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Genetic diversity assessment for reintroduced Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus) based on newly developed SSR markers

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Abstract

Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus) is a national protected species in China. It first became extinct in the wild in 1976, and was reintroduced to the Kalamaili National Park (KNP) in Xinjiang, China in 2001. This study aimed to analyze the genetic diversity and structure of the reintroduced population of Przewalski’s horse in KNP. Here, we developed and designed microsatellite molecular markers using 48 feces samples and combined this with published genomic data from the species. A preliminary analysis of genetic diversity within the Przewalski’s horse population in the KNP was conducted using 16 pairs of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers with high levels of polymorphism and high stability. A total of 199 alleles were amplified using 16 SSR primer pairs, averaging 12.438 at each locus. In the sample of 48 genomes, the average effective number of alleles detected was 2.695, the average expected heterozygosity was 0.577 and the inbreeding coefficient was 0.232. Twelve loci showed significant deviation from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium following Bonferroni sequential corrections. Our research finds that the genetic diversity of the Przewalski’s horse population in the KNP remains high. This is the first research using newly developed SSR markers to describe the genetic diversity and structure of the reintroduced Przewalski’s horse population in KNP, China. As such, it can inform future reintroductions of the species and conservation measures.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Bulan of Qiaomuxibai station of the Kalamaili National Park (KNP), Gao Shouqin of The Wild Horse Breeding Center (WHBC), Liu Shiqing and Chen Yongyu for their help in sample collection. Many thanks to Prof. Li Wenjun, Prof. Wen Zhibin and Prof. Zhang Hongxiang for their thoughtful comments on the manuscript. The authors also thank TopEdit (http://www.topeditsci.com) for linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. U2003203, 31872254). Li Yan and Sun Gang were supported by the ‘Research Project on Molecular Marker Development and Genetic Diversity Assessment of Przewalski’s Horse in Kalamaili National Park (XJLYKJ-2023-05)’.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 818 Beijing South Road, Ürümqi, China

    Lijiao Zhang, Wei Shi, Jiajia Ding, Muyang Wang & Weikang Yang

  2. Sino-Tajikistan Joint Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Biological Resources, Ürümqi, 830011, China

    Lijiao Zhang, Wei Shi, Jiajia Ding, Muyang Wang & Weikang Yang

  3. The Specimen Museum of Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ürümqi, 830011, China

    Lijiao Zhang, Wei Shi, Jiajia Ding, Muyang Wang & Weikang Yang

  4. Mori Wildlife Monitoring and Experimentation Station, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mori, 831900, China

    Lijiao Zhang, Wei Shi, Jiajia Ding, Muyang Wang & Weikang Yang

  5. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lijiao Zhang & Jiajia Ding

  6. Xinjiang Academy of Forestry Sciences, Ürümqi, 830063, China

    Gang Sun & Yan Li

  7. The Wild Horse Breeding Center (WHBC), Changji, 831700, China

    Entemahan Azhanhan & Hefan Zhang

  8. Engineering Research Center of Eco-Environment in Three Gorges Reservoir Region of Ministry of Education, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, China

    Dahu Zou

  9. IUCN SSC Bustard Specialist Group, Jackson, 83001, USA

    Mimi Kessler

Authors
  1. Lijiao Zhang
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  2. Gang Sun
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  3. Entemahan Azhanhan
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  4. Yan Li
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  5. Wei Shi
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  6. Dahu Zou
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  7. Hefan Zhang
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  8. Jiajia Ding
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  9. Mimi Kessler
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  10. Muyang Wang
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  11. Weikang Yang
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Contributions

The study conception and design were contributed by SW and YW. Material preparation was performed by ZL, SG, ZH, LY, EA and WM. Data collection and analysis were performed by ZL and DJ. Data interpretation, review and revision were performed by SW, YW, WM, ZD and MK. The first draft of the manuscript was written by ZL and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wei Shi or Muyang Wang.

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Zhang, L., Sun, G., Azhanhan, E. et al. Genetic diversity assessment for reintroduced Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus) based on newly developed SSR markers. Conservation Genet Resour 16, 89–101 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-023-01330-6

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