Genetic diversity of regional reindeer populations based on mitochondrial DNA CytB gene analysis

The paper presents the results of the analysis of mitochondrial CytB gene polymorphism in regional domestic and wild reindeer populations. The results showed that the wild reindeer were characterized by higher genetic diversity compared to domestic groups. The results obtained in this study can be recommended for use in the implementation of biodiversity conservation programs for the studied reindeer populations of the Russian Far North.

Introduction. Reindeer is an important component of the ecosystem of the Russian Far North, a distinctive feature of which is the cohabitation of domestic and wild populations. Studying the characteristics of the genetic diversity of reindeer populations using various types of genetic markers has always been of interest to scientists from different countries.

Object. The object of the research is samples of biological material of domestic and wild reindeer.

Materials and methods. A total of 36 individuals were analyzed, including the wild reindeer inhabiting the territory of the Taimyr Autonomous Okrug (WLD, n=16) and domestic reindeer of the Nenets breed bred on the territory of the reindeer herding agricultural enterprise of the Bolshezemelskaya tundra of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NEN, n=15) and the Todzha population of the Todzhinsky district of the northeastern part of the Republic of Tuva (TUVA, n=5). The nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial CytB gene (1140 bp) was determined by Sanger sequencing. Analysis of genetic diversity was carried out based on the values of the number of polymorphic sites (S), the average number of nucleotide differences (K), the number of haplotypes (H), haplotype (Hd) and nucleotide (π) diversity. The construction of the median haplotype connection network was carried out using the PopART 1.7 software.

Results and conclusions. The development of the test-system allowed to obtain and analyze the complete nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial gene CytB, on the basis of which it was revealed that the Taimyr population of the wild reindeer was superior to both samples of domestic reindeer in all parameters of genetic diversity: Hd = 0.958±0.036, S=35, K =7.942, π=0.00697±0.00052. The detected high values of haplotype and nucleotide diversity in the wild population may indicate an expansive growth in population size. Analysis of the median network demonstrated, on the one hand, the common origin of the Taimyr population of wild reindeer with representatives of domestic reindeer of the Nenets breed, and the genetic isolation of a sample of domestic reindeer from the Todzha region of the Republic of Tuva, on the other hand.

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