Developing mobile element based genetic markers for individual identification, captive breeding, and conservation genetics of gibbons

长臂猿（长臂猿科）是类人猿（人猿总科）中最小的一种，是亚洲热带森林生态的关键濒危物种。长臂猿受到栖息地丧失、狩猎和贸易的威胁，是世界自然保护联盟的优先物种。国际保护工作的重点是保护栖息地，但热带森林的退化是不可阻挡的。因此，维护、遗传管理和扩大动物园种群对长臂猿的保护至关重要。利用长臂猿基因组的生物信息学分析，将开发一组适合于个体水平遗传鉴定的信息微卫星。这些标记将用于系谱分析，填补动物园血统簿的空白。此外，微卫星分析将为欧洲长臂猿种群的遗传多样性水平提供信息。动物园的血统册是建立在创始人没有血缘关系的假设上的，但是野生捕获动物的来源是有限的。我们将测试这一假设，以揭示圈养欧洲种群的真正遗传多样性，并对育种策略产生影响。由于长臂猿异常流动的基因组，进化生物学家也对它们非常感兴趣。长臂猿基因组进化迅速，这种进化被认为是由可移动的遗传元件或转座子驱动的。因此，分子基因组分析在长臂猿中的应用为转座子动力学和进化的基础研究提供了一个极好的机会。此外，一些转座子插入可能在属或种水平上具有特异性，在保护中具有应用价值。一个问题是存在可疑的物种间杂交，这威胁到管理种群的完整性。对这些个体的明确识别是圈养繁殖计划的关键，确认可存活个体的祖先将阐明长臂猿的物种形成和进化。

Gibbons (Hylobatidae) are the smallest of the apes (Hominoidea), and comprise endangered species key to the ecology of Asian tropical forests. Gibbons are threatened by habitat loss, hunting, and trade, and are IUCN priority species. International conservation efforts have focused on habitat preservation, but degradation of tropical forests is inexorable. Thus, maintenance, genetic management, and expansion of zoo populations are essential to gibbon conservation. Using bioinformatic analysis of the gibbon genome, a panel of informative microsatellites suitable for individual-level genetic identification will be developed. These markers will be used for pedigree analysis, filling gaps in zoo studbooks. Furthermore, microsatellite analysis will inform on levels of genetic diversity within European gibbon collections. Zoo studbooks are maintained on the assumption that founders were unrelated, but the provenance of wild caught animals is limited. We will test this assumption to reveal the true genetic diversity of the captive European population, with implications for breeding strategies.Gibbons are also of intense interest to evolutionary biologists, due to their exceptionally fluid genomes. Gibbon genomes evolve rapidly, and this evolution is proposed to be driven by mobile genetic elements, or transposons. Thus, the application of molecular genomic analyses in gibbons presents an excellent opportunity for fundamental research into transposon dynamics and evolution. Also, some transposon insertions may be specific at the genus or species level, with applications in conservation. One issue is the existence of suspected interspecies hybrids, that threaten the integrity of managed populations. The unequivocal identification of these individuals is key for captive breeding programmes, and confirming the ancestry of viable individuals would illuminate gibbon speciation and evolution.