Brown treesnake photo and karyogram of a haplotype phased genome assembly.
Biological invasions present an interesting paradox: often little genetic variation is accompanied by dramatic ecological success. Led by PhD student Chris Osborne, we evaluated genetic diversity in a classic invader, brown treesnake on Guam. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... Photo: Pavel Kirilliov
The project is proposed at Pushpum, a sacred food- and medicine-gathering and ceremonial site within the more than 12 million acres Yakama Nation ceded to the federal government by treaty in 1855. If built, it would destroy the site. (Isabella Breda / Seattle Times)
Work by Bell, Kovach, Whiteley and colleagues demonstrates that even inbred trout source populations can be used for genetic rescue. Great news for folks considering translocation efforts, but are faced with the challenge of identifying suitable (genetically diverse) donor populations #ConsGen
A number of known Pacific Salmon sex chromosomes are synthesized in the context of their synteny to Northern Pike in Christensen et al. 2025 (doi.org/10.1093/g3jo...)
I've also been keeping an expanded list of putative sex chromosomes in chromosome-level Salmonid assemblies based on sdY placement.
Our Editorial for our upcoming special issue in Molecular Ecology: Conservation GenomicsβMaking a Difference onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The value of structural variants to conservation genomics in the pangenome era
academic.oup.com/jhered/advan...
Ancestors of Fishers translocated decades ago into the Rockies in northern ID and MT persist! #consgen #fishers
academic.oup.com/jmammal/adva...
De novo Genome Assemblies of Four Rainbow Trout Genetic Lines Reveal Structural Variants In Pursuit of a Pangenome Reference https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.11.681701v1
Neat job alert π§¬πΊπ¦
Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks is hiring a wildlife conservation geneticist based in Missoula, MT. The position is joint with @umontana.bsky.social, working with Dr. Ryan Kovach on lots of neat wildlife #consgen projects. Reach out to Ryan with questions.
Effects of deleterious mutations on the fixation of chromosomal inversions on autosomes and sex chromosomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.10.681595v1
If youβve heard about our study on ants producing two different species but are still confused about how it works (and donβt have time to read the paper), this 10-minute video made by @bengthomas.bsky.social is very informative:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-O4...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Legal battle reignites over Lower Snake River Dams, salmon
Size mattersβbut maybe not how we thought. Most chromosomal inversions are just a few hundred bp. Ignoring these βsmall playersβ could mean weβve misunderstood how genomes evolve -out in TREE authors.elsevier.com/a/1ljL1cZ3X3...
New paper with @birdpicsandscience.bsky.social out TODAY!!
We found that choosing "highly informative loci" (aka high fst loci) may bias results in common population genetic analyses
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Explainer thread to come! #PopGen #PopulationGenomics #Evolution
A post-spawn Redband Trout from Bear Creek (Libby Creek drainage), Montana. This fish was used in 2025 spawning efforts aimed at starting a conservation hatchery broodstock.
A post-spawn Redband Trout from Wolf Creek (Fisher River drainage), Montana. This fish was used in 2025 spawning efforts aimed at starting a conservation hatchery broodstock.
Here are some beautiful examples of non-hybridized Redband Trout (O. mykiss gairdneri) from Montana. These fish are increasingly rare in Montana and are the state's only native Rainbow Trout (state rank: S1). FWP has recently spawned wild fish aiming to create a conservation hatchery broodstock.
Grateful to be included as a minor co-author on this paper! The assemblies in this paper have been a great resource for other work in the pipeline
π’ NEW GENOME ALERTΒ
In #G3journal, Lecomte et al. produced a chromosome-level genome assembly of brook trout and performed a comparative analysis to identify homology with sister species lake trout and Atlantic salmon.
Read more: buff.ly/if3vgmp
Scientists must push back against the threat of rising white nationalism and the dangerous and pseudoscientific ideas of eugenics
https://go.nature.com/4jGqiUc
The Greenland shark genome: insights into deep-sea ecology and lifespan extremes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.19.638963v1
Biogeochemical impacts. Mean differences in (a) Chlorophyll concentration, (b) Primary Production Rate, and (c) Carbon export between the reference (REF) and the extreme water reduction (EXT) scenario. No significant differences (C.V. in reference simulation > % difference) are blanked out. Carbon export has been estimated from the Primary Production Rate (assuming a C:N ratio of 106:16), applying the empirical relationships suggested by Eppley and Peterson (1979). Figure created by the authors using Matlab.
It started in Egypt, with the construction of the Aswan dams, and continued across the basin through verid actions. Now the Mediterranean is receiving less fresh water, and less nutrients - lowering primary productivity and disrupting coastal and marine ecosystems. π§ͺπ
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Hello world! Excited to kick things off on π¦ with great news: The third chapter of my PhD, with @michaelmhansen.bsky.social and a bunch of other great people, has just been published π. We explore genomic π£ of hybridization between European and American eel. Check it out! doi.org/10.1111/mec....
GREAT work by @craigdwells.bsky.social, Paul Spruell, et al. using genetics to evaluate the origins of migratory West Slope Cutthroat Trout sampled in the lower Pend Oreille basin. They found most fish assigned to populations above an impassable dam, which may be disrupting connectivity #ConsGen π π§¬
