极度濒危的索拉的基因组受到种群结构和净化的影响，这一成果由哥本哈根大学Rasmus Heller研究组经过不懈努力而取得。该研究于2025年5月5日发表于国际一流学术期刊《细胞》杂志上。

小组构建了一个参考基因组，并对26个南羚个体进行了重测序，证实了南羚是博维尼科的基础成员。尽管其地理分布范围较小，但该课题组研究人员发现小树猴分为两个居群，具有较高的遗传分化（FST = 0.49）。该课题组估计，这些种群在5000 - 20000年前分化并开始减少，可能是由于气候变化，并因人类活动的增加而加剧。南非狒狒有很长的种群束，但没有基因组多样性；然而，这些土地中的大部分并不是由这两个种群共享的。Saolas携带着很高的遗传负荷，但它们的逐渐衰落导致了最有害的遗传变异的清除。最后，研究团队发现将两个种群结合起来，例如在最终的圈养繁殖计划中，将减轻遗传负荷并增加物种生存的几率。

据悉，狒狒是最稀有的大型哺乳动物之一，正处于灭绝的边缘。

附：英文原文

Title: Genomes of critically endangered saola are shaped by population structure and purging

Author: Genís Garcia-Erill, Shanlin Liu, Minh Duc Le, Martha M. Hurley, Hung Dinh Nguyen, Dzung Quoc Nguyen, Dzung Huy Nguyen, Cindy G. Santander, Fátima Sánchez Barreiro, Nuno Filipe Gomes Martins, Kristian Hanghj, Faezah Mohd Salleh, Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, Xi Wang, Mikkel-Holger S. Sinding, Hernán E. Morales, Frederik Filip Stger, Nicholas Wilkinson, Guanliang Meng, Patrícia Penerová, Chentao Yang, Malthe Sebro Rasmussen, Mikkel Schubert, Robert R. Dunn, Ida Moltke, Guojie Zhang, Lei Chen, Wen Wang, Trung Tien Cao, Ha Manh Nguyen, Hans R. Siegismund, Anders Albrechtsen, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Rasmus Heller

Issue&Volume: 2025-05-05

Abstract: The saola is one of the most elusive large mammals, standing at the brink of extinction. We constructed a reference genome and resequenced 26 saola individuals, confirming the saola as a basal member of the Bovini. Despite its small geographic range, we found that the saola is partitioned into two populations with high genetic differentiation (FST = 0.49). We estimate that these populations diverged and started declining 5,000–20,000 years ago, possibly due to climate changes and exacerbated by increasing human activities. The saola has long tracts without genomic diversity; however, most of these tracts are not shared by the two populations. Saolas carry a high genetic load, yet their gradual decline resulted in the purging of the most deleterious genetic variation. Finally, we find that combining the two populations, e.g., in an eventual captive breeding program, would mitigate the genetic load and increase the odds of species survival.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.03.040

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00390-3