Genetic study of Persian gazelle of Sohrein, Zanjan

Persian gazelle (Gazelle subgutturosa) is one of the most important species in the world with its wide distribution in Iran The greatest number of this species in Iran is associated with the gazelles in Sohrain plain in Sorkhabad protected region in Zanjan province. Considering the significance of this species in the region and the fact that no genetic studies have been conducted to determine the status of this species, such genetic investigations were carried out in this study, 54 samples of the species hunted in 2005 were applied in this study. The samples were subjected for sequencing on D-LOOP region of the mtDNA. The results of this study indicated 17 polymorphism sites and 6 haplotypes in the region Haplotype type 1 and 5 with 72 and 1.85 percent presented the highest and lowest frequency in the population of gazelles. Based on the results obtained, the degree of variety of haplotypes in the population of gazelles of Sohrain region was estimated at 0.46 and nucleotide diversity was 0.84%. Based on the results of this study one can predict that population could be endangered owing to genetic depletion.