TY - JOUR A1 - Velo-Antón, Guillermo A1 - Boratyński, Zbyszek A1 - Ferreira, Clara Mendes A1 - Lima, Vanessa O. A1 - Alves, Paulo C. A1 - Brito, José C. T1 - Intraspecific genetic diversity and distribution of North African hedgehogs (Mammalia: Erinaceidae) JF - Biological journal of the Linnean Society : a journal of evolution N2 - Despite growing efforts to halt biodiversity loss, knowledge of species diversity and distribution is highly geographically biased, leaving some areas unexplored. Taxa distributed in remote, desert areas, such as hedgehogs (Mammalia; Eulipotyphla) in North Africa, are good examples of current knowledge gaps in systematics and biogeography. Here we studied the geographical distribution and intraspecific genetic diversity of hedgehogs in North Africa. Specimens belonging to North African and Eurasian species were analysed with mitochondrial (control region, CR) and nuclear (recombination activating gene 1, RAG1) gene fragments. This revealed a broader geographical distribution of Atelerix algirus in south-western Libya and of Paraechinus aethiopicus along the Atlantic Sahara. High intraspecific genetic differentiation was found in A. algirus and A. albiventris at the mitochondrial level, with nuclear haplotype sharing across their ranges. These findings suggest that biogeographical patterns of hedgehogs in North Africa are more complex than previously suggested, highlighting a need for further investigation in this remote and poorly known area. KW - Atelerix albiventris KW - Atelerix algirus KW - conservation genetics KW - cryptic diversity KW - distribution KW - Paraechinus aethiopicus KW - Phylogeny KW - Sahara-Sahel Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz030 SN - 0024-4066 SN - 1095-8312 VL - 127 IS - 1 SP - 156 EP - 163 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Milinkovitch, Michel C. A1 - Kanitz, Ricardo A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Tapia, Washington A1 - Llerena, Fausto A1 - Caccone, Adalgisa A1 - Gibbs, James P. A1 - Powell, Jeffrey R. T1 - Recovery of a nearly extinct Galapagos tortoise despite minimal genetic variation JF - Evolutionary applications N2 - A species of Galapagos tortoise endemic to Espanola Island was reduced to just 12 females and three males that have been bred in captivity since 1971 and have produced over 1700 offspring now repatriated to the island. Our molecular genetic analyses of juveniles repatriated to and surviving on the island indicate that none of the tortoises sampled in 1994 had hatched on the island versus 3% in 2004 and 24% in 2007, which demonstrates substantial and increasing reproduction in situ once again. This recovery occurred despite the parental population having an estimated effective population size <8 due to a combination of unequal reproductive success of the breeders and nonrandom mating in captivity. These results provide guidelines for adapting breeding regimes in the parental captive population and decreasing inbreeding in the repatriated population. Using simple morphological data scored on the sampled animals, we also show that a strongly heterogeneous distribution of tortoise sizes on Espanola Island observed today is due to a large variance in the number of animals included in yearly repatriation events performed in the last 40years. Our study reveals that, at least in the short run, some endangered species can recover dramatically despite a lack of genetic variation and irregular repatriation efforts. KW - captive populations KW - conservation biology KW - conservation genetics Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12014 SN - 1752-4571 VL - 6 IS - 2 SP - 377 EP - 383 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lauterbach, Daniel A1 - Burkart, Michael A1 - Gemeinholzer, Birgit T1 - Rapid genetic differentiation between ex situ and their in situ source populations - an example of the endangered Silene otites (Caryophyllaceae) JF - Botanical journal of the Linnean Society N2 - Ex situ cultivation in botanic gardens could be one possibility to preserve plant species diversity and genetic variation. However, old ex situ populations are often sparsely documented. We were able to retrieve three different ex situ populations and their source in situ populations of the endangered plant species Silene otites after 20-36 years of isolation. Furthermore, three additional wild populations were included in the analysis. Population genetic diversity and differentiation were analysed using AFLP markers. Genetic variation in the ex situ populations was lower than the variation found in the in situ populations. Strong differentiation (F-ST = 0.21-0.36) between corresponding in situ and ex situ populations was observed. Bayesian clustering approach also showed a distinct genetic separation between in situ and ex situ populations. The high genetic differentiation and loss of genetic diversity during spatial and temporal isolation in the ex situ populations can be attributable to small population sizes and unconscious selection during cultivation. Therefore, adequate sampling prior to ex situ cultivation and large effective population sizes are important to preserve genetic diversity. Near-natural cultivation allowing for generation overlap and interspecific competition without artificial selection is recommended as being best for the maintenance of the genetic constitution. KW - AFLP KW - botanical garden KW - conservation genetics KW - founder effect KW - population size Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2011.01185.x SN - 0024-4074 VL - 168 IS - 1 SP - 64 EP - 75 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Förster, Daniel W. A1 - Bull, James K. A1 - Lenz, Dorina A1 - Autenrieth, Marijke A1 - Paijmans, Johanna L. A. A1 - Kraus, Robert H. S. A1 - Nowak, Carsten A1 - Bayerl, Helmut A1 - Kühn, Ralph A1 - Saveljev, Alexander P. A1 - Sindicic, Magda A1 - Hofreiter, Michael A1 - Schmidt, Krzysztof A1 - Fickel, Jörns T1 - Targeted resequencing of coding DNA sequences for SNP discovery in nonmodel species JF - Molecular ecology resources N2 - Targeted capture coupled with high-throughput sequencing can be used to gain information about nuclear sequence variation at hundreds to thousands of loci. Divergent reference capture makes use of molecular data of one species to enrich target loci in other (related) species. This is particularly valuable for nonmodel organisms, for which often no a priori knowledge exists regarding these loci. Here, we have used targeted capture to obtain data for 809 nuclear coding DNA sequences (CDS) in a nonmodel organism, the Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx, using baits designed with the help of the published genome of a related model organism (the domestic cat Felis catus). Using this approach, we were able to survey intraspecific variation at hundreds of nuclear loci in L. lynx across the species’ European range. A large set of biallelic candidate SNPs was then evaluated using a high-throughput SNP genotyping platform (Fluidigm), which we then reduced to a final 96 SNP-panel based on assay performance and reliability; validation was carried out with 100 additional Eurasian lynx samples not included in the SNP discovery phase. The 96 SNP-panel developed from CDS performed very successfully in the identification of individuals and in population genetic structure inference (including the assignment of individuals to their source population). In keeping with recent studies, our results show that genic SNPs can be valuable for genetic monitoring of wildlife species. KW - CDS KW - conservation genetics KW - Eurasian lynx KW - genetic monitoring KW - hybridization capture KW - single nucleotide polymorphism Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.12924 SN - 1755-098X SN - 1755-0998 VL - 18 IS - 6 SP - 1356 EP - 1373 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - De Cahsan, Binia A1 - Westbury, Michael V. A1 - Drews, Hauke A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - The complete mitochondrial genome of a European fire-bellied toad (Bombina bombina) from Germany JF - Mitochondrial DNA Part B N2 - The European fire-bellied toad, Bombina bombina, is a small aquatic toad belonging to the family Bombinatoridae. The species is native to the lowlands of Central and Eastern Europe, where population numbers have been in decline in recent past decades. Here, we present the first complete mitochondrial genome of the endangered European fire-bellied toad from Northern Germany recovered using iterative mapping. Phylogenetic analyses including other representatives of the Bombinatoridae placed our German specimen as sister to a Polish B. bombina sequence with high support. This finding is congruent with the postulated Pleistocene history of the species. Our complete mitochondrial genome represents an important resource for further population analysis of the European fire-bellied toad, especially those found within Germany. KW - Bombina bombina KW - Fire-bellied toad KW - mitogenome KW - conservation genetics KW - population delimitation Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2018.1547143 SN - 2380-2359 VL - 4 IS - 1 SP - 498 EP - 500 PB - Taylor & Francis Group CY - London ER -