Ancestral mitogenome capture of the Southeast Asian banded linsang.

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  • Johanna L.A. Pajimans
    University of Potsdam
  • Axel Barlow
    University of Potsdam
  • Kirstin Henneberger
    University of Potsdam
  • Joerns Fickel
    University of Potsdam
  • Michael Hofreiter
    University of Potsdam
  • Daniel W.G. Foerster
    Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research
Utilising a reconstructed ancestral mitochondrial genome of a clade to design hybridisation capture baits can provide the opportunity for recovering mitochondrial sequences from all its descendent and even sister lineages. This approach is useful for taxa with no extant close relatives, as is often the case for rare or extinct species, and is a viable approach for the analysis of historical museum specimens. Asiatic linsangs (genus Prionodon) exemplify this situation, being rare Southeast Asian carnivores for which little molecular data is available. Using ancestral capture we recover partial mitochondrial genome sequences for seven banded linsangs (P. linsang) from historical specimens, representing the first intraspecific genetic dataset for this species. We additionally assemble a high quality mitogenome for the banded linsang using shotgun sequencing for time-calibrated phylogenetic analysis. This reveals a deep divergence between the two Asiatic linsang species (P. linsang, P. pardicolor), with an estimated divergence of ~12 million years (Ma). Although our sample size precludes any robust interpretation of the population structure of the banded linsang, we recover two distinct matrilines with an estimated tMRCA of ~1 Ma. Our results can be used as a basis for further investigation of the Asiatic linsangs, and further demonstrate the utility of ancestral capture for studying divergent taxa without close relatives.
Original languageEnglish
JournalPLoS ONE
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Jun 2020
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