Whole mitochondrial genome characterization of the brazilian antillean manatee (trichechus manatus manatus): evidence for a new biological unit

• Autor(a) principal: Furni, Fabrício Rauan Garcia
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFPB
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/handle/123456789/19411
• topic: Sirênios; Mitogenoma; Peixe-boi marinho do Brasil; Taxonomia; Sirenians; Mitogenome; NGS; Brazilian antillean manatee; Taxonomy; CNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ZOOLOGIA

Biodiversity is in constant threat due to rapid changes caused by anthropogenic impact in the world landscape. In this scenario, understanding the taxonomic composition is essential to promote appropriate delimitation of species to be evaluated for their extinction risk and protection. Animals of the big fauna are prone to taxonomic problems, due to the lack of materials in scientific collections and sampling difficulties. Large mammals are included, where many groups still carry many uncertainties, such as the West Indian manatees. Recent studies have shown a sum of genetic, morphological, and chromosomal evidence that suggests a new biological unit for the Brazilian Antillean manatee population, possibly a new species. However, a genomic approach is needed to provide more data about these recent changes in the family Trichechidae. This study aimed to sequence and characterizing the first whole mitochondrial genome for the Brazilian Antillean manatee ( Trichechus manatus manatus) , with intra and interspecific comparisons. Blood samples were collected from released and captive animals of northeast Brazil. DNA extraction, a novel set of primers for mitogenome isolation of Sirenians, and Next Generation Sequencing were carried out to obtain sequences from 24 samples. Bioinformatics was used to analysis of quality control, assembling, intra and interspecific genetic distances, and to define genetic profiles. A total of 3,859,650 raw sequencing reads were generated, where 18 mitogenomes were obtained with a mean coverage of 150x. The mitogenome presented 16882 bp length with 13 protein-coding genes, 18 tRNAs, 2 sRNAs, and one control region. Eight different genetic profiles were found. The distance between Antillean manatees from Brazil and manatees from Florida was ten folded larger than between manatees from Florida and T. inunguis. Provided there are no sampled mislabeling of hybrids, the mitogenomic intraspecific distances bring enough evidence to suggest the elevation of the taxonomic level of the Brazilian Antillean manatee population to a new biological unit. Also, interspecific findings bring to a necessity of a taxonomic review, not just for the West Indian manatee, but for the genus Trichechus .