Descrizione del progetto
Uno sguardo più da vicino all’ibridazione naturale delle tartarughe marine
Mentre gli scienziati studiano modi per preservare le specie in via di estinzione, lungo la costa brasiliana sta avvenendo un processo naturale di ibridazione. Le tartarughe embricate e le tartarughe comuni, due tartarughe marine fra le specie a rischio di estinzione, si stanno ibridando. Il loro genoma differisce notevolmente in quanto le due specie si sono separate 30 milioni di anni fa. Il progetto TurtleHyb, finanziato dall’UE, studierà le ragioni e le conseguenze dell’ibridazione delle tartarughe marine. Il progetto studierà i casi di ibridazione antichi e il loro rapporto con le popolazioni attuali; inoltre, analizzerà i genomi dei genitori e dei piccoli ibridi. I dati raccolti aiuteranno a comprendere il processo di ibridazione di queste tartarughe marine e a far progredire la nostra comprensione generale dell’ibridazione delle specie.
Obiettivo
Hawksbills and Loggerheads are two endangered sea turtles species that separated approximately 30 million years ago. Despite this very long divergence time, they are currently hybridizing on the Brazilian coast. Among nesting females morphologically identified as Hawksbills, 42% are F1 hybrids. Hybrids can backcross with both parental species and produce viable offspring. This appears to be a beautiful natural experiment, possibly driven by population decline that favour interspecific mating, to study and understand species hybridization under the extreme conditions of secondary contacts between highly divergent genomes. Here I propose to study causes and consequences of the hybridization in Loggerhead and Hawksbill sea turtles using both whole genomes and RAD sequencing data. I will a) infer timing and intensity of putative ancient hybridization events that may have also occurred in the past, and their relationship with the population size dynamic. Then I will b) dissect the current hybridization event occurring in Brazil, looking for genomic regions associated with reproductive isolation and incompatibilities, and for segregation distortion along the genomes in hybrids parents and hatchlings. The amount of data generated will be unprecedented for sea turtles, will be helpful to identify risks and evolution opportunities of the hybridization process in these turtle species, and will contribute to the general understanding of species hybridization and its genomic aspects. The proposal includes transfer of knowledge to the host institution and the training of the candidate in innovative genomic and statistical techniques. Results will also strengthen the collaborative network of researchers in Europe and the Americas studying sea turtles and their hybridization. This project is in line with current European guidelines to increase knowledge of marine wildlife to protect the environment and adapt to climate change.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinatore
44121 Ferrara
Italia