1Department of Wildlife Science, Madras Veterinary College, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai-600 007
2Division of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Ganderbal, Jammu & Kashmir-192 121
3Division of Livestock Production and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Ganderbal, Jammu & Kashmir-192 121
4Department of Wildlife Science, Faculty of Forestry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Ganderbal, Jammu & Kashmir-192 121
*e-mail: drumersofi@gmail.com
Online published on 28 March, 2023.
Leopard (Panthera pardus) is the most widely distributed species of wild cats in the world and extensively involved in man-animal conflicts.This necessitates the identification and monitoring of these wild carnivores in its habitat as well as in buffer zones. Molecular scatology is an approach with great potential for species identification and monitoring of animals in conflict zones at DNA level. In the present study, fecal samples were collected from captive leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) (n=8) kept at Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, Chennai. DNA was extracted using standard kit protocols. The PCR amplification of Cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA (mt-cytb) isolated from leopard scat (faeces) generated amplicons of 1067 bp in size. After sequencing and analysis of amplified PCR products, the existence of a highly conserved region 210 bp in length was observed. This conserved region of mt-cytb gene appeared peculiar for Indian leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) which depicted considerable nucleotide variations when it was compared with a reference sequence of African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus). The sequence can be used as a reference DNA barcode for identification of Indian leopards in forensic studies using DNA extracted from biological materials obtained from the field. The findings of this study suggested that scat samples collected from the field can be used as a reliable, non-invasive and readily available source of genetic materials for species identification of elusive wild carnivores which can aid in demarcation of their territories or movement corridors, to prevent possible human encounters and subsequently reducing the chances of man-animal conflict. The observations of the present study also highlighted the potential of mitochondrial markers like Cytochrome b gene to be used for species identification using DNA barcoding. This also happens to be the first time that a DNA barcode has been developed for Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca).
Amplification, Barcode, Cytochrome b, DNA, Leopard, Man-animal conflict, Scat, Sequencing
