Vol. 15 - Deutsches Primatenzentrum

Lemur News Vol. 15, 2010 Page 63
found the expected heterozygosity to be higher in five out of
six populations,one comparison was significantly higher (P <
0.01).In E.sanfordi,Ramanamahefa et al.(2010b) found that in
all populations sampled,the observed heterozygosities were
higher than the expected heterozygosities. Lastly, Quéméré
et al. (2009), found that their study estimated the expected
heterozygosity level for several populations of P. tattersalli to
be higher than the estimate found by Razafindrakoto et al.
(2008) using a different marker suite in different populations.
Other studies (included in Tab. 2) have estimated heterozygosity
levels for one or two populations of various lemur
species in recent years.While these estimates provide some
general sense of genetic diversity, they are not standardized
(e.g. not the same markers were used in each study) so the
estimates are contingent on the polymorphic information
content and amplification quality in each independent study.
What we do see is a relative trend that the observed
heterozygosities are in general lower, but usually not significantly,
than the expected heterozygosities under the assumptions
of HWE.
In this study on I. indri, we found the differences among the
HO estimates to differ but not significantly and the differences
among the HE estimates to differ with low significance
(P < 0.05). The average estimates for heterozygosity, thus
genetic diversity, were in the upper range of those found in
limited population studies on other lemur species. These
estimate trends provide the basis for future and integrative
studies where multiple species might be considered in sympatric
zones to investigate the overall genetic health of the
biodiversity and to better understand the effects that humans
may be having on the evolutionary potential of lemurs.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the Ministry of Environment and Eaux &
Forets, Madagascar National Parks, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
Professor Gisele and the Department of Paleontology
and Anthropology, University of Antananarivo for their help.
This project would not have been possible without the support
of the staff, guides, and drivers of Henry Doorly Zoo
and the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership. We also wish
to thank the Theodore F.and Claire M.Hubbard Family Foundation,
Bill and Berniece Grewcock, the Ahmanson Foundation,
the James Family Foundation and the Hawks Family
Foundation for their support of this project.
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