ABSTRACT
Molecular genetic data provide powerful tools for genealogy reconstruction to reveal mechanisms underlying disease ecology. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) congregate in matriarchal groups; kin-related close social spacing may be a factor in the spread of infectious diseases. Spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a prion disorder of deer and their cervid relatives, is presumed to be associated with direct contact between individuals and by exposure to shared food and water sources contaminated with prions shed by infected deer. Key aspects of disease ecology are yet unknown. DNA tools for pedigree reconstruction were developed to fill knowledge gaps in disease dynamics in prion-infected wild animals. Kinship indices using data from microsatellite loci and sequence haplotypes of mitochondrial DNA were employed to assemble genealogies. Molecular genealogy tools will be useful for landscape-level population genetic research and monitoring, in addition to epidemiologic studies examining transmission of CWD in captive and free-ranging cervids.
Subject(s)
Deer , Molecular Biology , Prions/genetics , Wasting Disease, Chronic/genetics , Animals , DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics , Female , Haplotypes , Male , Microsatellite Repeats , Molecular Biology/methods , Mutation , Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
We developed 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci for Yellow-billed Magpies (Pica nuttalli). The primers were tested across a population of 57 Central California Yellow-billed Magpies and displayed an average of 3.9 alleles per locus. Forty-one American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) from California were polymorphic for seven of the loci with an average of 2.9 alleles per locus. One additional microsatellite-containing locus displayed diagnostic allele sizes and may be useful to distinguish between the two species. These corvid specific microsatellites will aid ecological studies of the population-level effects of diseases, such as West Nile virus.