{"id":103509,"date":"2023-07-12T09:17:55","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T07:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/sequenciat-el-genoma-de-la-papallona-xerces-blue-una-icona-de-lextincio-causada-pels-humans\/"},"modified":"2023-07-12T10:17:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T08:17:41","slug":"sequenciat-el-genoma-de-la-papallona-xerces-blue-una-icona-de-lextincio-causada-pels-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/sequenciat-el-genoma-de-la-papallona-xerces-blue-una-icona-de-lextincio-causada-pels-humans\/","title":{"rendered":"Xerces Blue butterfly genome sequenced, an icon of anthropogenic extinction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The genetic patterns found could be used to identify other endangered insects<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The study, led by researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF), and the Museum of Natural Sciences in Barcelona, has succeeded in sequencing the complete genome of the Xerces Blue butterfly, the first butterfly to become extinct in historical times.<\/li>\n<li>This research has retrieved, for the first time, the genome of an extinct insect.<\/li>\n<li>Knowing the complete genome could facilitate the de-extinction of this species in the future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Xerces Blue butterfly<\/strong> (<em>Glaucopsyche xerces<\/em>) was native to <strong>the coastal dunes of San Francisco, in the United State<\/strong>s. As the city grew, much of the butterfly\u2019s habitat was destroyed and its population was relegated to <strong>Golden Gate<\/strong> National Park. Its wings were a deep iridescent blue, with characteristic white spots on the ventral side. <strong>The last surviving specimens<\/strong> of the species were found in <strong>1941<\/strong>, by entomologist <strong>W. Harry Lange<\/strong>. It is considered the first insect species to have become extinct in historical times. Its disappearance has made it a global icon of anthropogenic extinction, to the extent that it has given its name to a famous American conservation association, the <strong>Xerces Society<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>A previous study, in 2022, recovered mitochondrial DNA from a specimen of the Xerces Blue butterfly and compared it to that of the <strong>Silvery Blue butterfly<\/strong> (<em>Glaucopsyche lygdamus)<\/em>, its <strong>closest living relative<\/strong>, concluding that they were indeed distinct species and not just different populations.<\/p>\n<p>The research, led by <strong>Carles Lalueza-Fox<\/strong>, director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MCNB<\/a> and researcher at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ibe.upf-csic.es\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> IBE (CSIC-UPF<\/a>) and <strong>Roger Vila<\/strong>,\u00a0 researcher at the IBE (CSIC-UPF), with the participation of <strong>Tom\u00e0s Marqu\u00e8s-Bonet<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.icrea.cat\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ICREA<\/a> researcher at the Department of Medicine and Sciences of Life (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.upf.edu\/es\/web\/biomed\">MELIS<\/a>) \u200b\u200bof the Pompeu Fabra University and the IBE and Professor of the same university, and published in <strong>eLife<\/strong>, has successfully sequenced the genomes of <strong>four Xerces Blue butterflies<\/strong> and <strong>seven Silvery Blue butterflies<\/strong> between <strong>80 and 100 years old<\/strong> from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Researchers have been able to infer that the two species diverged between one and two million years ago and that they represent two distinct evolutionary lineages.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_103505\" style=\"width: 413px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103505\" data-attachment-id=\"103505\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/sequenciat-el-genoma-de-la-papallona-xerces-blue-una-icona-de-lextincio-causada-pels-humans\/glaucopsyche_xerces_male_usnment01374882-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1197,1828\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Image of a male Xerces Blue, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882-403x615.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882-671x1024.jpg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-103505\" src=\"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882-403x615.jpg\" alt=\"Imatge d'un exemplar mascle de Xerces Blue, cortesia de Smithsonian Institution. \" width=\"403\" height=\"615\" srcset=\"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882-403x615.jpg 403w, https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882-671x1024.jpg 671w, https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882-768x1173.jpg 768w, https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882-1006x1536.jpg 1006w, https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Glaucopsyche_xerces_male_USNMent01374882.jpg 1197w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-103505\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image of a male Xerces Blue, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A comparison of the genomes of the two species revealed that the DNA of the Xerces Blue butterfly showed a <strong>high incidence of inbreeding<\/strong>, a sign of population decline that could be used to identify other insect species threatened by human activity and whose extinction patterns, unlike those of vertebrates, are currently not well known. It could also pave the way towards the de-extinction of this popular butterfly, a project that has been of interest to the scientific community for many years.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Xerces Blue genome reveals its extinction story<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The research results indicate that the Xerces Blue butterfly experienced a major population decline over tens of thousands of years, probably brought about by climate changes that did not affect the Silvery Blue. The <strong>destruction of its habitat<\/strong> by humans, however, <strong>triggered its eventual extinction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This is the conclusion of the study after finding traits in its genome that are typical of a small population, including <strong>low genetic diversity, long chromosomal fragments with no genetic variation and a high frequency of deleterious alleles<\/strong>, which impaired the viability of individuals and made it what we would now term a vulnerable species.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Genomic clues could save other endangered insects<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Xerces Blue butterfly is an icon of insect extinction across the globe. Now its genome could help prevent the extinction of other endangered insects whose steep population declines are not immediately obvious.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Detecting endangered mammalian species is easier, because in many cases it is possible to count individuals&#8221;, explains Roger Vila, the IBE researcher (CSIC-UPF) who co-led the research. &#8220;However, there are many endangered insects whose status goes unnoticed because it is extremely difficult to census their populations, which generally seem to us to be very abundant. Nevertheless, they can be very sensitive to climate variations and human action, for example, to pesticides. For this reason, we believe that the genomic traits signalling the decline of the Xerces butterfly population could serve as a warning, and help us to detect vulnerable insects in future studies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Knowing the whole genome is the first step towards de-extinction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The disappearance of insects, especially pollinators, is a very serious global ecological problem. The <strong>de-extinction of species such as the Xerces Blue butterfly<\/strong>, using genetic engineering techniques based on CRISPR, is therefore of enormous interest to the scientific community.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Xerces Blue butterfly is an excellent candidate for de-extinction because it is an insect that disappeared relatively recently, so the ecological impact of its reappearance is reduced, and there is no risk of pests or excessive proliferation due to the limited time of appearance of the adults (between March and April) and their ecological specialisation. We therefore hope that having its complete genome may help in future de-extinction initiatives&#8221;, indicates Carles Lalueza-Fox, an IBE (CSIC-UPF) researcher and director of the Natural Sciences Museum in Barcelona, who co-led the study.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Reference article: <\/em><\/strong><em>Toni de-Dios <sup>1,2+<\/sup>, Claudia Fontsere <sup>1,3+<\/sup>, Pere Renom <sup>1+<\/sup>, Josefin Stiller <sup>3<\/sup>, Laia Llovera<sup>1<\/sup>, Marcela Uliano-Silva<sup>4<\/sup>, Alejandro S\u00e1nchez-Gracia<sup>5<\/sup>, Charlotte Wright<sup>4<\/sup>, Esther Lizano <sup>1,6<\/sup>, Berta Caballero<sup>7<\/sup>, Arcadi Navarro <sup>1,8<\/sup>, Sergi Civit <sup>9<\/sup>, Robert K. Robbins<sup>10<\/sup>, Mark Blaxter<sup>4<\/sup>, Tom\u00e0s Marqu\u00e8s-Bonet <sup>1,6,8,11*<\/sup>, Roger Vila <sup>1*<\/sup>, Carles Lalueza-Fox <sup>1,7* <\/sup><\/em><strong><em>Whole-genomes from the extinct Xerces Blue butterfly can help identify declining insect species<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>. eLife. 2023. DOI: <\/em><\/strong><em>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1101\/2021.11.08.467457\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1101\/2021.11.08.467457<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The genetic patterns found could be used to identify other endangered insects The study, led by researchers from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF), and the Museum of Natural Sciences in Barcelona, has succeeded in sequencing the complete genome of the Xerces Blue butterfly, the first butterfly to become extinct in historical times. This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3604],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recerca-en"],"acf":{"destacat_portada":true,"presentacio_socials":[],"publicar_al_quiosc":true,"segona_part":"","tambe_us_pot_interessar":"","img_cap":103495,"presenta_peu":false,"imatge_llistat":{"ID":103499,"id":103499,"title":"Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos","filename":"Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos.jpg","filesize":34173,"url":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos.jpg","link":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/sequenciat-el-genoma-de-la-papallona-xerces-blue-una-icona-de-lextincio-causada-pels-humans\/secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos\/","alt":"","author":"2","description":"","caption":"","name":"secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":103492,"date":"2023-07-12 07:14:45","modified":"2023-07-12 07:14:45","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1300,"height":590,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-360x360.jpg","thumbnail-width":360,"thumbnail-height":360,"medium":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-615x279.jpg","medium-width":615,"medium-height":279,"medium_large":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-768x349.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":349,"large":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-1024x465.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":465,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos.jpg","1536x1536-width":1300,"1536x1536-height":590,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos.jpg","2048x2048-width":1300,"2048x2048-height":590,"mobil":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-414x414.jpg","mobil-width":414,"mobil-height":414,"tablet":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-768x590.jpg","tablet-width":768,"tablet-height":590,"portada_sobretaula":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos.jpg","portada_sobretaula-width":1300,"portada_sobretaula-height":590,"capcalera_sobretaula":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-1300x470.jpg","capcalera_sobretaula-width":1300,"capcalera_sobretaula-height":470,"thumb-noticia":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Secuenciado-el-genoma-de-una-mariposa-cuya-extincion-fue-causada-por-los-humanos-560x315.jpg","thumb-noticia-width":560,"thumb-noticia-height":315}},"nou_carrusel":false,"boto_de_link_o_mail":false,"arxius_adjunts":false,"links_associats":false,"presenta_fills":"no","activeu_alerta":false,"text_alerta":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103509\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/museuciencies.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}