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Pečnerová P, Lord E, Garcia-Erill G, Hanghøj K, Rasmussen MS, Meisner J, Liu X, van der Valk T, Santander CG, Quinn L, Lin L, Liu S, Carøe C, Dalerum F, Götherström A, Måsviken J, Vartanyan S, Raundrup K, Al-Chaer A, Rasmussen L, Hvilsom C, Heide-Jørgensen MP, Sinding MHS, Aastrup P, Van Coeverden de Groot PJ, Schmidt NM, Albrechtsen A, Dalén L, Heller R, Moltke I, Siegismund HR. Population genomics of the muskox' resilience in the near absence of genetic variation. Mol Ecol 2024; 33:e17205. [PMID: 37971141 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 10/07/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Genomic studies of species threatened by extinction are providing crucial information about evolutionary mechanisms and genetic consequences of population declines and bottlenecks. However, to understand how species avoid the extinction vortex, insights can be drawn by studying species that thrive despite past declines. Here, we studied the population genomics of the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), an Ice Age relict that was at the brink of extinction for thousands of years at the end of the Pleistocene yet appears to be thriving today. We analysed 108 whole genomes, including present-day individuals representing the current native range of both muskox subspecies, the white-faced and the barren-ground muskox (O. moschatus wardi and O. moschatus moschatus) and a ~21,000-year-old ancient individual from Siberia. We found that the muskox' demographic history was profoundly shaped by past climate changes and post-glacial re-colonizations. In particular, the white-faced muskox has the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity recorded in an ungulate. Yet, there is no evidence of inbreeding depression in native muskox populations. We hypothesize that this can be explained by the effect of long-term gradual population declines that allowed for purging of strongly deleterious mutations. This study provides insights into how species with a history of population bottlenecks, small population sizes and low genetic diversity survive against all odds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrícia Pečnerová
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Copenhagen Zoo, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Edana Lord
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Genís Garcia-Erill
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Kristian Hanghøj
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Malthe Sebro Rasmussen
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Jonas Meisner
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Xiaodong Liu
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Tom van der Valk
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Cindy G Santander
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Liam Quinn
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Immunology, Zealand University Hospital, Køge, Denmark
| | - Long Lin
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Shanlin Liu
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Christian Carøe
- The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Fredrik Dalerum
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Biodiversity Research Institute (CSIC-UO-PA), Mieres, Spain
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, South Africa
| | - Anders Götherström
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden
- Archaeological Research Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Johannes Måsviken
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Sergey Vartanyan
- North-East Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Institute N.A.N.A. Shilo, Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia
| | | | - Amal Al-Chaer
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Linett Rasmussen
- Copenhagen Zoo, Frederiksberg, Denmark
- The GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mikkel-Holger S Sinding
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Nuuk, Greenland
| | - Peter Aastrup
- Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
- Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Niels Martin Schmidt
- Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
- Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Anders Albrechtsen
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Love Dalén
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Rasmus Heller
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ida Moltke
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Hans Redlef Siegismund
- Section for Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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2
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Muschick M, Jemmi E, Lengacher N, Hänsch S, Wales N, Kishe MA, Mwaiko S, Dieleman J, Lever MA, Salzburger W, Verschuren D, Seehausen O. Ancient DNA is preserved in fish fossils from tropical lake sediments. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:5913-5931. [PMID: 37830773 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Revised: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Tropical freshwater lakes are well known for their high biodiversity, and particularly the East African Great Lakes are renowned for their adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes. While comparative phylogenetic analyses of extant species flocks have revealed patterns and processes of their diversification, little is known about evolutionary trajectories within lineages, the impacts of environmental drivers, or the scope and nature of now-extinct diversity. Time-structured palaeodata from geologically young fossil records, such as fossil counts and particularly ancient DNA (aDNA) data, would help fill this large knowledge gap. High ambient temperatures can be detrimental to the preservation of DNA, but refined methodology now allows data generation even from very poorly preserved samples. Here, we show for the first time that fish fossils from tropical lake sediments yield endogenous aDNA. Despite generally low endogenous content and high sample dropout, the application of high-throughput sequencing and, in some cases, sequence capture allowed taxonomic assignment and phylogenetic placement of 17% of analysed fish fossils to family or tribe level, including remains which are up to 2700 years old or weigh less than 1 mg. The relationship between aDNA degradation and the thermal age of samples is similar to that described for terrestrial samples from cold environments when adjusted for elevated temperature. Success rates and aDNA preservation differed between the investigated lakes Chala, Kivu and Victoria, possibly caused by differences in bottom water oxygenation. Our study demonstrates that the sediment records of tropical lakes can preserve genetic information on rapidly diversifying fish taxa over time scales of millennia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moritz Muschick
- Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
| | - Eliane Jemmi
- Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
| | - Nicholas Lengacher
- Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
| | - Stephanie Hänsch
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Nathan Wales
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Mary A Kishe
- Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Salome Mwaiko
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
| | - Jorunn Dieleman
- Limnology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Mark Alexander Lever
- Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Zurich, Switzerland
- Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, Port Aransas, Texas, USA
| | | | - Dirk Verschuren
- Limnology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Ole Seehausen
- Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
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3
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Kersten O, Star B, Krabberød AK, Atmore LM, Tørresen OK, Anker-Nilssen T, Descamps S, Strøm H, Johansson US, Sweet PR, Jakobsen KS, Boessenkool S. Hybridization of Atlantic puffins in the Arctic coincides with 20th-century climate change. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadh1407. [PMID: 37801495 PMCID: PMC10558128 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh1407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/08/2023]
Abstract
The Arctic is experiencing the fastest rates of global warming, leading to shifts in the distribution of its biota and increasing the potential for hybridization. However, genomic evidence of recent hybridization events in the Arctic remains unexpectedly rare. Here, we use whole-genome sequencing of contemporary and 122-year-old historical specimens to investigate the origin of an Arctic hybrid population of Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica) on Bjørnøya, Norway. We show that the hybridization between the High Arctic, large-bodied subspecies F. a. naumanni and the temperate, smaller-sized subspecies F. a. arctica began as recently as six generations ago due to an unexpected southward range expansion of F. a. naumanni. Moreover, we find a significant temporal loss of genetic diversity across Arctic and temperate puffin populations. Our observations provide compelling genomic evidence of the impacts of recent distributional shifts and loss of diversity in Arctic communities during the 20th century.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Kersten
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Bastiaan Star
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anders K. Krabberød
- Section for Genetics and Evolutionary Biology (Evogene), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lane M. Atmore
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ole K. Tørresen
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | | | - Hallvard Strøm
- Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, Langnes, Tromsø, Norway
| | | | - Paul R. Sweet
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kjetill S. Jakobsen
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Sanne Boessenkool
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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4
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van den Hurk Y, Sikström F, Amkreutz L, Bleasdale M, Borvon A, Ephrem B, Fernández-Rodríguez C, Gibbs HMB, Jonsson L, Lehouck A, Cedeira JM, Meng S, Monge R, Moreno M, Nabais M, Nores C, Pis-Millán JA, Riddler I, Schmölcke U, Segschneider M, Speller C, Vretemark M, Wickler S, Collins M, Nadeau MJ, Barrett JH. The prelude to industrial whaling: identifying the targets of ancient European whaling using zooarchaeology and collagen mass-peptide fingerprinting. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230741. [PMID: 37711146 PMCID: PMC10498027 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Taxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youri van den Hurk
- Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Fanny Sikström
- Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Luc Amkreutz
- National Museum of Antiquities, Papengracht 30, 2301EC Leiden, The Netherlands
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Aurélia Borvon
- CNRS, UMR 7041 ArScAn Equipe Archéologies Environnementales, Nanterre, France
- Laboratoire d'Anatomie Comparée, ONIRIS (École Nationale Vétérinaire, Agroalimentaire et de l'Alimentation, Nantes-Atlantique), Nantes, France
| | - Brice Ephrem
- CNRS, UMR 6566 CReAAH Laboratoire Archéosciences, University of Rennes, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France
| | | | | | - Leif Jonsson
- Osteology, Aschebergsgatan 32, Gothenburg, SE 41133, Sweden
| | - Alexander Lehouck
- Abbey Museum of the Dunes, Koninklijke Prinslaan 6–8, 8670 Koksijde, Belgium
| | - Jose Martínez Cedeira
- Coordinadora para o Estudio dos Mamíferos Mariños, Rúa do Ceán, No 2, 36350 Nigrán, Pontevedra, Spain
| | - Stefan Meng
- Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Strasse 17A, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Rui Monge
- UNIARQ – Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, 1600-214, Portugal
| | - Marta Moreno
- Instituto de Historia - CSIC, Albasanz 26-28, Madrid, 28037, Spain
| | - Mariana Nabais
- Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Greifswald, Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn Strasse 17A, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
- IPHES-CERCA - Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Carlos Nores
- INDUROT – Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Ordenación del Territorio, Universidad de Oviedo, Mieres, 33600, Spain
| | - José Antonio Pis-Millán
- Centro de Experimentación Pesquera, Dirección General de Pesca Marítima, Gobierno del Principado de Asturias, 33212 Gijón, Spain
| | - Ian Riddler
- Independent Researcher, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany
| | - Ulrich Schmölcke
- Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA), Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany
| | - Martin Segschneider
- Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research, Viktoriastrasse 26/28, 26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
| | - Camilla Speller
- Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, 6303 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | | | | | - Matthew Collins
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- The Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Kobenhavns, Denmark
| | - Marie-Josée Nadeau
- National Laboratory for Age Determination, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Erling Skakkes Gate 47b, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - James H. Barrett
- Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
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5
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Jakubas D, Wojczulanis-Jakubas K, Petersen A. A quiet extirpation of the breeding little auk Alle alle population in Iceland in the shadow of the famous cousin extermination. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 808:152167. [PMID: 34875336 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The little auk Alle alle is an Arctic seabird breeding in the North Atlantic. Its southernmost breeding population in the Low Arctic occurred in Iceland but started to decline in numbers at the beginning of the 20th century ending in extirpation at the end of the same century. Climate warming has been blamed for the disappearance of this population. However, it was also exploited by humans (mainly for eggs). Thus, it is unclear what was the main driver for the population collapse. In this study, we reconstruct population dynamics in relation to changes in environmental conditions, and perform stochastic modelling of population viability considering various scenarios including presence/absence of climate warming and/or egg harvest. We found that extirpation of the studied population was attributed to synergistic effects of both climate warming and human harvest. The simulations revealed that climate warming without harvest would cause a 71% decline in population size but not lead to extirpation. Models with climate warming and egg harvesting resulted in population estimates close to the real data (decrease from 400 individuals in 1903 to 2 in 1996). This is one of the few studies documenting synergistic effect of climate warming and human exploitation on extirpation. A strong harvesting component in the explanation for the decline of the study population emphasizes the continuing need to control commercial harvest of animal species in the face of other pressures such as climate warming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dariusz Jakubas
- Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology, Faculty of Biology, The University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
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6
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Andrews AJ, Puncher GN, Bernal-Casasola D, Di Natale A, Massari F, Onar V, Toker NY, Hanke A, Pavey SA, Savojardo C, Martelli PL, Casadio R, Cilli E, Morales-Muñiz A, Mantovani B, Tinti F, Cariani A. Ancient DNA SNP-panel data suggests stability in bluefin tuna genetic diversity despite centuries of fluctuating catches in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. Sci Rep 2021; 11:20744. [PMID: 34671077 PMCID: PMC8528830 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99708-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus; BFT) abundance was depleted in the late 20th and early 21st century due to overfishing. Historical catch records further indicate that the abundance of BFT in the Mediterranean has been fluctuating since at least the 16th century. Here we build upon previous work on ancient DNA of BFT in the Mediterranean by comparing contemporary (2009–2012) specimens with archival (1911–1926) and archaeological (2nd century BCE–15th century CE) specimens that represent population states prior to these two major periods of exploitation, respectively. We successfully genotyped and analysed 259 contemporary and 123 historical (91 archival and 32 archaeological) specimens at 92 SNP loci that were selected for their ability to differentiate contemporary populations or their association with core biological functions. We found no evidence of genetic bottlenecks, inbreeding or population restructuring between temporal sample groups that might explain what has driven catch fluctuations since the 16th century. We also detected a putative adaptive response, involving the cytoskeletal protein synemin which may be related to muscle stress. However, these results require further investigation with more extensive genome-wide data to rule out demographic changes due to overfishing, and other natural and anthropogenic factors, in addition to elucidating the adaptive drivers related to these.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J Andrews
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy. .,Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy.
| | - Gregory N Puncher
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy. .,Department of Biological Sciences, Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, Canada.
| | - Darío Bernal-Casasola
- Department of History, Geography and Philosophy, Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain
| | | | - Francesco Massari
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Vedat Onar
- Osteoarcheology Practice and Research Centre and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Avcılar, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Nezir Yaşar Toker
- Osteoarcheology Practice and Research Centre and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Avcılar, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Alex Hanke
- St. Andrews Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. Andrews, NB, Canada
| | - Scott A Pavey
- Department of Biological Sciences, Canadian Rivers Institute, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, Canada
| | | | | | - Rita Casadio
- Biocomputing Group, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Cilli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | | | - Barbara Mantovani
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Fausto Tinti
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Alessia Cariani
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy
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7
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Complex population structure of the Atlantic puffin revealed by whole genome analyses. Commun Biol 2021; 4:922. [PMID: 34326442 PMCID: PMC8322098 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02415-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The factors underlying gene flow and genomic population structure in vagile seabirds are notoriously difficult to understand due to their complex ecology with diverse dispersal barriers and extensive periods at sea. Yet, such understanding is vital for conservation management of seabirds that are globally declining at alarming rates. Here, we elucidate the population structure of the Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) by assembling its reference genome and analyzing genome-wide resequencing data of 72 individuals from 12 colonies. We identify four large, genetically distinct clusters, observe isolation-by-distance between colonies within these clusters, and obtain evidence for a secondary contact zone. These observations disagree with the current taxonomy, and show that a complex set of contemporary biotic factors impede gene flow over different spatial scales. Our results highlight the power of whole genome data to reveal unexpected population structure in vagile marine seabirds and its value for seabird taxonomy, evolution and conservation.
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8
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Martínez-García L, Ferrari G, Oosting T, Ballantyne R, van der Jagt I, Ystgaard I, Harland J, Nicholson R, Hamilton-Dyer S, Baalsrud HT, Brieuc MSO, Atmore LM, Burns F, Schmölcke U, Jakobsen KS, Jentoft S, Orton D, Hufthammer AK, Barrett JH, Star B. Historical Demographic Processes Dominate Genetic Variation in Ancient Atlantic Cod Mitogenomes. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.671281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Ancient DNA (aDNA) approaches have been successfully used to infer the long-term impacts of climate change, domestication, and human exploitation in a range of terrestrial species. Nonetheless, studies investigating such impacts using aDNA in marine species are rare. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), is an economically important species that has experienced dramatic census population declines during the last century. Here, we investigated 48 ancient mitogenomes from historical specimens obtained from a range of archeological excavations in northern Europe dated up to 6,500 BCE. We compare these mitogenomes to those of 496 modern conspecifics sampled across the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. Our results confirm earlier observations of high levels of mitogenomic variation and a lack of mutation-drift equilibrium—suggestive of population expansion. Furthermore, our temporal comparison yields no evidence of measurable mitogenomic changes through time. Instead, our results indicate that mitogenomic variation in Atlantic cod reflects past demographic processes driven by major historical events (such as oscillations in sea level) and subsequent gene flow rather than contemporary fluctuations in stock abundance. Our results indicate that historical and contemporaneous anthropogenic pressures such as commercial fisheries have had little impact on mitogenomic diversity in a wide-spread marine species with high gene flow such as Atlantic cod. These observations do not contradict evidence that overfishing has had negative consequences for the abundance of Atlantic cod and the importance of genetic variation in implementing conservation strategies. Instead, these observations imply that any measures toward the demographic recovery of Atlantic cod in the eastern Atlantic, will not be constrained by recent loss of historical mitogenomic variation.
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9
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Parag KV, Pybus OG, Wu CH. Are Skyline Plot-Based Demographic Estimates Overly Dependent on Smoothing Prior Assumptions? Syst Biol 2021; 71:121-138. [PMID: 33989428 PMCID: PMC8677568 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syab037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In Bayesian phylogenetics, the coalescent process provides an informative framework for inferring changes in the effective size of a population from a phylogeny (or tree) of sequences sampled from that population. Popular coalescent inference approaches such as the Bayesian Skyline Plot, Skyride, and Skygrid all model these population size changes with a discontinuous, piecewise-constant function but then apply a smoothing prior to ensure that their posterior population size estimates transition gradually with time. These prior distributions implicitly encode extra population size information that is not available from the observed coalescent data or tree. Here, we present a novel statistic, $\Omega$, to quantify and disaggregate the relative contributions of the coalescent data and prior assumptions to the resulting posterior estimate precision. Our statistic also measures the additional mutual information introduced by such priors. Using $\Omega$ we show that, because it is surprisingly easy to overparametrize piecewise-constant population models, common smoothing priors can lead to overconfident and potentially misleading inference, even under robust experimental designs. We propose $\Omega$ as a useful tool for detecting when effective population size estimates are overly reliant on prior assumptions and for improving quantification of the uncertainty in those estimates.[Coalescent processes; effective population size; information theory; phylodynamics; prior assumptions; skyline plots.].
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Affiliation(s)
- Kris V Parag
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK,Correspondence to be sent to: MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, London W2 1PG, UK; e-mail:
| | - Oliver G Pybus
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK
| | - Chieh-Hsi Wu
- Mathematical Sciences, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
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Peyrégne S, Peter BM. AuthentiCT: a model of ancient DNA damage to estimate the proportion of present-day DNA contamination. Genome Biol 2020; 21:246. [PMID: 32933569 PMCID: PMC7490890 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02123-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Contamination from present-day DNA is a fundamental issue when studying ancient DNA from historical or archaeological material, and quantifying the amount of contamination is essential for downstream analyses. We present AuthentiCT, a command-line tool to estimate the proportion of present-day DNA contamination in ancient DNA datasets generated from single-stranded DNA libraries. The prediction is based solely on the patterns of post-mortem damage observed on ancient DNA sequences. The method has the power to quantify contamination from as few as 10,000 mapped sequences, making it particularly useful for analysing specimens that are poorly preserved or for which little data is available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Peyrégne
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Benjamin M Peter
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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