significantly increases on average for each individual with an increase in the number of loci from 8 to 15. The results of the study complement the reference database of genetic data of populations of geographic regions of the species and make it possible to solve a number of problems associated with hunting on the territories bordering the nature reserves, which contributes to the preservation of intraspecific diversity of the sable.