Genetic parameters of minks Aleutian Disease infection and fertility traits

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli tarkastella plasmasytoosiin sairastumisalttiuden geneettistä vaihtelua minkeillä ja selvittää plasmasytoosin yhteyksiä hedelmällisyysominaisuuksiin. Tutkimusaineisto saatiin Suomen Turkiseläinten Kasvattajain Liitto ry:ltä. Aineisto sisälsi yhden turkistilan plasmasytoositietoja vuosilta 2006 – 2010. Aineistossa oli 27 753 yksivuotiasta naarasminkkiä, joista plasmasytoositestattuja oli 18 478 kpl. Vain yli kolme pentua saaneet naaraat oli testattu. Sairaita aineistossa oli 9,2 %. Sukupuuaineistossa oli 41 573 eläimen tiedot. Tutkimuksessa plasmasytoosiin sairastumista, tiinehtymistä ja penikointia käsiteltiin kaksiluokkaisina joko–tai -ominaisuuksina. Tiinehtyminen oli ilmoitettu muuttujilla 1 = tyhjä ja 2 = tiine. Jos naaras oli saanut pentuja tai luonut tai menettänyt pentunsa, merkittiin tiinehtyminen onnistuneeksi. Penikointia kuvattiin muuttujilla 1 = luonut tai menettänyt pentunsa ja 2 = penikoinut. Pentuekoossa oli ilmoitettu pentujen määrä. Perinnölliset tunnusluvut arvioitiin monen ominaisuuden mallilla restricted maximum likelihood (REML) -menetelmään perustuvalla DMU-ohjelmalla. Tutkittavien ominaisuuksien periytymisasteet olivat pieniä. Plasmasytoosiin sairastumisen periytymisasteen arvoksi saatiin 0,07 joka oli pienempi kuin pentueen vaikutus sairastumiseen. Koska pentuetekijä sisältää osan emon hoitokyvystä, saattaa suuri pentuetekijän vaikutus antaa viitteitä siitä, että myös geneettisellä maternaalitekijällä olisi vaikutusta plasmasytoosiin sairastumiseen. Periytymisaste tiinehtymiselle oli 0,07, penikoinnille 0,04 ja pentuekoolle 0,08. Plasmasytoosiresistenssin ja hedelmällisyysominaisuuksien välillä havaittiin positiivinen geneettinen korrelaatio. Geneettinen korrelaatio plasmasytoosialttiudelle ja penikoinnille oli 0,447 ± 0,132 ja geneettinen korrelaatio plasmasytoosialttiudelle ja pentuekoolle oli 0,290 ± 0,108. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella minkkien plasmasytoosiin sairastumisella vaikuttaisi olevan perinnöllisiä eroja. Vaikka ominaisuuden periytymisaste oli matala, on siihen mahdollista vaikuttaa jalostuksen avulla. Plasmasytoosiin sairastumisalttiuden ja hedelmällisyysominaisuuksien välillä havaittiin suotuisa korrelaatio. Kun valintaa tehdään hyvien hedelmällisyysominaisuuksien osalta, valitaan samalla myös vastustuskykyisempiä eläimiä.The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of minks Aleutian Disease (AD) infections and investigate the genetic relationships between Aleutian Disease infection and fertility traits. The research data was obtained from the Finnish Fur Breeders Association. The data had information from one mink farm in years 2006-2010. The data contained 27 753 one year old female minks. Only those females who had more than three kits were tested. There were 18 478 tested minks of which 9.2 % had AD. The pedigree data had 41 573 animals. In this study AD infection, pregnancy and felicity were binary traits. AD inf. 1 = sick, 2 = healthy. If female had kit(s) or aborted or lost her kit(s) after birth, pregnancy (PREG) = 2, otherwise = 1. If female lost her kits after birth, felicity (FEL) = 1. If litter size were at least one, FEL = 2. The heritability estimates and variance components (REML) were calculated using multi trait animal model and DMU-software. Heritability estimates for the studied traits were low: 0.07 for AD infection, 0.07 for PREG, 0.04 for FEL and 0.08 for litter size. The heritability estimate for AD was smaller than the common litter variance for the trait. Genetic correlations between AD inf. and FEL, and AD inf. and litter size were positive. The genetic correlations between AD inf. and FEL were 0.447 ± 0.132 and between AD inf. and litter size 0.290 ± 0.108. The results suggest that resistance for AD inf. has genetic variation. Although the heritability estimate for the trait was low, it can be affected by selection. Genetic correlations between AD inf. and fertility traits were favourable. Selection for larger litter size could increase mink resistance for AD infection

Arctic Paleoceanography Cruise KH21-234 with R/V Kronprins Haakon

We set sail from Longyearbyen on 30.6.2021 to collect surface sediments, long sediment archives, water and plankton samples. The study area is located north of Svalbard, within the seasonal and permanent sea ice covered Arctic Ocean. We took stations N of Svalbard, near Nordaustlandet, Sophia Basin, Yermak Plateau and on the shelf east of Svalbard. In total, we had 52 stations. We deployed the multicorer at least once at every station and sampled the core tops already onboard. These samples will be included in the Arctic Surface Sediment DNA Database, which we will use to establish new aDNA based sea ice proxies. We recovered gravity cores from 12 stations that can be used to reconstruct the Arctic sea ice history in the Holocene, last glacial and likely also Last Interglacial. We collected ice and water and filtered these for eDNA and biomarkers, and water for tracing the isotope signal of the different water masses in the region (Atlantic Water, Polar Water).publishedVersio

DNA-overvåking av brunbjørn i Karasjok 2020 ved bruk av hårfeller

DNA-overvåking av brunbjørn i et totalt 650 km2 stort område i Karasjok kommune i Troms og Finnmark ble utført med hårfeller med luktstoff i 2 måneder fra juni til august i 2020. Overvåkingen ble utført i tre deler; et hårfelleprosjekt sentralt i Karasjok, et hårfelleprosjekt i Anàrjohka og et hårfelleprosjekt utført av et elgjaktlag i jaktfelt 28. Vi brukte et 5 x 5 km rutesystem med totalt 26 ruter med én hårfelle i hver rute, og der hårfellen ble flyttet etter en måned til en annen lokalitet i samme rute. I tillegg var to hårfeller plassert på geografiske punkt av elgjaktlag i 2 uker. Det ble samlet inn til sammen 58 hårprøver fra hårfellene (i tillegg til 9 ekskrementprøver). For de 16 hårfellene sentralt plassert i Karasjok var 24 av de 48 innsamlede prøvene (50 %) positive for brunbjørn i DNA-analysen ved laboratoriet på NIBIO Svanhovd. Fra disse prøvene ga 22 prøver en fullstendig identifiserende DNA-profil som viste 8 ulike bjørner (3 hannbjørn og 5 hunnbjørn). Bjørnetettheten ble estimert til 0,20 bjørn/10km2 som er i samsvar med forrige år. Totalt ble det funnet 11 ulike bjørneindivider (5 hannbjørn og 6 hunnbjørn) for de 3 hårfelleprosjektene. Av disse 11 var 9 bjørner tidligere påvist, mens 2 av bjørnene (2 hannbjørner) var nye. Hårfelleprosjektetene bidrar med unik geografisk og tidsmessig informasjon om bjørneaktivitenen i området, og 4 av de 11 påviste bjørnene var i 2020 kun påvist igjennom hårfelleprosjektene.publishedVersio

The speciation landscape of European whitefish in Northern Fennoscandia – the importance of deglaciation history, standing genetic variation and natural selection

During the last deglaciation, one clade of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus L.) colonized the lakes in the three contemporary watercourses of northern Fennoscandia (Pasvik, Tana and Alta) and diverged thereafter in sympatry. This thesis investigates the interplay between evolutionary processes and standing genetic variation in shaping phenotypic and genetic divergence, and how reproductive isolation is established and maintained in whitefish. In this thesis, I demonstrated how selection has shaped the whitefish population across a large spatial scale despite the clear effect of random genetic drift - presumably arising from the colonization history. The diversification of European whitefish follows a (non)parallel trajectory, as morphs in the different watercourses were characterised with various levels of phenotypic and genetic divergence, and signatures of both within and between lakes divergence were observed in all studies conducted within this thesis. As the reproductive isolation between whitefish eco-morph is not complete, hybridisation between morphs occurs frequently, which may refer relatively weak postzygotic barriers to gene flow between morphs. When whitefish morphs adapt to a specific niche, they encounter different environment conditions, like water temperature and prey availability that are important factors determining size at sexual maturity, somatic growth, and gonad development. Consequently, allochrony together with spatial differences in spawning may reinforces the ecological divergence and help to build up barriers to gene flow between the whitefish morphs. Indeed, allochrony seems to be working towards stronger reproductive isolation, as the advancement of the maturity, as well as the proportion of mature individuals differed between morphs. The results of this thesis are in line with the theory of ecological speciation and show how selection has shaped the European whitefish morphs towards stronger phenotype-environment correlation and more diversified populations, despite the decreasing amount of standing genetic variation between the three contemporary watercourses. Thus, the occurrence of whitefish morphs in the three watercourses may be an outcome of convergent evolution, where similar phenotypes have arisen from different genetic backgrounds

Data from: Diversifying selection drives parallel evolution of gill raker number and body size along the speciation continuum of European whitefish

Adaptive radiation is the evolution of ecological and phenotypical diversity. It arises via ecological opportunity that promotes the exploration of underutilized or novel niches mediating specialization and reproductive isolation. The assumed precondition for rapid local adaptation is diversifying natural selection, but random genetic drift could also be a major driver of this process. We used 27 populations of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) from nine lakes distributed in three neighbouring subarctic watercourses in northern Fennoscandia as a model to test the importance of random drift versus diversifying natural selection for parallel evolution of adaptive phenotypic traits. We contrasted variation for two key adaptive phenotypic traits correlated with resource utilization of polymorphic fish; the number of gill rakers and the total length of fish, with the posterior distribution of neutral genetic differentiation from 13 microsatellite loci, to test if the observed phenotypic divergence could be achieved by random genetic drift alone. Our results show that both traits have been under diversifying selection and that the evolution of these morphs has been driven by isolation through habitat adaptations. We conclude that diversifying selection acting on gill raker number and body size has played a significant role in the ongoing adaptive radiation of European whitefish morphs in this region

Diversifying selection drives parallel evolution of gill raker number and body size along the speciation continuum of European whitefish

Adaptive radiation is the evolution of ecological and phenotypical diversity. It arises via ecological opportunity that promotes the exploration of underutilized or novel niches mediating specialization and reproductive isolation. The assumed precondition for rapid local adaptation is diversifying natural selection, but random genetic drift could also be a major driver of this process. We used 27 populations of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) from nine lakes distributed in three neighboring subarctic watercourses in northern Fennoscandia as a model to test the importance of random drift versus diversifying natural selection for parallel evolution of adaptive phenotypic traits. We contrasted variation for two key adaptive phenotypic traits correlated with resource utilization of polymorphic fish; the number of gill rakers and the total length of fish, with the posterior distribution of neutral genetic differentiation from 13 microsatellite loci, to test whether the observed phenotypic divergence could be achieved by random genetic drift alone. Our results show that both traits have been under diversifying selection and that the evolution of these morphs has been driven by isolation through habitat adaptations. We conclude that diversifying selection acting on gill raker number and body size has played a significant role in the ongoing adaptive radiation of European whitefish morphs in this region

Diversifying selection drives parallel evolution of gill raker number and body size along the speciation continuum of European whitefish

Adaptive radiation is the evolution of ecological and phenotypical diversity. It arises via ecological opportunity that promotes the exploration of underutilized or novel niches mediating specialization and reproductive isolation. The assumed precondition for rapid local adaptation is diversifying natural selection, but random genetic drift could also be a major driver of this process. We used 27 populations of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) from nine lakes distributed in three neighboring subarctic watercourses in northern Fennoscandia as a model to test the importance of random drift versus diversifying natural selection for parallel evolution of adaptive phenotypic traits. We contrasted variation for two key adaptive phenotypic traits correlated with resource utilization of polymorphic fish; the number of gill rakers and the total length of fish, with the posterior distribution of neutral genetic differentiation from 13 microsatellite loci, to test whether the observed phenotypic divergence could be achieved by random genetic drift alone. Our results show that both traits have been under diversifying selection and that the evolution of these morphs has been driven by isolation through habitat adaptations. We conclude that diversifying selection acting on gill raker number and body size has played a significant role in the ongoing adaptive radiation of European whitefish morphs in this region

Diversifying selection drives parallel evolution of gill raker number and body size along the speciation continuum of European whitefish

Adaptive radiation is the evolution of ecological and phenotypical diversity. It arises via ecological opportunity that promotes the exploration of underutilized or novel niches mediating specialization and reproductive isolation. The assumed precondition for rapid local adaptation is diversifying natural selection, but random genetic drift could also be a major driver of this process. We used 27 populations of European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) from nine lakes distributed in three neighboring subarctic watercourses in northern Fennoscandia as a model to test the importance of random drift versus diversifying natural selection for parallel evolution of adaptive phenotypic traits. We contrasted variation for two key adaptive phenotypic traits correlated with resource utilization of polymorphic fish; the number of gill rakers and the total length of fish, with the posterior distribution of neutral genetic differentiation from 13 microsatellite loci, to test whether the observed phenotypic divergence could be achieved by random genetic drift alone. Our results show that both traits have been under diversifying selection and that the evolution of these morphs has been driven by isolation through habitat adaptations. We conclude that diversifying selection acting on gill raker number and body size has played a significant role in the ongoing adaptive radiation of European whitefish morphs in this region

DNA-overvåking av brunbjørn i Karasjok 2020 ved bruk av hårfeller

DNA-overvåking av brunbjørn i et totalt 650 km2 stort område i Karasjok kommune i Troms og Finnmark ble utført med hårfeller med luktstoff i 2 måneder fra juni til august i 2020. Overvåkingen ble utført i tre deler; et hårfelleprosjekt sentralt i Karasjok, et hårfelleprosjekt i Anàrjohka og et hårfelleprosjekt utført av et elgjaktlag i jaktfelt 28. Vi brukte et 5 x 5 km rutesystem med totalt 26 ruter med én hårfelle i hver rute, og der hårfellen ble flyttet etter en måned til en annen lokalitet i samme rute. I tillegg var to hårfeller plassert på geografiske punkt av elgjaktlag i 2 uker. Det ble samlet inn til sammen 58 hårprøver fra hårfellene (i tillegg til 9 ekskrementprøver). For de 16 hårfellene sentralt plassert i Karasjok var 24 av de 48 innsamlede prøvene (50 %) positive for brunbjørn i DNA-analysen ved laboratoriet på NIBIO Svanhovd. Fra disse prøvene ga 22 prøver en fullstendig identifiserende DNA-profil som viste 8 ulike bjørner (3 hannbjørn og 5 hunnbjørn). Bjørnetettheten ble estimert til 0,20 bjørn/10km2 som er i samsvar med forrige år. Totalt ble det funnet 11 ulike bjørneindivider (5 hannbjørn og 6 hunnbjørn) for de 3 hårfelleprosjektene. Av disse 11 var 9 bjørner tidligere påvist, mens 2 av bjørnene (2 hannbjørner) var nye. Hårfelleprosjektetene bidrar med unik geografisk og tidsmessig informasjon om bjørneaktivitenen i området, og 4 av de 11 påviste bjørnene var i 2020 kun påvist igjennom hårfelleprosjektene