The Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon published the first reference genome of the priolo, aiming to contribute to the conservation of this Azores endemic bird.
“This tool will guide the analysis of the genetic information we have collected over the past two decades, enabling us to monitor the population’s genetic diversity over time, understand the historical processes of population decline and isolation that led to the current reduced genetic variability of the species,” said the study’s coordinator, Ricardo Jorge Lopes, quoted in a press release.
The priolo (Pyrrhula murina) was once considered virtually extinct at the beginning of the 20th century, following decades of destruction of its natural habitat.
The bird, which lives mainly in the Laurissilva Forest zones on the eastern part of São Miguel island in the Azores, has recovered but is still listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
A researcher at the Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (CE3C) and professor in the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Ricardo Jorge Lopes coordinated a scientific study published on the Open Research Europe platform.
The curator of the Ornithological Collection at the National Museum of Natural History and Science (MUHNAC) also argued that this new genomic resource “plays a crucial role” in the knowledge and conservation of one of Europe’s rarest species.
“In the long term it will support more effective management strategies, both for the species and for habitat restoration, by SPEA Azores and the Regional Government of the Azores,” he noted.
Currently, it is estimated that there are about a thousand individuals of this species, but the priolo continues to show “reduced genetic diversity,” which, according to researchers, may “compromise its future survival.”
The detailed reconstruction of the priolo’s DNA code, organized chromosome by chromosome, could open “new possibilities to understand the species’ evolutionary history and support its long-term preservation,” according to the CE3C statement.
The scientific work used blood samples from an adult female priolo, currently deposited in MUHNAC, in Lisbon, “ensuring the preservation of the genomic resources of Portugal’s biodiversity in national institutions.”
The collection of biological samples benefited from the support of the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds in the Azores.
The study is part of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) initiative and was co-financed by the European Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) project, dedicated to building a genetic library of European biodiversity.
The Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes is a research and development unit based at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, with hubs at the University of the Azores and at the National Museum of Natural History and Science.
