Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 4, 2026

A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals
Published on: March 13, 2011
A pilot study-genetic diversity and population structure of snow leopards of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, using
Samreen Aruge1, Hafsa Batool1, Fida M Khan2
1Institute of Natural and Management Sciences (INAM), Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Background:
The Hindu Kush and Karakoram mountain ranges in Pakistan's northern areas are a natural habitat of the snow leopard (Panthera uncia syn. Uncia uncia) but the ecological studies on this animal are scarce since it is human shy by nature and lives in difficult mountainous tracts. The pilot study is conducted to exploit the genetic diversity and population structure of the snow leopard in this selected natural habitat of the member of the wildcat family in Pakistan.
Method:
About 50 putative scat samples of snow leopard from five localities of Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan) along with a control sample of zoo maintained male snow leopard were collected for comparison. Significant quality and quantity of genomic DNA was extracted from scat samples using combined Zhang-phenol-chloroform method and successful amplification of cytochrome c oxidase I gene (190 bp) using mini-barcode primers, seven simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers and Y-linked AMELY gene (200 bp) was done.
Results:
Cytochrome c oxidase I gene sequencing suggested that 33/50 (66%) scat samples were of snow leopard. AMELY primer suggested that out of 33 amplified samples, 21 (63.63%) scats were from male and 12 (36.36%) from female leopards. Through successful amplification of DNA of 25 out of 33 (75.75%) scat samples using SSR markers, a total of 68 alleles on seven SSR loci were identified, showing low heterozygosity, while high gene flow between population.
Discussion:
The low gene flow rate among the population results in low genetic diversity causing decreased diversification. This affects the adaptability to climatic changes, thus ultimately resulting in decreased population size of the species.
More Related Videos
07:17Deploying Community Scientists to Conduct Nondestructive Genetic Sampling of Rare Butterfly Populations
Published on: October 28, 2022
09:39DNA Fingerprinting of Mycobacterium leprae Strains Using Variable Number Tandem Repeat VNTR - Fragment Length Analysis FLA
Published on: July 15, 2011
Related Concept Videos
Modern Molecular Taxonomy
Conservation of Small Populations
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Applications of Molecular Taxonomy
What is Population Genetics?
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?
In contrast, regions which code...