We are pleased to announce our recent publication in Royal
Society Open Science using eDNA to generate population level
sequence data to address the population structure of harbor
porpoise in southeast Alaska.
Link to the full manuscript can be found here:
http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/cgi/content/abstract/rsos.180537
Abstract:
Determining management units for natural populations is
critical for effective conservation and management. However,
collecting the requisite tissue samples for population genetic
analyses remains the primary limiting factor for a number of
marine species. The harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena),
one
of the smallest cetaceans in the Northern Hemisphere, is a
primary example. These elusive, highly mobile small animals
confound traditional approaches of collecting tissue samples
for genetic analyses, yet their nearshore habitat makes them
highly vulnerable to fisheries by-catch and the effects of habitat
degradation. By exploiting the naturally shed cellular material
in seawater and the power of next-generation sequencing,
we develop a novel approach for generating population specific
mitochondrial sequence data from environmental
DNA (eDNA) using surface seawater samples. Indications of
significant genetic differentiation within a currently recognized
management stock highlights the need for dedicated eDNA
sampling throughout the population’s range in southeast
Alaska. This indirect sampling tactic for characterizing stock
structure of small and endangered marine mammals has the
potential to revolutionize population assessment for otherwise
inaccessible marine taxa.
Cheers,
Kim
-- Kim M. Parsons, Ph.D. Research Biologist Marine Mammal Laboratory NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, WA 98115 AND Conservation Genetics NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center 2725 Montlake Blvd E Seattle, WA 98112 cell phone 206 661 5446 lab phone 206 302 2428 kim.parsons@noaa.gov http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/personnel/nmmlprofile.php?name=Kim.Parsons https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=8unbZEYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate [NGOS - Government Contractor for Marine Mammal Laboratory, AFSC NOAA] "There is no science without fancy, and no art without facts." S.J. Gould