TY - JOUR
T1 - Aye-aye population genomic analyses highlight an important center of endemism in northern Madagascar
AU - Perry, George H.
AU - Louis, Edward E.
AU - Ratan, Aakrosh
AU - Bedoya-Reina, Oscar C.
AU - Burhans, Richard C.
AU - Lei, Runhua
AU - Johnson, Steig E.
AU - Schuster, Stephan C.
AU - Miller, Webb
PY - 2013/4/9
Y1 - 2013/4/9
N2 - We performed a population genomics study of the aye-aye, a highly specialized nocturnal lemur from Madagascar. Aye-ayes have low population densities and extensive range requirements that could make this flagship species particularly susceptible to extinction. Therefore, knowledge of genetic diversity and differentiation among aye-aye populations is critical for conservation planning. Such information may also advance our general understanding of Malagasy biogeography, as aye-ayes have the largest species distribution of any lemur. We generated and analyzed whole-genome sequence data for 12 aye-ayes from three regions of Madagascar (North, West, and East). We found that the North population is genetically distinct, with strong differentiation from other aye-ayes over relatively short geographic distances. For comparison, the average FST value between the North and East aye-aye populations - separated by only 248 km - is over 2.1-times greater than that observed between human Africans and Europeans. This finding is consistent with prior watershed- and climate-based hypotheses of a center of endemism in northern Madagascar. Taken together, these results suggest a strong and long-term biogeogra-phical barrier to gene flow. Thus, the specific attention that should be directed toward preserving large, contiguous aye-aye habitats in northern Madagascar may also benefit the conservation of other distinct taxonomic units. To help facilitate future ecological- and conservation- motivated population genomic analyses by noncom-putational biologists, the analytical toolkit used in this study is available on the Galaxy Web site.
AB - We performed a population genomics study of the aye-aye, a highly specialized nocturnal lemur from Madagascar. Aye-ayes have low population densities and extensive range requirements that could make this flagship species particularly susceptible to extinction. Therefore, knowledge of genetic diversity and differentiation among aye-aye populations is critical for conservation planning. Such information may also advance our general understanding of Malagasy biogeography, as aye-ayes have the largest species distribution of any lemur. We generated and analyzed whole-genome sequence data for 12 aye-ayes from three regions of Madagascar (North, West, and East). We found that the North population is genetically distinct, with strong differentiation from other aye-ayes over relatively short geographic distances. For comparison, the average FST value between the North and East aye-aye populations - separated by only 248 km - is over 2.1-times greater than that observed between human Africans and Europeans. This finding is consistent with prior watershed- and climate-based hypotheses of a center of endemism in northern Madagascar. Taken together, these results suggest a strong and long-term biogeogra-phical barrier to gene flow. Thus, the specific attention that should be directed toward preserving large, contiguous aye-aye habitats in northern Madagascar may also benefit the conservation of other distinct taxonomic units. To help facilitate future ecological- and conservation- motivated population genomic analyses by noncom-putational biologists, the analytical toolkit used in this study is available on the Galaxy Web site.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1211990110
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1211990110
M3 - Article
C2 - 23530231
AN - SCOPUS:84876061150
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 110
SP - 5823
EP - 5828
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 15
ER -