Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers
Today, the Arabian gazelle (G. arabica) occurs only in small, scattered populations on the Arabian Peninsula and is classified as ‘vulnerable’, due to intensive hunting and competition with livestock. The taxonomy of this threatened species is still under debate, hampering conservation efforts while...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X23002681 |
| _version_ | 1797636506177765376 |
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| author | Mohamed Al Mutairi Hannes Lerp Naif Al Hanosh William Macasero Mohammed F. Al Beshr Torsten Wronski |
| author_facet | Mohamed Al Mutairi Hannes Lerp Naif Al Hanosh William Macasero Mohammed F. Al Beshr Torsten Wronski |
| author_sort | Mohamed Al Mutairi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Today, the Arabian gazelle (G. arabica) occurs only in small, scattered populations on the Arabian Peninsula and is classified as ‘vulnerable’, due to intensive hunting and competition with livestock. The taxonomy of this threatened species is still under debate, hampering conservation efforts while ex-situ breeding programs could be an appropriate conservation measure to prevent the species from going extinct. In our study, we attempted to elucidate the radiation of G. arabica on the Arabian Peninsula, and to ask whether the population genetic structure allows to distinguish between discrete conservation units. We used mitochondrial markers, microsatellite markers, and three intron markers to identify conservation units, to match them with genotypes found in the captive breeding stock held in Saudi Arabia, and to ensure that genotype diversity of potential founder individuals corresponds to that prevailing at targeted reintroduction sites. The sequence divergence was low among nuclear and mitochondrial markers, with gazelles originating from the north of the Arabian Peninsula showing the largest diversity, while south-western and eastern populations showed a decreased diversity. A haplotype network based on the relatively heterogeneous cytochrome b gene found no signs of a prolonged separate evolutionary history of any investigated mainland population, suggesting limitations of gene-flow after the colonization of the Arabian Peninsula leading to a founder effect-like distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes. The ex-situ breeding population held in Saudi Arabia showed a good haplotype diversity, underlining its general suitability for reintroductions. However, it is recommended that genetic data of founders should be assessed prior to future reintroduction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:35:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-05a4f18402fb45d799ceccd3ef272223 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1319-562X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T12:35:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-05a4f18402fb45d799ceccd3ef2722232023-11-06T04:21:14ZengElsevierSaudi Journal of Biological Sciences1319-562X2023-11-013011103823Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markersMohamed Al Mutairi0Hannes Lerp1Naif Al Hanosh2William Macasero3Mohammed F. Al Beshr4Torsten Wronski5Terrestrial Wildlife Conservation Department, National Centre for Wildlife (NCW), P.O. Box 61681, Riyadh 11575, Saudi ArabiaNatural History Collections, Museum Wiesbaden, Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 2, 65185 Wiesbaden, GermanyKing Khalid Wildlife Research Centre, National Centre for Wildlife (NCW), P.O. Box 61681, Riyadh 11575, Saudi ArabiaKing Khalid Wildlife Research Centre, National Centre for Wildlife (NCW), P.O. Box 61681, Riyadh 11575, Saudi ArabiaKing Saud University, Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology, P.O Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi ArabiaFaculty of Science, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK; Corresponding author.Today, the Arabian gazelle (G. arabica) occurs only in small, scattered populations on the Arabian Peninsula and is classified as ‘vulnerable’, due to intensive hunting and competition with livestock. The taxonomy of this threatened species is still under debate, hampering conservation efforts while ex-situ breeding programs could be an appropriate conservation measure to prevent the species from going extinct. In our study, we attempted to elucidate the radiation of G. arabica on the Arabian Peninsula, and to ask whether the population genetic structure allows to distinguish between discrete conservation units. We used mitochondrial markers, microsatellite markers, and three intron markers to identify conservation units, to match them with genotypes found in the captive breeding stock held in Saudi Arabia, and to ensure that genotype diversity of potential founder individuals corresponds to that prevailing at targeted reintroduction sites. The sequence divergence was low among nuclear and mitochondrial markers, with gazelles originating from the north of the Arabian Peninsula showing the largest diversity, while south-western and eastern populations showed a decreased diversity. A haplotype network based on the relatively heterogeneous cytochrome b gene found no signs of a prolonged separate evolutionary history of any investigated mainland population, suggesting limitations of gene-flow after the colonization of the Arabian Peninsula leading to a founder effect-like distribution of mitochondrial haplotypes. The ex-situ breeding population held in Saudi Arabia showed a good haplotype diversity, underlining its general suitability for reintroductions. However, it is recommended that genetic data of founders should be assessed prior to future reintroduction.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X23002681Arabian gazelleRadiationRestricted gene flowEx-situ breedingReintroduction |
| spellingShingle | Mohamed Al Mutairi Hannes Lerp Naif Al Hanosh William Macasero Mohammed F. Al Beshr Torsten Wronski Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences Arabian gazelle Radiation Restricted gene flow Ex-situ breeding Reintroduction |
| title | Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers |
| title_full | Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers |
| title_fullStr | Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers |
| title_short | Revisiting the radiation of Gazella arabica on the Arabian Peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction, using mitochondrial and nuclear markers |
| title_sort | revisiting the radiation of gazella arabica on the arabian peninsula and testing the suitability of captive breeding stock for reintroduction using mitochondrial and nuclear markers |
| topic | Arabian gazelle Radiation Restricted gene flow Ex-situ breeding Reintroduction |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319562X23002681 |
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