Narwhal Genome Reveals Long-Term Low Genetic Diversity despite Current Large Abundance Size

Summary: The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a highly specialized endemic Arctic cetacean, restricted to the Arctic seas bordering the North Atlantic. Low levels of genetic diversity have been observed across several narwhal populations using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites. Despite this, the g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:iScience
Main Authors: Michael V. Westbury, Bent Petersen, Eva Garde, Mads Peter Heide-Jørgensen, Eline D. Lorenzen
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2019
Subjects:
Science
Q
Arctic
Greenland
Monodon monoceros
narwhal*
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2019.03.023
https://doaj.org/article/ca3cc20e8a7d4b2cbbd4dff7222e8b12
Description
Summary:Summary: The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a highly specialized endemic Arctic cetacean, restricted to the Arctic seas bordering the North Atlantic. Low levels of genetic diversity have been observed across several narwhal populations using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites. Despite this, the global abundance of narwhals was recently estimated at ∼170,000 individuals. However, the species is still considered vulnerable to changing climates due to its high specialization and restricted Arctic distribution. We assembled and annotated a genome from a narwhal from West Greenland. We find relatively low diversity at the genomic scale and show that this did not arise by recent inbreeding, but rather has been stable over an extended evolutionary timescale. We also find that the current large global abundance most likely reflects a recent rapid expansion from a much smaller founding population. : Biological Sciences; Genetics; Evolutionary Biology Subject Areas: Biological Sciences, Genetics, Evolutionary Biology

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