Meißner René, Winter Sven, Westerhüs Uta, Sliwa Alexander, Greve Carola, Bottriell Lena Godsall, Bottriell Paul, Fernandes Carlos Rodríguez, Vercammen Paul, Hunter Luke T B, Abramov Alexei V, Khalatbari Leili, Horin Petr, Burger Pamela A, Prost Stefan
Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Savoyenstraße 1, 1160 Vienna, Austria.
Institute for Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Straße 13, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Conserv Genet. 2023;24(1):125-136. doi: 10.1007/s10592-022-01483-1. Epub 2022 Dec 10.
There are only about 7,100 adolescent and adult cheetahs () remaining in the wild. With the majority occurring outside protected areas, their numbers are rapidly declining. Evidence-based conservation measures are essential for the survival of this species. Genetic data is routinely used to inform conservation strategies, e.g., by establishing conservation units (CU). A commonly used marker in conservation genetics is mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Here, we investigated the cheetah's phylogeography using a large-scale mtDNA data set to refine subspecies distributions and better assign individuals to CUs. Our dataset mostly consisted of historic samples to cover the cheetah's whole range as the species has been extinct in most of its former distribution. While our genetic data largely agree with geography-based subspecies assignments, several geographic regions show conflicting mtDNA signals. Our analyses support previous findings that evolutionary forces such as incomplete lineage sorting or mitochondrial capture likely confound the mitochondrial phylogeography of this species, especially in East and, to some extent, in Northeast Africa. We caution that subspecies assignments solely based on mtDNA should be treated carefully and argue for an additional standardized nuclear single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker set for subspecies identification and monitoring. However, the detection of the specific haplogroup by a newly designed Amplification-Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) can already provide support for conservation measures.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10592-022-01483-1.
野生环境中仅存约7100只成年猎豹。由于大多数猎豹分布在保护区之外，其数量正在迅速减少。基于证据的保护措施对该物种的生存至关重要。遗传数据通常用于指导保护策略，例如通过建立保护单元（CU）。保护遗传学中常用的标记是线粒体DNA（mtDNA）。在这里，我们使用大规模mtDNA数据集研究猎豹的系统地理学，以完善亚种分布，并更好地将个体分配到保护单元。我们的数据集主要由历史样本组成，以涵盖猎豹的整个分布范围，因为该物种在其以前的大部分分布区域已经灭绝。虽然我们的遗传数据在很大程度上与基于地理的亚种分类一致，但几个地理区域显示出线粒体DNA信号相互冲突。我们的分析支持了之前的研究结果，即不完全谱系分选或线粒体捕获等进化力量可能会混淆该物种的线粒体系统地理学，特别是在东非，在某种程度上也在东北非。我们提醒，仅基于线粒体DNA的亚种分类应谨慎对待，并主张使用一套额外的标准化核单核苷酸多态性（SNP）标记来进行亚种鉴定和监测。然而，通过新设计的扩增阻滞突变系统（ARMS）检测特定单倍群已经可以为保护措施提供支持。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s10592 - 022 - 01483 - 1获取的补充材料。
