The Experts below are selected from a list of 138 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Zhihe Zhang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a new method for dna extraction from feces and hair shafts of the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Zoo Biology, 2009Co-Authors: Wenping Zhang, Fujun Shen, Zhihe Zhang, L. Zhang, Kun Wei, Rong Hou, Xiaofang Wang, Xu Liang, Bisong YueAbstract:It is commonly known that Tigers (Panthera tigris) groom themselves by licking their coats, which leads to an abundance of hairs in their feces. These hairs are designated specially as "fecal hairs". In our study, in order to explore fecal hairs potential as a DNA source for genetic analysis, 55 fecal hair samples were collected from 23 captive South China Tigers (P. t. amoyensis). According to the amplification of mitochondrial primers loop F and loop R, DNA quality of noninvasive samples were grouped into three grades: grade I-the highest-quality DNA, grade II--high-quality DNA, and grade III--poor-quality DNA. No failed amplifications on microsatellite primers and only 0.27% genotyping errors occurred with grade I fecal hair DNA, as compared with 9.4% failed amplifications on microsatellite primers and 9.5% genotyping errors with grade II fecal hair DNA. It was found that 25.45% of fecal hair DNA was grade I and 65.45 and 10.00% of fecal hair DNA were grades II and III, respectively, as compared with 4.35% grade I fecal DNA and 34.78 and 60.87% grades II and III fecal DNA, respectively. Thus, higher-quality DNA can be extracted from fecal hairs than feces. In addition, DNA could be extracted from hair shafts of Tigers and a minimum of 2000 hair shafts were required for visible DNA bands on a 1% agarose gel. These findings demonstrate that fecal hairs may serve as a convenient and reliable genomic DNA source for genotype analysis.
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isolation and characterization of polymorphic tri and tetra nucleotide microsatellite loci for the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Journal of Natural History, 2006Co-Authors: Wenping Zhang, Fujun Shen, Zhihe Zhang, L. Zhang, Kun Wei, Rong Hou, Bisong YueAbstract:Eleven tri‐ and tetra‐nucleotide microsatellite loci from the South China Tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis, were isolated, and characterized in this paper. Among these microsatellite loci, one locus was monomorphic; among the remaining 10 loci, the number of observed alleles for each locus in 57 individual Tigers ranged from four to nine, the expected and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.366 to 0.805 and 0.400 to 0.837, respectively, and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.609. Moreover, two loci (F41 and FCA391) were compared between the domestic cat and the South China Tiger and differences in their flanking regions were found (5.9% for F41 and 4.8% for FCA391). These 10 polymorphic tri‐ and tetra‐nucleotide microsatellite markers would be very useful in the evaluation of Tiger population structure and the genetic relationships among the individual Tigers. Wenping Zhang and Zhihe Zhang contributed equally to this paper.
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twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci for the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Molecular Ecology Notes, 2006Co-Authors: Fujun Shen, Wenping Zhang, Zhihe Zhang, L. ZhangAbstract:Twelve microsatellite loci were found from genomic DNA-enriched libraries of the South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis). The number of observed alleles for each locus in 53 individuals ranged from five to 14; the expected and observed heterozygosity was 0.480 to 0.883 and 0.333 to 0.956, respectively; and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.729. These markers would be considered a useful tool for the study of genetic variation in South China Tiger in the future.
Yiyuan Qin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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assessing factors influencing a possible South China Tiger reintroduction a survey of international conservation professionals
Environmental Conservation, 2017Co-Authors: Yiyuan Qin, Philip J NyhusAbstract:Tigers are among the most at-risk large carnivores and the South China Tiger is the most threatened Tiger subspecies. Reintroduction programmes are one strategy to re-establishing extirpated populations. China is committed to restoring wild South China Tigers, but uncertainty remains about factors constraining these efforts. The aim of this study was to query conservation and reintroduction professionals about their attitudes and concerns and to provide guidance regarding a possible Tiger reintroduction effort in South Central China. We carried out a global survey of 287 scholars and practitioners involved with wildlife reintroduction and conservation. We received responses from 68 (23.7%) respondents. More than 70% supported a potential South China Tiger reintroduction effort, but many expressed concerns over planning and implementation, adherence to International Union for Conservation of Nature reintroduction guidelines and elimination of underlying threats. Respondents generally believed that China has the capacity to carry out such a programme, but may not have the experience or socio-political environment to address the issues facing human populations; 62% of respondents suggested a plausible release site should be greater than 2000 km2. To our knowledge, this is the first survey related to a potential large carnivore reintroduction programme in Asia; it has implications for future reintroduction and recovery programmes in Asia and globally.
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an assessment of South China Tiger reintroduction potential in hupingshan and houhe national nature reserves China
Biological Conservation, 2015Co-Authors: Yiyuan Qin, Philip J Nyhus, Courtney L Larson, Charles J W Carroll, Jeff R Muntifering, Thomas D Dahmer, Lu JunAbstract:Abstract Human-caused biodiversity loss is a global problem, large carnivores are particularly threatened, and the Tiger ( Panthera tigris ) is among the world’s most endangered large carnivores. The South China Tiger ( Panthera tigris amoyensis ) is the most critically endangered Tiger subspecies and is considered functionally extinct in the wild. The government of China has expressed its intent to reintroduce a small population of South China Tigers into a portion of their historic range as part of a larger goal to recover wild Tiger populations in China. This would be the world’s first major Tiger reintroduction program. A free-ranging population of 15–20 Tigers living in a minimum of 1000 km 2 of habitat was identified as a target. We assessed summer and winter habitat suitability of two critical prey species, wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) and Sika deer ( Cervus nippon ), using GIS spatial models to evaluate the potential for Tiger reintroduction in one likely candidate site, the 1100 km 2 Hupingshan–Houhe National Nature Reserve complex in Hunan and Hubei Provinces, China. Our preliminary analysis estimates that for wild boar, potential summer and winter habitat availability is 372–714 km 2 and 256–690 km 2 , respectively, whereas for Sika deer, potential summer and winter habitat availability is 443–747 km 2 and 257–734 km 2 , respectively. Our model identifies potential priority areas for release and restoration of prey between 195 and 790 km 2 with a carrying capacity of 596–2409 wild boar and 468–1929 Sika deer. Our analysis suggests that Hupingshan–Houhe could support a small population of 2–9 Tigers at a density of 1.1–1.2 Tigers/100 km 2 following prey and habitat restorations. Thus, current habitat quality and area would fall short of the target recovery goal. We identify major challenges facing a potential Tiger reintroduction project and conclude that restoring the habitat and prey base, addressing concerns of local people, and enhancing coordination across park boundaries are significant challenges to meeting the broader goals of supporting a reintroduced wild Tiger population. Tiger range states have committed to doubling the world’s wild Tigers by 2022. The results of this study have implications for China’s commitment to this goal and for the future of Tiger and other large carnivore reintroduction efforts in Asia and globally.
L. Zhang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a new method for dna extraction from feces and hair shafts of the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Zoo Biology, 2009Co-Authors: Wenping Zhang, Fujun Shen, Zhihe Zhang, L. Zhang, Kun Wei, Rong Hou, Xiaofang Wang, Xu Liang, Bisong YueAbstract:It is commonly known that Tigers (Panthera tigris) groom themselves by licking their coats, which leads to an abundance of hairs in their feces. These hairs are designated specially as "fecal hairs". In our study, in order to explore fecal hairs potential as a DNA source for genetic analysis, 55 fecal hair samples were collected from 23 captive South China Tigers (P. t. amoyensis). According to the amplification of mitochondrial primers loop F and loop R, DNA quality of noninvasive samples were grouped into three grades: grade I-the highest-quality DNA, grade II--high-quality DNA, and grade III--poor-quality DNA. No failed amplifications on microsatellite primers and only 0.27% genotyping errors occurred with grade I fecal hair DNA, as compared with 9.4% failed amplifications on microsatellite primers and 9.5% genotyping errors with grade II fecal hair DNA. It was found that 25.45% of fecal hair DNA was grade I and 65.45 and 10.00% of fecal hair DNA were grades II and III, respectively, as compared with 4.35% grade I fecal DNA and 34.78 and 60.87% grades II and III fecal DNA, respectively. Thus, higher-quality DNA can be extracted from fecal hairs than feces. In addition, DNA could be extracted from hair shafts of Tigers and a minimum of 2000 hair shafts were required for visible DNA bands on a 1% agarose gel. These findings demonstrate that fecal hairs may serve as a convenient and reliable genomic DNA source for genotype analysis.
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isolation and characterization of polymorphic tri and tetra nucleotide microsatellite loci for the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Journal of Natural History, 2006Co-Authors: Wenping Zhang, Fujun Shen, Zhihe Zhang, L. Zhang, Kun Wei, Rong Hou, Bisong YueAbstract:Eleven tri‐ and tetra‐nucleotide microsatellite loci from the South China Tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis, were isolated, and characterized in this paper. Among these microsatellite loci, one locus was monomorphic; among the remaining 10 loci, the number of observed alleles for each locus in 57 individual Tigers ranged from four to nine, the expected and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.366 to 0.805 and 0.400 to 0.837, respectively, and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.609. Moreover, two loci (F41 and FCA391) were compared between the domestic cat and the South China Tiger and differences in their flanking regions were found (5.9% for F41 and 4.8% for FCA391). These 10 polymorphic tri‐ and tetra‐nucleotide microsatellite markers would be very useful in the evaluation of Tiger population structure and the genetic relationships among the individual Tigers. Wenping Zhang and Zhihe Zhang contributed equally to this paper.
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twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci for the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Molecular Ecology Notes, 2006Co-Authors: Fujun Shen, Wenping Zhang, Zhihe Zhang, L. ZhangAbstract:Twelve microsatellite loci were found from genomic DNA-enriched libraries of the South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis). The number of observed alleles for each locus in 53 individuals ranged from five to 14; the expected and observed heterozygosity was 0.480 to 0.883 and 0.333 to 0.956, respectively; and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.729. These markers would be considered a useful tool for the study of genetic variation in South China Tiger in the future.
Wenping Zhang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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analysis of variable sites between two complete South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis mitochondrial genomes
Molecular Biology Reports, 2011Co-Authors: Wenping Zhang, Bisong Yue, Xiaofang Wang, Xiuyue Zhang, Zhong Xie, Nonglin Liu, Yaohua Yuan, Daqing Chen, Bo Zhao, Yuzhong YinAbstract:In order to investigate the mitochondrial genome of Panthera tigris amoyensis, two South China Tigers (P25 and P27) were analyzed following 15 cymt-specific primer sets. The entire mtDNA sequence was found to be 16,957 bp and 17,001 bp long for P25 and P27 respectively, and this difference in length between P25 and P27 occurred in the number of tandem repeats in the RS-3 segment of the control region. The structural characteristics of complete P. t. amoyensis mitochondrial genomes were also highly similar to those of P. uncia. Additionally, the rate of point mutation was only 0.3% and a total of 59 variable sites between P25 and P27 were found. Out of the 59 variable sites, 6 were located in 6 different tRNA genes, 6 in the 2 rRNA genes, 7 in non-coding regions (one located between tRNA-Asn and tRNA-Tyr and six in the D-loop), and 40 in 10 protein-coding genes. COI held the largest amount of variable sites (9 sites) and Cytb contained the highest variable rate (0.7%) in the complete sequences. Moreover, out of the 40 variable sites located in 10 protein-coding genes, 12 sites were nonsynonymous.
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a new method for dna extraction from feces and hair shafts of the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Zoo Biology, 2009Co-Authors: Wenping Zhang, Fujun Shen, Zhihe Zhang, L. Zhang, Kun Wei, Rong Hou, Xiaofang Wang, Xu Liang, Bisong YueAbstract:It is commonly known that Tigers (Panthera tigris) groom themselves by licking their coats, which leads to an abundance of hairs in their feces. These hairs are designated specially as "fecal hairs". In our study, in order to explore fecal hairs potential as a DNA source for genetic analysis, 55 fecal hair samples were collected from 23 captive South China Tigers (P. t. amoyensis). According to the amplification of mitochondrial primers loop F and loop R, DNA quality of noninvasive samples were grouped into three grades: grade I-the highest-quality DNA, grade II--high-quality DNA, and grade III--poor-quality DNA. No failed amplifications on microsatellite primers and only 0.27% genotyping errors occurred with grade I fecal hair DNA, as compared with 9.4% failed amplifications on microsatellite primers and 9.5% genotyping errors with grade II fecal hair DNA. It was found that 25.45% of fecal hair DNA was grade I and 65.45 and 10.00% of fecal hair DNA were grades II and III, respectively, as compared with 4.35% grade I fecal DNA and 34.78 and 60.87% grades II and III fecal DNA, respectively. Thus, higher-quality DNA can be extracted from fecal hairs than feces. In addition, DNA could be extracted from hair shafts of Tigers and a minimum of 2000 hair shafts were required for visible DNA bands on a 1% agarose gel. These findings demonstrate that fecal hairs may serve as a convenient and reliable genomic DNA source for genotype analysis.
-
isolation and characterization of polymorphic tri and tetra nucleotide microsatellite loci for the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Journal of Natural History, 2006Co-Authors: Wenping Zhang, Fujun Shen, Zhihe Zhang, L. Zhang, Kun Wei, Rong Hou, Bisong YueAbstract:Eleven tri‐ and tetra‐nucleotide microsatellite loci from the South China Tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis, were isolated, and characterized in this paper. Among these microsatellite loci, one locus was monomorphic; among the remaining 10 loci, the number of observed alleles for each locus in 57 individual Tigers ranged from four to nine, the expected and observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.366 to 0.805 and 0.400 to 0.837, respectively, and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.609. Moreover, two loci (F41 and FCA391) were compared between the domestic cat and the South China Tiger and differences in their flanking regions were found (5.9% for F41 and 4.8% for FCA391). These 10 polymorphic tri‐ and tetra‐nucleotide microsatellite markers would be very useful in the evaluation of Tiger population structure and the genetic relationships among the individual Tigers. Wenping Zhang and Zhihe Zhang contributed equally to this paper.
-
twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci for the South China Tiger panthera tigris amoyensis
Molecular Ecology Notes, 2006Co-Authors: Fujun Shen, Wenping Zhang, Zhihe Zhang, L. ZhangAbstract:Twelve microsatellite loci were found from genomic DNA-enriched libraries of the South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis). The number of observed alleles for each locus in 53 individuals ranged from five to 14; the expected and observed heterozygosity was 0.480 to 0.883 and 0.333 to 0.956, respectively; and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.729. These markers would be considered a useful tool for the study of genetic variation in South China Tiger in the future.
Philip J Nyhus - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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assessing factors influencing a possible South China Tiger reintroduction a survey of international conservation professionals
Environmental Conservation, 2017Co-Authors: Yiyuan Qin, Philip J NyhusAbstract:Tigers are among the most at-risk large carnivores and the South China Tiger is the most threatened Tiger subspecies. Reintroduction programmes are one strategy to re-establishing extirpated populations. China is committed to restoring wild South China Tigers, but uncertainty remains about factors constraining these efforts. The aim of this study was to query conservation and reintroduction professionals about their attitudes and concerns and to provide guidance regarding a possible Tiger reintroduction effort in South Central China. We carried out a global survey of 287 scholars and practitioners involved with wildlife reintroduction and conservation. We received responses from 68 (23.7%) respondents. More than 70% supported a potential South China Tiger reintroduction effort, but many expressed concerns over planning and implementation, adherence to International Union for Conservation of Nature reintroduction guidelines and elimination of underlying threats. Respondents generally believed that China has the capacity to carry out such a programme, but may not have the experience or socio-political environment to address the issues facing human populations; 62% of respondents suggested a plausible release site should be greater than 2000 km2. To our knowledge, this is the first survey related to a potential large carnivore reintroduction programme in Asia; it has implications for future reintroduction and recovery programmes in Asia and globally.
-
an assessment of South China Tiger reintroduction potential in hupingshan and houhe national nature reserves China
Biological Conservation, 2015Co-Authors: Yiyuan Qin, Philip J Nyhus, Courtney L Larson, Charles J W Carroll, Jeff R Muntifering, Thomas D Dahmer, Lu JunAbstract:Abstract Human-caused biodiversity loss is a global problem, large carnivores are particularly threatened, and the Tiger ( Panthera tigris ) is among the world’s most endangered large carnivores. The South China Tiger ( Panthera tigris amoyensis ) is the most critically endangered Tiger subspecies and is considered functionally extinct in the wild. The government of China has expressed its intent to reintroduce a small population of South China Tigers into a portion of their historic range as part of a larger goal to recover wild Tiger populations in China. This would be the world’s first major Tiger reintroduction program. A free-ranging population of 15–20 Tigers living in a minimum of 1000 km 2 of habitat was identified as a target. We assessed summer and winter habitat suitability of two critical prey species, wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) and Sika deer ( Cervus nippon ), using GIS spatial models to evaluate the potential for Tiger reintroduction in one likely candidate site, the 1100 km 2 Hupingshan–Houhe National Nature Reserve complex in Hunan and Hubei Provinces, China. Our preliminary analysis estimates that for wild boar, potential summer and winter habitat availability is 372–714 km 2 and 256–690 km 2 , respectively, whereas for Sika deer, potential summer and winter habitat availability is 443–747 km 2 and 257–734 km 2 , respectively. Our model identifies potential priority areas for release and restoration of prey between 195 and 790 km 2 with a carrying capacity of 596–2409 wild boar and 468–1929 Sika deer. Our analysis suggests that Hupingshan–Houhe could support a small population of 2–9 Tigers at a density of 1.1–1.2 Tigers/100 km 2 following prey and habitat restorations. Thus, current habitat quality and area would fall short of the target recovery goal. We identify major challenges facing a potential Tiger reintroduction project and conclude that restoring the habitat and prey base, addressing concerns of local people, and enhancing coordination across park boundaries are significant challenges to meeting the broader goals of supporting a reintroduced wild Tiger population. Tiger range states have committed to doubling the world’s wild Tigers by 2022. The results of this study have implications for China’s commitment to this goal and for the future of Tiger and other large carnivore reintroduction efforts in Asia and globally.