Emerging infectious diseases have recently increased in wildlife and can result in population declines and the loss of genetic diversity in susceptible populations. As populations of impacted species decline, genetic diversity can be lost, with ramifications including reduced effective population size and increased population structuring. For species of conservation concern, which may already have low genetic diversity, the loss of genetic diversity can be especially important. To investigate the impacts of a novel pathogen on genetic diversity in a genetically depauperate endangered species, we assessed the ramifications of a sylvatic plague-induced bottleneck in black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes). Following a plague epizootic, we genotyped 184 ferrets from Conata Basin and Badlands National Park, South Dakota, at seven microsatellite loci. We compared our results to pre-plague studies in the same population. We observed population substructuring into three genetic clusters. These clusters reflect founder effects from ferret reintroduction events followed by genetic drift. Compared to the pre-plague population, we observed losses of allelic diversity in all clusters, as well as significantly reduced heterozygosity in one cluster. These results indicate that disease epizootics may reduce population size and also genetic diversity. Our results suggest the importance of early and sustained management in mitigating disease epizootics in naïve populations for the maintenance of genetic diversity.

中文翻译：

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濒危食肉动物疾病流行和重新引入历史的遗传特征

最近野生动物中新出现的传染病有所增加，并可能导致易感人群的种群减少和遗传多样性的丧失。随着受影响物种种群的减少，遗传多样性可能会丧失，其后果包括有效种群规模减少和种群结构增加。对于可能已经具有较低遗传多样性的保护关注物种，遗传多样性的丧失可能尤其重要。为了研究一种新型病原体对遗传衰弱的濒危物种遗传多样性的影响，我们评估了黑足雪貂（Mustela nigripes）中鼠疫引起的瓶颈的后果。在鼠疫流行之后，我们对来自南达科他州科纳塔盆地和荒地国家公园的 184 只雪貂在七个微卫星位点进行了基因分型。我们将我们的结果与同一人群的瘟疫前研究进行了比较。我们观察到种群亚结构化为三个遗传簇。这些集群反映了雪貂重新引入事件以及遗传漂变的创始人效应。与瘟疫前的人群相比，我们观察到所有簇中等位基因多样性的丧失，以及一个簇中的杂合性显着降低。这些结果表明疾病流行可能会减少种群规模和遗传多样性。我们的研究结果表明早期和持续管理在减轻幼稚人群疾病流行以维持遗传多样性方面的重要性。这些集群反映了雪貂重新引入事件以及遗传漂变的创始人效应。与瘟疫前的人群相比，我们观察到所有簇中等位基因多样性的丧失，以及一个簇中的杂合性显着降低。这些结果表明疾病流行可能会减少种群规模和遗传多样性。我们的研究结果表明早期和持续管理在减轻幼稚人群疾病流行以维持遗传多样性方面的重要性。这些集群反映了雪貂重新引入事件以及遗传漂变的创始人效应。与瘟疫前的人群相比，我们观察到所有簇中等位基因多样性的丧失，以及一个簇中的杂合性显着降低。这些结果表明疾病流行可能会减少种群规模和遗传多样性。我们的研究结果表明早期和持续管理在减轻幼稚人群中的疾病流行以维持遗传多样性方面的重要性。