Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2023
Höfundar / Authors: Brynhildur Magnúsdóttir (1), Charles C. R. Hansen (2), Agnar S. Helgason (1,3), Tom Gilbert (4), Snæbjörn Pálsson (1)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. University of Iceland, 2. Novo Nordisk , 3. Decode Genetics, 4. University of Copenhagen
Kynnir / Presenter: Brynhildur Magnúsdóttir
The white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) went through a severe population decline during the 19th and 20th century. In Iceland, the population was reduced from 120 pairs in 1870 to 20 pairs in 1914 due to human persecution and stayed that way for more than 50 years mainly due to fox poisoning. Since 1970, the growth has been slow, and the reproduction rate is lower in Iceland than in Scandinavia. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the white-tailed eagle have revealed two distinct genetic lineages within Greenland, Iceland and Norway. Autosomal analysis showed a more geographical structure between countries with genetic isolation of the island populations from the mainland populations. In birds, mtDNA and the sex chromosome W are transmitted maternally to offspring and are nonrecombinant so any evolutionary effects on W could maintain variation in mtDNA. The aim of this study is to analyse the population structure of the W chromosome and see if it can explain the variation in mtDNA. In addition, the mitochondrial genome is examined further by considering nuclear mitochondrial DNA (NUMT) and variation in both modern and historical samples.