Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Genome-wide diversity in the California condor tracks its prehistoric abundance and decline
Current Biology, Volume 31, No. 13, Year 2021
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Due to their small population sizes, threatened and endangered species frequently suffer from a lack of genetic diversity, potentially leading to inbreeding depression and reduced adaptability.1 During the latter half of the twentieth century, North America's largest soaring bird,2 the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus; Critically Endangered3), briefly went extinct in the wild. Though condors once ranged throughout North America, by 1982 only 22 individuals remained. Following decades of captive breeding and release efforts, there are now >300 free-flying wild condors and ∼200 in captivity. The condor's recent near-extinction from lead poisoning, poaching, and loss of habitat is well documented,4 but much about its history remains obscure. To fill this gap and aid future management of the species, we produced a high-quality chromosome-length genome assembly for the California condor and analyzed its genome-wide diversity. For comparison, we also examined the genomes of two close relatives: the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus; Vulnerable3) and the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura; Least Concern3). The genomes of all three species show evidence of historic population declines. Interestingly, the California condor genome retains a high degree of variation, which our analyses reveal is a legacy of its historically high abundance. Correlations between genome-wide diversity and recombination rate further suggest a history of purifying selection against linked deleterious alleles, boding well for future restoration. We show how both long-term evolutionary forces and recent inbreeding have shaped the genome of the California condor, and provide crucial genomic resources to enable future research and conservation. © 2021 The Authors
Authors & Co-Authors
Robinson, Jacqueline A.
United States, San Francisco
University of California, San Francisco
Bowie, Rauri C. K.
United States, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Dudchenko, Olga
United States, Houston
Baylor College of Medicine
United States, Houston
Rice University
Lieberman Aiden, Erez Lieberman
United States, Houston
Baylor College of Medicine
United States, Houston
Rice University
China, Shanghai
Shanghaitech University
Australia, Perth
The University of Western Australia
Hendrickson, Sher
United States, Shepherdstown
Shepherd University
Steiner, Cynthia C.
United States, San Diego
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Ryder, Oliver A.
United States, San Diego
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Mindell, David P.
United States, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
Wall, Jeffrey D.
United States, San Francisco
University of California, San Francisco
Statistics
Citations: 26
Authors: 9
Affiliations: 8
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.cub.2021.04.035
ISSN:
09609822
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Mental Health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study