Genomic analysis and evolutionary patterns in the franciscana dolphin: an integrative approach to conservation

• Grant number: 24/16523-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 29, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Animal Genetics
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Menossi Teixeira
• Grantee: Luana Barbosa Carvalho Nara
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The advent of massive sequencing methods has turned genomics into an important tool in the study of molecular evolution, especially considering its potential to identify candidate genes and gene families that can reveal genomic traits acquired during species adaptation. The franciscana dolphin, Pontoporia blainvillei, is a species in coastal and estuarine environments with a restricted distribution in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. In a recent study, two subspecies were proposed for the franciscana dolphin, Pontoporia blainvillei blainvillei and Pontoporia blainvillei pukusi. However, the subspecies hypothesis was mainly based on mitochondrial DNA analysis, and differences related to skull morphology. Thus, this project intends to investigate the subspecies genomic uniqueness and genomic characterization of the functional adaptation of both ESUs, exploring the unique and shared characteristics related to the adaptive success of franciscanas.