How was genetic diversity transferred with translocations from ex situ to in situ? A case study of the European mink translocation to Hiiumaa Island in Estonia

The European mink (Mustela lutreola) is one of the most threatened small carnivores, listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Tallinn Zoo started a conservation breeding operation in 1980, which in 1992 was shaped into the European mink EEP Program to maintain a demographically and genetically healthy population in captivity. Since 2000, mink have been translocated on a yearly basis from the breeding facility in the zoo to Hiiumaa Island (Estonia) until the formation of the wild island population in 2016. Maintaining a healthy genetic structure in a captive population was a priority, so genetically the least valuable animals, according to calculations made by a population management program, were used for translocation. This study aims to assess the amount of genetic diversity passed from an ex situ population on to the island population. Comparisons of the genetic diversity were made by mitochondrial, microsatellite and nuclear markers. In addition, our results were combined with the pedigree data from the European mink EEP Studbook to further evaluate the flow of genetic diversity from the founder population to the established wild population. According to the findings, the island population's allelic richness was comparable to that of the founder population, and no evidence was found that its genetic structure had diverged from that of the founder population. It seems that the formation of the island population has been a gradual process of no more than the last seven yearly translocations.

Photoluminescence in the Garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus)

Every year, more and more discoveries of photoluminescence in different mammal species are made. The more recent cases thus far have been in duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhyncus anatinus), New World squirrels (Glaucomys spp.) and springhare (Pedetidae). Now we can add another species to the list: the garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus), an endemic rodent to Europe, currently categorized as Near Threatened (NT) by the IUCN. The fluorescence was described and compared qualitatively in museum specimens, deceased and hibernating animals. The feet and nose of the hibernating dormouse displayed greenish-blue photoluminescence under UV light through a yellow filter, whereas the fur was bright red. The live animal had more vivid red colouring than the museum specimen. The fading and changing of the colour and brightness of photoluminescence was observed in a recently deceased animal and even more strongly in museum specimens.

P1-independent replication and local movement of Rice yellow mottle virus in host and non-host plant species

Sobemovirus P1 protein, characterized previously as a suppressor of posttranscriptional gene silencing, is required for systemic virus spread and infection in plants. Mutations in the ORF1 initiation codon do not affect viral replication indicating P1 is not necessary for this process. Wild type, recombinant and P1 deletion mutants of Cocksfoot mottle virus and Rice yellow mottle virus were used to infect oat, rice, wheat, barley, Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana benthamiana plants. Wild type RYMV, RYMV without P1 and RYMV with CfMV P1 were detected in inoculated leaves of all tested plant species. We found that RYMV does not need P1 for replication and for local movement neither in host nor non-host species tested in this study. However, it is crucial for successful systemic spread of the virus in its host plant rice. Moreover, adding CfMV P1 into RYMV genome did not help it to overcome restriction to the inoculated leaf.