Parentage assignment using microsatellite DNA typing for the endangered numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus)
Peter B. S. Spencer A C , Serina McConnell A , Diana Prada A and J. A. (Tony) Friend BA Conservation and Environmental Sciences, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Perth, WA 6150, Australia.
B Biodiversity and Conservation Science Division, Albany Research, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, 120 Albany Highway, Albany, WA 6330, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: P.Spencer@murdoch.edu.au
Australian Mammalogy 42(2) 240-243 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM19046
Submitted: 11 July 2019 Accepted: 27 August 2019 Published: 12 September 2019
Abstract
The numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is an endangered and peculiar marsupial with a diet that consists almost exclusively of termites. This study developed a parentage-testing system for numbats using microsatellite markers. Nineteen loci detected 143 alleles, with 4–13 alleles/locus and average expected heterozygosity of 77% (range 0.665–0.855). The total parentage exclusion probability was >0.9999 (given only the genotype of the offspring), >0.9999 for excluding a candidate parent from the parentage of an arbitrary offspring (given the genotype of the offspring and parent) and the probability of identity for full-sibs was 4.6 × 10–9. Overall, these microsatellites offer a simple and highly informative marker-set for parentage identification in numbats.
Additional keywords: conservation, dryandra woodland, fragmentation, genetic management, genotyping, numbat, pedigree analysis, Perup Nature Reserve.
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