The Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) is one of only two remaining giant tortoise species worldwide. Captive-bred A. gigantea are being used in rewilding projects in the Western Indian Ocean to functionally replace the extinct endemic giant tortoise species and restore degraded island ecosystems. Furthermore, large-scale translocations may become necessary as rising sea levels threaten the only wild population on the low-lying Aldabra Atoll. Critical management decisions would be greatly facilitated by insights on the genetic structure of breeding populations. We used a double-digest restriction-associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq) approach to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) among the wild population and two additional captive populations of A. gigantea. A total of 1674 unlinked, putatively neutral genome-wide SNPs were identified. The values of expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.33 to 0.5, whereas the minor allele frequency ranged from 0.20 to 0.5. These novel SNP markers will serve as useful tools for informing the conservation of A. gigantea.

阿尔达布拉巨龟（Aldabrachelys gigantea）是世界上仅存的两种巨龟之一。人工繁殖的A. gigantea被用于西印度洋的野化项目，以在功能上取代已灭绝的地方性巨龟物种并恢复退化的岛屿生态系统。此外，随着海平面上升威胁到低洼阿尔达布拉环礁上唯一的野生种群，大规模易位可能变得必要。对育种种群遗传结构的了解将极大地促进关键的管理决策。我们使用双酶切限制相关 DNA 测序 (ddRAD-seq) 方法来鉴定野生种群和另外两个圈养种群之间的单核苷酸多态性 (SNP)。A. 巨大的。总共鉴定了 1674 个未链接的、假定中性的全基因组 SNP。预期杂合度的范围为 0.33 至 0.5，而次要等位基因频率的范围为 0.20 至 0.5。这些新的 SNP 标记将作为有用的工具为A. gigantea的保护提供信息。