Werhahn Geraldine, Senn Helen, Kaden Jennifer, Joshi Jyoti, Bhattarai Susmita, Kusi Naresh, Sillero-Zubiri Claudio, Macdonald David W
Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, Tubney House, Tubney OX13 5QL, UK.
WildGenes Laboratory, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Edinburgh EH12 6TS, UK.
R Soc Open Sci. 2017 Jun 7;4(6):170186. doi: 10.1098/rsos.170186. eCollection 2017 Jun.
Wolves in the Himalayan region form a monophyletic lineage distinct from the present-day Holarctic grey wolf spp. (Linnaeus 1758) found across Eurasia and North America. Here, we analyse phylogenetic relationships and the geographic distribution of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of the contemporary Himalayan wolf (proposed in previous studies as ) found in Central Asia. We combine genetic data from a living Himalayan wolf population collected in northwestern Nepal in this study with already published genetic data, and confirm the Himalayan wolf lineage based on mitochondrial genomic data (508 bp cytochrome and 242 bp D-loop), and X- and Y-linked zinc-finger protein gene (ZFX and ZFY) sequences. We then compare the genetic profile of the Himalayan wolf lineage found in northwestern Nepal with canid reference sequences from around the globe with maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogeny building methods to demonstrate that the Himalayan wolf forms a distinct monophyletic clade supported by posterior probabilities/bootstrap for D-loop of greater than 0.92/85 and cytochrome greater than 0.99/93. The Himalayan wolf shows a unique Y-chromosome (ZFY) haplotype, and shares an X-chromosome haplotype (ZFX) with the newly postulated African wolf. Our results imply that the Himalayan wolf distribution range extends from the Himalayan range north across the Tibetan Plateau up to the Qinghai Lakes region in Qinghai Province in the People's Republic of China. Based on its phylogenetic distinction and its older age of divergence relative to the Holarctic grey wolf, the Himalayan wolf merits formal classification as a distinct taxon of special conservation concern.
喜马拉雅地区的狼形成了一个单系谱系，与现今在欧亚大陆和北美洲发现的全北区灰狼物种（林奈，1758年）不同。在此，我们分析了当代喜马拉雅狼（在先前研究中提出）线粒体DNA单倍型的系统发育关系和地理分布，该狼种发现于中亚地区。我们将本研究中在尼泊尔西北部收集的现存喜马拉雅狼种群的遗传数据与已发表的遗传数据相结合，并基于线粒体基因组数据（508 bp细胞色素b和242 bp D-loop）以及X和Y连锁锌指蛋白基因（ZFX和ZFY）序列，确认了喜马拉雅狼谱系。然后，我们使用最大似然法和贝叶斯系统发育构建方法，将在尼泊尔西北部发现的喜马拉雅狼谱系的遗传特征与全球犬科动物参考序列进行比较，以证明喜马拉雅狼形成了一个独特的单系分支，其D-loop的后验概率/自展支持率大于0.92/85，细胞色素b大于0.99/93。喜马拉雅狼显示出独特的Y染色体（ZFY）单倍型，并与新提出的非洲狼共享一个X染色体单倍型（ZFX）。我们的结果表明，喜马拉雅狼的分布范围从喜马拉雅山脉向北延伸，穿过青藏高原，直至中华人民共和国青海省的青海湖地区。基于其系统发育差异以及相对于全北区灰狼更古老的分化时间，喜马拉雅狼值得被正式分类为一个具有特殊保护意义的独特分类单元。
