Genetic structure and maternal analysis using microsatellite markers of wild populations of sika deer (Cervus nippon)

The applicability of localized management, a relatively new method for deer management, was determined through investigation of genetic structure and maternal analysis using microsatellite markers of wild populations of sika deer (Cervus nippon). A total of 251 individuals (including 63 fetuses) captured in four populations (Hokkaido, Shizuoka, Gifu, Miyazaki) were used for microsatellite DNA genotyping of 17 loci. Calculation of the probability of identity between siblings (PID-sibling) indicated that four of the most heterozygous loci in our data sets were sufficient to distinguish individuals. Most of the results from the software STRUCTURE showed the genetic structure among populations. However, we did not detect maternal groups within each population. In the maternal analysis performed using 63 fetuses, the probability of estimating a true mother who was pregnant with a fetus was only approximately 20%. We concluded that it was not appropriate to apply localized management to sika deer populations, not even in the case of the Shizuoka population, which has the largest population size. It appears that the past bottlenecks in the Japanese sika deer populations have led to a reduction in microsatellite marker polymorphisms.