Plant Biology

Evaluating PRNP Gene Frequencies and Maternal Lineages in Relation to White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) Annual Home Range Overlap

The PRNP gene in white-tailed deer (WTD) expresses protein variants (PrP) with differing levels of susceptibility to chronic wasting disease (CWD). However, this gene has not been evaluated in the context of live GPS-collared deer and their matrilineal lineages. I extracted DNA from ear biopsies taken from captured GPS-collared WTD in southern Illinois and determined PrP variant frequencies and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes for each deer. I identified individuals with advantageous PrP variants against CWD and analyzed shared matrilineal lineages. I found higher frequencies of the advantageous PrP variants compared to CWD endemic areas, though variants did not significantly differ between my southern Illinois study sites. Maternal lineages were largely geographically structured, and deer home range overlap proportions and mtDNA haplotypes varied by site. These findings can help inform CWD risk, management, and future forecasts of how deer in this region would respond to an outbreak of CWD.