Genetic diversity and population structure of raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) analysis in Lithuania

Abstract

In Lithuania the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) has been first observed in 1948 in the eastern part of the country, and since 1970 declared as invasive species [1]. However, no genetic study on raccoon dog in Lithuania was carried out, and the genetic structure of population is not clear. The aim of the recent study was to analyze the levels of genetic diversity and population structure of the selected microsatellite markers of the raccoon dog in different Lithuania regions. A total of 146 raccoon dog individuals were sampled from 4 different localities in Lithuania. Genomic DNA was extracted from the muscle tissues using “Genomic DNA purification kit” (Thermo scientific, Lithuania). The raccoon dog short tandem repeats were investigated using 5 microsatellite primers (FH-2054, FH-2010, PEZ-17, REN112I02 and FH-2096). The properties of raccoon dog PCR products were examined by capillary electrophoresis. The numbers of polymorphic loci were 100% and size ranged from 88 to 266 base pairs. Total number of alleles at loci ranged from 6 (FH-2010 and FH-2096) to 15 (FH-2054) different alleles. Altogether, there were 50 alleles identified. The genetic distances among populations of Lithuania were analyzed using PCA analysis which showed that different genotypes were observed in the same localities. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) showed that 3% difference in genetic diversity between Lithuanian populations and 97% genetic variability within populations was established. Bayesian clustering analysis showed that ΔK values were highest when only 2 genetically distinct groups were identified. Our results confirmed high level of genetic diversity and weak population structure exist in raccoon dog populations in Lithuania.