Lilley, Thomas M. and Sävilammi, Tiina and Ossa, Gonzalo and Blomberg, Anna S. and Vasemägi, Anti and Yung, Veronica and Vendrami, David L. J. and Johnson, Joseph S.
(2020).
Population Connectivity Predicts Vulnerability to White-Nose Syndrome in the Chilean Myotis (Myotis chiloensis)-A Genomics Approach.
G3. 10
, 2117-2126
[Research article]
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Abstract
Despite its peculiar distribution, the biology of the southernmost bat species in the world, the Chilean myotis (Myotis chiloensis), has garnered little attention so far. The species has a north-south distribution of c. 2800 km, mostly on the eastern side of the Andes mountain range. Use of extended torpor occurs in the southernmost portion of the range, putting the species at risk of bat white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease responsible for massive population declines in North American bats. Here, we examined how geographic distance and topology would be reflected in the population structure of M. chiloensis along the majority of its range using a double digestion RAD-seq method. We sampled 66 individuals across the species range and discovered pronounced isolation-by-distance. Furthermore, and surprisingly, we found higher degrees of heterozygosity in the southernmost populations compared to the north. A coalescence analysis revealed that our populations may still not have reached secondary contact after the Last Glacial Maximum. As for the potential spread of pathogens, such as the fungus causing WNS, connectivity among populations was noticeably low, especially between the southern hibernatory populations in the Magallanes and Tierra del Fuego, and more northerly populations. This suggests the probability of geographic spread of the disease from the north through bat-to-bat contact to susceptible populations is low. The study presents a rare case of defined population structure in a bat species and warrants further research on the underlying factors contributing to this. See the graphical abstract here.
Authors/Creators: | Lilley, Thomas M. and Sävilammi, Tiina and Ossa, Gonzalo and Blomberg, Anna S. and Vasemägi, Anti and Yung, Veronica and Vendrami, David L. J. and Johnson, Joseph S. | ||||||
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Title: | Population Connectivity Predicts Vulnerability to White-Nose Syndrome in the Chilean Myotis (Myotis chiloensis)-A Genomics Approach | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | G3 | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2020 | ||||||
Volume: | 10 | ||||||
Page range: | 2117-2126 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 10 | ||||||
Publisher: | Genetics Society of America (GSA) | ||||||
ISSN: | 2160-1836 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Genetics (medical genetics to be 30107 and agricultural genetics to be 40402) | ||||||
Keywords: | Population genetics, population connectivity, population structure, chiroptera, disease spread | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-106735 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-106735 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 17282 | ||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Department of Aquatic Resources | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 19 Aug 2020 12:04 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2021 19:26 |
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