Tracing the introduction of the invasive common myna using population genomics

The common myna (Acridotheres tristis) is one of the most invasive bird species in the world, yet its colonisation history is only partly understood. We identified the introduction history and population structure, and quantified the genetic diversity of myna populations from the native range in India and the introduced populations in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Hawaii, and South Africa, based on thousands of single nucleotide polymorphism markers in 814 individuals. We were able to identify the source population of mynas in several invasive locations: mynas from Fiji and Melbourne, Australia, were likely founded by individuals from a subpopulation in Maharashtra, India, while mynas in Hawaii and South Africa were likely independently founded by individuals from other localities in India. Our findings suggest that New Zealand mynas were founded by individuals from Melbourne, which, in turn, were founded by individuals from Maharashtra. We identified two genetic clusters among New Zeal..., A total of 183 myna tissue samples in ethanol from India, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Hawaii and Fiji between 1975–1989 were received from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). A further 193 euthanized mynas were obtained from myna control programs from contributors in New Zealand between 2017–2020, and muscle tissue was subsampled from each individual. DNA was extracted from the ROM tissue samples using the DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit (Qiagen) following the manufacturer's protocols. DNA was extracted from the New Zealand tissue samples using the Monarch Genomic DNA Purification Kit (NEB) following the manufacturer's protocols. DNA concentration was measured using a Qubit 2.0 Fluorometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific). DNA was diluted to standardized concentrations of 50–100 ng/μL, and sent to Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd company (DArT P/L) for further processing. Samples from 363 individuals were successfully sequenced, including 13 duplicate samples, using the proprietary Div..., All scripts used in data processing and analysis are available on GitHub (https://github.com/akamolphat/myna_popgen).

家八哥（Acridotheres tristis）是全球最具入侵性的鸟类类群之一，但其野外定殖历史的认知仍仅局限于部分层面。本研究基于814个个体的数千个单核苷酸多态性（single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP）标记，解析了其原生分布区印度以及新西兰、澳大利亚、斐济、夏威夷与南非的入侵种群的引入历史与种群结构，并量化了八哥种群的遗传多样性。研究团队成功确定了多个入侵地区家八哥的源种群：斐济与澳大利亚墨尔本的家八哥大概率源自印度马哈拉施特拉邦的一个亚种群；而夏威夷与南非的家八哥则独立源自印度其他区域。本研究发现，新西兰的家八哥种群源自墨尔本种群，而墨尔本种群又溯源至马哈拉施特拉邦的种群。我们在新西兰种群中鉴定出两个遗传聚类[原文内容截断]。本研究共获取1975年至1989年间采集自印度、新西兰、澳大利亚、南非、夏威夷与斐济的183份乙醇保存的家八哥组织样本，该批样本由皇家安大略博物馆（Royal Ontario Museum, ROM）提供。2017年至2020年间，研究团队从新西兰本地的家八哥防治项目合作者处获得了193只安乐死的家八哥个体，并从每只个体中采集了肌肉组织样本。对于皇家安大略博物馆的组织样本，研究人员使用DNeasy血液与组织试剂盒（Qiagen）按照制造商的操作流程提取DNA；对于新西兰的组织样本，则使用Monarch基因组DNA纯化试剂盒（NEB）按照制造商的操作流程提取DNA。采用Qubit 2.0荧光定量仪（Thermo Fisher Scientific）测定DNA浓度，将DNA稀释至50–100 ng/μL的标准化浓度后，送至Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd（DArT P/L）公司进行后续处理。最终共有363个个体的样本成功完成测序，其中包含13份重复样本，测序采用专有Div[内容截断]技术。所有用于数据处理与分析的脚本均已开源至GitHub平台（https://github.com/akamolphat/myna_popgen）。