Title: Characterization of six PCR-based genetic markers in white-tailed deer.
Year: 1995
Abstract: Five PCR-based genetic markers containing the dinucleotide repeat (AC), isolated from white-tailed deer and one (AC),, sequence from the bovine villin gene were characterized in a pedigreed population of white-tailed deer to determine their usefulness in studies of deer biology and management. Each marker was highly polymorphic with numbers of alleles ranging from 5 to 10. Analysis of markers in half-sibships revealed that the observed polymorphisms were inherited as autosomal codominant traits. Polymorphic information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.68 to 0.84 among the six loci. Heterozygosity values ranged from 38% to 96%. Three of the markers also amplified in cattle DNA and were assigned to bovine chromosomes 2.4 and 23. Based on comparative cytogenetic maps of cattle and deer, we tentatively assign these markers to deer chromosomes 3, 15 and 27. Analysis of DNA from other species revealed that each of the six markers can also be amplified and is polymorphic in mule deer, elk, red deer and pronghorn. None of the markers could be amplified in DNA from horse, mouse, or human. Based on the frequencies of the most common alleles for each marker, the maximum probability that two unrelated individuals would possess the identical genotypes for all six markers is < 1.4 x lo9. Consequently, this panel of genetic markers is exceptionally powerful for identifying individual animals and should prove useful in wildlife forensics, analysis of population reproductive structures, and wildlife management.
