By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: The Bornean elephant population could potentially be introduced to another population to reduce the negative effects of inbreeding, researchers have suggested.
The approach would introduce new genetic variation into the population, potentially making it more resilient.
"For the Bornean elephant, this could potentially be used as a management measure in the future to reduce the negative effects of inbreeding.
"At the same time, such an intervention requires careful consideration. For example, we want to avoid losing local genetic adaptations to the environment. Further research is therefore needed before such measures can be applied responsibly," said Danau Girang Field Centre director Benoit Goossens in a joint statement.
Goossens is among the authors of a study published in the scientific journal Genome Biology and Evolution, which analysed the complete genomes of 81 Asian elephants from all four recognised subspecies.
The study found that Bornean elephants had by far the highest level of inbreeding, with about 65 per cent of their DNA inherited identically from both parents.
Inbreeding is more common in small, isolated populations and can increase over successive generations.
Another study author, Jeroen Kappelhof, said inbreeding increased the likelihood of harmful inherited traits being expressed, potentially leading to reduced fertility.
"On the one hand, genetic diversity declines. This makes it more difficult for populations to adapt to changes such as new diseases or climate change.
"Both processes make populations more vulnerable and ultimately increase their extinction risk. This is why it is important to identify inbreeding at an early stage," said the PhD candidate at Wageningen University & Research.
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