title: Complex Admixture Preceded and Followed the Extinction of Wisent in the Wild.
abstract: Retracing complex population processes that precede extreme bottlenecks may be impossible using data from living individuals. The wisent (Bison bonasus), Europe's largest terrestrial mammal, exemplifies such a population history, having gone extinct in the wild but subsequently restored by captive breeding efforts. Using low coverage genomic data from modern and historical individuals, we investigate population processes occurring before and after this extinction. Analysis of aligned genomes supports the division of wisent into two previously recognized subspecies, but almost half of the genomic alignment contradicts this population history as a result of incomplete lineage sorting and admixture. Admixture between subspecies populations occurred prior to extinction and subsequently during the captive breeding program. Admixture with the Bos cattle lineage is also widespread but results from ancient events rather than recent hybridization with domestics. Our study demonstrates the huge potential of historical genomes for both studying evolutionary histories and for guiding conservation strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Anatomy, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.|Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wecek
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Johanna L A
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Paijmans
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Taron
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xenikoudakis
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cahill
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Heintzman
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.|University of California Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA.
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Theriology, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petersberg, Russia.
authors.forename: Gennady
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baryshnikov
authors.affiliation: State National Park Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Kamieniuki, Belarus.
authors.forename: Aleksei N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Bunevich
authors.affiliation: Zoological Society of London, Institute of Zoology, Regent's Park, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Crees
authors.affiliation: Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom, Poland.|Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dobosz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, Armenia.
authors.forename: Ninna
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Manaserian
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nature Conservation Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Henryk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okarma
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences, Bialowieza, Poland.
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokarska
authors.affiliation: Zoological Society of London, Institute of Zoology, Regent's Park, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Samuel T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Turvey
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences, Bialowieza, Poland.
authors.forename: Jan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wójcik
authors.affiliation: Upper Silesian Museum, Bytom, Poland.
authors.forename: Waldemar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zyla
authors.affiliation: Department of Comparative Anatomy, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Szymura
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hofreiter
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barlow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic / Q000235:genetics; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016164:Bison / Q000235:genetics*; D001947:Breeding; D002417:Cattle; D000072441:DNA, Ancient / Q000032:analysis; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D051456:Gene Flow / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000072441:DNA, Ancient; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Bison bonasus; European bison; admixture; ancient DNA; aurochs; domestic cattle; hybridization.