The Use of Genetic Tools to Assist in White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Management in West Virginia

Abstract

Although nearly extinct historically, the current population of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in West Virginia serves as a plentiful resource, however; currently there are two uncertainties to the socio-economic benefits of white-tailed deer in West Virginia: poaching and chronic wasting disease (CWD). While infection with the disease invariably results in a 100% fatality rate, previous studies have indicated that nucleotide polymorphisms in the 285th and 286th position of the prion precursor gene (PRNP) have been associated with the delay of clinical disease symptoms. To determine the association with CWD positive individuals in a CWDaffected population in West Virginia and determine temporal differences in polymorphism frequency before and after the first detection, 513 CWD negative female white-tailed deer were sampled in Hampshire County, WV as well as 146 CWD positive male and female white-tailed deer. Female white-tailed deer (CWD positive and negative) were also selected to determine any changes associated with PRNP polymorphisms and disease status as well as temporal changes before disease detection within a high density area of CWD detections (>1/km2 ).While polymorphisms at PRNP 285 (Adenine to Cytosine) were not statistically associated with disease detection at either sampling, polymorphisms at PRNP 286 (Guanine to Adenine) were statistically associated with the prevalence of disease detection at both samplings (P=0.000, P=0.0478). Comparisons between observed allele frequencies at PRNP 286 following CWD detection and expected allele frequencies found a significant decrease in frequency of the beneficial allele in both the high density sampling as well as the Hampshire County sampling. This result is counter to the expected increase in frequency if selection was occurring and may be due to migration. To determine the dispersal distance of 40 white-tailed deer (20 male, 20 females) testing positive for CWD, genotype profiles were generated using 16 microsatellite loci and the control region of the mitochondria (D-loop) for each individual was sequenced. Pairwise relatedness was calculated between 559 females and a focal individual testing positive for CWD and interpolated across the study region (Hampshire County). Although dispersal distances of females (14.6 km) were not statistically different from males (16.1 km; P=0.57), the dispersal pattern of females contrasted that of males. Females dispersed into a management area in which deer density was reduced through “special collections” whereas males dispersed through an area of high CWD density (>1 km2 ). Using the same microsatellite and mitochondrial control region, broad-scale genetic differentiation of white-tailed deer was detected across