Scientists have been confused about the North Atlantic tricky skates for nearly a century. These creatures found a peculiar feature in waters from South Carolina to the Arctic Circle: in some areas, especially on the North American coast, they come in two different sizes. The mystery was exacerbated and finally resolved as the trend of the skating crowd plummeted, thanks to accidental events during the 19th pandemic.
“People have known the size difference of tricky skates for nearly a century,” explains Jeff Kneebone, a senior scientist at the Anderson Cabot Marine Biology Center at the New England Aquarium. The puzzle became even more pressing in the 1970s, when the number of tricky skateboarders began to drop sharply, prompting a 2003 suspension of fishing in the United States, while another species under the same protection, rebounded, tricky skateboards remained low-key, especially in the Bay of Maine.
The key to understanding this difference lies in their genes. “The large forms are twice the size, and they take 11 years to adulthood. By the age of six, the small forms are already mature. There must be genetic differences.” said Gavin Naylor, director of the Shark Research Program at the Florida Museum of Natural History, a co-author of the Florida Museum of Natural History, and published new research. Natural Communications.
Naylor and his team initially planned a gene capture method, a way to analyze thousands of DNA sequences. But the common 19th pandemic ruined their plans. Shannon Corrigan, a postdoctoral researcher at the time, proposed a dangerous alternative: Whole genome sequencing of some people. “That’s Hail Mary,” Neller admits, but it pays off. “If they used the original gene capture idea, ‘we’ll miss it completely.’”
Genome sequencing revealed 31 mega-store regions on chromosome 2, which acted strangely. “There is a large region on the second chromosome, which we think is strange. Since it behaves in a way we don’t understand, we consider removing it from the analysis,” said Pierre Lesturgie, first author of the study. But Naylor thinks it is a potential gene reversal, a flipped DNA sequence. Further investigations confirmed that this inversion, a “supergene”, exists only in larger tricky skates.
The researchers found that this supergene is likely obtained by infiltration, transfer from another species, and may be Amblyraja Hyperborea. The study shows that “the ~31 megabar double row value associated with size polymorphism, larger size alleles have penetrated bp in the past ~160,000 years”, a genetic distortion that explains the size difference observed in North America’s harsh motorcycles.
Further analysis shows crucial details: The Gulf of Maine’s population shows severe defects in heterozygous, i.e. individuals with two different versions of the super value. “This suggests that it is driven by the size of the GOM rather than the classification mating of can,” the study noted. The study compared with the Canadian population, which has a more balanced genotype distribution.
This inbreeding is driven by skaters with other similarly sized matings, which may hinder the population’s recovery. “The shed skateboards rebound to the point where they now allow them to regain again, but for whatever reason, despite 20 years of protection, the harsh skateboards remain low.”
The study also delves into the tricky skateboard population history, revealing expansions originating from near Greenland and Iceland. “Consistent with the RE evidence, we found that areas far from the center of presumed origin are larger,” the researchers said.
Now that the genetic basis of scale differences has been understood, researchers can focus on conservation efforts. “A big question has always been, what is the life history of these two variants like?” said the kneecap. “At present, they are not discriminated against in stock assessments, so tricky skateboards are tricky skateboards are tricky skateboards.”
Researchers also investigate why tricky skates continue to decline in certain areas, especially in the Gulf of Maine, where sea surface temperatures rise rapidly. “We are trying to use the best science to decide how to best manage and maintain populations,” Kneebone concluded, emphasizing the importance of understanding the complex interactions between genetics, environments and conservation behaviors.
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