The genetic analysis of European wisents in Lithuania

Abstract

By the beginning of the 20th century Bison bonasus specie had a dramatic bottleneck effect. None of the free-living individuals were left and the reintroduction of the European wisent was started based on a few captive individuals of 11 European (Bison bonasus bonasus) (LB - Lowland Bialowieza line) and only one Caucasian (Bison bonasus caucasicus) (LC - Lowland Caucasian line). This research was based on PCR microsatellite analysis of 14 (BOVIRBP, BTJAB1, BM6438, BM2830, TGLA122, ETH10, BM1225, BM1818, BM723, ETH121, TGLA53, TGLA227, CSSM66, HEL9) markers of 29 individuals forming 3 subpopulations in Lithuania. Also, one individual from Belarus was included in this research. The goal of this analysis was to determine whether analyzed individuals are more familiar with LC or LB genetically to separate them for further specie restoration. The structure analysis showed that analyzed individuals are linked to contain two genetic clusters containing 11 and 18 individuals