title: The development and application of a multiplex short tandem repeat (STR) system for identifying subspecies, individuals and sex in tigers.
abstract: Poaching and trans-boundary trafficking of tigers and body parts are threatening the world's last remaining wild tigers. Development of an efficient molecular genetic assay for tracing the origins of confiscated specimens will assist in law enforcement and wildlife forensics for this iconic flagship species. We developed a multiplex genotyping system "tigrisPlex" to simultaneously assess 22 short tandem repeat (STR, or microsatellite) loci and a gender-identifying SRY gene, all amplified in 4 reactions using as little as 1 ng of template DNA. With DNA samples used for between-run calibration, the system generates STR genotypes that are directly compatible with voucher tiger subspecies genetic profiles, hence making it possible to identify subspecies via bi-parentally inherited markers. We applied "tigrisPlex" to 12 confiscated specimens from Russia and identified 6 individuals (3 females and 3 males), each represented by duplicated samples and all designated as Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) with high confidence. This STR multiplex system can serve as an effective and versatile approach for genetic profiling of both wild and captive tigers as well as confiscated tiger products, fulfilling various conservation needs for identifying the origins of tiger samples.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Ting
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology and Soil Sciences, Far Eastern Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
authors.forename: Olga V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Uphyrkina
authors.affiliation: World Wide Fund for Nature - Russia Amur Branch, Vladivostok, Russia.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fomenko
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D024282:Genes, sry; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity; D046010:Tigers / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Amur tiger; genetic; multiplex; sexing; short tandem repeat