Çilingir F Gözde, Hansen Dennis, Bunbury Nancy, Postma Erik, Baxter Richard, Turnbull Lindsay, Ozgul Arpat, Grossen Christine
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland.
Zoological Museum University of Zurich Zurich Switzerland.
Ecol Evol. 2022 Mar 18;12(3):e8739. doi: 10.1002/ece3.8739. eCollection 2022 Mar.
(Aldabra giant tortoise) is one of only two giant tortoise species left in the world and survives as a single wild population of over 100,000 individuals on Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. Despite this large current population size, the species faces an uncertain future because of its extremely restricted distribution range and high vulnerability to the projected consequences of climate change. Captive-bred . are increasingly used in rewilding programs across the region, where they are introduced to replace extinct giant tortoises in an attempt to functionally resurrect degraded island ecosystems. However, there has been little consideration of the current levels of genetic variation and differentiation within and among the islands on Aldabra. As previous microsatellite studies were inconclusive, we combined low-coverage and double-digest restriction-associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing to analyze samples from 33 tortoises (11 from each main island). Using 5426 variant sites within the tortoise genome, we detected of within-island population structure, but no differentiation between the islands. These unexpected results highlight the importance of using genome-wide genetic markers to capture higher-resolution genetic structure to inform future management plans, even in a seemingly panmictic population. We show that low-coverage ddRAD sequencing provides an affordable alternative approach to conservation genomic projects of non-model species with large genomes.
阿尔达布拉象龟是世界上仅存的两种巨型陆龟之一,作为一个超过10万只个体的单一野生种群,在塞舌尔的阿尔达布拉环礁生存。尽管目前种群数量庞大,但由于其分布范围极其有限,且极易受到气候变化预计后果的影响,该物种面临着不确定的未来。人工养殖的……越来越多地被用于该地区的野化项目,在这些项目中,它们被引入以取代已灭绝的巨型陆龟,试图在功能上恢复退化的岛屿生态系统。然而,人们几乎没有考虑过阿尔达布拉各岛屿内部以及岛屿之间目前的遗传变异和分化水平。由于之前的微卫星研究尚无定论,我们结合了低覆盖度和双酶切限制性内切酶相关DNA(ddRAD)测序技术,对33只陆龟(每个主要岛屿11只)的样本进行分析。利用陆龟基因组内的5426个变异位点,我们检测到了岛内种群结构,但岛屿之间没有分化。这些意想不到的结果凸显了使用全基因组遗传标记来捕捉更高分辨率的遗传结构以指导未来管理计划的重要性,即使是在一个看似随机交配的种群中。我们表明,低覆盖度ddRAD测序为具有大基因组的非模式物种的保护基因组项目提供了一种经济实惠的替代方法。