Genetic assessment for the endangered black lion tamarinLeontopithecus chrysopygus(Mikan, 1823),Callitrichidae, Primates

Abstract

This is the first study analyzing genetic diversity in captive individuals of the endangered black lion tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysopygus, and also comparing genetic diversity parameters between wild populations and captive groups using the same set of molecular markers. We evaluated genetic diversity and differentiation for the Brazilian and European captive groups and a wild population through 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity levels were similar among Brazilian captive, European captive and wild animals from the National Forest of Capão Bonito. Expected heterozygosity showed values ranging from 0.403 to 0.462, and significant differences were not observed among the populations. Different allele frequencies were observed among the groups, which showed the presence of distinct private alleles. The PCoA analysis evidenced three main clusters suggesting that the captive Brazilian and European groups are markedly differentiated both from one another and from the wild population of Capão Bonito. Likewise, the most likely number of genetic clusters (K) revealed by Structure was three. Such a structure is probably the result of the strength of drift and non-random reproduction in these small and isolated groups. Despite this differentiation, all groups still have similar genetic diversity levels, comparable to other callitrichids. The data obtained herein are important to increasing knowledge of the genetics of tamarins and supporting breeding programs to prevent loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding depression.

Population Genetic Structure of an Endangered Endemic Primate (Leontopithecus chrysomelas) in a Highly Fragmented Atlantic Coastal Rain Forest

“…Genetic studies with lion tamarins differ in the number of samples, populations and microsatellite loci, and in the type (skin, blood or hair) and origin (wild life or captivity) of samples, making it difficult to compare them. Considering these differences, the mean expected heterozygosity for GHLT was similar to that observed for Leontopithecus rosalia [Grativol et al, 2001;Moraes et al, 2017] and not much higher than the values reported for Leontopithecus caissara [Martins and Galetti, 2011;Martins et al, 2012] and L. chrysopygus [Ayala-Burbano et al, 2017]. The average number of alleles was relatively high for GHLTs in the wild, but this might be (partially) due to differences in sample sizes (for which this parameter is relatively sensitive).…”

“…In addition, these similar genetic diversities among captive populations and our results were found even using different types of samples: skin (n = 29, loci = 9, N a = 3.67, H e = 0.59 [Galbusera and Gillemot, 2008]), blood (n = 55, loci = 16, N a = 5.1, H e = 0.65) and hair (n = 49, loci = 16, N a = 4.6, H e = 0.55) [Orefice, 2015]. The importance of genetically diverse captive populations for the conservation of lion tamarin species with markedly smaller wild populations has also been documented [Ayala-Burbano et al, 2017;Moraes et al, 2017]. In the case of L. rosalia, the captive population contributed greatly to the wild population by means of a reintroduction programme [Kierulff et al, 2012;Moraes et al, 2017].…”

Studbook and molecular analyses for the endangered black-lion-tamarin; an integrative approach for assessing genetic diversity and driving management in captivity

“…However, this is not an easy task, and consequently captive groups tend to present lower levels of genetic diversity and higher inbreeding rates than expected 2,7 , challenging the success of these captive breeding programs. On the other hand, wild endangered species often present small and fragmented populations subjected to bottleneck effects and absence of gene flow, and low genetic diversity levels are commonly also observed in nature 8,9 . This is the case for the black-lion-tamarin (BLT), Leontopithecus chrysopygus (Callitrichidae, Platyrrhini), an endangered primate inhabiting exclusively the Atlantic Forest of São Paulo state in Southeast Brazil 8,10 .The population size of L. chrysopygus in nature is small 11 , currently estimated at a total of a thousand individuals living in a few small forest fragments 12 .…”

“…The animals kept at Jersey Zoo successfully produced offspring, and some L. chrysopygus were transferred to other institutions in Europe, North America and Australia. However, the majority of these individuals died 17 , and nowadays there are only extant captive BLT overseas in Jersey 8 .…”

“…Similarly to most ex-situ breeding programs, the management of L. chrysopygus in captivity has been implemented based only on pedigree analyses 8 , aiming to minimize population average kinship and preserve representative genetic diversity [19][20][21] . Although this strategy has been considered appropriate to avoid inbreeding 22 , even if a pedigree has been properly scored for a captive group since its foundation, founder relationships are generally unknown, and for management purposes it is commonly assumed that the founders are unrelated 23 .…”