| The population of golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in Shennongjia National Nature Reserve is small and isolated. They not only need in situ conservation, but also need ex situ conservation at the same time. In ex situ conservation, the candidate founders come from the provisioned population in Dalongtan (DLT) and captive population in Xiaolongtan (XLT), Shennongjia. But whether or not the individuals in these two populations are suitable for being founder monkeys? Therefore, we studied the genetic diversity of these two populations and population dynamics of the provisioned population in (DLT).In this study, we selected individuals from DLT and XLT populations to evaluate population genetic diversity by combining the field observation and molecular experiments. After sampling hair and partial blood without injury, we extracted genome DNA and amplified three molecular markers (mitochondria DNA, microsatellite and MHC genes) to assess the genetic diversity of two populations. Simultaneously, we also recorded parameters of the provisioned population including the unit structure, age structure, gender structure, birth/death rate, immigration/emigration data, and population size through field observation to evaluate the population dynamics.Based on data of three molecular markers in the provisioned and captive population, we found that:1) A total of six haplotypes were generated from 44 mtDNA sequences (385 bp) with seven variable sites. The overall haplotype diversity (h) was 0.5011 and nucleotide diversity (π) was 0.0018; 2) 36 alleles were identified from eight microsatellite loci in 73 individuals. The mean polymorphism information content (PIC) of the 8 loci was 0.57. The mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.69 and mean expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.63. The inbreeding coefficient (FIS) was -0.011; 3) 25 alleles were acquired from 643 exon sequences of MHC-DRB (270 bp) with 120 variable sites. The nucleotide diversity (π) was 0.075; 4) The overall genetic diversity of microsatellite and MHC-DRB gene were relatively high except for the low genetic diversity in mtDNA data.According to the field observation of provisioned population during nine years (from 2006 to 2014), we have found that:1) The unit structure of DLT provisioned population was changed. The number of OMU (one-male unit) had changed from three in 2006 to six in 2014. Whereas there has been always one AMU (all-male unit) during these years; 2) The number of infants was always larger than that of elders. The number of adult, sub-adult and juvenile individuals was also large. The adults occupied the largest part; 3) The female size has always been bigger than males. The mean sex ratio of female and male was 1.24; 4) The birth rate was higher than death rate in nine years. The highest birth rate was 28% in the year 2008. The death rate had kept low during the nine years. In 2012, the population had the highest death rate which was 6.5%. The mean birth and death rate were 15.84% and 2.13%, respectively in recent nine years; 5) The immigration and emigration phenomenon were common in the population. A total of 12 individuals were immigrated into the population and 23 emigrated out in nine years; 6) The population size increased from 40 in the year 2006 to 76 in 2014 which showing a rapid growth pattern.In summary, we can see from the results that the genetic diversity of provisioned population in DLT was relatively high and the inbreeding level was low. The migration within and among populations can maintain the high genetic diversity of the provisioned population. Adding with the rapid population growth, we could conclude that the provisioned population was suitable for being a candidate population for the founders of ex-situ conservation in Shennongjia golden snub-nosed monkey. |
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