Genetic Diversity And Genetic Structure Of Amur Leopard(Panthera Pardus Orientalis) And North China Leopard(Panthera Pardus Fontanierii) In China

The existence of leopard(Panthera pardus)depends on and influences the whole ecosystem.Population genetics of wild leopard populations are not well studied.Here,we studied the genetic diversity of Amur panther population in Hunchun and Wangqing reserve in jilin province and North China leopard population in Tieqiao mountain reserve in Shanxi Province by microsatellite methods.1.Study on genetic diversity of Amur leopard:From leopard population in Wangqing,Hunchun near Russia border region identified 10 northeast leopard individuals with species-specific primers,gender-specific primers and microsatellite locus primers,including 6 males,1 female and 3 individuals with unknown gender.Genetic diversity analysis showed that compared with the North China leopard population,the genetic diversity was lower,the average allele number was only 3,and the observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity were both lower than the north China leopard population.Only 2(FCA5,FCA126)of the 9 loci that could be successfully amplified were highly polymorphic loci.But inbreeding analysis found that the inbreeding situation of northeast leopard population was not serious.2.Genetic diversity study of north China leopard:By species-specific primers,gender-specific primers and microsatellite locus primers,10 were indentified from samples from the North China leopard population in Tieqiao mountain reserve.Two fecal samples and one muscle sample collected from three individuals in Taiyuan Zoo were successfully identified as different individuals,which is consistent with the actual situation.Combined with gender-specific primers,there were 4 males,3 females and 3 individuals of unknown gender in the wild population.The fecal samples of the zoo were successfully identified as a male and a female,and the muscle samples were male,which was also same with the real situation.Genetic diversity analysis found that although the genetic diversity related indicators such as observed heterozygosity,expected heterozygosity,number of alleles were higher than the northeast leopard populations,such as 11 successful amplification loci diversity information content(PIC)only one site FCA310 PIC value is less than 0.5,the rest of the site are high polymorphism loci,but north China leopard population inbreeding inbreeding analysis is more severe.3.Comparison of the genetic structure of the northeast leopard and north China leopard:Three methods were used to classify the two geographic populations,and the three methods showed that the two geographic populations could be clearly divided into two populations.Preliminary population structure analysis and comparison showed that the genetic differences between the two populations were large.However,the methods used in this study are single and use fewer sites,so further research is needed to explore the subspecies division of the northeast leopard and north China leopard.Due to habitat fragmentation,both the northeast leopard and the north China leopard populations are affected,which is particularly obvious in the North China leopard,inbreeding is serious.In order to avoid further loss of genetic diversity leading to population decline,it is important to identify and maintain the ecological corridors connecting the conservation areas.