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A test of the 'genetic rescue' technique using bottlenecked donor populations of Drosophila melanogaster - PubMed

A test of the 'genetic rescue' technique using bottlenecked donor populations of Drosophila melanogaster

Sol Heber et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

We produced replicated experimental lines of inbred fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster to test the effects of crossing different bottlenecked populations as a method of 'genetic rescue' for endangered species lacking outbred donor populations. Two strains differing in the origin of the founders were maintained as isolated populations in a laboratory environment. After two generations of controlled full-sib matings, the resulting inbred fruit flies had significantly reduced breeding success and survival rates. However, crosses between the two bottlenecked strains reversed the effects of inbreeding and led to increases in breeding success and survival that persisted into the second generation of hybrid offspring. In contrast, crosses within each strain (but between different replicate lines) resulted in only slight improvements in some fitness components, and this positive trend was reversed in the second generation. This experiment highlights the potential value of translocations between different inbred populations of endangered species as a tool to mitigate the negative effects of inbreeding, but this benefit may depend upon the origin of the populations. Our results also confirm the importance of maintaining adequate levels of genetic variation within populations and that severely bottlenecked populations should not be discounted as possible donors in genetic rescue programs for endangered species.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Diagram of the crossing experiment.

Crosses (<$>\raster="rg1"<$>) identify replica lost during the process of inbreeding. In the between-strain F2 hybrids, offspring from hybrid-inbred matings resulted either from matings of F1 hybrids with Slg inbred or Wt inbred flies (only matings between F1 between-strain hybrids and Slg inbred flies are shown for simplicity). Pairs that did not lay any eggs are excluded from the calculations.

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Grants and funding

This project was funded by the University of Canterbury and the Brian Mason Science and Technical Trust (http://www.brianmasontrust.org/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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