Genetic analysis of an isolated red deer (Cervus elaphus) population showing signs of inbreeding depression

Abstract

In the present study, we analysed 18 red deer specimens from a small (N = 50) and isolated population in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany, with respect to variability at nine polymorphic microsatellite loci and 439 bp of the mitochondrial DNA control region. Several cases of brachygnathy (shortened lower jaw), commonly associated with inbreeding depression, have been recorded in the population. Genetic variability was very low compared with other European red deer populations including the neighbouring population from which the population under study was derived some 130 years ago. The effective population size was estimated to be seven individuals corresponding to an increase in inbreeding (or a loss of heterozygosity) of 7% each generation. This value is seven times higher than the theoretical threshold level up to which natural selection is believed to counteract the fixation of deleterious alleles in the gene pool. As a consequence, the population urgently needs genetic input from other populations to overcome the negative effects of random drift and inbreeding. To our knowledge, this study is one of the first to genetically analyse a red deer population showing strong signs of inbreeding depression.