DNA FINGERPRINT ANALYSIS OF A FREE-RANGE KOALA POPULATION

Thirty-six koalans in a free-range Queensland population were fingerpr inted using an M13 probe in combination with MspI digestion. The techn ique was found to be highly repeatable, with estimates of 0.1-1.6% wit hin-gel error and 0.1-2.5% between-gel error Of the 43 different-size fingerprint bands produced in the population, only 2 bands were common to all 36 koalas. Ten bands were quite rare, occurring at a frequency of 0.2 or less. All 36 koalas had unique DNA fingerprints (probabilit y of 1.88 x 10(-7)), which enabled them each to be uniquely identified . Despite this, there was still a high level of band sharing in the po pulation (mean number of shared bands = 0.749). This level is much hig her than that reported for humans, birds, cats, dogs, and cattle but n ot as high as that reported previously for Victorian koalas. This lack of genetic variation may influence the ability of the population to r espond to stress situations, such as lack of food, habitat destruction , and disease.