CRB: Molecular Identification of Threatened Species: Does Theory Predict the Utility of Nuclear vs. Mitochondrial Sequences?

9622182帕伦比大多数物种是由相互作用的种群组成的，描述这些相互作用是理解它们的后果仍然是保护生物学中最大的挑战之一。迄今为止，对相互作用的种群进行集合种群建模和人口统计描述的同时，在检测种群内和种群之间的遗传差异方面取得了技术进步。然而，尚未实现对集合种群的人口统计、建模和遗传方法的全面融合。生态种群什么时候才能被识别为遗传种群？什么时候遗传学上的差异才能正确预测集合种群模型的结果？这些问题需要得到回答，以便将遗传和生态方法结合到集合种群中。这项研究试图了解种群在基因上相互区别的过程。这种遗传差异是最近对保护管理的进化重要单位的定义的核心，这些单位依赖于某些遗传位点上的种群的相互单性。此前，线粒体DNA受到了人们的广泛关注，因为这些基因座很快就变成了单系基因。然而，mtDNA不能用于种群结构的生态模型的参数化，因为mtDNA只跟踪母系遗传模式。核基因座在从基因上区分人群方面有多大作用？这取决于核基因相对于线粒体基因的单性发育速度。种群遗传学理论预测了这两个比率之间的简单关系，但这种预测依赖于许多从未在任何动物系统中检验过的假设。这项保护生物学研究将调查一组已确定的鲸鱼和海豚物种在线粒体和核基因座上的相互单性发展。这项研究将直接应用于种群在遗传和生态上变得可区分的速度。在处理濒危物种种群时，这是一个核心问题。此外，本研究开发的遗传标记将在监测鲸鱼和海豚种群方面具有重要的实际应用。

9622182 Palumbi Most species are comprised on interacting populations, and describing these interactions are understanding their consequences remains one of the greatest challenges in conservation biology. To date, metapopulation modeling and demographic description of interacting populations have been matched by technical advances in the detection of genetic differences within and between populations. However, a comprehensive melding of demographic, modeling and genetic approaches to metapopulations has yet to be achieved. When is an ecological population identifiable as a genetic population? When do differences in genetics correctly predict results of metapopulation models? These questions need to be answered to bring genetic and ecological approaches to metapopulations together. This research seeks to understand the processes by which populations become genetically distinct from one another. Such genetic distinctions are at the heart of recent definitions of evolutionarily significant units for conservation management which depend on reciprocal monophyly of populations at some genetic locus. Previously, much attention has been placed on mitochondrial DNA because these loci become monophyletic rapidly. However, mtDNA can not be used to parameterize ecological models of population structure because mtDNA only tracks maternal inheritance patterns. How useful are nuclear loci in discriminating populations genetically? This depends on the rate of development of monophyly of nuclear genes compared to mitochondrial genes. Population genetic theory predicts a simple relationship between these two rates, but this prediction depends on many assumptions that have never been tested in any animal system. This conservation biology research will investigate the development of reciprocal monophyly in mitochondrial and nuclear loci in a set of defined species of whales and dolphins. This study will have direct application to the rate at which populations become distinguishable genetically and ecologically . This is a central questions when dealing with populations of endangered species. In addition, the genetic markers developed in this research will have important practical applications for monitoring whale and dolphin populations.