🧬 Why do second-generation crossbreed puppies often look unexpectedly different from their parents? Genetic segregation and recombination can produce outcomes that surprise even experienced breeders.

✍️ Explore the science of doodles and beyond: https://TPC8.short.gy/ZVjB8RN2

🌈 Where chaos becomes beauty, variation writes its own poetry

#Crossbreeds #DogGenetics #ScienceCommunication #Labradoodle #GeneticDiversity #TherapyDogs #Dogs #Genetics #F1F2F3 #Pets #TPC8

🐕 The Science and Wonder of Dog Crossbreeds: Understanding Genetic Diversity in Our Canine Companions

Discover the science behind dog crossbreeds: genetics, health facts, popular mixes like Labradoodles & Goldendoodles. Expert guide to designer dogs.

New AI‑driven tools are helping scientists design cross‑breeding strategies to boost genetic diversity in the endangered kākāpō. By combining machine‑learning predictions with DNA sequencing data, conservation genomics can curb species decline and prevent genetic loss. Read how open‑source tech is reshaping wildlife rescue. #AICrossbreeding #ConservationGenomics #KakapoRecovery #GeneticDiversity

🔗 https://aidailypost.com/news/ai-aids-crossbreeding-curb-decline-genetic-loss-endangered-species

Why #WildlifeCorridors are Essential for #Biodiversity and #Ecosystem Health

November 12, 2024

"Wildlife corridors serve as lifelines for biodiversity and ecosystem health. By providing a unique way to balance human development with #NatureConservation; connecting #FragmentedHabitats and allowing wildlife to move freely. So what exactly are wildlife corridors and why are they so important?

Wildlife corridors are strips of natural habitat that connect fragmented landscapes. They enable wildlife to move between isolated areas, aiding #migration, #GeneticDiversity, and survival. These corridors help mitigate the negative impacts of human development, such as #roads and #urbanisation, on animal populations.

Wildlife corridors serve many purposes, all stemming from their ability to reconnect isolated populations. By preventing habitat fragmentation, they enhance survival rates through increased food sources, cover, and reduced predation. On top of this, they protect biodiversity by enabling animals to move freely between habitat patches, reducing the risk to both wildlife and humans posed by human-made barriers.

Wildlife corridors are crucial for the survival of landscape species, which are wildlife species that need expansive areas to survive, such as tigers in India or grizzly bears in the United States. They are also vital in maintaining safe passage for birds, fish, and mammals, especially as new roads and developments create barriers to traditional feeding and breeding grounds.

These corridors can take various forms, ideally spanning 50 to 200 feet in width, providing sufficient habitat for species using them to travel, forage or nest. They offer a diverse range of habitats, enhancing the opportunities for various wildlife to thrive. Corridors can take the shape of #shelterbelts, #FieldBorders, #RiparianBuffers, and #RoadsideHabitats, each playing a unique role in providing sustenance, shelter, and travel lanes for different species.

Wildlife corridors highlight the possibility of a peaceful coexistence between humans and wildlife. Wildlife corridors help direct animals away from human settlements, reducing conflicts and minimising damage to crops and property, while ensuring the surviving and well-being of various species. Raising public awareness of these corridors is crucial for maintaining functioning natural systems on which humans also depend."

https://www.evergreening.org/why-wildlife-corridors-are-essential-for-biodiversity-and-ecosystem-health/

#SolarPunkSunday #Nature #Wildlife #UrbanAreas #GreenerCities

Why Wildlife Corridors are Essential for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health - Global EverGreening Alliance

Wildlife corridors serve as lifelines for biodiversity and ecosystem health. By providing a unique way to balance human development with nature conservation; connecting fragmented habitats and allowing wildlife to move freely. So what exactly are wildlife corridors and why are they so important? Wildlife corridors are strips of natural habitat that connect fragmented landscapes. They…

Global EverGreening Alliance

【🎉Latest accepted article】
Tetraploids of an invasive clonal shrub, Lantana camara, present greater invasiveness than diploids

#Polyploidy | #ClonalGrowth | #GeneticDiversity | #PhenotypicPlasticity | #InvasionSuccess

https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtaf222

Traces of a previously unknown group of people, genetically distinct from their neighbors, have persisted for at least 8,000 years in the central Southern Cone of South America, study finds. 🧬🌍📜

Read Full Article

#AncientCivilizations #GeneticDiversity #SouthAmericaHistory #ArchaeologicalDiscoveries #CulturalHeritage https://www.sciencealert.com/genetic-ghosts-of-a-long-lost-people-found-in-south-america
Reenviado desde Science News
(https://t.me/experienciainterdimensional/9669)
Genetic 'Ghosts' of a Long-Lost People Found in South America

Traces of a previously unknown group of people, genetically distinct from their neighbors, have persisted for at least 8,000 years in the central Southern Cone of South America, and Argentina in particular.

ScienceAlert

"Italian fruit detective racing to save forgotten varieties"

"We do it because when we lose variety, we lose food security, we lose diversity and the system's ability to respond to various changes, and we also lose a lot in cultural terms."

'nuff said!

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-italian-fruit-forgotten-varieties.html

#HeritageFruit #ClimateChange #Resilience #GeneticDiversity

Italian fruit detective racing to save forgotten varieties

Isabella Dalla Ragione hunts in abandoned gardens and orchards for forgotten fruits, preserving Italy's agricultural heritage and saving varieties which could help farmers withstand the vagaries of a changing climate.

Phys.org

VP Symposium: Preservation of Genetic Diversity and Selection over a Century in a Coral Reef Fish (Taeniamia zosterophora) in the Philippines by Fitz et al.

Read now ahead of print!
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/738468

#GeneticDiversity #CoralReef #EEB

Preservation of Genetic Diversity and Selection over a Century in a Coral Reef Tish (Taeniamia zosterophora) in the Philippines* | The American Naturalist

Abstract Evaluating the evolutionary impacts of anthropogenic activity on populations is key to understanding species resiliency and to designing effective conservation strategies. Sequencing DNA from historical specimens provides the opportunity to establish a historical baseline and empirically assess changes in genetic diversity, changes in effective population size, and selection over time. Here, we sequenced historical and contemporary samples of the cardinalfish Taeniamia zosterophora collected in 1908 and in 2021–2022 across two sites with differing human impact in the Philippines. At both sites, genetic diversity increased over time, with contemporary samples having significantly higher Watterson’s θ than historical samples. This diversity increase was primarily attributable to positive selection on low-frequency alleles such that they increased toward intermediate frequencies through time. For the putatively neutral fraction of the genome, in contrast, there was a slight but significant decline in Watterson’s θ at both low and high human impact sites, suggesting that drift strengthened and effective population sizes declined through time. There was more evidence for selection and greater loss of neutral diversity at the site with higher human impact. Our results provide empirical evidence for the surprising preservation of genetic diversity through the action of natural selection in the face of anthropogenic impacts.

The American Naturalist

Researchers decoded the #pangenome of 33 oat lines, revealing their full #geneticdiversity to support breeding of more resilient, high-yield #crops in the face of #climatechange: http://go.tum.de/651300

📷iStock/ Evgeniy Andreev

Oat’s genetic diversity decoded

Researchers at TUM have decoded the genomes of 33 oat lines. This provides leverage for breeding more climate resilient plants.

How fast is too fast? Lee & McManus reveal ocean warming rate—not just magnitude—determines marine population survival. Cooler refuges & genetic diversity offer resilience, but only if warming doesn't outpace adaptation.

Now open access and ahead of print!
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/737022

#ocean #oceanWarming #marine #population #survival #geneticDiversity #adaptation

📙🆕 'Impact of the number of microsatellite markers on the analysis of population genetic diversity of Schistosoma japonicum' - an article in the Chinese Journal of #Schistosomiasis Control on #ScienceOpen:

🔗 https://www.scienceopen.com/document?vid=d25578bf-f59c-4b6e-9d76-3d0a432b7831

#ParasitologyResearch #PopulationGenetics #MicrosatelliteMarkers #GeneticDiversity

Impact of the number of microsatellite markers on the analysis of population genetic diversity of <i>Schistosoma japonicum</i>

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d2987433e134"> <b>Objective</b> To examine the impact of different numbers of microsatellite markers on the analysis of population genetic diversity of <i>Schistosoma japonicum</i>, so as to provide insights into studies on the population genetic diversity of <i>S. japonicum</i>. </p><p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d2987433e145"> <b>Methods</b> <i>Oncomelania hupensis</i> snails were collected from a wasteland in Gong’an County, Hubei Province, and 37 <i>S. japonicum</i>-infected <i>O. hupensis</i> snails were identified using the cercarial shedding method. A single cercaria released from each <i>S. japonicum</i>-infected <i>O. hupensis</i> snail was collected, and 10 cercariae were randomly collected from DNA extraction. Nine previously validated microsatellite loci and 15 additional microsatellite loci screened from literature review and the GenBank database and confirmed with stable amplification efficiency were selected as molecular markers. Genomic DNA from cercariae was subjected to three multiplex PCR amplifications of microsatellite markers with the Type-it Microsatellite PCR kit, and genotyped using capillary electrophoresis. The population genetic diversity of <i>S. japonicum</i> cercariae DNA was analyzed with observed number of alleles ( <i>Na</i>), effective number of alleles ( <i>Ae</i>), observed heterozygosity ( <i>Ho</i>), expected heterozygosity ( <i>He</i>), and polymorphism information content (PIC), and tested for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) and linkage disequilibrium (LD). To further investigate the impact of the number of microsatellite loci on the population genetic diversity of <i>S. japonicum</i>, the number of microsatellite markers was sequentially assigned from 1 to 24, and the mean and standard deviation of <i>Na</i> were calculated for <i>S. japonicum</i> populations at different locus numbers. In addition, the coefficient of variation ( <i>CV</i>) of allelic number (defined as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean) was determined, and the variation in <i>Na</i> with increasing microsatellite locus numbers was analyzed. </p><p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d2987433e197"> <b>Results</b> Genomic DNA from 345 <i>S. japonicum</i> cercariae was selected for genotyping of 24 microsatellite markers, and all 24 microsatellite loci met linkage equilibrium (standardized linkage disequilibrium coefficient <i>D</i>′ < 0.7, <i>r</i> <sup>2</sup> < 0.3) and deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium ( <i>P</i> < 0.001). The mean <i>Na</i>, <i>Ae</i>, <i>Ho</i> and <i>He</i> were 27.46 ± 2.18, 12.46 ± 0.95, 0.46 ± 0.03, and 0.91 ± 0.01 for 24 microsatellite loci in <i>S. japonicum</i> cercarial populations, respectively, and PIC ranged from 0.85 to 0.96, indicating high genome-wide representativeness of 24 microsatellite loci. The mean value of <i>Na</i>- <i>Ae</i> was higher in genotyping with 9 previously validated microsatellite loci (19.88 ± 8.43) than with all 24 loci (14.99 ± 8.09). As the number of microsatellite loci increased, the mean <i>Na</i> showed no significant variation; however, the standard deviation gradually decreased. Notably, if the locus number reached 18 or more, the variation in the standard deviation of <i>Na</i> remarkably reduced. In addition, the standard deviation of <i>Na</i> at 18 loci was less than 5% of the mean <i>Na</i> at 24 loci, with a <i>CV</i> of 4.6%. </p><p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="d2987433e256"> <b>Conclusions</b> The number of microsatellite loci significantly affects the population genetic diversity analysis of <i>S. japonicum</i>. Eighteen or more microsatellite loci are recommended for analysis of the population genetic diversity of <i>S. japonicum</i> under the current conditions of low-prevalence infection and unbalanced genetic distribution of <i>S. japonicum</i>. </p><p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d2987433e271"> <b>[摘要] 目的</b> 探究采用不同数量微卫星位点标记对日本血吸虫种群遗传多样性分析的影响, 为日本血吸虫种群遗传 学研究提供参考。 <b>方法</b> 自湖北省公安县某地野外荒滩采集湖北钉螺, 采用直管逸蚴法筛选出 37 只血吸虫感染性钉 螺。分别收集每只感染性钉螺逸出的单条尾蚴, 各随机挑选 10 条尾蚴提取DNA。以前期经大规模样本验证过的 9 个微 卫星位点以及自参考文献和GenBank 数据库中筛选且可稳定扩增的 15 个微卫星位点作为分子标记, 利用Type-it 微卫星 PCR 试剂盒对上述尾蚴DNA进行 3 组 8 重微卫星PCR扩增, 通过毛细管电泳检测样本基因型。对上述日本血吸虫尾蚴 DNA进行种群遗传多样性分析, 评估等位基因数 (observed number of alleles, <i>Na</i>)、有效等位基因数 (effective number of alleles, <i>Ae</i>)、观察杂合度 (observed heterozygosity, <i>Ho</i>)、期望杂合度 (expected heterozygosity, <i>He</i>) 和多态信息含量 (polymorphism information content, PIC) 等多态性指标, 采用 Hardy-Weinberg 平衡检验和连锁不平衡评估进行尾蚴种群遗传结构 分析。此外, 为进一步探究微卫星位点数量对日本血吸虫种群遗传多样性的影响, 依次将微卫星位点数量设定为 1~24 个, 计算不同位点数量时日本血吸虫种群 <i>Na</i> 均数及其标准差, 并计算等位基因数变异系数, 观察 <i>Na</i> 随微卫星位点数量 增加的变化。 <b>结果</b> 共选取 345 条日本血吸虫尾蚴DNA, 用上述 24 个微卫星位点进行检测, 结果显示全部位点均满足 连锁平衡标准化[连锁不平衡系数 ( <i>D</i>′) < 0.7, <i>r</i> <sup>2</sup> < 0.3)], 均偏离Hardy-Weinberg平衡 ( <i>P</i> < 0.001)。日本血吸虫尾蚴种群 在 24 个微卫星位点的 <i>Na</i>、 <i>Ae</i>、 <i>Ho</i> 和 <i>He</i> 均值分别为27.46 ± 2.18、12.46 ± 0.95、0.46 ± 0.03和0.91 ± 0.01, PIC 值为 0.85~0.96, 提示 24 个位点在全基因组微卫星水平上均具有较好的代表性。采用经前期验证的 9 个微卫星位点进行分析时, 日 本血吸虫种群 <i>Na</i>- <i>Ae</i> 均值为 19.88 ± 8.43, 高于使用全部 24 个位点分析时的结果 (14.99 ± 8.09)。随着微卫星位点数量的 增加, <i>Na</i> 均值虽无明显变化, 但标准差逐渐变小; 尤其是当位点数为 18 个及以上时, 标准差变化幅度明显减小; 当位点数 为 18 个时, <i>Na</i> 标准差小于位点数为 24 个时 <i>Na</i> 均值的5%, 变异系数为4.6%。 <b>结论</b> 微卫星位点数量可显著影响日本血 吸虫种群遗传多样性分析结果。在目前低感染率和血吸虫遗传分布不平衡的背景下, 推荐选取≥18个微卫星位点进行 日本血吸虫种群遗传多样性分析。 </p>

ScienceOpen