Bridging molecular genetics and participatory research: how access and benefit-sharing stimulate interdisciplinary research for tropical biology and conservation

Can prior informed consent create virtuous cycle between biodiversity conservation and genetic resources utilization?

This study attempted to predict the effectiveness of prior informed consent (PIC) as a mechanism under the Nagoya Protocol (NP) through the case of Japan, a developed country with a wealth of genetic biodiversity. The NP to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aims at creating a virtuous cycle between biodiversity conservation and the utilization of genetic resources through fair and equitable benefit sharing. As PIC is a crucial component of the NP for promoting fair and equitable sharing, this study investigated whether introducing PIC creates a virtuous cycle. Considering the limitations of empirical data, this study adopted a policy Delphi comprising experts in an iterative group communication process that used consecutive questionnaires to reveal diverse issues as input for policymaking. We identified six related issues that were evaluated for the case of introduction and three for the case of no introduction of PIC. Their relative importance as a policy concern was measured through best-worst scaling to narrow down policy-relevant issues. This study revealed that contrary to the NP's intent, the overall contribution to the virtuous cycle is limited. In designing PIC mechanisms, policymakers must pay particular attention to bequest and research and development. This study identified three paths through which the negative impacts on research and development further negatively affect bequest, that is, slackening the identification of important genetic resources and ecosystems to conserve, disincentivizing biodiversity conservation for genetic resource use, and dampening ex-situ conservation efforts.

Cross-amplification of microsatellite markers across agarwood-producing species of the Aquilarieae tribe (Thymelaeaceae)

Tree species in the Aquilarieae tribe of the Thymelaeaceae family produce agarwood, a natural product highly valued for its fragrance, but the species are under threat due to indiscriminate harvesting. For conservation of these species, molecular techniques such as DNA profiling have been used. In this study, we assessed cross-amplification of microsatellite markers, initially developed for three Aquilaria species (A. crassna, A. malaccensis, and A. sinensis), on ten other agarwood-producing species, including members of Aquilaria (A. beccariana, A. hirta, A. microcarpa, A. rostrata, A. rugosa, A. subintegra, and A. yunnanensis) and Gyrinops (G. caudata, G. versteegii, and G. walla), both from the Aquilarieae tribe. Primers for 18 out of the 30 microsatellite markers successfully amplified bands of expected sizes in 1 sample each of at least 10 species. These were further used to genotype 74 individuals representing all the 13 studied species, yielding 13 cross-amplifiable markers, of which only 1 being polymorphic across all species. At each locus, the number of alleles ranged from 7 to 23, indicating a rather high variability. Four markers had relatively high species discrimination power. Our results demonstrated that genetic fingerprinting can be an effective tool in helping to manage agarwood genetic resources by potentially supporting the chain-of-custody of agarwood and its products in the market.