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Redalyc.CONSERVATION GENETICS. APPLYING EVOLUTIONARY Mètode Science Studies Journal ISSN: 2174-3487 [email protected] Universitat de València España Caballero Rúa, Armando CONSERVATION GENETICS. APPLYING EVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS TO THE CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY Mètode Science Studies Journal, núm. 4, 2014, pp. 73-77 Universitat de València Valencia, España Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=511751359009 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative MONOGRAPH MÈTODE Science Studies Journal, 4 (2014): 73-77. University of Valencia. DOI: 10.7203/metode.78.2452 ISSN: 2174-3487. Article received: 01/03/2013, accepted: 02/05/2013. CONSERVATION GENETICS APPLYING EVOLUTIONARY CONCEPTS TO THE CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ARMANDO CABALLERO RÚA Greater understanding of the forces driving evolutionary change and infl uencing populations, together with the latest genetic analysis techniques, have helped conserve of biodiversity for the last twenty years. This new application of genetics is called conservation genetics. Keywords: genetic drift, inbreeding, extinction vortex, effective population size. One of the most pressing problems caused by human 2012) are the pillars supporting conservation genetics. population growth and the irresponsible use of The launch in 2000 of the journal Conservation natural resources is the conservation of biodiversity. Genetics, dealing specifi cally with this fi eld, and Species are disappearing at a breakneck pace and a more recently, in 2009, of the journal Conservation growing number of them require human intervention Genetics Resources highlight the importance of to optimize their management and ensure their this new application of population and evolutionary survival. There are various reasons why conservation genetics. programmes are necessary, ranging from the purely ecological to the historical, cultural, social and ■ GENETIC VARIABILITY: GENE AND ALLELIC even economic. For example, some local breeds of DIVERSITY domestic animals are associated with characteristic production systems or they are the source of a quality The potential of a population to evolve and adapt to product. It is also of great social interest to maintain environmental changes depends mainly on genetic certain species or breeds that variability, ultimately, the gene have historically been linked to pool which the population a region or ethnicity, and form «SPECIES ARE DISAPPEARING carries. This variability is part of their cultural heritage. In usually estimated by the AT A BREAKNECK PACE the last twenty years, biodiversity frequency of heterozygote loss and species extinction due AND A GROWING NUMBER members (heterozygosity or to human activity have triggered OF THEM REQUIRE HUMAN gene diversity, Figure 1), i.e., the an interest in seeking solutions, INTERVENTION TO OPTIMIZE frequency of individuals bearing both in terms of developing THEIR MANAGEMENT AND different alleles of a given gene, analytical techniques to identify and allelic diversity, in other ENSURE THEIR SURVIVAL» the underlying causes of the words, the number of different problem, and active management alleles that are present in the techniques to provide solutions. population for a given gene. Conservation genetics essentially rests on the Gene and allelic diversity are currently estimated foundations of population genetics and classical using easily identifi able regions of DNA which, evolutionary genetics, disciplines studied since the generally speaking, are known as «genetic markers». early twentieth century. The study of the genetic Since variation is the basis of the evolutionary makeup of populations and forces of evolutionary potential of a species, genetic diversity, in its change acting on them (i.e., natural selection, genetic broadest sense, is key to the ability of a species to drift, mutation and migration; Benito and Espino, respond to environmental challenges and thus ensure MÈTODE 73 MONOGRAPH In Light of Evolution alleles are usually present in heterozygous individuals that are carriers of the functional wild-type allele, and inbreeding increases the likelihood that these alleles H will be present in homozygotes, thus expressing the deleterious effect. The cheetah provides a classic case of the effects of genetic drift and inbreeding on genetic variation. Generations Some 20,000 years ago, the cheetah’s habitat range Figure 1. Computer simulation of the evolution of heterozygosity (H: mean frequency of heterozygotes) over generations of fi ve covered Africa, Europe and North America, but today genes with initial frequency of 0.5 in a population with ten breeding its population has declined to between 1,500 and 5,000 individuals. individuals, basically in Africa. The estimated genetic diversity species survival and perdurance. of this species is extremely low, «SINCE VARIATION IS THE Therefore genetic diversity forms and this can give rise to several an essential pillar of genetic BASIS OF THE EVOLUTIONARY bottlenecks (drastic reductions conservation. POTENTIAL OF A SPECIES, in population size) that decimate GENETIC DIVERSITY, IN populations, reducing genetic variability by up to 99% (Menotti- ■ MUTATION, GENETIC DRIFT ITS BROADEST SENSE, IS Raymond and O’Brien, 1995). AND INBREEDING DEPRESSION KEY TO THE ABILITY OF Inbreeding depression in the The process of mutation (meaning A SPECIES TO RESPOND cheetah is manifested by low any change in DNA that occurs TO ENVIRONMENTAL sperm counts and the high during the reproductive process) CHALLENGES» frequency of abnormal sperm, generates new alleles (and new low fecundity in captivity, heterozygous individuals), albeit high incidence of juvenile very slowly, which come to form mortality (around 30%) and high part of the population’s gene pool. However, in reduced vulnerability to infectious disease, especially feline population numbers, such as populations of endangered peritonitis. species, the random change in allele frequencies (so-called «genetic drift») is responsible for the loss ■ EFFECTIVE POPULATION SIZE of many of these alleles with the time-course of generations. The loss of alleles by genetic drift is one As indicated above there can be various reasons for of the most pressing issues facing endangered species. genetic drift, involving the loss of alleles, and for Another, no less great, is inbreeding, i.e., the result inbreeding, which involves an increased frequency of mating between relatives, which inevitably occurs of homozygotes and thereby inbreeding depression. when population numbers dwindle. One of the most The most important reasons – though by no means visible consequences of inbreeding, widely recognized exclusive – are temporary fl uctuations in the number of by breeders of animals and plants, is the deterioration breeding individuals, a bias in sex ratio, or variations of the reproductive capacity or vigour of individuals, in an individual’s contribution to descendants. These a phenomenon called «inbreeding depression». circumstances can be quantifi ed by the concept of When inbreeding levels rise, many traits – especially «effective population size» (Ne), which is defi ned as those related to reproduction and survival (number the hypothetical or idealised population size if it were of offspring, number of fruits and seeds, viability, free of the cited causes for population drift, which fertility...) – are reduced to a greater or lesser extent, would lead to the inbreeding or drift observed in a real depending on the trait and population considered. population (Benito and Espino, 2012, chap. 24). Inbreeding depression is caused by a combination of Effective population size of natural populations two circumstances. First, the majority of mutations can be estimated using several methods, but numerous in functional genes are deleterious, which means that studies suggest that effective population size is usually new alleles generated are generally less functional than much lower than the census of reproductive population the more frequent wild-type allele in the population. size (N), i.e., total number of breeding individuals, Second, these deleterious alleles tend to be recessive, in with the former representing around just 10% of the other words, they only manifest their negative effects latter, on average (Frankham et al., 2010). Conservation on homozygous individuals. Deleterious recessive programmes often aim to increase or maintain a high 74 MÈTODE MONOGRAPH In Light of Evolution Overexploitation Contamination effective population size, thus the basic question that arises is: What minimum effective population Alien species Isolation size should a population have to be Fragmentation reasonably protected against genetic Habitat Bottlenecks drift, and the minimum below which degradation and loss population viability is compromised? Inbreeding Several studies have been conducted Loss of diversity in this area and concluded that the minimum effective population required to ensure population sustainability should be around Ne EXTINCTION = 500 individuals. Thus considering the empirical relationship between N and N described above, the number Demographic e changes of breeding individuals should Small population be 10 times greater, namely N = Low survival and 5,000. This relatively high number Environmental adaptation capacity highlights the diffi cult situation of changes
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