ASSESSMENT OF GENETIC VARIATIONS WITHIN POPULATIONS OF SIKA-DEER IN JAPAN BY ANALYSIS OF RANDOMLY AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD)

Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) was exploited as a genetic mar ker to assess the level of genetic variation in populations of Sika de er, Cervus nippon, in Japan. DNA samples were collected from three loc al populations in Japan, namely, Kinkazan, Goyozan and Ashore populati ons. Four arbitrary primers, when used individually, amplified an aver age of five RAPD fragments in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The number of polymorphic bands was scored to calculate band-sharing coef ficients within populations. Average band-sharing coefficients reveale d a higher degree of homogeneity in the Kinkazan population. Samples c ollected from larger populations, namely, Ashore and Goyozan, revealed greater polymorphism than samples from the Kinkazan deer. Our data su ggest that RAPD is useful as a marker for detecting genetic variations in populations of Sika deer with reduced levels of genetic diversity.