Ernest, H. B., School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, USA, hbernest@ucdavis.edu
CONSERVATION GENETICS OF HUMMINGBIRDS: STATE OF THE SCIENCE AND PRIORITIES FOR RESEARCH
Genetics has recently emerged as an essential element in the toolkit of the avian biologist and natural resources manager. From DNA information scientists can identify individuals, sex, parentage, pedigrees, population assignment, landscape-scale population structure, and genetic diversity. While model organisms and some groups of vertebrates have received significant genetic research attention, hummingbirds have received very little. This paucity of information may be attributed to factors including historical lack of laboratory tools, limited opportunities to handle hummingbirds in hand, and challenges of collecting sufficient genetic samples noninvasively from such small animals. With the advent of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based trace DNA analysis and versatile molecular genetic markers such as mitochondrial DNA, microsatellites, and SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), previously cryptic and intractable biological relationships can be revealed. My goal is to present a plain-language summary of the molecular tools, opportunities, challenges, and priorities that lie ahead in the path of application of genetics for hummingbird biology and conservation.
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vgl/wildlife/
Session #:S01Date: 04/16/09
Time: 17:30 - 19:30
Presentation is given by student: No