title: The genetic rescue of two bottlenecked South Island robin populations using translocations of inbred donors.
abstract: Populations forced through bottlenecks typically lose genetic variation and exhibit inbreeding depression. 'Genetic rescue' techniques that introduce individuals from outbred populations can be highly effective in reversing the deleterious effects of inbreeding, but have limited application for the majority of endangered species, which survive only in a few bottlenecked populations. We tested the effectiveness of using highly inbred populations as donors to rescue two isolated and bottlenecked populations of the South Island robin (Petroica australis). Reciprocal translocations significantly increased heterozygosity and allelic diversity. Increased genetic diversity was accompanied by increased juvenile survival and recruitment, sperm quality, and immunocompetence of hybrid individuals (crosses between the two populations) compared with inbred control individuals (crosses within each population). Our results confirm that the implementation of 'genetic rescue' using bottlenecked populations as donors provides a way of preserving endangered species and restoring their viability when outbred donor populations no longer exist.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand. alex.weiss@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heber
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varsani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Girg
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kempenaers
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Briskie
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D056727:Endangered Species; D005260:Female; D056084:Genetic Fitness; D005838:Genotype; D006384:Hemagglutination; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D007121:Immunocompetence; D007178:Inbreeding; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009520:New Zealand; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000378:metabolism; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011157:Population Dynamics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D020308:Songbirds / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins