Journal of Heredity 2004:95(1)
© 2004 The American Genetic Association 95:11-18
Microsatellite Analysis of Genetic Diversity of the Vietnamese Sika Deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis)
From CIRAD-EMVT, Rangeland and Wildlife Management Program, TA 30/F, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier cedex 5, France (Thévenon and Maudet), National Muséum of Natural History of Paris, Parc Zoologique de Vincennes, 53 avenue de St Maurice, Paris 75012, France (Thévenon and Bonnet), National Institute for Animal Husbandry, Thuy Phuong, Tu Lien, Hanoi, Vietnam (Thuy and Ly), Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France (Jarne), and CIRAD-EMVT, Health Animal Program, TA 30/G, Campus International de Baillarguet, 34398 Montpellier cedex 5, France (Maillard). We would like to thank Mr. Binh, Mr. Zhung, the Nghe An and Ha Tinh People Committees, and numerous farmers for providing samples, and the National Institute for Animal Husbandry of Hanoi (NIAH) for its support and efficient organization. We are thankful to F. Claro (National Museum of Natural History, Paris), E. Camus, P. Chardonnet, J. Domenech, G. Mandret, and F. Monicat (Centre International en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, CIRAD) for establishing the collaborative project with the NIAH. We are grateful to C. Dutech (Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive), G. Luikart, C. Maudet, and P. Taberlet (Grenoble University) for fruitful discussions. L. Guerrini (CIRAD) drew the sampling map. This work was funded by the CIRAD, the Ministère Français des Affaires Etrangères, the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, and the International Game Foundation. Sophie Thévenon was supported by a grant from the Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche (MESR).
Address correspondence to Sophie Thévenon, CIRDES BP454, 01 Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, or e-mail: thevenon{at}cirad.fr.
The Vietnamese sika deer (Cervus nippon pseudaxis) is an endangered subspecies of economic and traditional value in Vietnam. Most living individuals are held in traditional farms in central Vietnam, others being found in zoos around the world. Here we study the neutral genetic diversity and population structure of this subspecies using nine microsatellite loci in order to evaluate the consequences of the limited number of individuals from which this population was initiated and of the breeding practices (i.e., possible inbreeding). Two hundred individuals were sampled from several villages. Our data show both evidence for limited local inbreeding and isolation by distance with a mean FST value of 0.02 between villages. This suggests that exchange of animals occurs at a local scale, at a rate such that highly inbred mating is avoided. However, the genetic diversity, with an expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.60 and mean number of alleles (k) of 5.7, was not significantly larger than that estimated from zoo populations of much smaller census size (17 animals sampled; He = 0.65, k = 4.11). Our results also suggest that the Vietnamese population might have experienced a slight bottleneck. However, this population is sufficiently variable to constitute a source of individuals for reintroduction in the wild in Vietnam.