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Nieto-Blázquez ME, Gómez-Suárez M, Pfenninger M, Koch K. Impact of feralization on evolutionary trajectories in the genomes of feral cat island populations. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0308724. [PMID: 39137187 PMCID: PMC11321585 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308724] [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] [Received: 02/07/2024] [Accepted: 07/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Feralization is the process of domesticated animals returning to the wild and it is considered the counterpart of domestication. Molecular genetic changes are well documented in domesticated organisms but understudied in feral populations. In this study, the genetic differentiation between domestic and feral cats was inferred by analysing whole-genome sequencing data of two geographically distant feral cat island populations, Dirk Hartog Island (Australia) and Kaho'olawe (Hawaii) as well as domestic cats and European wildcats. The study investigated population structure, genetic differentiation, genetic diversity, highly differentiated genes, and recombination rates. Genetic structure analyses linked both feral cat populations to North American domestic and European cat populations. Recombination rates in feral cats were lower than in domestic cats but higher than in wildcats. For Australian and Hawaiian feral cats, 105 and 94 highly differentiated genes compared to domestic cats respectively, were identified. Annotated genes had similar functions, with almost 30% of the divergent genes related to nervous system development in both feral groups. Twenty mutually highly differentiated genes were found in both feral populations. Evolution of highly differentiated genes was likely driven by specific demographic histories, the relaxation of the selective pressures associated with domestication, and adaptation to novel environments to a minor extent. Random drift was the prevailing force driving highly divergent regions, with relaxed selection in feral populations also playing a significant role in differentiation from domestic cats. The study demonstrates that feralization is an independent process that brings feral cats on a unique evolutionary trajectory.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Esther Nieto-Blázquez
- Department of Molecular Ecology, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Manuela Gómez-Suárez
- Department of Molecular Ecology, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Markus Pfenninger
- Department of Molecular Ecology, Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Katrin Koch
- Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Former, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Woodvale, Australia
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Juhasz CC, Avargues N, Humeau L, Ringler D, Pinet P, Hollinger C, Beaulieu R, Faulquier L, Choeur A, Bureau S, Da Silva D, Dubos J, Soulaimana-Mattoir Y, Le Corre M. Application of genetic and Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture analyses to design adaptive feral cat control in a large inhabited island. NEOBIOTA 2022. [DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.79.87726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Faunas of oceanic islands have a high proportion of endemic species which contribute to the uniqueness of island communities. Island species are particularly naïve and vulnerable to alien predators, such as cats (Felis catus). On large, inhabited islands, where the complete eradication of feral cat populations is not considered feasible, control represents the best management option to lower their detrimental effects on native fauna. The first objective of our study was to investigate population genetics of feral cats of Réunion Island. The second objective was to understand the space use of feral cats established near the breeding colonies of the two endemic and endangered seabirds of Réunion Island, the Barau’s Petrel (Pterodroma baraui) and the Mascarene Petrel (Pseudobulweria aterrima). We evaluated genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow amongst six groups of feral cats located at a maximum of 10 km from known petrel colonies. We also analysed the behaviour and space use of one of these feral cat groups using camera-trap data and Spatially Explicit Capture-Recapture (SECR) models. Genetic analyses revealed that feral cats were structured in three genetic clusters explained mostly by the island topography. Two clusters were observed at five sampled sites, suggesting high connectivity amongst these sites. The last cluster was found in only one site, suggesting high isolation. This site was a remote mountain area located in the vicinity of one of the main Barau’s Petrel colonies. The behavioural study was conducted on this isolated feral cat population. Mark recapture analysis suggested that feral cats were present at low density and had large home ranges, which is probably explained by reduced food availability. Finally, we make several recommendations for refining feral cat management programmes on inhabited islands.
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Koch K, Algar D, Schwenk K. Feral Cat Globetrotters: genetic traces of historical human-mediated dispersal. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:5321-32. [PMID: 27551385 PMCID: PMC4984506 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2015] [Accepted: 05/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Endemic species on islands are highly susceptible to local extinction, in particular if they are exposed to invasive species. Invasive predators, such as feral cats, have been introduced to islands around the world, causing major losses in local biodiversity. In order to control and manage invasive species successfully, information about source populations and level of gene flow is essential. Here, we investigate the origin of feral cats of Hawaiian and Australian islands to verify their European ancestry and a potential pattern of isolation by distance. We analyzed the genetic structure and diversity of feral cats from eleven islands as well as samples from Malaysia and Europe using mitochondrial DNA (ND5 and ND6 regions) and microsatellite DNA data. Our results suggest an overall European origin of Hawaiian cats with no pattern of isolation by distance between Australian, Malaysian, and Hawaiian populations. Instead, we found low levels of genetic differentiation between samples from Tasman Island, Lana'i, Kaho'olawe, Cocos (Keeling) Island, and Asia. As these populations are separated by up to 10,000 kilometers, we assume an extensive passive dispersal event along global maritime trade routes in the beginning of the 19th century, connecting Australian, Asian, and Hawaiian islands. Thus, islands populations, which are characterized by low levels of current gene flow, represent valuable sources of information on historical, human‐mediated global dispersal patterns of feral cats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Koch
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) by Senckenberg Naturforschende Gesellschaft and Goethe-University Senckenberganlage 25 60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Dave Algar
- Science and Conservation Division Department of Parks and Wildlife P.O. Box 51 Wanneroo Western Australia 6065 Australia
| | - Klaus Schwenk
- Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F) by Senckenberg Naturforschende Gesellschaft and Goethe-University Senckenberganlage 25 60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany; Molecular Ecology Institute of Environmental Sciences Universität Koblenz-Landau 76829 Landau in der Pfalz Germany
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Spencer PBS, Yurchenko AA, David VA, Scott R, Koepfli KP, Driscoll C, O'Brien SJ, Menotti-Raymond M. The Population Origins and Expansion of Feral Cats in Australia. J Hered 2015; 107:104-14. [PMID: 26647063 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esv095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2015] [Accepted: 11/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The historical literature suggests that in Australia, the domestic cat (Felis catus) had a European origin [~200 years before present (ybp)], but it is unclear if cats arrived from across the Asian land bridge contemporaneously with the dingo (4000 ybp), or perhaps immigrated ~40000 ybp in association with Aboriginal settlement from Asia. The origin of cats in Australia is important because the continent has a complex and ancient faunal assemblage that is dominated by endemic rodents and marsupials and lacks the large placental carnivores found on other large continents. Cats are now ubiquitous across the entire Australian continent and have been implicit in the range contraction or extinction of its small to medium sized (<3.5kg) mammals. We analyzed the population structure of 830 cats using 15 short tandem repeat (STR) genomic markers. Their origin appears to come exclusively from European founders. Feral cats in continental Australia exhibit high genetic diversity in comparison with the low diversity found in populations of feral cats living on islands. The genetic structure is consistent with a rapid westerly expansion from eastern Australia and a limited expansion in coastal Western Australia. Australian cats show modest if any population structure and a close genetic alignment with European feral cats as compared to cats from Asia, the Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Indian Ocean), and European wildcats (F. silvestris silvestris).
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter B S Spencer
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond).
| | - Andrey A Yurchenko
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond)
| | - Victor A David
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond)
| | - Rachael Scott
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond)
| | - Klaus-Peter Koepfli
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond)
| | - Carlos Driscoll
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond)
| | - Stephen J O'Brien
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond)
| | - Marilyn Menotti-Raymond
- From the School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia (Spencer); Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 199004, Russian Federation (Yurchenko and O'Brien); Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute-Frederick, Frederick, MA 21702 (David, Scott, Driscoll, and Menotti-Raymond); University of Maryland, College Park, MA 20742 (Scott and Driscoll); NIAAA, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MA 20892 (Koepfli); Oceanographic Center, Nova Southeastern University, Ft Lauderdale, FL (O'Brien); and 5115 Westridge Road, Bethesda, MA (Menotti-Raymond)
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Herreman JK, Blundell GM, McDonald DB, Ben-David M. Asymmetrical male-mediated gene flow between harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) populations in Alaska. CAN J ZOOL 2009. [DOI: 10.1139/z09-033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina richardii (Gray, 1864)) in Alaska are currently treated as three distinct management stocks. Previous genetic analyses using mitochondrial DNA suggested that these stocks are differentiated genetically. We studied populations in Glacier Bay (GB; Southeast Alaska Stock), where harbor seals are declining, and Prince William Sound (PWS; Gulf of Alaska Stock), where the population has recently stabilized. Using six pairs of hypervariable microsatellite primers, we determined that these populations are a single panmictic unit with estimated migration rates of 22 animals/generation (PWS to GB) and 63 animals/generation (GB to PWS). The asymmetrical gene flow between GB and PWS is likely driven in part by a recent increase in competitors and predators of seals in GB. In contrast with males, emigration of females from PWS to GB (8.3 seals/generation) is higher than emigration of females from GB to PWS (3.3 seals/generation), likely because females use glacial ice as pupping habitat. Despite the high gene flow, the number of migrants per year (0.02% of the Gulf of Alaska population) is likely too low to influence the demographics of harbor seals in PWS, and the two populations may best be managed as separate stocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. K. Herreman
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 110024, Juneau, AK 99811-0024, USA
| | - G. M. Blundell
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 110024, Juneau, AK 99811-0024, USA
| | - D. B. McDonald
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 110024, Juneau, AK 99811-0024, USA
| | - M. Ben-David
- Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Wildlife Conservation, P.O. Box 110024, Juneau, AK 99811-0024, USA
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