Parentage test in broad-snouted caimans (Caiman latirostris, Crocodylidae) using microsatellite DNA

Rodrigo B Zucoloto,Priscilla M.S Villela,Luiz L Coutinho,Luciana C.A Regitano,Luciano M Verdade

doi:10.1590/s1415-47572009005000077

Abstract

In this study, microsatellite markers, developed for Alligator mississipiensis and Caiman latirostris, were used to assess parentage among individuals from the captive colony of Caiman latirostris at the University of São Paulo, in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. Many of the females in the colony were full siblings, which made maternal identification difficult due to genotypic similarity. Even so, the most likely mother could be identified unambiguously among offspring in most of the clutches studied. Two non-parental females displayed maternal behavior which would have misled managers in assigning maternity based on behavior alone. This set of variable loci demonstrates the utility of parentage testing in captive propagation programs.

Highlights

Caiman latirostris is a medium-sized crocodilian that inhabits the wetlands and swamps of southeastern South America
Since the late 1980’s, the Caiman latirostris conservation program developed by the University of São Paulo (ESALQ, Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil) has been successful in breeding this species in captivity (Verdade and Sarkis, 1998; Verdade et al, 2003)
Tion on nesting sites in the wild, and as this species is relatively common in Brazilian zoos, commercial farming operations have been proposed as the most feasible conservation strategy for the species in southern Brazil (Verdade, 1997, 2001)

Summary

Label FAM FAM TET HEX FAM TET TET FAM HEX TET

N - Individuals analyzed; Excl(1) - Exclusion power with no known parent; Excl(2) - Exclusion power with one known parent known; Null - Null allele frequency estimates; aTotal of exclusion power with no known parent; bTotal of exclusion power with one known parent. CERVUS 2.0 was used to assign maternity to possible mothers of offspring from the clutches in each enclosure, by employing the observed allele frequencies for enclosed populations to determine the statistical significance of the D value. This parameter was calculated by a simulation procedure that takes into account typing error rates and incomplete sampling for each possible mother, considering a given known father and offspring. At the end of this step, the possible mothers of each offspring were discriminated by D value and CI, e.g. the confidence interval, which could be either 80% or 95%, and corresponds to relaxed and restricted settings for CI, respectively, as shown in the last two columns of Table 3. Clutch 1 (ARN1) Clutch 2 (ARN3) Clutch 3 (ARN3) Clutch 4 (ARN4) Clutch 5 (ARN1) Clutch 6 (ARN3)

Delta CI

Findings

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