Researchers from India have generated reference genomes for four threatened species of Asian hornbills, reports contributor Nikhil Sreekandan for Mongabay India.
The scientists from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) in Mysore and the CSIR–Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad assembled high-quality genomes for threatened Asian hornbill species including the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis), rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis), Malabar pied hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus), and wreathed hornbill (Rhyticeros undulatus).
Prior to this study, whole-genome information was available for only two of the 32 Asian hornbill species.
The research team used two types of genetic sequencing to create genetic maps for each of the species; together short- and long-read DNA sequencing helped researchers minimize errors.
“A genome is the complete genetic structure of an organism, [and] a reference genome is a baseline genome for a particular species,” said Pooja Pawar, corresponding author of the study and a doctoral researcher at NCF.
Pawar said that genomic tools allow scientists to examine species histories across the region and over time. “I could go back in time, to when the species originated or diverged from its sister species, and not restrict [my research] to the Western Ghats or northeast India.”
The team used statistical modeling to trace changes in hornbill populations over time, and discovered that climatic instability during the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 million to 11,000 years ago) reduced the effective population sizes of all four species. Among them, the widely distributed wreathed hornbill had a higher effective population size than the other three.
Meghana Natesh, a conservation geneticist at WWF India who wasn’t involved in the study, said genomics also allows researchers to understand the genetic variation in populations. “Genetic variation or diversity is crucial to the adaptive potential and long-term resilience of populations,” she said. Therefore, the findings provide a foundational tool for evaluating population resilience and informing conservation management.
“By comparing their genomes, we can attribute differences in their characteristics to the structural and functional variations within their genomes,” Pawar said.
Read the full story by Nikhil Sreekandan here.
Banner image: The rufous-necked hornbill is found in dense forests in northeastern India, with some of the highest numbers in Arunachal Pradesh state. Image by Shiv’s fotografia via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).
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