Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, N10 W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, N10 W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
Immunogenetics. 2018 Feb;70(2):115-124. doi: 10.1007/s00251-017-1020-8. Epub 2017 Jul 9.
Isolated populations of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) on Tsushima and Iriomote islands in Japan are classified as subspecies P. b. euptilurus and P. b. iriomotensis, respectively. Because both populations have decreased to roughly 100, an understanding of their genetic diversity is essential for conservation. We genotyped MHC class II DRB exon 2 and MHC-linked microsatellite loci to evaluate the diversity of MHC genes in the Tsushima and Iriomote cat populations. We detected ten and four DRB alleles in these populations, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis showed DRB alleles from both populations to be closely related to those in other felid DRB lineages, indicating trans-species polymorphism. The MHC-linked microsatellites were more polymorphic in the Tsushima than in the Iriomote population. The MHC diversity of both leopard cat populations is much lower than in the domestic cat populations on these islands, probably due to inbreeding associated with founder effects, geographical isolation, or genetic drift. Our results predict low resistance of the two endangered populations to new pathogens introduced to the islands.
日本对马岛和奄美大岛的豹猫（Prionailurus bengalensis）孤立种群分别被归类为亚种 P. b. euptilurus 和 P. b. iriomotensis。由于这两个种群的数量都减少到了大约 100 只，因此了解它们的遗传多样性对于保护至关重要。我们对 MHC 类 II 区 DRB 外显子 2 和 MHC 连锁微卫星基因座进行了基因分型，以评估对马岛和奄美大岛豹猫种群中 MHC 基因的多样性。在这些种群中分别检测到了十个和四个 DRB 等位基因。系统发育分析表明，来自这两个种群的 DRB 等位基因与其他猫科动物 DRB 谱系中的等位基因密切相关，表明存在跨物种多态性。与奄美大岛种群相比，对马岛种群中的 MHC 连锁微卫星具有更高的多态性。这两个豹猫种群的 MHC 多样性远低于这些岛屿上的家猫种群，这可能是由于与奠基者效应、地理隔离或遗传漂变相关的近亲繁殖所致。我们的研究结果预测，这两个濒危种群对引入岛屿的新病原体的抵抗力较低。
