Bottleneck‐associated changes in the genomic landscape of genetic diversity in wild lynx populations

• Published in: Evolutionary Applications
• Main Authors: Maria Lucena‐Perez, Daniel Kleinman‐Ruiz, Elena Marmesat, Alexander P. Saveljev, Krzysztof Schmidt, José A. Godoy
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2021
• Subjects: bottleneck; endangered species; genetic diversity; genetic drift; genetic erosion; genetic load; Evolution; QH359-425; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13302; https://doaj.org/article/1be0a5ec259e4709bdcac04d7e1be19d

Abstract Demographic bottlenecks generally reduce genetic diversity through more intense genetic drift, but their net effect may vary along the genome due to the random nature of genetic drift and to local effects of recombination, mutation, and selection. Here, we analyzed the changes in genetic diversity following a bottleneck by comparing whole‐genome diversity patterns in populations with and without severe recent documented declines of Iberian (Lynx pardinus, n = 31) and Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx, n = 29). As expected, overall genomic diversity correlated negatively with bottleneck intensity and/or duration. Correlations of genetic diversity with divergence, chromosome size, gene or functional site content, GC content, or recombination were observed in nonbottlenecked populations, but were weaker in bottlenecked populations. Also, functional features under intense purifying selection and the X chromosome showed an increase in the observed density of variants, even resulting in higher θW diversity than in nonbottlenecked populations. Increased diversity seems to be related to both a higher mutational input in those regions creating a large collection of low‐frequency variants, a few of which increase in frequency during the bottleneck to the point they become detectable with our limited sample, and the reduced efficacy of purifying selection, which affects not only protein structure and function but also the regulation of gene expression. The results of this study alert to the possible reduction of fitness and adaptive potential associated with the genomic erosion in regulatory elements. Further, the detection of a gain of diversity in ultra‐conserved elements can be used as a sensitive and easy‐to‐apply signature of genetic erosion in wild populations.