Genetic Diversity and Population Dynamics of Leptobrachium leishanense (Anura: Megophryidae) as Determined by Tetranucleotide Microsatellite Markers Developed from Its Genome

Persisting declination of amphibians around the world has resulted in the public attaching importance to the conservation of their biodiversity. Genetic data can be greatly helpful in conservation planning and management, especially in species that are small in size and hard to observe. It is essential to perform genetic assessments for the conservation of Leptobrachium leishanense, an endangered toad and receiving secondary protection on the list of state-protected wildlife in China. However, current molecular markers with low reliability and efficiency hinder studies. Here, we sampled 120 adult toes from the population in the Leishan Mountain, 23 of which were used to develop tetranucleotide microsatellite markers based on one reference L. leishanense genome. After primer optimization, stability detection, and polymorphism detection, we obtained 12 satisfactory microsatellite loci. Then, we used these loci to evaluate the genetic diversity and population dynamics of the 120 individuals. Our results show that there is a low degree of inbreeding in the population, and it has a high genetic diversity. Recently, the population has not experienced population bottlenecks, and the estimated effective population size was 424.3. Accordingly, stabilizing genetic diversity will be key to population sustainability. Recovering its habitat and avoiding intentional human use will be useful for conservation of this species.

The role of aquaria in beluga research and conservation

Aquaria that care for and maintain belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) under professional care have the opportunity to contribute to the conservation of wild belugas through research, expertise in animal care and husbandry, and engaging and educating the public about threats to the species’ health and population sustainability. In an aquarium setting, belugas can be studied under controlled conditions, with known variables that are often difficult to discern when studying wild belugas. Information on nutrition, health status and environmental parameters can be easily obtained in a controlled setting. Biological samples are collected from professionally trained whales that voluntarily participate in informative experimental paradigms. Research studies in aquaria seek to contribute to the recovery and management of endangered beluga populations, such as those in Cook Inlet. Mystic Aquarium’s efforts are presented as a case study. Key research priorities address action items in the Cook Inlet Beluga Recovery Plan and include: (1) understanding the beluga immune system, microbial communities, pathogens and disease; (2) development of non-invasive methods for assessing reproductive status, body condition and health in wild whales; (3) investigation of diving physiology and the impact of altered dive patterns on health; (4) understanding reproduction, a key to recovery and sustainability of wild populations; (5) development and testing of new technologies for tracking and monitoring whales and habitat use; and (6) understanding how noise affects beluga hearing, behaviour and physiology. Expertise in animal handling, behaviour and nutrition contribute to rescue, rehabilitation and capture release efforts. Moreover, ‘students’ of all ages have the opportunity to be engaged, educated and contribute to beluga conservation.

A place-based approach to population sustainability: Demographic and economic change at the local level in Fife, Scotland

Population sustainability is a prevalent yet nebulous concept within academic and policy debates surrounding the nature and consequences of demographic and economic change. This research seeks to add nuance to understandings of population sustainability in ageing societies. The fiscal challenges posed by population ageing mean that more and more states are implementing specific policies in response to it, with limited degrees of success thus far. This investigation examines place-based understandings of population sustainability on the part of local stakeholders in a region of Scotland, a country facing significant demographic challenges and which is enacting policy measures specifically aimed at promoting population sustainability. The findings suggest that the on-the-ground realities of population sustainability are nuanced and complex. As such, there is scope for greater attention to the diversity and complexities of population and economic change at the sub-national scale in broader academic conceptualisations of and policy responses to the increasingly pressing issue of population sustainability.

Genetic Connectivity of Seamount Populations of Bluenose Warehou (Hyperoglyphe antarctica)

Quantifying the level of population connectivity within and between geographically separated single-species deep-water fisheries stocks will be vital for designing effective management plans to preserve such populations. Despite this, stock structure in many fisheries is still poorly described and, at best, subject to precautionary management. Here we use rapidly evolving mitochondrial genes and microsatellite markers to investigate population connectivity patterns in commercially targeted Hyperoglyphe antarctica populations between four seamounts within the Tristan da Cunha Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). We find little evidence of population genetic structure between fished populations, with both mtDNA and microsatellite markers showing that there is low genetic population diversity (reflecting substantial gene flow) across the four seamounts. We also find little genetic differentiation between H. antarctica across the wider Southern Hemisphere. Such results support the role for coordinated management of all four populations across the seamounts, and potentially including stocks associated with Australia and New Zealand, with expansion of the fishery clearly having the potential to substantially impact the source of recruits and therefore wider population sustainability.

Genome Editing in Latin America: Regional Regulatory Overview

The power and promise of genome editing, CRISPR specifically, was first realized with the discovery of CRISPR loci in the 1980s.3 Since that time, CRISPR-Cas systems have been further developed enabling genome editing in virtually all organisms across the tree of life.3 In the last few years, we have seen the development of a diverse set of CRISPR-based technologies that has revolutionized genome manipulation.4 Enabling a more diverse set of actors than has been seen with other emerging technologies to redefine research and development for biotechnology products encompassing food, agriculture, and medicine.4 Currently, the CRISPR community encompasses over 40,000 authors at 20,000 institutions that have documented their research in over 20,000 published and peer-reviewed studies.5 These CRISPR-based genome editing tools have promised tremendous opportunities in agriculture for the breeding of crops and livestock across the food supply chain. Potentially addressing issues associated with a growing global population, sustainability concerns, and possibly help address the effects of climate change.4 These promises however, come along-side concerns of environmental and socio-economic risks associated with CRISPR-based genome editing, and concerns that governance systems are not keeping pace with the technological development and are ill-equipped, or not well suited, to evaluate these risks. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched an initiative in 2020 to understand the complexities of these new tools, their potential impacts on the LAC region, and how IDB may best invest in its potential adoption and governance strategies. This first series of discussion documents: “Genome Editing in Latin America: Regulatory Overview,” and “CRISPR Patent and Licensing Policy” are part of this larger initiative to examine the regulatory and institutional frameworks surrounding gene editing via CRISPR-based technologies in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions. Focusing on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, they set the stage for a deeper analysis of the issues they present which will be studied over the course of the next year through expert solicitations in the region, the development of a series of crop-specific case studies, and a final comprehensive regional analysis of the issues discovered.

Genome Editing in Latin America: CRISPR Patent and Licensing Policy

The power and promise of genome editing, CRISPR specifically, was first realized with the discovery of CRISPR loci in the 1980s.i Since that time, CRISPR-Cas systems have been further developed enabling genome editing in virtually all organisms across the tree of life.i In the last few years, we have seen the development of a diverse set of CRISPR-based technologies that has revolutionized genome manipulation.ii Enabling a more diverse set of actors than has been seen with other emerging technologies to redefine research and development for biotechnology products encompassing food, agriculture, and medicine.ii Currently, the CRISPR community encompasses over 40,000 authors at 20,000 institutions that have documented their research in over 20,000 published and peer-reviewed studies.iii These CRISPR-based genome editing tools have promised tremendous opportunities in agriculture for the breeding of crops and livestock across the food supply chain. Potentially addressing issues associated with a growing global population, sustainability concerns, and possibly help address the effects of climate change.i These promises however, come along-side concerns of environmental and socio-economic risks associated with CRISPR-based genome editing, and concerns that governance systems are not keeping pace with the technological development and are ill-equipped, or not well suited, to evaluate these risks. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched an initiative in 2020 to understand the complexities of these new tools, their potential impacts on the LAC region, and how IDB may best invest in its potential adoption and governance strategies. This first series of discussion documents: “Genome Editing in Latin America: Regulatory Overview,” and “CRISPR Patent and Licensing Policy” are part of this larger initiative to examine the regulatory and institutional frameworks surrounding gene editing via CRISPR-based technologies in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) regions. Focusing on Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, they set the stage for a deeper analysis of the issues they present which will be studied over the course of the next year through expert solicitations in the region, the development of a series of crop-specific case studies, and a final comprehensive regional analysis of the issues discovered.

Population status and sustainability of Yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea sulphurea) on Pasoso Island, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Ihsan M, Mardiastuti A, Masy’ud B, Mulyani YA. 2021. Population status and sustainability of Yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea sulphurea) on Pasoso Island, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3277-3283. Yellow-crested cockatoo (Cacatua sulphurea sulphurea) is a sub-species of Cacatua sulphurea which is spread in Sulawesi and several surrounding islands, including on Pasoso Island. This cockatoo population is under tremendous pressure until categorized as critical. So far, there is no comprehensive information about population status and sustainable population size. The objective of this research area was to assess the current status or size of the population, study the size of the sustainable population and study the determinants factor of the Yellow-crested cockatoo population sustainability on Pasoso Island. The result showed that the population of the Yellow-crested cockatoo in Pasoso Island was only 3 individuals, consists of 2 adults as the parent, and 1 young individual. From 5 analyzed scenarios of the minimum sustainable population size, the 4.1 scenario is the best scenario to maintain the sustainability of the Yellow-crested cockatoo population on Pasoso Island, which is a minimum population size of four pairs (8 adult individuals). The determinants of population sustainbility analysis with the minimum sustainable population size (8 individuals or 4 pairs of broodstock) showed that inbreeding and predation as determinant factors. These factors need to be controlled through mating management and predator control by both humans and carnivorous animals.

DOP45 Utilization and sustainability of biologics in CD - A nationwide study from the epi-IIRN

Background Real-world studies demonstrate that ~33% of CD patients fail to respond to induction therapy with biologics. In this nationwide study we aimed to evaluate trends in biologics utilization and sustainability in CD during the last 15 years. Methods This study was performed on data from the four Israeli Health Maintenance Organizations, covering 98% of the population. Sustainability was defined as continuous treatment without IBD-related surgeries and at most one short steroid course. Sustainability was compared across different biologics utilizing a propensity score (PS) weighted analysis, estimated by generalized boosted modeling (GBM). Results 16,936 patients were diagnosed with CD in Israel since 2005 (2,932 [17%] pediatric-onset, 14,004 [83%] adult-onset), of whom 5,804 (34%) were ever treated with biologics (1,659 [57%] pediatric-onset, 4,145 adults [30%], OR 3.1 [95%CI 2.9–3.4]) with a median of 6.4 years follow up (IQR 3.4–9.9). Infliximab was the most common first-line treatment in children (58%, p<0.001), while adalimumab was the most common in adults (63%, p<0.001). However, in recent years there was an increase in adalimumab and vedolizumab utilization in parallel with a decrease in infliximab (Figure). The rate of initiating biologics in the first year of diagnosis increased from 20% among all biologics users during 2005–2010 through 36% during 2011–2014 and 74% since 2015 (p<0.001). The use of combination therapy with immunomodulators is becoming less common in last years and decreased in infliximab from 38% until 2010 to 21% in 2018 (P<0.001) and in adalimumab from 22% to 7%, respectively (p<0.001). The sustainability rate in those treated with infliximab was 65% at one year from initiation of biologics, and 46% and 42% at three and five years, thereafter; compared to 72%, 61% and 57% with adalimumab and 84% and 80% after one and two years in vedolizumab. The rate of primary non-response was 21% with infliximab, 17% with adalimumab and 12% with vedolizumab. Sustainability was associated with male sex (HR 0.9 [95%CI 0.8–0.95]) and earlier initiation of biologics (HR 0.92 [95%CI 0.9–0.95]). In the PS-adjusted model the sustainability of both infliximab (HR 0.7 [95%CI 0.6–0.8]) and vedolizumab (HR 0.8 [95%CI 0.7–0.95]) were lower than adalimumab. Compared with monotherapy, combination therapy did not change significantly the sustainability rate of all three biologics (adalimumab: HR 1.3 [95%CI 0.8–2.1], infliximab: HR 1.2 [95%CI 0.7–1.9], and vedolizumab: HR 0.8 [95%CI 0.5–1.3]). Conclusion Biologics are being increasingly used in CD and earlier during the disease course, but most patients do not sustain treatment at five years. Sustainability rate was higher with adalimumab compared with either infliximab or vedolizumab

Use of a Managed Solitary Bee to Pollinate Almonds: Population Sustainability and Increased Fruit Set

Osmia spp. are excellent orchard pollinators but evidence that their populations can be sustained in orchard environments and their use results in increased fruit production is scarce. We released an Osmia cornuta population in an almond orchard and measured its population dynamics, as well as visitation rates and fruit set at increasing distances from the nesting stations. Honeybees were 10 times more abundant than O. cornuta. However, the best models relating fruit set and bee visitation included only O. cornuta visitation, which explained 41% and 40% of the initial and final fruit set. Distance from the nesting stations explained 27.7% and 22.1% of the variability in initial and final fruit set. Of the 198 females released, 99 (54.4%) established and produced an average of 9.15 cells. Female population growth was 1.28. By comparing our results with those of previous O. cornuta studies we identify two important populational bottlenecks (female establishment and male-biased progeny sex ratios). Our study demonstrates that even a small population of a highly effective pollinator may have a significant impact on fruit set. Our results are encouraging for the use of Osmia managed populations and for the implementation of measures to promote wild pollinators in agricultural environments.