Phylogenetic study of extirpated Korean leopard using mitochondrial DNA from an old skin specimen in South Korea

PeerJ

Jee Yun Hyun¹  Mi-Sook Min¹  Hang Lee¹  Kyung Seok Kim²  Puneet Pandey³  Jang Hyuk Cho³ 

[1] Conservation Genome Resource Bank for Korean Wildlife (CGRB), Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA;Tiger and Leopard Conservation Fund in Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Korean leopard;    South Korea;    Old skin;    Mitochondrial DNA;    Panthera pardus orientalis;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.8900

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The leopard, Panthera pardus, is a threatened species in its range throughout the world. Although, historically, the Korean Peninsula had a high population density of leopards, they were extirpated from South Korea by 1970, leaving almost no genetic specimens. Traditionally, Korean leopards are classified as Panthera pardus orientalis; however, their classification is based only on locality and morphology. Therefore, there is a need for genetic studies to identify the phylogenetic status of Korean leopards at the subspecies level. Presently, no extant wild specimen is available from South Korea; therefore, we extracted genetic material from the old skin of a leopard captured in Jirisan, South Korea in the 1930s and conducted the first phylogenetic study of the South Korean leopard. A total of 726 bp of mitochondrial DNA, including segments of the NADH5 and control region, were amplified by PCR. A phylogenetic analysis of the fragment, along with sequences of nine leopard subspecies from GenBank revealed that the extinct South Korean leopard belonged to the Asian leopard group and in the same clade as the Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis). Thus, the leopard that inhabited South Korea in the past was of the same subspecies as the Amur leopard population currently inhabiting the transboundary region of Russia, China, and North Korea. These results emphasize the importance of conserving the endangered wild Amur leopard population (estimated to be about 60–80 individuals) in Russia and China, for future restoration of leopards in the Korean Peninsula.

【 授权许可】

Unknown