Electrophoretic Comparison of Road-killed Deer and Live-captured Deer Sampled by Muscle Biopsy
A safe and effective muscle biopsy procedure that can be used to sample genetic variation in live white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is described. The validity of this procedure for estimating genetic variability was confirmed by sampling blood and muscle from 78 road-killed and 57 captured deer at Chickamauga Battlefield National Military Park, Georgia, between June 1991 and June 1992. Six polymorphic loci were detected in muscle tissue and 2 polymorphic loci were found in blood using starch-gel electrophoresis. We compared levels of genetic variation in 3 sampling groups: road-...
