Project description:Wild animals play a critical role in maintenance and transmission of various tick-borne pathogens. It is essential to identify these wild host species that can serve as important reservoirs of tickborne diseases. In the present study we investigated Dama gazelle (Nanger dama) as a potential novel reservoir of Theileria spp. A total of 53 blood samples collected from Dama gazelle as part of the Al Ain Zoo preventive medicine program were screened for Theileria spp. by qPCR using a commercial assay, followed by additional studies using conventional PCR targeting an approximate 450-base pair (bp) fragment of the V4 hypervariable region of the 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of a subset (20) of PCR amplicons revealed Theileria isolates from gazelles of Al Ain Zoo clustered closely to Theileria sp. Dama Gazelle (AY735115) from USA and were far away or did not cluster with the known Theileria spp. of ruminants namely T. annulata, T. ovis, T. orientalis, T. luwenshuni, T.parva and T.sinensis. Theileria genotypes detected in gazelles of present study were clearly distinct from the other common theileria species of ruminants. The present finding throws light on the critical role of reservoir host in maintenance and transmission of pathogen. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • First report of Theileria spp. in Dama gazelle (Nanger dama) in United Arab Emirates.• Theileria genotypes detected were distinct from Theileria spp. seen in domestic herbivore species reported in MENA region.• Wild host species can serve as important reservoirs of tickborne diseases.
Project description:Managers of threatened species often face the dilemma of whether to keep populations separate to conserve local adaptations and minimize the risk of outbreeding, or whether to manage populations jointly to reduce loss of genetic diversity and minimise inbreeding. In this study we examine genetic relatedness and diversity in three of the five last remaining wild populations of dama gazelle and a number of captive populations, using mtDNA control region and cytochrome b data. Despite the sampled populations belonging to the three putative subspecies, which are delineated according to phenotypes and geographical location, we find limited evidence for phylogeographical structure within the data and no genetic support for the putative subspecies. In the light of these data we discuss the relevance of inbreeding depression, outbreeding depression, adaptive variation, genetic drift, and phenotypic variation to the conservation of the dama gazelle and make some recommendations for its future conservation management. The genetic data suggest that the best conservation approach is to view the dama gazelle as a single species without subspecific divisions.
