Mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence among big cats and their hybrids

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation was used to distinguish between various big catspecies and their hybrids. Mitochondrial D loop sequencing revealed the presence of only one haplotype among the Asiatic lions while the hybrids (Asiatic×African) exhibited a number of haplotypes, which showed homology with the African lion sequence. this strongly indicates the population. the sequence divergence reveals the two subspecies must have split about 80,000 to 100,000 years ago. Similar analysis also helped in distinguishing between Indian and Siberian tigers. Microsatellite studies had earlier shown the presence of siberian tiger alleles in the Dhudhwa tiger reserve population. Mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence analysis of the hair samples from suspected Indian and Siberian tigerhybrids of the Dhudhwa tiger reserve revealed the presence of Indian tiger mitochondrial DNA haplotype.