Evidence of rapid evolution in small rodents in silvicultural landscape

• Grant number: 21/08980-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Martins Verdade
• Grantee: Rafaela Prado Graciano
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 17/01304-4 - Widllife in agricultural landscapes: patterns and processes, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the human activities with the greatest impact, acting as an important factor in the transformation of ecosystems. In response to new selection pressures, the colonization of new environments can create opportunities for rapid evolution. A possible occurrence of rapid evolution was observed in the study of rodents in silvicultural environments, by Rosalino et al. (2013), where individuals of Akodon montensis from eucalyptus plantations had longer feet than individuals of the same species captured in areas close to abandoned pastures and native vegetation. In eucalyptus plantations, the production cycle can represent around 12 to 21 generations of this rodent. As small mammals serve as the base of the food chain and are generally the first to colonize altered environments, the present study aims to investigate whether the change in the biometric pattern of A. montensis in eucalyptus may reflect some genetic variation. Therefore, possible variations in the Gli3 and Nkx3-2 gene locus, which showed associations with the limb elongation phenotype in laboratory mice, will be analyzed. The study will be carried out in the area belonging to the Três Lagoas and Arca farms (Angatuba, SP), for over a year. The genetic material (DNA) will be extracted, and the fragments amplified by PCR for identification of the species and identification of the target genes. Free software such as Bioedit will be used to compare the samples and observe the sequences, investigating whether there is variation in the sequences of individuals from different environments, which may be related to rapid evolution.(AU)