The eastern sarus crane, Grus antigone sharpii, is distributed in the Indochina area, though it has become extinct in Thailand. The Thai government has tried to repopulate the cranes using wild individuals from Cambodia as initial breeding stock. Although captive breeding can reintroduce species back into the wild, the genetic diversity of the population is also important. This study aimed to screen microsatellite markers to investigate the genetic diversity of G. a. sharpii from two breeding facilities in Thailand and to assess its potential for future conservation programs. Eighteen microsatellite loci isolated from whooping crane (G. americana) and blue crane (Anthropoides paradisea) were screened in all captive reared cranes from Khao Kheow Open Zoo (n = 11) and Bangpra Water Bird Breeding Station (n = 17), Chonburi Province. Of 18 loci analyzed, 14 were found to be polymorphic, and 3 loci were in linkage disequilibrium. Apparent deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was observed only at locus Gram8, resulting from the presence of a null allele. The average expected and observed heterozygosities from 10 loci analyzed are 0.61 and 0.64, respectively. The overall fixation index suggested that cranes from both facilities shared many common alleles (FST = 0.023, p < 0.05); in addition, Bayesian clustering analysis implied that cranes from two breeding facilities are homogeneous (K = 1). Our findings reveal high level of genetic diversity of the captive crane population in Thailand and suggest that the breeding stocks may be suitable for ensuring a sustainable breeding program in the future.
Keywords: captive breeding; extinct; heterozygosity; microsatellite DNA; reintroduction.
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