Selection of microsatellite loci for genetic monitoring of sloth bears

The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is a threatened species endemic to the Indian subcontinent. To date, no reliable method has been developed for identifying individuals or monitoring their populations. Here we describe a non-invasive genetic monitoring technique for individual identification of slot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ursus (International Association for Bear Research and Management) 2013-12, Vol.24 (2), p.164-169
Main Authors: Sharma, Sandeep, Dutta, Trishna, Maldonado, Jesús E, Wood, Thomas C, Panwar, Hemendra Singh, Seidensticker, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
DNA
Ecological genetics
Evolutionary genetics
Genetic loci
individual identification
Melursus ursinus
microsatellite
Microsatellites
noninvasive sampling
Polymerase chain reaction
Population ecology
Population genetics
Short Communication
Short Communications
Siblings
sloth bear
Sloth bears
Ursus
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Summary:The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is a threatened species endemic to the Indian subcontinent. To date, no reliable method has been developed for identifying individuals or monitoring their populations. Here we describe a non-invasive genetic monitoring technique for individual identification of sloth bears. After testing 18 microsatellites developed for other carnivore species, including ursids, we optimized a panel of 7 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci that yielded a cumulative Probability of Identity between siblings value of 2.15E-03. We used this panel to identify 55 individual sloth bears from 190 fecal and 4 hair samples collected in tiger reserves in central India. This panel can be used for population genetic studies and population monitoring of sloth bears.
ISSN:1537-6176
1938-5439
DOI:10.2192/URSUS-D-13-00001.1