Journal of Heredity最新文献

{"title":"Inducing radiation resilience in frozen animal cells via mRNA coding for tardigrade damage-suppressor protein in support of space travel and Lunar storage.","authors":"Mary Hagedorn, Pierre Comizzoli, Lynne R Parenti, Robert A Craddock, Paula Mabee, Bonnie Meinke, John C Bischof, Rebecca D Sandlin, Shannon N Tessier, Mehmet Toner, Robert Ambrose, Baptiste Journaux, Garret Fitzpatrick","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag030","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jhered/esag030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Earth's biodiversity is at risk. To help safeguard this biodiversity, a Lunar Biorepository at the Moon's south pole has been proposed to hold cryopreserved samples of fibroblast cells from animal species that support fundamental ecosystems on Earth. These samples could be used for revitalization of ecosystems on Earth, genetic rescue, space travel, or possibly terraformation. Initially, samples will be primarily animal cells, but the biorepository would be designed to ultimately include all species on Earth. This biorepository will take decades to build and will potentially span millennia. To make this project a reality, certain prior steps must be taken, such as defining species selection and collection and sample management on Earth before launching in the biorepository. Many of the steps leading to the creation of this biorepository are known, with long-term radiation exposure and risk to the cells being one of the greatest challenges to overcome. It is essential to understand the radiation sensitivity of cells and design strategies to avoid genetic modification to further protect cells from radiation during space travel and long-term storage. After considering various options, this review specifically focuses on exposing fibroblast cells to nanoparticles delivering modified mRNA tardigrade damage-suppressor protein. This protein minimizes DNA damage due to radiation without obvious harmful effects to the tissue and cells. This also could serve as a testbed to study countermeasures against the radiation effects during long-duration, crewed space flights.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":"1087-1092"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13539440/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147846369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolving conservation: The role of unconventional approaches to restore contemporary vertebrate populations and genomic biodiversity.","authors":"Bridgett M vonHoldt, Matt James, Stephen J Gaughran, Alexandra L DeCandia, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Dan Flores, Nucharin Songsasen, Kristin E Brzeski, Evelyn L Jensen","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag040","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jhered/esag040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conservation biology and restoration ecology are two essential yet distinct disciplines that address the growing challenge of biodiversity loss. Traditionally, these fields have relied on ecological principles and management practices aimed at protecting or reestablishing natural systems. The crisis is no longer just ecological; it is evolutionary and genomic. The accelerating pace of environmental change has outstripped the capacity of conventional approaches, creating a pressing need for innovative solutions. Biotechnology offers potentially transformative tools that can enhance the effectiveness and precision of both conservation and restoration efforts, especially for species where conventional conservation approaches have proved insufficient. Techniques such as genetic rescue, synthetic biology, and gene editing are increasingly being explored to address critical challenges, such as invasive species control, genetic diversity loss, and habitat fragmentation, to both invigorate endangered species and restore historical biodiversity. Despite its promise, the integration of biotechnology into conservation and restoration has raised ethical, ecological, and regulatory concerns. These include ecological unpredictability and public resistance to genetic interventions in wild populations. This perspective examines the current landscape of biotechnological applications in conservation and restoration, highlighting successful case studies, ongoing controversies, and optimism for additional progress. We argue that thoughtful, transparent integration of biotechnology that is grounded in ecological knowledge and stakeholder engagement can reconcile the goals of conservation and restoration. As ecosystems face mounting pressures, biotech-enabled strategies may prove essential for fostering resilience and ensuring long-term ecological sustainability.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":"993-1007"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13539457/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147984290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A chromosome-level genome for the spotted flying dragon (Draco maculatus).","authors":"Haoteng Wei, Fan Zhang, Songhai Li, Amaël Borzée, Ran Tian, Inge Seim","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esag072","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Agamidae (agamids, also known as dragon lizards or dragons) is a species-rich squamate family adapted to all non-polar continents except the Americas. Flying dragons (Draco) belong to this family and are widespread across South and Southeast Asia. To date, no nuclear genome assemblies of flying dragons have been published, limiting our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of their unique adaptive gliding trait and population dynamics. We report a high-quality chromosome-level assembly of Draco maculatus (the spotted flying dragon) with a size of 1.73Gb, a scaffold N50 of 255.50 Mb, and 18,805 annotated protein-coding genes. The assembly (99.88% of assembled sequence) was anchored to 17 pseudochromosomes (6 macro-11 micro), consistent with the reported karyotype of Draco species in cytogenetic studies. We also provide transcriptomic data from the patagium, skin, and four internal tissues.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148876808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Little sharks in a genomic world: A high-resolution view of population structure in the California horn shark (Heterodontus francisci).","authors":"Sean J Canfield, Felipe Galván-Magaña, Brian W Bowen","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esag071","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The California horn shark (Heterodontus francisci) is a small demersal elasmobranch distributed along Pacific coastlines from California to Mexico, including several nearshore islands. Previous analyses of mitochondrial control region (mtCR) variation indicated that island populations are genetically distinct from mainland populations, while little to no structure was detected along contiguous coastlines over much larger distances, suggesting that deep-water channels may act as barriers to dispersal. However, this interpretation was inconsistent with the lack of detectable differentiation between the northern Channel Islands and Santa Catalina Island, separated by nearly 100 km of deep, cold water. To reexamine patterns of population connectivity, we used ddRADseq to genotype 3953 nuclear SNP loci from 175 specimens sampled across the range of H. francisci. Analyses identified at least five genetically distinct population units and recovered strong differentiation between the northern Channel Islands and Santa Catalina Island, supporting the hypothesis that deep-water channels are an important driver of population structure in H. francisci at spatial scales as small as 20 km (FST ≥ 0.020). Shallow but extensive population structure was associated with geographic distance along the mainland Pacific coast, spanning more than 1200 km of shoreline (FST ≤ 0.013). Overall, our results demonstrate substantial population subdivision across the range of H. francisci and reduced genetic diversity within island populations. These findings highlight the importance of considering population structure in the conservation and management of diminutive demersal sharks and support the development of stock-specific management strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population genetics simulations made easier: EASYPOP v3.","authors":"Ted Cosart, William Hemstrom, Jared Grummer, Gordon Luikart","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esag070","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We introduce an updated and enhanced version of EASYPOP, a widely used population-genetics simulation program. The previous version (2.0.1), released in 2006, runs natively only in Windows or the old Apple PPC architecture. The new version (3.1) preserves EASYPOP's ease of installation and use and runs natively in Windows, Linux, Apple Silicon, and Apple Intel environments. For quick re-runs, it can now write simulation parameters to and read them from a configuration file, removing the need to retype input parameters before each run. It also adds genotype output options that facilitate temporal studies by sampling any generations of interest. We also introduce an R package, easypopr, that further automates running EASYPOP 3.1 using R commands to easily setup and rerun simulations with changes in parameters. easypopr provides tools to visualize the effects of different parameter choices (Ne, mutation models, migration rates, demographic scenarios, etc.) on summary statistics, including subpopulation mean heterozygosity (Hs), total metapopulation heterozygosity (HT), FIS, FST, and N-e-estimates. Outputs from easypopr (and EASYPOP) are easily fed into snpR or other R packages for convenient, wide-ranging analysis to quantify the effects of demography on the power to detect genetic change, including integration with programs like NeEstimator and STRUCTURE. With these enhancements, available in executables for all common operating systems, EASYPOP 3.1 provides a streamlined approach for conducting forward-time genetic simulations across a wide range of scenarios.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The contemporary Pacific gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) gene pool includes ancestry from a potential ghost population: inferences from population genomics.","authors":"Natalie M Allen, Anna Brüniche-Olsen, Jong Yoon Jeon, Andrew J Mularo, John W Bickham, Jorge Urbán Ramírez, J Andrew DeWoody","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esag059","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Local extirpations and extreme bottlenecks can deplete genetic variation and obscure population dynamics, especially in highly mobile species. The gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) undertakes some of the longest known migrations among mammals, and two stocks (eastern and western gray whales) were historically recognized in the Pacific. Commercial whaling depleted both stocks, and while the Eastern North Pacific (ENP) stock has rebounded, the western stock was feared extirpated. In the post-whaling era, the origin of a small summer aggregation near Sakhalin Island, Russia (which we refer to as the Western North Pacific (WNP) stock) is unclear; this group may include descendants from the original western stock, founders from the eastern stock, or some combination of the two. To clarify the genetic affinities of WNP gray whales, we analyzed whole genome resequencing data for 71 individuals sampled from both geographic regions. Surprisingly, WNP whales are more genetically varied than ENP whales according to principal components and admixture analyses. We present evidence that this structure reflects mixed ancestry in the WNP, where some contemporary whales retain ancestry from the feared-extirpated western population, detectable as \"ghost\" introgression, while others are of eastern ancestry. Genomic signals based on both single nucleotide polymorphisms and on copy number variants indicate that despite mixed ancestry, the influx of recent eastern gene flow has largely homogenized genomic diversity across the Pacific. These findings highlight the ability of whole-genome data to help resolve questions of extirpation and to clarify complex gene flow dynamics in highly mobile species.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-Resolution Physical Mapping and Chromosomal Transmission in Sugarcane Progeny.","authors":"Junpeng Yang, Xinyi Li, Pingping Lin, Qilong Ling, Wei Yao, Zuhu Deng, Muqing Zhang, Fan Yu","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esag066","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Contemporary sugarcane cultivars originate from interspecific hybridization between Saccharum officinarum and Saccharum spontaneum, resulting in highly complex polyploid genomes. Dissecting chromosomal inheritance and structural variation is critical for accelerating molecular breeding in sugarcane. Here, we applied chromosome-specific painting using ten probes, together with S. spontaneum-specific probes, to resolve chromosomal composition and translocation patterns in the cultivar CT89-103 and its derived hybrids. High-resolution physical map was constructed in sugarcane cultivar CT89-103 that harbors 111 chromosomes, with 7-12 copies of each chromosome (1-10), and exhibits 13 distinct chromosomal translocation types. Its genome comprises 7.14% S. spontaneum-derived chromosomes and 24.11% interspecific recombinant chromosomes. The hybrids contain 108-116 chromosomes, with 5-15 copies of chromosomes 1-10 converging toward ~12 copies, and show similar genomic composition (8.20% S. spontaneum and 23.88% recombinant chromosomes). These findings demonstrate that S. spontaneum chromosomal segments and parental translocations are largely transmitted through n + n inheritance. Notably, extensive structural variation was observed, with 35 translocation types predominating in the hybrids. Altogether, this study provides a high-resolution view of chromosomal inheritance and structural variation in sugarcane, offering a cytogenetic framework for sugarcane hybridization.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801826","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A chromosome-level genome assembly of \"a living fossil\", the tadpole shrimp Lepidurus arcticus (Pallas, 1793).","authors":"Authors Marius A Strand, Ole K Tørresen, Jens Ådne R Haga, Bram Danneels, Morten Skage, Giada Ferrari, Ave Tooming-Klunderud, Dag O Hessen, Kjetill S Jakobsen","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esag067","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We present the first chromosome-level reference genome for Lepidurus arcticus (Pallas, 1793), a freshwater crustacean with circumpolar distribution. L. arcticus belongs to the small order of freshwater Notostracan crustaceans that are representatives of the ancient group Branchiopoda. This group has a remarkable morphological stability and is frequently labelled \"living fossils\". Its ancient origin, streamlined genome and reproductive flexibility makes this a very interesting candidate for genomic studies. The pseudo-haplotype-resolved assemblies, hap1 and hap2, span 81.2 megabases (Mb) and 81.8 Mb, respectively, and were each scaffolded into six chromosomes. Both hap1 and hap2 showed high completeness, with identical BUSCO completeness scores of 98.3%. Scaffold N50 lengths were 13.4 Mb for hap1 and 13.9 Mb for hap2, and k-mer completeness estimated from PacBio HiFi reads was 95.79% and 96.18%, respectively. The pseudo-haplotypes showed very low estimated genome-wide heterozygosity of 0.133%. Gene annotation identified 10,901 protein-coding genes in hap1 and 10,910 in hap2. Repetitive elements comprised approximately 24-25% of each assembly, with long terminal repeat retrotransposons representing the most abundant transposable element class at approximately 8-9%. Comparison with the near chromosome-level genome of Lepidurus packardi revealed substantial intrachromosomal rearrangements, despite similar chromosome numbers and chromosome sizes. Differences in transposable element content between L. arcticus and L. packardi were primarily driven by retrotransposons, particularly LTR and LINE elements. This reference genome provides a valuable resource for future population genomic studies and for investigating evolutionary stasis at the genome level.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The curious case of a Chilean copepod (Tigriopus aff. angulatus) genome assembly.","authors":"Isabelle P Neylan, Rujuta V Vaidya, Maheshi Dassanayake, Sergio A Navarrete, Morgan W Kelly, Brant C Faircloth","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esag065","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tigriopus copepods are found in splash pools on all seven continents from the equator to Arctic and Antarctic regions. Given their geographic distribution, frequent exposure to extreme environmental conditions, and strong signatures of local adaptation, these copepods have become models for exploring patterns of adaptation to stressful environments. However, most studies focus on a small subset of Tigriopus species, and there are few genome resources representing the diversity of Tigriopus species and populations. Here, we combine long-read, Pacific Biosciences HiFi data with short-read, Illumina HiC and RNA-seq data to assemble and annotate a genome representing a Tigriopus population from the coast of central Chile. Based on the level of divergence that we observed in mitochondrial genes, we also performed a comparison of morphological characteristics between this population and members of the T. angulatus complex. The assembly that we generated (qhTigAngs1.1.pri) includes 12 major scaffolds (N50 19Mbp, L50 7), equivalent to the number of chromosomes in other Tigriopus species. BUSCO and k-mer analyses of the assembly and BUSCO analyses of gene models are relatively complete (89-99%) with respect to gene or k-mer content. The level of divergence that we observed, morphological differences we recorded, and the spatial distance of this population from the type locality suggest that this Chilean population of Tigriopus may represent a novel species that we call Tigriopus aff. angulatus. These genomic resources will help us understand the diversity and structure of Tigriopus species and populations as well as facilitate future comparisons of adaptation across parallel environmental gradients.</p>","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correction to: New genomic resources and the historical demography of the Tourmaline Sunangel (Trochilidae, Heliangelus exortis) in the Colombian Andes.","authors":"","doi":"10.1093/jhered/esag068","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jhered/esag068","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54811,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Heredity","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148801783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}