Accounting for the genetic load in assisted reproductive technology

Oosterhout, Cock van; Marcu, Daniel; Immler, Simone

doi:10.1002/ctm2.864

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 26 publications

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“…Genomic erosion is the damage in icted to a species' genome or gene pool due to a loss of genetic diversity, an increase in expressed genetic load, maladaptation, and/or genetic introgression (van Oosterhout et al, 2022a). The genetic load of deleterious variation represents a pervasive, long-term threat to the viability of declining populations (Bertorelle et al, 2022;Kyriazis, Robinson and Lohmueller, 2022;van Oosterhout et al, 2022). It is pervasive because in nature, sexually reproducing species possess a considerable amount of deleterious variation that can cause genetic disorders, infertility, and mortality if they become expressed by inbreeding (Ralls, Ballou and Templeton, 1988 Lynch, 2016; Smeds and Ellegren, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of the genetic load during habitat loss and population fragmentation

Pinto

Hansson

Patramanis

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Habitat loss and population fragmentation pose severe threats to the survival of many species. Population isolation and the decline in effective population size lead to increased genetic drift and inbreeding. In turn, this reduces neutral diversity, and it also affects the genetic load of deleterious mutations. Here, we analyse the effect of such genomic erosion by designing a spatially explicit model in SLiM to simulate the effects of the recorded habitat loss in Mauritius over the past ~ 250 years. We show that the loss of neutral nucleotide diversity was barely noticeable during the first 100 years of habitat loss, and that it only became apparent when the total amount of suitable habitat had been reduced to circa 25% of the native undisturbed forest. At that time, the census population size had dropped from circa 10,000 individuals to approximately N = 2000 (equivalent to Ne ~ 1000). The decline of neutral diversity continued after the metapopulation had stabilised at low numbers, consistent with the “drift debt” hypothesis. Although a considerable number of deleterious mutations were lost by drift, others increased in frequency. The masked load was thus converted into a realised load, which compromises individual fitness and population viability after much of the native habitat had been lost. Our study shows that historic habitat loss can pose a sustained threat to populations also in future generations, and that the resulting genetic erosion is likely to continue even without further habitat loss. The UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration needs to lead to transformative change to save species from future extinction, and this requires the urgent restoration of natural habitats.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The evolution of the genetic load during habitat loss and population fragmentation

Pinto

Hansson

Patramanis

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Accounting for the genetic load in assisted reproductive technology

Oosterhout

Marcu

Immler

2022

Clinical & Translational Med

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The impact of habitat loss and population fragmentation on genomic erosion

et al. 2023

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Habitat loss and population fragmentation pose severe threats to biodiversity and the survival of many species. Population isolation and the decline in effective population size lead to increased genetic drift and inbreeding. In turn, this reduces neutral diversity, and it also affects the genetic load of deleterious mutations. Here, we analyse the effect of such genomic erosion by designing a spatially explicit, individual based model in SLiM, simulating the effects of the recorded habitat loss in Mauritius over the past ~ 250 years. We show that the loss of neutral diversity (genome-wide heterozygosity) was barely noticeable during the first 100 years of habitat loss. Changes to the genetic load took even more time to register, and they only became apparent circa 200 years after the start of habitat decline. Although a considerable number of deleterious mutations were lost by drift, others increased in frequency. The masked load was thus converted into a realised load, which compromised individual fitness and population viability after much of the native habitat had been lost. Importantly, genomic erosion continued after the metapopulation had stabilised at low numbers. Our study shows that historic habitat loss can pose a sustained threat to populations also in future generations, even without further habitat loss. The UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration needs to lead to transformative change to save species from future extinction, and this requires the urgent restoration of natural habitats.

show abstract

Accounting for the genetic load in assisted reproductive technology

Cited by 4 publications

References 26 publications

The evolution of the genetic load during habitat loss and population fragmentation

The evolution of the genetic load during habitat loss and population fragmentation

Accounting for the genetic load in assisted reproductive technology

The impact of habitat loss and population fragmentation on genomic erosion

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