African painted dogs (Lycaon pictus, APD) are highly endangered, with fewer than 7000 remaining in nature. Captive breeding programs can preserve a genetically diverse population and provide a source of individuals for reintroductions. However, most programs are initiated from few founders and suffer from low genetic diversity and inbreeding. The aims of this study were to use molecular markers to assess genetic variation, inbreeding, and relatedness among APDs in the North American captive population, to use these data to realign studbook records, and to compare these data to wild populations and to the European captive population to facilitate the development of a global management plan. We sequenced mitochondrial and major histocompatibility (MHC) class II loci and genotyped 14 microsatellite loci from 109 APDs from 34 institutions in North America. We identified three likely studbook errors and resolved ten cases of uncertain paternity. Overall, microsatellite heterozygosity was higher than reported in Europe, but effective population size estimates were lower. Mitochondrial sequence variation was extremely limited, and there were fewer MHC haplotypes than in Europe or the wild. Although the population did not show evidence of significant inbreeding overall, several individuals shared high relatedness values, which should be incorporated into future breeding programs.

中文翻译：

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北美圈养非洲彩绘犬的遗传多样性和相关性

非洲彩绘犬 ( Lycaon pictus,APD) 高度濒危，自然界中仅存不到 7000 只。圈养繁殖计划可以保护遗传多样性的种群，并为重新引入提供个体来源。然而，大多数项目都是由少数创始人发起的，并且遗传多样性和近亲繁殖率低。本研究的目的是使用分子标记来评估北美圈养种群中 APD 之间的遗传变异、近亲繁殖和相关性，使用这些数据重新调整谱系记录，并将这些数据与野生种群和欧洲圈养种群进行比较人口，以促进制定全球管理计划。我们对来自北美 34 个机构的 109 个 APD 的线粒体和主要组织相容性 (MHC) II 类基因座进行了测序，并对 14 个微卫星基因座进行了基因分型。我们确定了三个可能的谱系错误，并解决了十个不确定父子关系的案例。总体而言，微卫星杂合性高于欧洲报道的，但有效人口规模估计值较低。线粒体序列变异极为有限，MHC 单倍型比欧洲或野外少。尽管总体上没有显示出显着近亲繁殖的证据，但有几个个体具有很高的相关性值，应将其纳入未来的育种计划中。