Mitochondrial DNA And Nuclear MHC Variation Of Giant Panda And Mitochondrial DNA Variation Of False Killer Whale

Giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, is a well-known endangered animal, which is distributed only in China. To understand the current genetic status as well as evolutionary relationship with some other carnivores, sequence variation at mtDNA D-Loop and nuclear MHC loci were surveyed in this study. Results suggest there is an extensive genetic variation in panda, probably due to recent population expansion. Phylogenetic analyses of mtDNA data support the giant panda have closer relationship with bear (U. thibetanus) than with red panda (A. fulgens).False killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens, is a larger dolphin, distributed all over the world. Five hundred and thirty three base pairs (bp) of the mitochondrial control region of seven false killer whales from the Yellow Sea in Chinese waters were sequenced in this study. Fifty four variable sites were determined and four haplotypes were identified. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood and neighbor-joining algorithms divided the haplotypes of false killer whales into two clades showing no sister relationship with each other. No shared haplotypes were found between the two clades. The average nucleotide divergence between the two clades is approximately 7.61%, much higher than those between Turisops species (5.58%) and between Delphinus species (1.09%), which suggested that the two clades probably represent two separate species. Further study is urgently needed.