A preliminary study of the genetic diversity of Xinjiang Tarim red deer (Cervus elaphus yarkandensis) using the microsatellite DNA method.

To evaluate the genetic diversity of the Xinjiang Tarim red deer (Cervus elaphus yarkandensis) population, we analyzed the frequencies of microsatellite alleles. Samples were collected from 3 isolated populations in Xaya, Lopnur and Qarqan of Xinjiang. Although 10 microsatellite loci were examined, alleles of 133 to 190 base-pairs were detected for only 3 loci: BM5004, BM4208 and BM888. The average observed multilocus heterozygosity was 0.08 +/- 0.04 for the Xaya, 0 for the Lopnur, and 0.17 +/- 0.08 for the Qarqan population. The average heterozygosity of all populations was 0.08 +/- 0.02. The observed heterozygosities were significantly lower than the expected values. The present results suggest that the bottleneck effect has occurred in the populations of the Xinjiang Tarim red deer.