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Population genomics of the muskox' resilience in the near absence of genetic variation

Pečnerová, Patrícia LU orcid ; Lord, Edana ; Garcia-Erill, Genís ; Hanghøj, Kristian ; Rasmussen, Malthe Sebro ; Meisner, Jonas ; Liu, Xiaodong ; van der Valk, Tom ; Santander, Cindy G and Quinn, Liam , et al. (2024) In Molecular Ecology 33(2). p.17205-17205
Abstract

Genomic studies of species threatened by extinction are providing crucial information about evolutionary mechanisms and genetic consequences of population declines and bottlenecks. However, to understand how species avoid the extinction vortex, insights can be drawn by studying species that thrive despite past declines. Here, we studied the population genomics of the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), an Ice Age relict that was at the brink of extinction for thousands of years at the end of the Pleistocene yet appears to be thriving today. We analysed 108 whole genomes, including present-day individuals representing the current native range of both muskox subspecies, the white-faced and the barren-ground muskox (O. moschatus wardi and O.... (More)

Genomic studies of species threatened by extinction are providing crucial information about evolutionary mechanisms and genetic consequences of population declines and bottlenecks. However, to understand how species avoid the extinction vortex, insights can be drawn by studying species that thrive despite past declines. Here, we studied the population genomics of the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), an Ice Age relict that was at the brink of extinction for thousands of years at the end of the Pleistocene yet appears to be thriving today. We analysed 108 whole genomes, including present-day individuals representing the current native range of both muskox subspecies, the white-faced and the barren-ground muskox (O. moschatus wardi and O. moschatus moschatus) and a ~21,000-year-old ancient individual from Siberia. We found that the muskox' demographic history was profoundly shaped by past climate changes and post-glacial re-colonizations. In particular, the white-faced muskox has the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity recorded in an ungulate. Yet, there is no evidence of inbreeding depression in native muskox populations. We hypothesize that this can be explained by the effect of long-term gradual population declines that allowed for purging of strongly deleterious mutations. This study provides insights into how species with a history of population bottlenecks, small population sizes and low genetic diversity survive against all odds.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Humans, Animals, Infant, Newborn, Metagenomics, Resilience, Psychological, Biological Evolution, Genomics, Ruminants/genetics, Genetic Variation/genetics
in
Molecular Ecology
volume
33
issue
2
pages
17205 - 17205
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85176923803
  • pmid:37971141
ISSN
0962-1083
DOI
10.1111/mec.17205
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
id
cc0328c2-b27f-4010-90f2-952418832e3f
date added to LUP
2024-10-10 15:54:54
date last changed
2025-07-05 03:36:26
@article{cc0328c2-b27f-4010-90f2-952418832e3f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Genomic studies of species threatened by extinction are providing crucial information about evolutionary mechanisms and genetic consequences of population declines and bottlenecks. However, to understand how species avoid the extinction vortex, insights can be drawn by studying species that thrive despite past declines. Here, we studied the population genomics of the muskox (Ovibos moschatus), an Ice Age relict that was at the brink of extinction for thousands of years at the end of the Pleistocene yet appears to be thriving today. We analysed 108 whole genomes, including present-day individuals representing the current native range of both muskox subspecies, the white-faced and the barren-ground muskox (O. moschatus wardi and O. moschatus moschatus) and a ~21,000-year-old ancient individual from Siberia. We found that the muskox' demographic history was profoundly shaped by past climate changes and post-glacial re-colonizations. In particular, the white-faced muskox has the lowest genome-wide heterozygosity recorded in an ungulate. Yet, there is no evidence of inbreeding depression in native muskox populations. We hypothesize that this can be explained by the effect of long-term gradual population declines that allowed for purging of strongly deleterious mutations. This study provides insights into how species with a history of population bottlenecks, small population sizes and low genetic diversity survive against all odds.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pečnerová, Patrícia and Lord, Edana and Garcia-Erill, Genís and Hanghøj, Kristian and Rasmussen, Malthe Sebro and Meisner, Jonas and Liu, Xiaodong and van der Valk, Tom and Santander, Cindy G and Quinn, Liam and Lin, Long and Liu, Shanlin and Carøe, Christian and Dalerum, Fredrik and Götherström, Anders and Måsviken, Johannes and Vartanyan, Sergey and Raundrup, Katrine and Al-Chaer, Amal and Rasmussen, Linett and Hvilsom, Christina and Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter and Sinding, Mikkel-Holger S and Aastrup, Peter and Van Coeverden de Groot, Peter J and Schmidt, Niels Martin and Albrechtsen, Anders and Dalén, Love and Heller, Rasmus and Moltke, Ida and Siegismund, Hans Redlef}},
  issn         = {{0962-1083}},
  keywords     = {{Humans; Animals; Infant, Newborn; Metagenomics; Resilience, Psychological; Biological Evolution; Genomics; Ruminants/genetics; Genetic Variation/genetics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{17205--17205}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Molecular Ecology}},
  title        = {{Population genomics of the muskox' resilience in the near absence of genetic variation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.17205}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/mec.17205}},
  volume       = {{33}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}