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Nistelberger HM, Roycroft E, Macdonald AJ, McArthur S, White LC, Grady PGS, Pierson J, Sims C, Cowen S, Moseby K, Tuft K, Moritz C, Eldridge MDB, Byrne M, Ottewell K. Genetic mixing in conservation translocations increases diversity of a keystone threatened species, Bettongia lesueur. Mol Ecol 2023. [PMID: 37715549 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Translocation programmes are increasingly being informed by genetic data to monitor and enhance conservation outcomes for both natural and established populations. These data provide a window into contemporary patterns of genetic diversity, structure and relatedness that can guide managers in how to best source animals for their translocation programmes. The inclusion of historical samples, where possible, strengthens monitoring by allowing assessment of changes in genetic diversity over time and by providing a benchmark for future improvements in diversity via management practices. Here, we used reduced representation sequencing (ddRADseq) data to report on the current genetic health of three remnant and seven translocated boodie (Bettongia lesueur) populations, now extinct on the Australian mainland. In addition, we used exon capture data from seven historical mainland specimens and a subset of contemporary samples to compare pre-decline and current diversity. Both data sets showed the significant impact of population founder source (whether multiple or single) on the genetic diversity of translocated populations. Populations founded by animals from multiple sources showed significantly higher genetic diversity than the natural remnant and single-source translocation populations, and we show that by mixing the most divergent populations, exon capture heterozygosity was restored to levels close to that observed in pre-decline mainland samples. Relatedness estimates were surprisingly low across all contemporary populations and there was limited evidence of inbreeding. Our results show that a strategy of genetic mixing has led to successful conservation outcomes for the species in terms of increasing genetic diversity and provides strong rationale for mixing as a management strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi M Nistelberger
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Emily Roycroft
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, ANU College of Science, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Anna J Macdonald
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, ANU College of Science, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Shelley McArthur
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Lauren C White
- Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
| | - Patrick G S Grady
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA
| | - Jennifer Pierson
- Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Colleen Sims
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Saul Cowen
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Katherine Moseby
- Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Craig Moritz
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology, ANU College of Science, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Mark D B Eldridge
- Terrestrial Vertebrates, Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Margaret Byrne
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Kym Ottewell
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Kensington, Western Australia, Australia
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Harris AM, DeGiorgio M. A Likelihood Approach for Uncovering Selective Sweep Signatures from Haplotype Data. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 37:3023-3046. [PMID: 32392293 PMCID: PMC7530616 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Selective sweeps are frequent and varied signatures in the genomes of natural populations, and detecting them is consequently important in understanding mechanisms of adaptation by natural selection. Following a selective sweep, haplotypic diversity surrounding the site under selection decreases, and this deviation from the background pattern of variation can be applied to identify sweeps. Multiple methods exist to locate selective sweeps in the genome from haplotype data, but none leverages the power of a model-based approach to make their inference. Here, we propose a likelihood ratio test statistic T to probe whole-genome polymorphism data sets for selective sweep signatures. Our framework uses a simple but powerful model of haplotype frequency spectrum distortion to find sweeps and additionally make an inference on the number of presently sweeping haplotypes in a population. We found that the T statistic is suitable for detecting both hard and soft sweeps across a variety of demographic models, selection strengths, and ages of the beneficial allele. Accordingly, we applied the T statistic to variant calls from European and sub-Saharan African human populations, yielding primarily literature-supported candidates, including LCT, RSPH3, and ZNF211 in CEU, SYT1, RGS18, and NNT in YRI, and HLA genes in both populations. We also searched for sweep signatures in Drosophila melanogaster, finding expected candidates at Ace, Uhg1, and Pimet. Finally, we provide open-source software to compute the T statistic and the inferred number of presently sweeping haplotypes from whole-genome data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre M Harris
- Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.,Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
| | - Michael DeGiorgio
- Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
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3
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Proctor MF, Kasworm WF, Teisberg JE, Servheen C, Radandt TG, Lamb CT, Kendall KC, Mace RD, Paetkau D, Boyce MS. American black bear population fragmentation detected with pedigrees in the transborder Canada–United States region. URSUS 2020. [DOI: 10.2192/ursus-d-18-00003r2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Wayne F. Kasworm
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 385 Fish Hatchery Road, Libby, MT 59923, USA
| | - Justin E. Teisberg
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 385 Fish Hatchery Road, Libby, MT 59923, USA
| | - Chris Servheen
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, College of Forestry and Conservation, 309 University Hall, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - Thomas G. Radandt
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 385 Fish Hatchery Road, Libby, MT 59923, USA
| | - Clayton T. Lamb
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Katherine C. Kendall
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT 59936, USA
| | - Richard D. Mace
- Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, 490 N Meridian Road, Kalispel, MT 59417, USA
| | - David Paetkau
- Wildlife Genetics International, P.O. Box 274, Nelson, BC V1L 5P9, Canada
| | - Mark S. Boyce
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
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Tumendemberel O, Zedrosser A, Proctor MF, Reynolds HV, Adams JR, Sullivan JM, Jacobs SJ, Khorloojav T, Tserenbataa T, Batmunkh M, Swenson JE, Waits LP. Phylogeography, genetic diversity, and connectivity of brown bear populations in Central Asia. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0220746. [PMID: 31408475 PMCID: PMC6692007 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Knowledge of genetic diversity and population structure is critical for conservation and management planning at the population level within a species' range. Many brown bear populations in Central Asia are small and geographically isolated, yet their phylogeographic relationships, genetic diversity, and contemporary connectivity are poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we collected brown bear samples from the Gobi Desert (n = 2360), Altai, Sayan, Khentii, and Ikh Khyangan mountains of Mongolia (n = 79), and Deosai National Park in the Himalayan Mountain Range of Pakistan (n = 5) and generated 927 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data and genotypes at 13 nuclear DNA microsatellite loci. We documented high levels of mtDNA and nDNA diversity in the brown bear populations of northern Mongolia (Altai, Sayan, Buteeliin nuruu and Khentii), but substantially lower diversity in brown bear populations in the Gobi Desert and Himalayas of Pakistan. We detected 3 brown bear mtDNA phylogeographic groups among bears of the region, with clade 3a1 in Sayan, Khentii, and Buteeliin nuruu mountains, clade 3b in Altai, Sayan, Buteeliin nuruu, Khentii, and Ikh Khyangan, and clade 6 in Gobi and Pakistan. Our results also clarified the phylogenetic relationships and divergence times with other brown bear mtDNA clades around the world. The nDNA genetic structure analyses revealed distinctiveness of Gobi bears and different population subdivisions compared to mtDNA results. For example, genetic distance for nDNA microsatellite loci between the bears in Gobi and Altai (FST = 0.147) was less than that of the Gobi and Pakistan (FST = 0.308) suggesting more recent male-mediated nuclear gene flow between Gobi and Altai than between Gobi and the Pakistan bears. Our results provide valuable information for conservation and management of bears in this understudied region of Central Asia and highlight the need for special protection and additional research on Gobi brown bears.
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Affiliation(s)
- Odbayar Tumendemberel
- Department of Natural Science and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway
| | - Andreas Zedrosser
- Department of Natural Science and Environmental Health, University of South-Eastern Norway, Bø i Telemark, Norway
| | | | | | - Jennifer R. Adams
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America
| | - Jack M. Sullivan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America
| | - Sarah J. Jacobs
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America
| | - Tumennasan Khorloojav
- Genetics Laboratory, Institute of General and Experimental Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Tuya Tserenbataa
- Sunshine Village Complex, Bayanzurkh District, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Mijiddorj Batmunkh
- Mongolian-Chinese Joint Molecular Biology Laboratory, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - Jon E. Swenson
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Lisette P. Waits
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America
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Genetic diversity, effective population size, and structure among black bear populations in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, USA. CONSERV GENET 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-018-1075-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
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Kopatz A, Eiken HG, Schregel J, Aspi J, Kojola I, Hagen SB. Genetic substructure and admixture as important factors in linkage disequilibrium-based estimation of effective number of breeders in recovering wildlife populations. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:10721-10732. [PMID: 29299252 PMCID: PMC5743533 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Revised: 10/03/2017] [Accepted: 10/04/2017] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The number of effective breeders (Nb ) and effective population size (Ne ) are population parameters reflective of evolutionary potential, susceptibility to stochasticity, and viability. We have estimated these parameters using the linkage disequilibrium-based approach with LDNE through the latest phase of population recovery of the brown bears (Ursus arctos) in Finland (1993-2010; N = 621). This phase of the recovery was recently documented to be associated with major changes in genetic composition. In particular, differentiation between the northern and the southern genetic cluster declined rapidly within 1.5 generations. Based on this, we have studied effects of the changing genetic structure on Nb and Ne , by comparing estimates for whole Finland with the estimates for the two genetic clusters. We expected a potentially strong relationship between estimate sizes and genetic differentiation, which should disappear as the population recovers and clusters merge. Consistent with this, our estimates for whole Finland were lower than the sum of the estimates of the two genetic clusters and both approaches produced similar estimates in the end. Notably, we also found that admixed genotypes strongly increased the estimates. In all analyses, our estimates for Ne were larger than Nb and likely reflective for brown bears of the larger region of Finland and northwestern Russia. Conclusively, we find that neglecting genetic substructure may lead to a massive underestimation of Nb and Ne . Our results also suggest the need for further empirical analysis focusing on individuals with admixed genotypes and their potential high influence on Nb and Ne .
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Hans Geir Eiken
- NIBIO—Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy ResearchSvanvikNorway
| | - Julia Schregel
- NIBIO—Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy ResearchSvanvikNorway
| | - Jouni Aspi
- Department of BiologyUniversity of OuluOuluFinland
| | - Ilpo Kojola
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)RovaniemiFinland
| | - Snorre B. Hagen
- NIBIO—Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy ResearchSvanvikNorway
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