Grant: 26-017R
Project Title: Development and application of SNP genotyping panels for genetic stock inference in aoutheast United States loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta)
Project Manager: Ian Silver-Gorges
Organization: Inwater Research Group (Non-Profit Organization)
Grant Amount: $22,730.42
Completion Date:
Summary: Quantifying the at-sea abundance, distribution, and sources of mortality for sea turtles relative to their natal populations provides critical information for research and management strategies for sea turtles. Genetic stock inference (GSI) is an umbrella term for approaches to assign individuals to natal populations using genetic markers. For some populations of sea turtles, such as loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) originating from the southeast United States, there do not yet exist genetic markers capable of accurate GSI. In past work, we identified single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci capable of accurate GSI for loggerheads to four populations in the southeast United States: the Gulf Coast, the South East Florida Management Unit (MU), the Central East Florida MU, and the Northern Recovery Unit. For this project, we will develop a SNP genotyping panel to consistently target and amplify these loci in DNA from any individual loggerhead, and to use the panel to conduct GSI for approximately 500 at-sea and stranded loggerheads. We will collaborate with groups across the southeast United States to source samples for this work. Assuming successful panel development and subsequent GSI, we will continue GSI of samples in a second year of this project. This SNP genotyping panel will allow us to conduct the first accurate GSI of loggerhead sea turtles in this region, and the panel and resulting sequence data will be available to other studies and comparable between studies.
Results: