Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 298 Sabal Palm Rd, Naples, FL, 34114, USA.
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Gainesville, FL, 32601, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jul 30;14(1):17519. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-67033-6.
Genetic rescue-an increase in population fitness following the introduction of new alleles-has been proven to ameliorate inbreeding depression in small, isolated populations, yet is rarely applied as a conservation tool. A lingering question regarding genetic rescue in wildlife conservation is how long beneficial effects persist in admixed populations. Using data collected over 40 years from 1192 endangered Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) across nine generations, we show that the experimental genetic rescue implemented in 1995-via the release of eight female pumas from Texas-alleviated morphological, genetic, and demographic correlates of inbreeding depression, subsequently preventing extirpation of the population. We present unequivocal evidence, for the first time in any terrestrial vertebrate, that genetic and phenotypic benefits of genetic rescue remain in this population after five generations of admixture, which helped increase panther abundance (> fivefold) and genetic effective population size (> 20-fold). Additionally, even with extensive admixture, microsatellite allele frequencies in the population continue to support the distinctness of Florida panthers from other North American puma populations, including Texas. Although threats including habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and infectious diseases are challenges to many imperiled populations, our results suggest genetic rescue can serve as an effective, multi-generational tool for conservation of small, isolated populations facing extinction from inbreeding.
遗传拯救——通过引入新等位基因来提高种群适应性——已被证明可以减轻小而孤立的种群的近交衰退，但很少被用作保护工具。关于野生动物保护中的遗传拯救，一个悬而未决的问题是，在混合种群中，有益效果能持续多久。本研究利用 1995 年实施的实验遗传拯救的数据（通过从德克萨斯州释放 8 只雌性美洲狮），该拯救缓解了佛罗里达美洲狮（Puma concolor coryi）的形态、遗传和人口统计学上与近交衰退相关的问题，从而防止了该种群灭绝。本研究首次在任何陆地脊椎动物中提供了明确的证据，表明遗传拯救的遗传和表型益处在混合后的五代中仍然存在于该种群中，这有助于增加美洲狮的数量（增加了五倍以上）和遗传有效种群大小（增加了 20 倍以上）。此外，即使存在广泛的混合，该种群的微卫星等位基因频率仍然支持佛罗里达美洲狮与包括德克萨斯州在内的其他北美的美洲狮种群的独特性。尽管包括栖息地丧失、人与野生动物冲突和传染病在内的威胁是许多濒危种群面临的挑战，但我们的研究结果表明，遗传拯救可以作为一种有效的、多代的工具，用于保护面临因近交而灭绝的小而孤立的种群。
