Evaluation of genetic variability in the collared peccary Pecari tajacu and the white-lipped peccary Tayassu pecari by microsatellite markers

Abstract

In this study, the microsatellite technique was used to evaluate the genetic variability in populations of collared and white-lipped peccaries kept in captivity. Six primers developed for domestic pigs were used and amplified in both species. They revealed the presence of five polymorphic loci and one monomorphic locus. The polymorphic loci included 4 of the 16 alleles in collared peccaries, and 3 of the 10 alleles in the white-lipped peccaries. Polymorphic information content (PIC) in both species and all the loci was highly informative. The probability of paternity exclusion (PEC), if one of the parents is known, was almost as high in white-lipped peccaries (95.53%) as in the collared (99,48%). The Fst values for collared (0.042) and white-lipped (0.1387) peccaries showed that both populations are not structured. The Fis values for all loci, except ACTG2 in white-lipped peccaries (-0.0275) and in both species (0.1985 to 0.9284 in collared peccaries and 0.3621 to 0.4754 in the white-lipped), revealed a high level of homozygosis, probably caused by inbreeding. Data on heterologous amplification and genetic variability in collared and white-lipped peccaries are presented for the first time.

Heterologous microsatellite primers are informative for paca (Cuniculus paca), a large rodent with economic and ecological importance

“…The ability to use heterologous primers developed for a closely related species has removed limits when species-specific primers are lacking and allowed researchers to quickly expand studies to new species [ 19 , 20 ]. Cross-amplification has been applied several times at the interface of domestic and free-ranging animals, including the application of domestic cat microsatellite primers to wild cats [ 11 ], canid-specific gender identification primers to bush dogs [ 21 , 22 ], and domestic pig microsatellite primers to wild peccary [ 23 ].…”