De Cahsan Binia, Sandoval Velasco Marcela, Westbury Michael V, Duchêne David A, Strander Sinding Mikkel H, Morales Hernán E, Kalthoff Daniela C, Barnes Ian, Brace Selina, Portela Miguez Roberto, Roca Alfred L, Greenwood Alex D, Johnson Rebecca N, Lott Matthew J, Gilbert M Thomas P
Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark.
Center for Genome Sciences (CCG), National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Mexico.
Mol Biol Evol. 2025 Apr 1;42(4). doi: 10.1093/molbev/msaf057.
Koalas are arboreal herbivorous marsupials, endemic to Australia. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the number of koalas declined dramatically due to hunting for their furs. In addition, anthropogenic activities have further decimated their available habitat, and decreased population numbers. Here, we utilize 37 historic and 25 modern genomes sampled from across their historic and present geographic range, to gain insights into how their population structure and genetic diversity have changed across time; assess the genetic consequences of the period of intense hunting, and the current genetic status of this iconic Australian species. Our analyses reveal how genome-wide heterozygosity has decreased through time and unveil previously uncharacterized mitochondrial haplotypes and nuclear genotypes in the historic dataset, which are absent from today's koala populations.
考拉是澳大利亚特有的树栖食草有袋动物。在19世纪末和20世纪初,由于人们猎取它们的皮毛,考拉的数量急剧下降。此外,人类活动进一步破坏了它们的栖息地,导致其种群数量减少。在这里,我们利用从考拉历史和当前地理分布范围内采集的37个历史基因组和25个现代基因组,来深入了解它们的种群结构和遗传多样性如何随时间变化;评估激烈捕猎时期的遗传后果,以及这种标志性澳大利亚物种当前的遗传状况。我们的分析揭示了全基因组杂合性如何随时间下降,并在历史数据集中发现了现今考拉种群中不存在的、以前未被描述的线粒体单倍型和核基因型。