The illegal capture and trade of wild birds have long been threats to biodiversity. The rehabilitation and release of confiscated animals may be a useful conservation tool in species management. However, differences between populations regarding health (e.g., different pathogens) and adaptation (e.g., local adaptation) must be taken into account, since both can negatively impact the recipient population. In this pilot study, we used two of the most illegally trafficked Brazilian wild passerine species, namely the red-crested cardinal (Paroaria coronata) and green-winged saltator (Saltator similis) as case studies and assessed some of the health threats that the release of confiscated passerines may pose to free-living birds. We also investigated the level of difference in mitochondrial genetic structure among populations living in different ecoregions. Blood, feces, and oropharyngeal swabs from confiscated (n = 115) and free-living (n = 120) passerines from the release sites were tested for the Newcastle disease virus, Salmonella spp., and Mycoplasma gallisepticum. These are considered major avian diseases by the Brazilian National Avian Health Program. We analyzed mtDNA to study the difference in genetic structure between populations using samples from 127 free-living passerines. We found no evidence of the Newcastle disease virus or Salmonella spp. in confiscated or free-living passerines from either species. However, the levels of infection with M. galissepticum detected in our study for red-crested cardinals and green-winged saltators calls for a high degree of caution in captive release programs. The difference in genetic structure between populations occurring in different regions was low, and was not significant between those from the Pampa/Subtropical Grasslands region. These results suggest that it may be possible to establish a cost-effective and sensitive protocol for releasing confiscated songbirds, provided that further genome-wide studies indicate that the functional genetic diversity among (at least some of the) populations is also low.

No abstract

No abstract

The Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) is endemic to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Throughout its distribution, both geographic distance and environmental variation may contribute to population structure of the species. In this study we follow a seascape genetics approach to investigate population differentiation of Atlantic spotted dolphins based on a large worldwide dataset and the relationship with marine environmental variables. The results revealed that the Atlantic spotted dolphin exhibits population genetic structure across its distribution based on mitochondrial DNA control region (mtDNA-CR) data. Analyses based on the contemporary landscape suggested, at both the individual and population-level, that the population genetic structure is consistent with the isolation-by-distance model. However, because geography and environmental matrices were correlated, and because in some, but not all analyses, we found a significant effect for the environment, we cannot rule out the addition contribution of environmental factors in structuring genetic variation. Future analyses based on nuclear data are needed to evaluate whether local processes, such as social structure and some level of philopatry within populations, may be contributing to the associations among genetic structure, geographic, and environmental distance.

Mutação é um termo amplamente utilizado pela genética para designar tanto alterações no material genético quanto nos processos que lhe deram origem. Todavia, a ideia de “seres mutantes” vem sendo amplamente explorada na cultura em geral, tornando-se quase um elemento da cultura pop. Exemplos do uso não-técnico incluem a banda “Os Mutantes” e demais artistas assim adjetivados; o livro “I Ching”; filmes como “Estranhas Mutações” e “Freaks”; o universo “X-Men” e seus desdobramentos pós-humanísticos, além dos princípios de biologia evolutiva. Curiosamente, na genética clínica, ou seja, no ramo da medicina que estuda as alterações clínicas relacionadas à herança, é desaconselhado usar o termo mutante para referir-se aos seres humanos. Este estudo propõe-se a elaborar um panorama comparativo sobre o conceito polissêmico de mutação, focando nas implicações para os portadores de tal fenômeno – todos nós.