Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity
We examined six historical specimens of the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) using DNA isolated from documented baleen plates from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sequences from the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region from these samples were compare...
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2000
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ftunivnebraskali:oai:digitalcommons.unl.edu:usdeptcommercepub-1077 2023-11-12T04:16:47+01:00 Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity Rosenbaum, Howard C. Egan, Mary G. Clapham, Phillip Brownell, Robert L., Jr. Malik, Sobia Brown, Moira White, Bradley Walsh, Peter Desalle, Rob 2000-12-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdeptcommercepub/80 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usdeptcommercepub/article/1077/viewcontent/Brownell_CB_2000_Utility_N_Atlantic_right_whale.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdeptcommercepub/80 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usdeptcommercepub/article/1077/viewcontent/Brownell_CB_2000_Utility_N_Atlantic_right_whale.pdf Publications, Agencies and Staff of the U.S. Department of Commerce Environmental Sciences text 2000 ftunivnebraskali 2023-10-30T09:43:02Z We examined six historical specimens of the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) using DNA isolated from documented baleen plates from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sequences from the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region from these samples were compared with those from a near-exhaustive survey (269 of approximately 320 individuals) of the remaining right whales in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Our results suggest that there has been only relatively modest change in maternal lineage diversity over the past century in the North Atlantic right whale population. Any significant reduction in genetic variation in the species most likely occurred prior to the late nineteenth century. One historical specimen was from the last documented female capable of propagating one of the maternal lineages in the population today; no females in the existing population have been found to carry this mtDNA haplotype. Analysis of the only specimens from the eastern North Atlantic right whale population ever to be examined revealed that eastern and western North Atlantic right whales may not have been genetically differentiated populations. Loss of gene diversity experienced by North Atlantic right whales over the last century has been modest, and the six decades of protection have been successful in maintaining much of the maternal lineage diversity that was present in the late nineteenth century. Text Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln: DigitalCommons@UNL |
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Environmental Sciences |
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Environmental Sciences Rosenbaum, Howard C. Egan, Mary G. Clapham, Phillip Brownell, Robert L., Jr. Malik, Sobia Brown, Moira White, Bradley Walsh, Peter Desalle, Rob Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity |
topic_facet |
Environmental Sciences |
description |
We examined six historical specimens of the endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) using DNA isolated from documented baleen plates from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sequences from the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region from these samples were compared with those from a near-exhaustive survey (269 of approximately 320 individuals) of the remaining right whales in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Our results suggest that there has been only relatively modest change in maternal lineage diversity over the past century in the North Atlantic right whale population. Any significant reduction in genetic variation in the species most likely occurred prior to the late nineteenth century. One historical specimen was from the last documented female capable of propagating one of the maternal lineages in the population today; no females in the existing population have been found to carry this mtDNA haplotype. Analysis of the only specimens from the eastern North Atlantic right whale population ever to be examined revealed that eastern and western North Atlantic right whales may not have been genetically differentiated populations. Loss of gene diversity experienced by North Atlantic right whales over the last century has been modest, and the six decades of protection have been successful in maintaining much of the maternal lineage diversity that was present in the late nineteenth century. |
format |
Text |
author |
Rosenbaum, Howard C. Egan, Mary G. Clapham, Phillip Brownell, Robert L., Jr. Malik, Sobia Brown, Moira White, Bradley Walsh, Peter Desalle, Rob |
author_facet |
Rosenbaum, Howard C. Egan, Mary G. Clapham, Phillip Brownell, Robert L., Jr. Malik, Sobia Brown, Moira White, Bradley Walsh, Peter Desalle, Rob |
author_sort |
Rosenbaum, Howard C. |
title |
Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity |
title_short |
Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity |
title_full |
Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity |
title_fullStr |
Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity |
title_full_unstemmed |
Utility of North Atlantic Right Whale Museum Specimens for Assessing Changes in Genetic Diversity |
title_sort |
utility of north atlantic right whale museum specimens for assessing changes in genetic diversity |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdeptcommercepub/80 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usdeptcommercepub/article/1077/viewcontent/Brownell_CB_2000_Utility_N_Atlantic_right_whale.pdf |
genre |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
genre_facet |
Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale |
op_source |
Publications, Agencies and Staff of the U.S. Department of Commerce |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usdeptcommercepub/80 https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/usdeptcommercepub/article/1077/viewcontent/Brownell_CB_2000_Utility_N_Atlantic_right_whale.pdf |
_version_ |
1782333854773673984 |