Development of an identification system for the rice finch (Oryzoborus angolensis) using DNA microsatellites

• Grant number: 04/02609-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: February 01, 2005
• End date: September 30, 2005
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Carlos Ferreira Lanza
• Grantee: Daniel Carlos Ferreira Lanza
• Company: Unigen Tecnologia do DNA Ltda

Abstract

For the beauty of its song, the wild rice finch (Oryzoborus angolensis) is the bird which enjoys the best organized breeding in captivity in Brazil. The rice finch appears on the list of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and of Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) as one of the species commonly confiscated in the traffic of wild animals throughout Brazil. The activities of passerine breeders from Brazilian wild fauna are coordinated by Ibama, which recently developed a computerized system, Sispass, for the registration of breeders and birds. Since 2001, 74 thousand breeders have already been registered and almost 1.3 million birds, the majority rice finches (245,085 birds registered). Sispass relies heavily on the truthfulness of the information supplied, frauds being therefore a possibility. The proposal of this project is to develop a system of genotyping of micro-satellites of the rice finch, suitable for the computerized registration of the birds and the automatic parental determination (certification of origin). The project could also cater for the recently created Consortium for the Export of Native Brazilian Birds, established by the National Cooperative of Native Bird Breeders (Cocpan) and the Brazilian Service in Support of Micro and Small Businesses (Sebrae), which relies on proof of guarantee of the origin of birds for the purposes of certification and to be able to place the rice finch on the international market, which would lead to the promotion of a new sector in the national economy. The system could be adapted for various species of the Emberizidae family, also bred in captivity, and, in some cases, threatened with extinction. (AU)