Genetic structure of the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) population: Are tigers in Sikhote-Alin and southwest Primorye truly isolated?

Pavel A Sorokin; Vyatcheslav V Rozhnov; Anna U Krasnenko; Victor S Lukarevskiy; Sergey V Naidenko; Jose A Hernandez-Blanco

doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12175

Genetic structure of the Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) population: Are tigers in Sikhote-Alin and southwest Primorye truly isolated?

Integr Zool. 2016 Jan;11(1):25-32. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12175.

Authors

Pavel A Sorokin¹, Vyatcheslav V Rozhnov¹, Anna U Krasnenko¹, Victor S Lukarevskiy¹, Sergey V Naidenko¹, Jose A Hernandez-Blanco¹

Affiliation

¹ A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.

PMID: 26663570
DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12175

Abstract

We used molecular genetic analyses to noninvasively identify individual Amur tigers and define subpopulations of tigers in the Russian Far East. We identified 63 individuals after genotyping 256 feces, 7 hair and 11 blood samples collected within southern, central and northern Sikhote-Alin, as well as Southwest Primorye. Analysis of nuclear DNA at 9 microsatellite loci demonstrated greater genetic similarity between animals from southern and northern Sikhote-Alin (some 500 km apart) than between animals from Ussuriskii State Nature Reserve and Southwest Primorye (less than 10 km apart at their nearest point), suggesting that a true barrier exists preventing movements of tigers between Southwest Primorye and the southern Sikhote-Alin Mountains.

Keywords: Amur tiger; Panthera tigris altaica; fecal DNA; noninvasive genetic sampling.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animal Distribution*
Animals
China
Female
Genetic Variation*
Genotype*
Male
Microsatellite Repeats
Population Density
Russia
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Tigers / genetics*