The microsatellite variability within European bison sex chromosomes

Abstract

The contemporary metapopulation of the European bison is extremely valuable for maintaining the biodiversity within the European fauna, but it is also unusual experimental field for biologists, ecologists and geneticists. The present Polish population counting over 1000 individuals can be used for the assessment of genetic population parameters, and for following
their dynamics. The modern genetics, using the techniques of molecular biology is a very effective tool allowing the naturalists to monitor changes in genetic structure over the course of years, and to describe the changes in incidence of selected genes during the development of the population. Our target was to pursue changes in the range of four sequences being characteristic for not only the paternal but also maternal lines. This analysis was done for 84 European bison born in 1950–70 (ancestors) and 175 European bison born after year 2000 (contemporary). For every male and female four fragments of nuclear DNA were amplified (INRA30; INRA126; INRA189, and TGLA325), and microsatellite sequences located on the sex chromosome. As a result observed was a loss of alleles belonging to the Kaukasus line, and the increase of the genetic distance between female lines amongst contemporary individuals. In females such effect could be caused by the accumulation of genetic differences during their 60 years of isolation in various small populations. An attempt should be made, to find males from the Lowland-Caucasian line with alleles characteristic for Kaukasus, in order to save genes of the only representative of the Caucasian subspecies in the population.