Study On The Genetic Diversity Of The Tibetan Antelope (Pantholops Hodgsonii)

The Tibetan antelope or chiru (Pantholops hodgsonii) is endemic to the Tibetan plateau. In the past several decades, the chiru has undergone dramatic decline of population size and severe population fragmentation mainly due to poaching and curtailment of the habitats. Therefore, the chiru attracted a lot of attentions of the Chinese government, conservation scientists and other conservative organizations in the world.In the present study, 57 chiru individuals were sampled from Arjin Shan Nature Reserve in Xinjiang, Chang Tang Nature Reserve in Tibet and Kekexili Nature Reserve in Qinghai. The present study, based on the analyses of the chiru mitochondrial control region with MEGA, DnaSP and ARLEQUIN programs, investigated into the genetic diversity background, evolutionary history and population relationships and aimed to provide scientific basis for the protection of the chiru. The main results and implications for the conservation of the chiru species are as below:i) The average nucleotide variation (IT) of the studied chiru populations was 2.18%, specifically 1.87% for the Xinjiang population, 2.05% for the Xizang population and 2.47% for the Qinghai population. The above data indicated that the genetic diversity of the current chiru population is relatively high. We should reinforce the protection of habitats and prevent the poaching activities in order to avoid the loss of genetic variation.ii) There was high level of gene flow among the three populations, of which the gene contact between the Xinjiang and Xizang populations was the most with yVm=49, while it was the least genetically related between the Xinjiang and Qinghai populations. We thus inferred the significance of the calving ground in promoting the gene flow among populations. Therefore, we consider it significant to strengthen field survey on the population status and protection of calving grounds. Furthermore, effective measures should be taken to enhance the genetic exchange between the Xinjiang and Qinghai populations to protect the evolutionary potentials.iii) The neutrality test showed significant Fu's Fs value of-28.15 (p<0.01), and detection of the mismatch distribution indicated the proximity of the chiru population change to the growth-decline model. They both indicated that population expansion has ever occurred to the chiru species in the evolutionary history. The results will be of vital significance to the further studies of other wild species on the Tibetan plateau.