Degree Name

BS

Department

Plant and Wildlife Sciences

College

Life Sciences

Defense Date

2024-11-13

Publication Date

2024-12-16

First Faculty Advisor

Brock McMillan

First Faculty Reader

Paul Frandsen

Honors Coordinator

David Jarvis

Keywords

RADseq; Whole Genome Sequencing; Single-nucleotide Polymorphisms; relatedness; mule deer

Abstract

Multiple paternity is an ecological phenomenon that plays an important role in reproductive dynamics and population genetics; the presence and rate of multiple paternity can shed light on reproductive behavior and the potential genetic effects of human management. Previous methods have estimated multiple paternity using genetic markers such as microsatellites, and require DNA from both parents and their offspring. However, evolving genomic technology promotes use of alternative genomic methods and acquiring paternal DNA from free-ranging animals is often difficult or impossible. We propose kinship values derived from single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as a tool to predict multiple paternity. Calculating kinship values between siblings does not require paternal DNA and can be relatively inexpensively obtained. Here, using DNA from 54 mule deer dams and their twins (Utah, USA, 2019), we use SNPs derived from restricted site associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) to calculate KING kinship values to differentiate between full and half-siblings. We found that kinship values calculated from RAD-sequenced SNPs closely mirrored the values calculated from whole-genome sequenced SNPs. Further, we demonstrate that inexpensive RADseq genetic data can be used to detect multiple paternity in free-ranging mammals where paternal DNA is not available.

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