Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics Group, Doñana Biological Station, EBD-CSIC, Seville, Spain.
PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e39031. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039031. Epub 2012 Jun 12.
The common quail (Coturnix coturnix) is a popular game species for which restocking with farm-reared individuals is a common practice. In some areas, the number of released quails greatly surpasses the number of wild breeding common quail. However, common quail are difficult to raise in captivity and this casts suspicion about a possible hybrid origin of the farmed individuals from crosses with domestic Japanese quail (C. japonica). In this study we used a panel of autosomal microsatellite markers to characterize the genetic origin of quails reared for hunting purposes in game farms in Spain and of quails from an experimental game farm which was founded with hybrids that have been systematically backcrossed with wild common quails. The genotypes of these quail were compared to those of wild common quail and domestic strains of Japanese quail. Our results show that more than 85% of the game farm birds were not common quail but had domestic Japanese quail ancestry. In the experimental farm a larger proportion of individuals could not be clearly separated from pure common quails. We conclude that the majority of quail sold for restocking purposes were not common quail. Genetic monitoring of individuals raised for restocking is indispensable as the massive release of farm-reared hybrids could represent a severe threat for the long term survival of the native species.
普通鹌鹑（Coturnix coturnix）是一种受欢迎的游戏物种，为其重新引入养殖个体是一种常见的做法。在某些地区，释放的鹌鹑数量大大超过了野生繁殖的普通鹌鹑的数量。然而，普通鹌鹑在圈养中很难饲养，这使人怀疑养殖个体可能是通过与家养日本鹌鹑（C. japonica）杂交产生的杂种。在这项研究中，我们使用了一组常染色体微卫星标记来描述在西班牙狩猎农场饲养的鹌鹑和一个实验性狩猎农场饲养的鹌鹑的遗传起源，该农场是用经过系统回交的杂种建立的，这些杂种与野生普通鹌鹑杂交。这些鹌鹑的基因型与野生普通鹌鹑和家养日本鹌鹑的基因型进行了比较。我们的结果表明，超过 85%的狩猎农场鸟类不是普通鹌鹑，而是具有日本鹌鹑的家系。在实验农场中，更大比例的个体无法与纯普通鹌鹑明显区分开来。我们得出结论，用于重新引入的大多数鹌鹑不是普通鹌鹑。对用于重新引入的个体进行遗传监测是必不可少的，因为大量释放养殖杂种可能对本地物种的长期生存构成严重威胁。
