Preliminary Study On Polymorphism Of MHC-DQA1 Gene And Its Relatedness To Antler Productivity In Tarim Red Deer

Tarim red deer (Cervus elaphus yarkandensi ) is the only subspecies inhabiting in deserted area in China. It was strictly protected under national protection (rank II) due to its critical endangerment. Tarim red deer extensively raised in captivity has been recognized as an important economic deer breed because of its perfect form, good quality and high yield of antler. In this study, genetic diversity of captive Tarim red deer at MHC-DQAl locus was studied using PCR-SSCP techniques followed by sequencing. Five alleles were identified, namely A, B, C, D and E with frequency of 0.387, 0.194, 0.250, 0.137 and 0.032 respectively. Eleven genotypes were found, namely AA, BB, CC, DD, AB, AC, AD, BC, CD, CE and EE. These frequencies were 0.21, 0.097, 0.113, 0.065, 0.145, 0.129, 0.081, 0.048, 0.065, 0.032 and 0.016 respectively. The heterozygosity of the captive population was 0.5. Low frequency alleles may easily lose during selective breeding, thus the ability of disease resistance of the population would be reduced. The disequilibrium of allele frequency implied that genetic management should focus on low frequency alleles to preserve genetic diversity at maximum extent. Quatized regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between MHC-DQAl gene and antler productivity in Tarim red deer (R=0.30, t=2.272>t_0.059=2.262). This suggested that genetic management of population for the purpose of genetic diversity conservation based on MHC-DQAl gene might not only improve the ability of disease resistence, but also improve the antler productivity at a limited space.