Javarotti Nathalia Bulhões, Ayala-Burbano Paola Andrea, Pissinati Alcides, Marques Mara Cristina, Wormell Dominic, Rezende Gabriela Cabral, Culot Laurence, Galetti Pedro M, de Freitas Patrícia Domingues
Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Laboratório de Biodiversidade Molecular e Conservação, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Grupo de Investigación Giesum, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Mariana, Pasto, Nariño, Colombia.
PLoS One. 2025 May 7;20(5):e0322817. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0322817. eCollection 2025.
Captive breeding programs have been used as a relevant strategy to maintain self-sustainable and demographically stable populations with the goal of safeguarding threatened species from their imminent risk of EXTINCTION. Thus, monitoring genetic diversity becomes essential to avoid the loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding depression throughout ex situ generations. Furthermore, such programs must carry out adequate metapopulation management to retain genetic diversity from the wild, minimizing eventual harmful effects associated with adaptation in captivity and sub-structuring. In this study, we analyzed ex situ populations of the endangered black lion tamarin (BLT), Leontopithecus chrysopygus, a primate endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We monitored genetic diversity and structure in the three main ex situ groups for conservation purposes, before (2014) and after (2020) the transfer of five captive animals from Brazilian to European institutions. We also analyzed data from the whole studbook of the species to access life-history information about the ex situ populations. In addition, we performed an integrative ex situ/in situ analysis by including extant wild individuals from the same area of the founder population. Finally, we evaluated population viability based on genetic diversity trends predicted for the next 100 years. Our findings showed that the captive breeding program of BLT has been efficient in preventing the loss of heterozygosity despite significant reductions in allelic richness. This reduction is likely due to the loss of private and/or rare alleles resulting from the death of some individuals. The extant ex situ metapopulation and the wild population evidenced significant genetic differentiation and overall low levels of genetic diversity. The predictive analysis indicated that the loss of genetic diversity will be critical for the captive groups. However, the wild population demonstrated a greater capacity to retain genetic diversity over the next 100 years. These findings provide relevant information on the BLT's captive breeding program and its founder-related wild population, as well as insights for further integrated ex situ/in situ management actions.
圈养繁殖计划已被用作一种相关策略，以维持自我可持续和人口统计学稳定的种群，目标是保护受威胁物种免于迫在眉睫的灭绝风险。因此，监测遗传多样性对于避免在异地世代中遗传多样性的丧失和近亲繁殖衰退至关重要。此外，此类计划必须进行适当的集合种群管理，以保留来自野外的遗传多样性，尽量减少与圈养适应和亚结构相关的最终有害影响。在本研究中，我们分析了濒危黑狮狨（BLT），即金腰狮狨（Leontopithecus chrysopygus）的异地种群，它是巴西大西洋森林特有的一种灵长类动物。为了保护目的，我们在五只圈养动物从巴西转移到欧洲机构之前（2014年）和之后（2020年），监测了三个主要异地种群的遗传多样性和结构。我们还分析了该物种整个系谱册的数据，以获取有关异地种群的生活史信息。此外，我们通过纳入来自创始种群同一地区的现存野生个体，进行了异地/就地综合分析。最后，我们根据预测的未来100年的遗传多样性趋势评估了种群生存力。我们的研究结果表明，尽管等位基因丰富度显著降低，但BLT的圈养繁殖计划在防止杂合性丧失方面一直是有效的。这种降低可能是由于一些个体死亡导致私有和/或稀有等位基因的丧失。现存的异地集合种群和野生种群表现出显著的遗传分化和总体较低的遗传多样性水平。预测分析表明，遗传多样性的丧失对圈养群体至关重要。然而，野生种群在未来100年显示出更大的保留遗传多样性的能力。这些发现提供了有关BLT圈养繁殖计划及其与创始者相关的野生种群的相关信息，以及对进一步的异地/就地综合管理行动的见解。
