Back to Search
Start Over
Fragmented habitat compensates for the adverse effects of genetic bottleneck
- Source :
- Löytynoja, A, Rastas, P, Valtonen, M, Kammonen, J, Holm, L, Olsen, M T, Paulin, L, Jernvall, J & Auvinen, P 2023, ' Fragmented habitat compensates for the adverse effects of genetic bottleneck ', Current Biology, vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 1009-1018.e7 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.040
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2022.
-
Abstract
- In the face of the human-caused biodiversity crisis, understanding the theoretical basis of conservation ef-forts of endangered species and populations has become increasingly important. According to population genetics theory, population subdivision helps organisms retain genetic diversity, crucial for adaptation in a changing environment. Habitat topography is thought to be important for generating and maintaining popu-lation subdivision, but empirical cases are needed to test this assumption. We studied Saimaa ringed seals, landlocked in a labyrinthine lake and recovering from a drastic bottleneck, with additional samples from three other ringed seal subspecies. Using whole-genome sequences of 145 seals, we analyzed the distribution of variation and genetic relatedness among the individuals in relation to the habitat shape. Despite a severe his-tory of genetic bottlenecks with prevalent homozygosity in Saimaa ringed seals, we found evidence for the population structure mirroring the subregions of the lake. Our genome-wide analyses showed that the sub -populations had retained unique variation and largely complementary patterns of homozygosity, highlighting the significance of habitat connectivity in conservation biology and the power of genomic tools in under-standing its impact. The central role of the population substructure in preserving genetic diversity at the metapopulation level was confirmed by simulations. Integration of genetic analyses in conservation deci-sions gives hope to Saimaa ringed seals and other endangered species in fragmented habitats.
- Subjects :
- runs of homozygosity
Marine
Evolution
Effective population-size
metapopulation
Phoca-hispida
Salmon salmo-salar
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Europe
Postglacial colonization
genetic variation
1181 Ecology, evolutionary biology
mammals
habitat fragmentation
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
genetic bottleneck
pinniped
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Löytynoja, A, Rastas, P, Valtonen, M, Kammonen, J, Holm, L, Olsen, M T, Paulin, L, Jernvall, J & Auvinen, P 2023, ' Fragmented habitat compensates for the adverse effects of genetic bottleneck ', Current Biology, vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 1009-1018.e7 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.040
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....3e0d40f0221103c21d6a7530a8d5832c