Indian Journal of Animal Research

SCOPUSWeb of Science
  • Year: 2019
  • Volume: 53
  • Issue: 9

Mitochondrial DNA variation, phylogeography and social organization of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) of North East India

  • Author:
  • Susmita Das1, Partha Pratim Das2, Banasmita Das3, Dharmeswar Das4, Tarun Kumar Bhattacharya5, Pranab Jyoti Das6,
  • Total Page Count: 8
  • Page Number: 1121 to 1128

1Advance level institutional Biotech Hub, Handique Girls College, Pan Bazaar, Dighalipukhuri, Guwahati-781 001, Assam, India

ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Rani, Guwahati-781 131, Assam, India

2College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara, Guwahati-781 022, Assam, India

3National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, NH-37, Shantipur, Parlli Part, Mirza-781 125, Assam, India

4Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology, Vigyan Path, Paschim Boragaon, Guwahati-781 035, Assam, India

5ICAR-Directorate of Poultry Research, Hyderabad-500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India

6ICAR-National Research Centre on Pig, Rani, Guwahati-781 131, Assam, India

Abstract

North east India is one of the exotic hotspots for Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and harbors about half of the global population of the Asian elephant. Here we present the first population genetic study of free-ranging Asian elephants, examining within-and among-population differentiation by analyzing mitochondrial DNA(mtDNA) differentiation across the Brahmaputra valley and elephant reserves of North east India. Surprisingly, the population here had shown lower mtDNAhaplo type diversity with littlemt DNA differentiation among localities within the Brahmaputra valley. This suggests extensive gene flow in the past, which is compatible with the home ranges of several hundred square kilometers for elephants in this region. Conversely, the Brahmaputra valley population is genetically distinct at a mitochondrial level than other tested elephant populations. These results significantly indicate the importance of population bottlenecks, social organization and bio-geographic barriersin shaping the distribution ofgenetic variations among Asian elephant populations in North east India.

Keywords

D-Loop, Elephant, Haplotype, Mitochondrial DNA, Northeast India