tears of the cheetah
DESCRIPTION
Presentation targeted to teach students about genetic diversity - one of my favorite classes to teach at outreach programs.TRANSCRIPT
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TEARS OF THE CHEETAH - a story of genetic diversity
Dr Karobi Moitra , NCI Frederick
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Where do cheetahs stand on the tree of life?Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class : Mammalia
Order : CarnivoraFamily : FelidaeGenus: AcinonyxSpecies: A. jubatus
Order : PrimatesFamily : HominidaeGenus : HomoSpecies: H. sapiens
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Where did the name ‘cheetah’ come from ?
Sanskrit word : Chitakayah- which means ‘variegated’ body - ‘marks or patches’’
Hindi - ‘Chitah’ English : Cheetah
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Cheetah range :
Africa: Niger,Sudan, Ethiopia,Kenya,Tanzania,Namibia,Botswanaetc.
Iran: Khorasan
SE Asia: India?Pakistan?
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Some cool cheetah facts :• Cheetah eat gazelles, impala, zebra, hare etc.
• They hunt in early morning or late in the afternoon
• They hunt in groups
• Rely on vision not scent to hunt
• Adult cheetahs weigh ~ 140lb
• Total body length over 6ft
• Have a distinct ‘tear’ streak
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How fast can cheetah’s run ? Cheetah’s can run upto 75 mph (120km/h)for 1,500ft or 1min 30 secs.
Acceleration: 1-64 mph in 3 secs
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Cheetah Chatter
The African cheetah population was down to around 15,000wild cheetahs
So conservationalists tried to breed them in captivity - thiswas very hard to do
Also cheetah populations were very prone to disease, if afew cheetah were infected with a disease such as FIPV-feline infectious peritonitis virus, the rest become infectedand die
WHY?
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Journey to Africa
Mitch Bush (National Zoo) & David Wildt (NCI)boarded a plane to the DeWildt cheetah breedingcenter in Pretoria (South Africa)
They collected blood samples from around 80 cheetahsand brought them back to Stephen O’Briens lab at NCI-Frederick for analysis.
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Proteins in the cheetahs blood wereseparated and analyzed using a techniquecalled :
Protein Gel Electrophoresis
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Protein Gel Electrophoresis
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Mobility shifts (change in the position of a protein band)can identify the different types of enzyme variantsin a cheetah blood sample
Most animals have a 20-50% difference in specific blood proteins(enzymes) called allozymes because they are different varieties of the same protein
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However, when Janice Martenson looked at the allozymesIn the cheetah blood samples she found that cheetahs were Identical for 52 allozymes across the board.
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What did this mean?
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Cheetahs seemed to be almost genetic clones ofeach other….but more evidence was needed !
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DNA
RNA PROTEIN
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The double helix
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Genetic diversity
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Back to Africa !
MHC genes are extremely variable
They are responsible for graft rejection
Skin grafts from 6 unrelated cheetahs were done
If these graft were accepted and grew it meant that these cheetahs were nearly genetically identical to each other = very little genetic diversity
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All 6 cheetahs accepted the grafts
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Most cheetahs are almost identical clones of each other !
That is why they are more susceptible to disease !
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How did this happen?
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The “Bottleneck Effect”
12,000yaPleistoceneGreat mammalExtinction
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Tears of the cheetah - the legend“A young female cheetah climbed into a warm caveto slumber through a harsh winter in Europe. When she and her cubs crept out in springtime, they meta different world, one in which the cheetahs were (almost)gone - victims of a global holocaust”
……and she cried for them
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http://www.cheetahkids.com/
Save the cheetah !
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References / Websites
www.wikipedia.org
www.cheetah.org
www.cheetahkids.com/
Tears of the Cheetah by Stephen J . O’Brien