The legendary tigress named Machli or the Queen of Ranthambore was the most popular tigress in the world when alive. Even after she died in August 2016, her popularity ceased to lessen a bit. In a recent development, the legendary tigress all set for the scientific immortality with the help of the advanced biotechnological methods. A team of genetic scientists, conservation biologists and the officials of Ranthambore are all clubbed together to start a process of creating a genetic map from the DNA of Machli tigress. The process of genetic mapping is the process to trace out and ascertain the sequence of the genes from the DNA. At the time of Machli death, her DNA was extracted and preserved for the research.
Dr. Uma Ramakrishnan is leading the team who is responsible for the genome analysis of Machli’s DNA. At the National Center for Biological Sciences which is located in Bengaluru, Dr. Ramakrishnan said, “Machli is an iconic individual, has lived long, has sired a large number of cubs and because the Tigers at Ranthambore are highly inbred, she would serve as an excellent example of the species. Plus, we were lucky to get permits and ideal tissue samples at the right time.”
In a chat with the correspondent of The Hindu Newspaper at the NextGen Genomics, Biology, Bioinformatics and Technologies (NGBT) Conference, Dr. Ramakrishanan also told that the final genome map will serve as a template for evaluating the genes of tigers anywhere in the world as like a ‘reference genome’. The genome map could take around more than a six months to complete.
The legendary tigress T-16, also known as Lady of the lake in Ranthambore, was credited with reviving the endangered tiger population in Ranthambore and was the flag bearer of the save tiger project of the government of India. More than half of the tiger population of Ranthambore and Sariska National Parks are the descendants of Machli. She was the proud mother of 11 cubs sired in four litters. The Ranthambore National Park earned around Rs. 65 Crore within 10 years from 2006 to 2016 solely due to the tigress Machli. She died at an old age of 20 years in August 2016.
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) based in Hyderabad has declared to have sequenced the complete genome of an Indian Tiger, for the first time in India. Till now, the reference genome of a tiger used for the study of tiger genetics is that of the Siberian tiger named Amur. The genome of Amur was sequenced in the year 2013. However, the scientific report of tiger genome sequencing in CCMB is waiting for the peer-reviewed. The director of CCMB, Rakesh Mishra said n a telephonic chat with The Hindu newspaper said, “Like how the human genome was sequenced from taking genetic signatures from a small group of individuals, a reference genome of a species ideally ought to be from a group of individuals.”
For the genome analysis of Machli, multiple technologies of genome-reading have been used to ensure the accuracy and an unprecedented level of detail. Dr. Ramakrishnan said, “Once we have the reference, we can better understand functionality — where these genes are, which populations, how they are different.” she added. The various characteristics of a tiger such as the sense of smell, the metabolism and strength have been developed in this species due to the particular genes.
Once on the verge of extinction, the population of the Royal Bengal Tiger has been increased tremendously after the proper implementation of the conservation policies in India. Now, India is home to around three-fourth of the world population of tigers in the wild with the tiger count rises from 1411 tigers in 2006 to 2226 tigers in 2014.
