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Scientists from St. Petersburg State University and China studied the DNA of the tiger to prevent extinction of animals

An international team of scientists has presented a comprehensive molecular genetic model to re-evaluate the structure of populations of tiger subspecies and the relationship between them.

The study was conducted over a decade, led by Dr. Shu-Jin Luo (Shu-Jin Luo) from Peking University and Professor Stephen O'Brien (Stephen O'Brien) from the Center for Genomic bioinformatics and F.G.Dobrzhanskogo St. Petersburg State University. The meeting brought together scholars from China, the US, Britain, Israel, Russia and Qatar. Results of the study will help develop a strategy for the conservation of each surviving subspecies and stop the complete extinction of tigers, scientists say.

"The opening of St. Petersburg State University scientists and Beijing University will help in the implementation of forensics. Scientists are convinced that as recent advances in the analysis of human DNA have revolutionized the investigation of serious crime, DNA profiles of the Tiger will be a great help in the protection of nature. For example, engineers can find geographical origin of the tiger, illegally caught or killed by poachers for the skin of an animal from a fragment of his bones, "- noted in a press release.

The work is based on the sequences of the DNA of 145 tigers, including the so-called "voucher specimens" of animal tissues with confirmed geographical origin.

In its work, the researchers also analyzed samples of extinct subspecies (Transcaucasian, Javanese and Balinese) stored in the Eurasian museums. The result has been to establish clear molecular genetic differences between the Amur, Bengal, Indo-Chinese, and Sumatran tigers. Identified diagnostic markers will allow scientists to more effectively carry out artificial reproduction subspecies of tigers in captivity, highlighted in the St. Petersburg State University.

Scientists first described a complex historical process of the formation of the species and its division into subspecies. The report on the study was published in the online version of the scientific publication Journal of Heredity, it will print No. 1 May.

There are eight distinct subspecies of tiger, allocated by geographic origin and individual morphometric characteristics. Four of them - Javanese, Balinese, Caucasian and Chinese - in the twentieth century have disappeared from their natural habitat by humans. Their populations, to very small and vulnerable, preserved only in the territory of Bengal (India), the Indochinese Peninsula, Sumatra and the Amur River (Russian Far East and northeastern part of China).

Currently, tigers are endangered. Their habitats are isolated from each other, and the total number of animals in the wild population - only 3000. Reply