<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Vultures are among nature’s most successful scavengers, providing tractable models for ecological, economic, and cultural studies. Asian vultures have undergone dramatic declines of 90–99% in the subcontinent due to consequences of poisoning drugs, thereby being at a high risk of extinction. In Pakistan, surveys conducted previously focused mostly the cause of decline and breeding strategies only. Genetic profiling of vultures was still unmapped that could play a particular role in conservation endeavors and let researchers to genetically label individuals of threatened or endangered species. In this study, we examined genetic diversity and molecular phylogeny of Oriental White-backed Vultures by analyzing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Genetic polymorphism was detected among individuals, and, on that basis, phylogenetic analysis was conducted through Bayesian analysis of DNA sequences using MCMC. Using multiple sequence alignment, two mutations, transversion T>G and transition G>A, were observed at nucleotide positions 1 and 2, respectively. Similarly, T/C heterozygosity at two positions, 53 and 110, and one heterozygous T/G locus at 130 position were also observed. The reference sequence, along with other samples of V1, V6, V7 and V9, was placed into a clade, while V2, V5, V11, V3, V4 and V10 samples were grouped into a two clade.</p>
</abstract>

Vultures are among nature’s most successful scavengers, providing tractable models for ecological, economic, and cultural studies. Asian vultures have undergone dramatic declines of 90–99% in the subcontinent due to consequences of poisoning drugs, thereby being at a high risk of extinction. In Pakistan, surveys conducted previously focused mostly the cause of decline and breeding strategies only. Genetic profiling of vultures was still unmapped that could play a particular role in conservation endeavors and let researchers to genetically label individuals of threatened or endangered species. In this study, we examined genetic diversity and molecular phylogeny of Oriental White-backed Vultures by analyzing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Genetic polymorphism was detected among individuals, and, on that basis, phylogenetic analysis was conducted through Bayesian analysis of DNA sequences using MCMC. Using multiple sequence alignment, two mutations, transversion T>G and transition G>A, were observed at nucleotide positions 1 and 2, respectively. Similarly, T/C heterozygosity at two positions, 53 and 110, and one heterozygous T/G locus at 130 position were also observed. The reference sequence, along with other samples of V1, V6, V7 and V9, was placed into a clade, while V2, V5, V11, V3, V4 and V10 samples were grouped into a two clade.

Genetic polymorphism in the mitochondrial D-loop of Oriental White-backed Vultures <italic>(Gyps bengalensis)</italic>

Department of Biosystems Technology, Faculty of Technology

South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, University Park

General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University

Ornis Hungarica

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Genetic polymorphism in the mitochondrial D-loop of Oriental White-backed Vultures 

Vultures are among nature’s most successful scavengers, providing tractable models for ecological, economic, and cultural studies. Asian vultures have...

Genetic polymorphism in the mitochondrial D-loop of Oriental White-backed Vultures (Gyps bengalensis)

Published Online: Jun 30, 2022

Page range: 135 - 145

Received: Nov 04, 2021

Accepted: Mar 18, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2022-0010

Keywords
vulture, phylogenetics, mitochondrial D-loop, Pakistan

© 2022 Tanveer Hussain et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Genetic polymorphism in the mitochondrial D-loop of Oriental White-backed Vultures (Gyps bengalensis)

Published Online: Jun 30, 2022

Page range: 135 - 145

Received: Nov 04, 2021

Accepted: Mar 18, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2022-0010

Keywordsvulture, phylogenetics, mitochondrial D-loop, Pakistan

© 2022 Tanveer Hussain et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
vulture, phylogenetics, mitochondrial D-loop, Pakistan