Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.
PeerJ. 2023 Oct 19;11:e15746. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15746. eCollection 2023.
The Kashmir red deer or Hangul () is the only Tarim red deer species endemic to India. With a current estimated population size of fewer than 200 individuals, this critically endangered species is confined to the greater Dachigam landscape in Jammu and Kashmir. Poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation, resource competition with livestock, and small population size are the major conservation challenges for this species.
Blood sampling was conducted from two wild Hangul individuals during radio-collaring operations at Dachigam National Park, Kashmir in 2013 and 2020, respectively. Using next-generation sequencing approach, we sequenced the 16,351 bp long mitogenome of two wild-caught Hangul individuals (1 M:1 F at ~14× and ~10× coverage, respectively) from Dachigam National Park.
The annotated sequences were identical with an AT-rich composition, including 13 protein-coding genes (11,354 bp), 22 tRNA genes (1,515 bp), two ribosomal genes (2,526 bp) and a non-coding control region (917 bp) in a conserved order like other red deer species. Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction of the red deer complex revealed two major groups: the elaphoid and the wapitoid clades. Hangul formed a distinct clade with its other subspecies and is sister to the Hungarian red deer (). Divergence time analyses suggested that the Tarim deer species group separated ~1.55 Mya from their common ancestors and Hangul diverged ~0.75 Mya from closely related , corroborating with the known paleobiogeographic events related to refugia during glaciations in the Pleistocene era. This study provides baseline information on Hangul mitogenome for further research on phylogeography and other population parameters and helps in developing suitable conservation plans for this species.
克什米尔红鹿或Hangul（）是唯一一种特产于印度的塔里木红鹿物种。由于目前估计的种群数量不到 200 只，这种极度濒危物种仅限于查谟和克什米尔的达奇甘姆景观。偷猎、栖息地丧失和破碎化、与家畜的资源竞争以及小种群规模是该物种面临的主要保护挑战。
在 2013 年和 2020 年，分别在达奇甘姆国家公园对两只野生 Hangul 个体进行无线电项圈佩戴操作时进行了血液采样。使用下一代测序方法，我们对来自达奇甘姆国家公园的两只野生捕获的 Hangul 个体（1 只雄性：1 只雌性，分别为 14×和 10×的覆盖度）的 16351bp 长的线粒体基因组进行了测序。
注释序列与富含 AT 的组成一致，包括 13 个蛋白质编码基因（11354bp）、22 个 tRNA 基因（1515bp）、2 个核糖体基因（2526bp）和一个非编码控制区（917bp），排列顺序与其他红鹿物种相同。红鹿复合体的贝叶斯系统发育重建显示出两个主要的群体：elaphoid 和 wapitoid 分支。Hangul 与其其他亚种形成一个独特的分支，与匈牙利红鹿（）形成姐妹关系。分歧时间分析表明，塔里木鹿物种组与它们的共同祖先分离约 1.55Mya，而 Hangul 与亲缘关系密切的 分支分离约 0.75Mya，与更新世冰川期相关的古生物地理事件相一致。这项研究为 Hangul 线粒体基因组提供了基线信息，有助于进一步研究其系统地理学和其他种群参数，并有助于为该物种制定合适的保护计划。
