The goal of the giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) breeding program is to develop a self sustaining,genetically diverse population.Due to the common problems about sexual incompatibility and a limited number of...The goal of the giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) breeding program is to develop a self sustaining,genetically diverse population.Due to the common problems about sexual incompatibility and a limited number of captive born males that breed naturally,artificial insemination (AI) has become a critical genetic management tool.It is common practice,however,to combine natural mating and AI using semen from non breeding males.From 1998 to 2000 at the Wolong breeding facility,12 of 18 (66.7%) females produced 20 cubs following combined natural mating and AI.The objective of this study was to determine the efficiency of AI without natural breeding.In 1998 and 2000,seven females were anesthetized for transcervical AI on two consecutive days.Ejaculates from six males were collected by electroejaculation,diluted in an egg yolk diluent containing 0% or 4% glycerol and used either fresh or following cold storage at 4℃ (for 24 or 48 h) or cryopreservation using the pellet freezing method.Mean (±SEM) ejaculate traits in six male sperm donors were:ejaculate volume,3.3±0.5 ml;sperm concentration,1,429.8±235.4×10 6/ml;sperm motility,81.7±2.1%;progression (0～5,5=best),3.1±0.1;and normal sperm,79.3±9.2%.For AI (n = 14) in seven females,mean inseminate traits were:spermic volume inseminated,2.4±0.3 ml;sperm motility,73.5±2.9%;progression,2.5±0.1;and total motile sperm inseminated/AI,684.2±118.2×10 6.Four of seven (57.1%) females became pregnant and produced five cubs of which four survived.Mean gestation and litter size was 131.5±9.7 days and 1.3±0.3 cubs/litter,respectively.These results indicate that the efficiency of AI is sufficient for recovering valuable genes from non breeding individuals to enhance genetic diversity in the ex situ population of giant pandas.展开更多
Understanding present patterns of genetic diversity is critical in order to design effective conservation and manage- ment strategies for endangered species. Tangjiahe Nature Reserve （NR） is one of the most importan...Understanding present patterns of genetic diversity is critical in order to design effective conservation and manage- ment strategies for endangered species. Tangjiahe Nature Reserve （NR） is one of the most important national reserves for giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca in China. Previous studies have shown that giant pandas in Tangjiahe NR may be threatened by population decline and fragmentation. Here we used 10 microsatellite DNA markers to assess the genetic variability in the Tang- jiahe population. The results indicate a low level of genetic differentiation between the Hongshihe and Motianling subpopulations in the reserve. Assignment tests using the Bayesian clustering method in STRUCTURE identified one genetic cluster from 42 in- dividuals of the two subpopulations. All individuals from the same subpopulation were assigned to one cluster. This indicates high gene flow between subpopulations. F statistic analyses revealed a low Fzs-value of 0.024 in the total population and implies a randomly mating population in Tangjiahe NR. Additionally, our data show a high level of genetic diversity for the Tangjiahe population. Mean allele number （A）, Allelic richness （AR） and mean expected heterozygosity （HE） for the Tangjiahe population was 5.9, 5.173 and 0.703, respectively. This wild giant panda population can be restored through concerted effort展开更多
文摘The goal of the giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) breeding program is to develop a self sustaining,genetically diverse population.Due to the common problems about sexual incompatibility and a limited number of captive born males that breed naturally,artificial insemination (AI) has become a critical genetic management tool.It is common practice,however,to combine natural mating and AI using semen from non breeding males.From 1998 to 2000 at the Wolong breeding facility,12 of 18 (66.7%) females produced 20 cubs following combined natural mating and AI.The objective of this study was to determine the efficiency of AI without natural breeding.In 1998 and 2000,seven females were anesthetized for transcervical AI on two consecutive days.Ejaculates from six males were collected by electroejaculation,diluted in an egg yolk diluent containing 0% or 4% glycerol and used either fresh or following cold storage at 4℃ (for 24 or 48 h) or cryopreservation using the pellet freezing method.Mean (±SEM) ejaculate traits in six male sperm donors were:ejaculate volume,3.3±0.5 ml;sperm concentration,1,429.8±235.4×10 6/ml;sperm motility,81.7±2.1%;progression (0～5,5=best),3.1±0.1;and normal sperm,79.3±9.2%.For AI (n = 14) in seven females,mean inseminate traits were:spermic volume inseminated,2.4±0.3 ml;sperm motility,73.5±2.9%;progression,2.5±0.1;and total motile sperm inseminated/AI,684.2±118.2×10 6.Four of seven (57.1%) females became pregnant and produced five cubs of which four survived.Mean gestation and litter size was 131.5±9.7 days and 1.3±0.3 cubs/litter,respectively.These results indicate that the efficiency of AI is sufficient for recovering valuable genes from non breeding individuals to enhance genetic diversity in the ex situ population of giant pandas.
文摘Understanding present patterns of genetic diversity is critical in order to design effective conservation and manage- ment strategies for endangered species. Tangjiahe Nature Reserve （NR） is one of the most important national reserves for giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca in China. Previous studies have shown that giant pandas in Tangjiahe NR may be threatened by population decline and fragmentation. Here we used 10 microsatellite DNA markers to assess the genetic variability in the Tang- jiahe population. The results indicate a low level of genetic differentiation between the Hongshihe and Motianling subpopulations in the reserve. Assignment tests using the Bayesian clustering method in STRUCTURE identified one genetic cluster from 42 in- dividuals of the two subpopulations. All individuals from the same subpopulation were assigned to one cluster. This indicates high gene flow between subpopulations. F statistic analyses revealed a low Fzs-value of 0.024 in the total population and implies a randomly mating population in Tangjiahe NR. Additionally, our data show a high level of genetic diversity for the Tangjiahe population. Mean allele number （A）, Allelic richness （AR） and mean expected heterozygosity （HE） for the Tangjiahe population was 5.9, 5.173 and 0.703, respectively. This wild giant panda population can be restored through concerted effort
