SREL Reprint #1981
Electrophoretic comparison of road-killed deer and live-captured deer sampled by muscle biopsy
Mary J. Ratnaswamy1, Carolyn L. Rogers1, Robert J. Warren1, Michael H. Smith1,2,3, and Karl A. K. Stromayer1
1Daniel B. Wamell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
2Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802
3Departments of Genetics and Zoology, Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
Abstract: A safe and effective muscle biopsy procedure that can be used to sample genetic variation in live white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is described. The validity of this procedure for estimating genetic variability was confirmed by sampling blood and muscle from 78 road-killed and 57 captured deer at Chickamauga Battlefield National Military Park, Georgia, between June 1991 and June 1992. Six polymorphic loci were detected in muscle tissue and 2 polymorphic loci were found in blood using starch-gel electrophoresis. We compared levels of genetic variation in 3 sampling groups: road-killed deer, "actively" captured deer, and "passively" captured deer. Deer were considered "active" captures if the capture method did not involve baiting at the capture site (i.e., drive-nets, poaching, scientific collections, remote darting). Deer were classified as "passive" captures if bait was used to attract deer to the capture location (e.g., drop-nets, corral-drive nets, remote darting over bait). No significant differences were found between road-killed and captured deer for mean heterozygosity, mean number of alleles, or average allele frequencies.
SREL Reprint #1981
Ratnaswamy, M.J., C.L. Rogers, R.J. Warren, M.H. Smith, and K.A.K. Stromayer. 1993. Electrophoretic comparison of road-killed deer and live-captured deer sampled by muscle biopsy. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 47:211-221.
This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).