• Title/Summary/Keyword: conservation biology

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Mitochondrial DNA-based investigation of dead rorqual (Cetacea: Balaenopteridae) from the west coast of India

  • Shantanu Kundu;Manokaran Kamalakannan;Dhriti Banerjee;Flandrianto Sih Palimirmo;Arif Wibowo;Hyun-Woo Kim
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.48-55
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    • 2024
  • The study assessed the utility of mitochondrial DNA for identifying a deceased rorqual discovered off the western coast of India. Both the COI and Cytb genes exhibited remarkable 99-100% similarity with the GenBank sequence of Balaenoptera musculus through a global BLAST search, confirming their affiliation with this species. Inter-species genetic distances for COI and Cytb genes ranged from 6.75% to 9.80% and 7.37% to 10.96% respectively, compared with other Balaenopteridae species. The Bayesian phylogenies constructed based on both COI and Cytb genes demonstrated clear and separate clustering for all Balaenopteridae species, further reaffirming their distinctiveness, while concurrently revealing a cohesive clustering pattern of the generated sequences within the B. musculus clade. Beyond species confirmation, this study provides valuable insights into the presence of live and deceased B. musculus individuals within Indian marine ecosystems. This information holds significant potential for guiding conservation efforts aimed at safeguarding Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) in India over the long term.

New polymorphic microsatellite markers for the endangered fern Ceratopteris thalictroides (Parkeriaceae)

  • CHO, Won-Bum;HAN, Eun-Kyeong;KWAK, Myounghai;LEE, Jung-Hyun
    • Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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    • v.48 no.2
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    • pp.129-133
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    • 2018
  • Ceratopteris thalictroides is a semi-aquatic fern with a circumtropical distribution. Because this species is designated internationally on the IUCN Red List as requiring at least some concern, Korean populations are of great concern for the species' long-term survival, as they are at the northern limit of the species distribution. To establish an effective conservation strategy for those populations at the genetic level, we used the Mi-Seq platform to develop three sets of 25 polymorphic microsatellite markers for C. thalictroides, which is endangered in Korea. In populations sampled from Busan and Gochang, the number of alleles ranged from 2 to 13 (average of 5.64), and plants presented an expected heterozygosity of 0.000 to 0.860. These markers will be useful for evaluating the genetic status and conserving Korean populations of C. thalictroides more effectively.

Analysis of Genetic Diversity of the Thai Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Using Cattle Microsatellite DNA Markers

  • Triwitayakorn, K.;Moolmuang, B.;Sraphet, S.;Panyim, S.;Na-Chiangmai, A.;Smith, Duncan R.
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.19 no.5
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    • pp.617-621
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    • 2006
  • Recently the numbers of the Thai swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), a native species of Thailand, have been rapidly declining, leading to a requirement for conservation programs for this breed. Such studies of the genetic diversity of this species are essential for conservation decisions and to assist the rational implementation of breeding programs. In this study, the genetic diversity of 80 Thai swamp buffalo, randomly selected from seven different research stations of the Thai Department of Livestock Development, were studied using ten cattle microsatellite markers. Polymorphic PCR products were observed at all microsatellite loci, with percentages of polymorphic loci ranging from 80.00 to 100.00%. The population from Payao showed the lowest level of polymorphism. The mean number of alleles per locus was 4.7 with the highest number of alleles being eight (ETH152) and the lowest being three (HAUT27 and ILSTS030). The average unbiased heterozygosity for all seven populations was 0.61 and varied between 0.5314 (Samui) and 0.6798 (Surin). The genetic distance according to NEI's (1972) ranged from 0.0722 to 0.4427. The populations from Surin and Burirum are the closest populations, while populations from Samui and Payao are the most divergent. The information generated by this study will greatly aid in the establishment of effective breeding and conservation programs for the Thai swamp buffalo.

Effects of substitution of soybean meal with rapeseed meal and glutamine supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology, and intestinal mucosa barrier of Qiandongnan Xiaoxiang Chicken

  • Zhang, Bolin;Liu, Ning;Hao, Meilin;Xie, Yuxiao;Song, Peiyong
    • Animal Bioscience
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    • v.35 no.11
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    • pp.1711-1724
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    • 2022
  • Objective: The present study was to evaluate the effects of different rapeseed meal substitution (RSM) and glutamine (Gln) supplementation on growth performance, intestine morphology, and intestinal mucosa barrier of broilers. Methods: Four hundred and twenty Qiandongnan Xiaoxiang Chicken at 1 day of age with similar weight were chosen and were randomly assigned into 7 groups, consisting of 10 replicates per group and 6 broilers per replicate. Three groups were provided with diets separately containing 0%, 10%, and 20% RSM, and the other four groups were fed with diets separately supplemented with 0.5% and 1% Gln based on the inclusion of 10% and 20% RSM. At 21 and 42 days of age, 10 broilers per group were chosen to collect plasma and intestinal samples for further analysis. Results: The results showed that 10% RSM decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI) and average daily weight gain (ADG) of broilers at 21 days of age (p<0.05). Furthermore, both ADFI and ADG of broilers at 21 and 42 days of age were decreased by 20% RSM, while feed conversion ratio (FCR) was increased (p<0.05). Besides, 10% RSM resulted in lower intestinal villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth, deeper crypt depth (p<0.05), combined with the lower mRNA expressions of occludin, claudin-1, and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) in broilers at 21 days of age (p<0.05). Similar results were also observed in broilers at 21 and 42 days of age fed with 20% RSM. However, 1% Gln improved the growth performance of broilers fed with 10% and 20% RSM (p<0.05), ameliorated intestine morphology and elevated mRNA expressions of occludin, claudin-1 and ZO-1 (p<0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, the increasing inclusion of RSM resulted in more serious effects on broilers, however, 1.0% Gln could reverse the negative effects induced by the inclusion of RSM.

Cryptic variation, molecular data, and the challenge of conserving plant diversity in oceanic archipelagos: the critical role of plant systematics

  • Crawford, Daniel J.;Stuessy, Tod F.
    • Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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    • v.46 no.2
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    • pp.129-148
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    • 2016
  • Plant species on oceanic islands comprise nearly 25% of described vascular plants on only 5% of the Earth's land surface yet are among the most rare and endangered plants. Conservation of plant biodiversity on islands poses particular challenges because many species occur in a few and/or small populations, and their habitats on islands are often disturbed by the activity of humans or by natural processes such as landslides and volcanoes. In addition to described species, evidence is accumulating that there are likely significant numbers of "cryptic" species in oceanic archipelagos. Plant systematists, in collaboration with others in the botanical disciplines, are critical to the discovery of the subtle diversity in oceanic island floras. Molecular data will play an ever increasing role in revealing variation in island lineages. However, the input from plant systematists and other organismal biologists will continue to be important in calling attention to morphological and ecological variation in natural populations and in the discovery of "new" populations that can inform sampling for molecular analyses. Conversely, organismal biologists can provide basic information necessary for understanding the biology of the molecular variants, including diagnostic morphological characters, reproductive biology, habitat, etc. Such basic information is important when describing new species and arguing for their protection. Hybridization presents one of the most challenging problems in the conservation of insular plant diversity, with the process having the potential to decrease diversity in several ways including the merging of species into hybrid swarms or conversely hybridization may generate stable novel recombinants that merit recognition as new species. These processes are often operative in recent radiations in which intrinsic barriers to gene flow have not evolved. The knowledge and continued monitoring of plant populations in the dynamic landscapes on oceanic islands are critical to the preservation of their plant diversity.

CHANGE DETECTION ANALYSIS OF FORESTED AREA IN THE TRANSITION ZONE AT HUSTAI NATIONAL PARK, CENTRAL MONGOLIA

  • Bayarsaikhan, Uudus;Boldgiv, Bazartseren;Kim, Kyung-Ryul;Park, Kyeng-Ae
    • Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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    • 2007.10a
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    • pp.426-429
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    • 2007
  • One of the widely used applications of remote sensing studies is environmental change detection and biodiversity conservation. The study area Hustai Mountain is situated in the transition zone between the Siberian taiga forest and Central Mongolian arid steppe. Hustai National Park carries out one of several reintroduction programs of takhi (wild horse or Equus ferus przewalskii) from various zoos in the world and it represents one of a few textbook examples of successful reintroduction of an animal extinct in the wild. In this paper we describe the results of an analysis on the change of remaining forest area over the 7-year period since Hustai Mountain was designated as a protected area for reintroduction to wild horses. Today the forested area covers approximately 5% of the Hustai National Park, mostly the north-facing slopes above 1400 m altitude. Birch (Betula platyphylla) and aspen (Populus tremula) trees are predominant in the forest. We used Landsat ETM+ images from two different years and multi temporal MODIS NDVI data. Land types were determined by supervised classification methods (Maximum Likelihood algorithm) verified with ground-truthing data and the Land Change Modeler (LCM) which was developed by Clark Labs. Forested area was classified into three different land types, namely the forest land, mountain meadow and mountain steppe. The study results illustrate that the remaining birch forest has rapidly changed to fragmented forest land and to open areas. Underlying causes for such a rapid change during the 15-year period may be manifold. However, the responsible factors appear to be the drying off and outbreak of forest pest species (such as gypsy moth or Lymantria dispar) in the area.

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