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Tims AR, Unmack PJ, Hammer MP, Brown C, Adams M, McGee MD. Museum Genomics Reveals the Hybrid Origin of an Extinct Crater Lake Endemic. Syst Biol 2024; 73:506-520. [PMID: 38597146 PMCID: PMC11377190 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syae017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Crater lake fishes are common evolutionary model systems, with recent studies suggesting a key role for gene flow in promoting rapid adaptation and speciation. However, the study of these young lakes can be complicated by human-mediated extinctions. Museum genomics approaches integrating genetic data from recently extinct species are, therefore, critical to understanding the complex evolutionary histories of these fragile systems. Here, we examine the evolutionary history of an extinct Southern Hemisphere crater lake endemic, the rainbowfish Melanotaenia eachamensis. We undertook a comprehensive sampling of extant rainbowfish populations of the Atherton Tablelands of Australia alongside historical museum material to understand the evolutionary origins of the extinct crater lake population and the dynamics of gene flow across the ecoregion. The extinct crater lake species is genetically distinct from all other nearby populations due to historic introgression between 2 proximate riverine lineages, similar to other prominent crater lake speciation systems, but this historic gene flow has not been sufficient to induce a species flock. Our results suggest that museum genomics approaches can be successfully combined with extant sampling to unravel complex speciation dynamics involving recently extinct species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy R Tims
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Peter J Unmack
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
- Centre for Applied Water Science, Institute for Applied Ecology, University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Michael P Hammer
- Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory 0801, Australia
| | - Culum Brown
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Mark Adams
- Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - Matthew D McGee
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia
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2
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Wei S, Fan H, Zhou W, Huang G, Hua Y, Wu S, Wei X, Chen Y, Tan X, Wei F. Conservation genomics of the critically endangered Chinese pangolin. SCIENCE CHINA. LIFE SCIENCES 2024:10.1007/s11427-023-2540-y. [PMID: 38970727 DOI: 10.1007/s11427-023-2540-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024]
Abstract
The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla, MP) has been extensively exploited and is now on the brink of extinction, but its population structure, evolutionary history, and adaptive potential are unclear. Here, we analyzed 94 genomes from three subspecies of the Chinese pangolin and identified three distinct genetic clusters (MPA, MPB, and MPC), with MPB further divided into MPB1 and MPB2 subpopulations. The divergence of these populations was driven by past climate change. For MPB2 and MPC, recent human activities have caused dramatic population decline and small population size as well as increased inbreeding, but not decrease in genomic variation and increase in genetic load probably due to strong gene flow; therefore, it is crucial to strengthen in situ habitat management for these two populations. By contrast, although human activities have a milder impact on MPA, it is at high risk of extinction due to long-term contraction and isolation, and genetic rescue is urgently needed. MPB1 exhibited a relatively healthy population status and can potentially serve as a source population. Overall, our findings provide novel insights into the conservation of the Chinese pangolin and biogeography of the mammals of eastern Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shichao Wei
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology, College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China
- Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China
| | - Huizhong Fan
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Wenliang Zhou
- Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China
| | - Guangping Huang
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology, College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China
| | - Yan Hua
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry, Guangzhou, 510520, China
| | - Shibao Wu
- School of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Xiao Wei
- Terrestrial Wildlife Rescue and Epidemic Diseases Surveillance Center of Guangxi, Nanning, 530003, China
| | - Yiting Chen
- Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China
| | - Xinyue Tan
- Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China
| | - Fuwen Wei
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Conservation Biology, College of Forestry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, 330045, China.
- Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, 511458, China.
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
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3
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Huang YH, Sun YF, Li H, Li HS, Pang H. PhyloAln: A Convenient Reference-Based Tool to Align Sequences and High-Throughput Reads for Phylogeny and Evolution in the Omic Era. Mol Biol Evol 2024; 41:msae150. [PMID: 39041199 PMCID: PMC11287380 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msae150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 07/16/2024] [Indexed: 07/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The current trend in phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses predominantly relies on omic data. However, prior to core analyses, traditional methods typically involve intricate and time-consuming procedures, including assembly from high-throughput reads, decontamination, gene prediction, homology search, orthology assignment, multiple sequence alignment, and matrix trimming. Such processes significantly impede the efficiency of research when dealing with extensive data sets. In this study, we develop PhyloAln, a convenient reference-based tool capable of directly aligning high-throughput reads or complete sequences with existing alignments as a reference for phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses. Through testing with simulated data sets of species spanning the tree of life, PhyloAln demonstrates consistently robust performance compared with other reference-based tools across different data types, sequencing technologies, coverages, and species, with percent completeness and identity at least 50 percentage points higher in the alignments. Additionally, we validate the efficacy of PhyloAln in removing a minimum of 90% foreign and 70% cross-contamination issues, which are prevalent in sequencing data but often overlooked by other tools. Moreover, we showcase the broad applicability of PhyloAln by generating alignments (completeness mostly larger than 80%, identity larger than 90%) and reconstructing robust phylogenies using real data sets of transcriptomes of ladybird beetles, plastid genes of peppers, or ultraconserved elements of turtles. With these advantages, PhyloAln is expected to facilitate phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses in the omic era. The tool is accessible at https://github.com/huangyh45/PhyloAln.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Hao Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Yi-Fei Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Hao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Hao-Sen Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
| | - Hong Pang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
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4
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Murphy WJ, Harris AJ. Toward telomere-to-telomere cat genomes for precision medicine and conservation biology. Genome Res 2024; 34:655-664. [PMID: 38849156 PMCID: PMC11216403 DOI: 10.1101/gr.278546.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Genomic data from species of the cat family Felidae promise to stimulate veterinary and human medical advances, and clarify the coherence of genome organization. We describe how interspecies hybrids have been instrumental in the genetic analysis of cats, from the first genetic maps to propelling cat genomes toward the T2T standard set by the human genome project. Genotype-to-phenotype mapping in cat models has revealed dozens of health-related genetic variants, the molecular basis for mammalian pigmentation and patterning, and species-specific adaptations. Improved genomic surveillance of natural and captive populations across the cat family tree will increase our understanding of the genetic architecture of traits, population dynamics, and guide a future of genome-enabled biodiversity conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- William J Murphy
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4458, USA;
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4458, USA
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4458, USA
| | - Andrew J Harris
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4458, USA
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-4458, USA
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Zhang W, Lin K, Fu W, Xie J, Fan X, Zhang M, Luo H, Yin Y, Guo Q, Huang H, Chen T, Lin X, Yuan Y, Huang C, Du S. Insights for the Captive Management of South China Tigers Based on a Large-Scale Genetic Survey. Genes (Basel) 2024; 15:398. [PMID: 38674333 PMCID: PMC11049310 DOI: 10.3390/genes15040398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2024] [Revised: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
There is an urgent need to find a way to improve the genetic diversity of captive South China tiger (SCT, Panthera tigris amoyensis), the most critically endangered taxon of living tigers, facing inbreeding depression. The genomes showed that 13 hybrid SCTs from Meihuashan were divided into two groups; one group included three individuals who had a closer relationship with pureblood SCTs than another group. The three individuals shared more that 40% of their genome with pureblood SCTs and might be potential individuals for genetic rescuing in SCTs. A large-scale genetic survey based on 319 pureblood SCTs showed that the mean microsatellite inbreeding coefficient of pureblood SCTs decreased significantly from 0.1789 to 0.0600 (p = 0.000009) and the ratio of heterozygous loci increased significantly from 38.5% to 43.2% (p = 0.02) after one individual of the Chongqing line joined the Suzhou line and began to breed in the mid-1980s, which is a reason why the current SCTs keep a moderate level of microsatellite heterozygosity and nucleotide diversity. However, it is important to establish a back-up population based on the three individuals through introducing one pureblood SCT into the back-up population every year. The back-up population should be an important reserve in case the pureblood SCTs are in danger in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenping Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Monitoring Biological Diversity in Minshan Mountain of National Park of Giant Pandas, College of Life Science & Biotechnology, Mianyang Normal University, Mianyang 621000, China; (W.Z.)
| | - Kaixiong Lin
- Fujian Meihuashan Institute of South China Tiger Breeding, Longyan 364201, China; (K.L.); (H.L.)
| | - Wenyuan Fu
- Longyan Geopark Protection and Development Center, Longyan 364201, China
| | - Junjin Xie
- Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu 610081, China
| | - Xueyang Fan
- Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu 610081, China
| | - Mingchun Zhang
- China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, Chengdu 611830, China;
| | - Hongxing Luo
- Fujian Meihuashan Institute of South China Tiger Breeding, Longyan 364201, China; (K.L.); (H.L.)
| | | | - Qiang Guo
- Key Laboratory of Monitoring Biological Diversity in Minshan Mountain of National Park of Giant Pandas, College of Life Science & Biotechnology, Mianyang Normal University, Mianyang 621000, China; (W.Z.)
| | - He Huang
- Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu 610081, China
| | - Tengteng Chen
- Fujian Meihuashan Institute of South China Tiger Breeding, Longyan 364201, China; (K.L.); (H.L.)
| | - Xipan Lin
- Fujian Meihuashan Institute of South China Tiger Breeding, Longyan 364201, China; (K.L.); (H.L.)
| | | | - Cheng Huang
- Fujian Meihuashan Institute of South China Tiger Breeding, Longyan 364201, China; (K.L.); (H.L.)
| | - Shizhang Du
- Key Laboratory of Monitoring Biological Diversity in Minshan Mountain of National Park of Giant Pandas, College of Life Science & Biotechnology, Mianyang Normal University, Mianyang 621000, China; (W.Z.)
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Cooper DM, Yamaguchi N, Macdonald DW, Patterson BD, Salkina GP, Yudin VG, Dugmore AJ, Kitchener AC. Getting to the Meat of It: The Effects of a Captive Diet upon the Skull Morphology of the Lion and Tiger. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3616. [PMID: 38066967 PMCID: PMC10705091 DOI: 10.3390/ani13233616] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 11/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Zoo animals are crucial for conserving and potentially re-introducing species to the wild, yet it is known that the morphology of captive animals differs from that of wild animals. It is important to know how and why zoo and wild animal morphology differs to better care for captive animals and enhance their survival in reintroductions, and to understand how plasticity may influence morphology, which is supposedly indicative of evolutionary relationships. Using museum collections, we took 56 morphological measurements of skulls and mandibles from 617 captive and wild lions and tigers, reflecting each species' recent historical range. Linear morphometrics were used to identify differences in size and shape. Skull size does not differ between captive and wild lions and tigers, but skull and mandible shape does. Differences occur in regions associated with biting, indicating that diet has influenced forces acting upon the skull and mandible. The diets of captive big cats used in this study predominantly consisted of whole or partial carcasses, which closely resemble the mechanical properties of wild diets. Thus, we speculate that the additional impacts of killing, manipulating and consuming large prey in the wild have driven differentiation between captive and wild big cats.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M. Cooper
- Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK;
- Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK;
| | - Nobuyuki Yamaguchi
- Institute of Tropical Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, University Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu 21030, Malaysia
| | - David W. Macdonald
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, The Recanti-Kaplan Centre, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Abingdon OX13 5QL, UK;
| | - Bruce D. Patterson
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA;
| | - Galina P. Salkina
- Joint Directorate of the Lazovsky State Nature Reserve and the National Park «Zov Tigra», Tiger Protect Society, Primorskij Kraj, Vladivostok 692609, Russia;
| | - Viktor G. Yudin
- Federal Scientific Centre for the Biodiversity of Terrestrial Biota of East Asia, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Primorskij Kraj, Vladivostok 690022, Russia;
| | - Andrew J. Dugmore
- Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK;
- Human Ecodynamics Research Center and Doctoral Program in Anthropology, City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY 10017, USA
| | - Andrew C. Kitchener
- Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, UK;
- Institute of Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, UK;
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