Dalton, Desire Lee

Kotze, Antoinette

Smit-Robinson, Hanneline A.

Vermaak, Elaine

English

The White-winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi) population is listed as globally Critically Endangered.White-winged Flufftails are only known to occur, with any regularity, in the high-altitude wetlands ofSouth Africa and Ethiopia. Threats to the species include the limited number of suitable breeding sitesin Ethiopia and severe habitat degradation and loss both in Ethiopia and South Africa. Toll-like receptors(TLRs) are increasingly being studied in a variety of taxa as a broader approach to determine functionalgenetic diversity. In this study, we confirm low genetic diversity in the innate immune regions of theWhite-winged Flufftail similar to that observed in other bird species that have undergone populationbottlenecks. Low TLR diversity in White-winged Flufftail indicates that this species is more likely to bethreatened by changes to the environment that would potentially expose the species to new diseases.Thus, conservation efforts should be directed towards maintaining pristine habitat for White-wingedFlufftail in its current distribution range. To date, no studies on immunogenetic variation in Whitewinged Flufftail have been conducted and to our knowledge, this is the first study of TLR geneticdiversity in a critically endangered species

Teeside University's Research Repository

Lack of diversity at innate immunity Toll-like receptor genes in the Critically Endangered White winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi)

https://research.tees.ac.uk/files/35719609/srep36757_published.pdf

Lack of diversity at innate immunity Toll-like receptor genes in the Critically Endangered White winged Flufftail (Sarothrura ayresi)

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