Abstract：
Zoo populations of threatened species are a valuable resource for the restoration of wild populations. However, their small effective population size poses a risk to long-term viability, especially in species with high genetic load. Recent bioinformatic developments can identify harmful genetic variants in genome data. Here, we advance this approach, analysing the genetic load in the threatened pink pigeon (Nesoenas mayeri). We lifted the mutation-impact scores that had been calculated for the chicken (Gallus gallus) to estimate the genetic load in six pink pigeons. Additionally, we perform in silico crossings to predict the genetic load and realized load of potential offspring. We thus identify the optimal mate pairs that are theoretically expected to produce offspring with the least inbreeding depression. We use computer simulations to show how genomics-informed conservation can reduce the genetic load whilst reducing the loss of genome-wide diversity. Genomics-informed management is likely to become instrumental in maintaining the long-term viability of zoo populations.
摘要：
受威胁物种的动物园种群是恢复野生种群的宝贵资源。然而,它们的有效人口规模小对长期生存能力构成风险，特别是在具有高遗传负荷的物种中。最近的生物信息学发展可以在基因组数据中识别有害的遗传变异。这里,我们推进这种方法，分析受威胁的粉红色鸽子（Nesoenasmayeri）的遗传负荷。我们提高了为鸡（Gallusgallus）计算的突变影响分数，以估计六只粉红色鸽子的遗传负荷。此外,我们进行模拟杂交以预测潜在后代的遗传负荷和实现负荷。因此，我们确定了理论上有望产生近交抑郁最少的后代的最佳伴侣对。我们使用计算机模拟来展示基因组学信息保护如何减少遗传负荷，同时减少全基因组多样性的损失。基因组学知情管理可能有助于维持动物园种群的长期生存能力。
