Species, sex, and individual identification of Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) and sika deer (Cervus nippon) in sympatric region based on the fecal DNA samples

Abstract

We describe non-invasive molecular techniques for species, sex, and individual identification using fecal of the sympatric species, Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus) and sika deer (Cervus nippon), in Japan. From screening 19 microsatellites using 52 tissue samples of the two species, we selected 14 and 10 highly polymorphic loci for Japanese serow and sika deer, respectively, of which five loci could be amplified across the species. First, species identification using two cross-species-amplifiable loci and sex identification based on a partial amelogenin gene sequence were conducted on 194 fecal samples from Eastern Shikoku, Japan. PCR amplification of 65 fecal samples for new and relatively new fecal pellets identified 35 Japanese serow and 30 sika deer. In Japanese serow, 14 individuals (7 males and 7 females) were identified using 11 of 14 microsatellites. In sika deer, 19 individuals (11 males and 8 females) were identified using 9 of 10 microsatellites. This non-invasive genetic technique using fecal samples should be useful to study the distribution, gene flow, sex ratio, and population size of sympatric Japanese serow and sika deer.