Building strong relationships between conservation genetics and primary industry leads to mutually beneficial genomic advances

Several reviews in the past decade have heralded the benefits of embracing high-throughput sequencing technologies to inform conservation policy and the management of threatened species, but few have offered practical advice on how to expedite the transition from conservation genetics to conservation genomics. Here, we argue that an effective and efficient way to navigate this transition is to capitalize on emerging synergies between conservation genetics and primary industry (e.g., agriculture, fisheries, forestry and horticulture). Here, we demonstrate how building strong relationships between conservation geneticists and primary industry scientists is leading to mutually-beneficial outcomes for both disciplines. Based on our collective experience as collaborative New Zealand-based scientists, we also provide insight for forging these cross-sector relationships.

近十年来，多项综述研究均已证实，应用高通量测序（high-throughput sequencing）技术可为保护政策制定与濒危物种管理提供科学支撑。但鲜有研究就如何加快从保护遗传学（conservation genetics）向保护基因组学（conservation genomics）的转型，提供切实可行的实操建议。本研究提出，借助保护遗传学与第一产业（涵盖农业、渔业、林业及园艺业）间新兴的协同效应，是推进这一转型的高效可行路径。本研究还阐释了，保护遗传学家与第一产业科研人员构建紧密合作关系，如何为两个学科带来互利共赢的发展成果。基于我们作为新西兰合作科研团队的集体实践经验，本文还为搭建这类跨部门合作关系提供了可借鉴的思路。