Zachery Lounsberry (Mammalian Ecology and Conservation Unit, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California, USA) and colleagues have published in the journal Molecular Ecology Resources on sequencing the three species of North Pacific albatrosses Phoebastria spp.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Use of complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) can greatly increase the resolution achievable in phylogeographic and historical demographic studies.  Using next-generation sequencing methods, it is now feasible to efficiently sequence mitogenomes of large numbers of individuals once a reference mitogenome is available.  However, assembling the initial mitogenomes of nonmodel organisms can present challenges, for example, in birds, where mtDNA is often subject to gene rearrangements and duplications.  We developed a workflow based on Illumina paired-end, whole-genome shotgun sequencing, which we used to generate complete 19-kilobase mitogenomes for each of three species of North Pacific albatross, a group of birds known to carry a tandem duplication.  Although this duplication had been described previously, our procedure did not depend on this prior knowledge, nor did it require a closely related reference mitogenome (e.g. a mammalian mitogenome was sufficient).  We employed an iterative process including de novo assembly, reference-guided assembly and gap closing, which enabled us to detect duplications, determine gene order and identify sequence for primer positioning to resolve any mitogenome ambiguity (via minimal targeted Sanger sequencing).  We present full mtDNA annotations, including 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, 13 protein-coding genes, a control region and a duplicated feature for all three species.  Pairwise comparisons supported previous hypotheses regarding the phylogenetic relationships within this group and occurrence of a shared tandem duplication.  The resulting mitogenome sequences will enable rapid, high-throughput NGS mitogenome sequencing of North Pacific albatrosses via direct reference-guided assembly.  Moreover, our approach to assembling mitogenomes should be applicable to any taxon.”

All three species of North Pacific albatrosses on Kure Atoll

Reference:

Lounsberry, Z.T., Brown, S.K., Collins, P.W., Henry, R.W., Newsome, S.D.& Sacks, B.N. 2015.  Next-generation sequencing workflow for assembly of nonmodel mitogenomes exemplified with North Pacific albatrosses (Phoebastria spp.).  Molecular Ecology Resources 15: 893-902.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 18 June 2015

Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui (Charles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, Ecuador) and colleagues have published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases on the presence of endoparasites in the Critically Endangered Waved Albatross Phoebastria irrorata.

The paper's abstract follows:

“Using a fecal flotation technique, we detected three genera of endoparasites in the critically endangered Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) of Galápagos.  These genera were Contracaecum,Tetrabothrius, and Cardiocephaloides.  Juvenile albatrosses were more likely to be infected than adults, but we found no effect of sex or mass on infection probability.”

Waved Albatross, photograph by Ron LeValley

Reference:

Jiménez-Uzcátegui, G., Soledad Sarzosa, M., Encalada, E., Sevilla, C. & Huyvaert, K.P. 2015.  Gastrointestinal Parasites in the Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) of Galápagos.  Journal of Wildlife Diseases  doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7589/2014-06-165http://dx.doi.org/10.7589/2014-06-165.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 17 June 2015

Shaogang Chu (Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division, National Wildlife Research Centre, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Canada) and colleagues have published in the journal Chemosphere on pollutant levels in Black-footed Albatrosses Phoebastria nigripes.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is a gyre of marine plastic debris in the North Pacific Ocean, and nearby is Midway Atoll which is a focal point for ecological damage.  This study investigated 13 C4–C16 perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs), four (C4, C6, C8and C10) perfluorinated sulfonates and perfluoro-4-ethylcyclohexane sulfonate [collectively perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs)] in black-footed albatross tissues (collected in 2011) from Midway Atoll.  Of the 18 PFCAs and PFSAs monitored, most were detectable in the liver, muscle and adipose tissues.   The concentrations of PFCAs and PFSAs were higher than those in most seabirds from the arctic environment, but lower than those in most of fish-eating water birds collected in the U.S. mainland. The concentrations of the PFAAs in the albatross livers were 7-fold higher than those in Laysan albatross liver samples from the same location reported in 1994.  The concentration ranges of PFOS were 22.91–70.48, 3.01–6.59 and 0.53–8.35 ng g−1wet weight (ww), respectively, in the liver, muscle and adipose.  In the liver samples PFOS was dominant, followed by longer chain PFUdA (8.04–18.70 ng g−1ww), PFTrDA, and then PFNA, PFDA and PFDoA.  Short chain PFBA, PFPeA, PFBS and PFODA were below limit of quantification.  C8–C13PFCAs showed much higher composition compared to those found in other wildlife where PFOS typically predominated.  The concentrations of PFUdA in all 8 individual albatross muscle samples were even higher than those of PFOS.  This phenomenon may be attributable to GPGP as a pollution source as well as PFAA physicochemical properties.”

Black-footed Albatross, photograph by Lindsay Young 

Reference:

Chu, S., Wang, J., Leong, G., Woodward, L.E., Letcher, R.J. & Li, Q.X. 2015.  Perfluoroalkyl sulfonates and carboxylic acids in liver, muscle and adipose tissues of black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) from Midway Island, North Pacific Ocean.  Chemosphere 138: 60-66.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 16 June 2105

Susanne Kühn (IMARES Wageningen UR, Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands) and colleagues have reviewed the effects of litter on marine life, including procellariiform seabirds, in a recently-published book entitled Marine Anthropogenic Litter.

In their chapter the authors report that of 141 procellariiform seabird species they review, 81% of albatrosses (Diomedeidae) and 60% of petrels and shearwaters of the family Procellariidae have been reported in the literature as having ingested anthropogenic litter.  For levels of entanglement the percentages quoted are 57% and 11%, respectively.

The chapter’s abstract follows:

“In this review we report new findings concerning interaction between marine debris and wildlife.  Deleterious effects and consequences of entanglement, consumption and smothering are highlighted and discussed.  The number of species known to have been affected by either entanglement or ingestion of plastic debris has doubled since 1997, from 267 to 557 species among all groups of wildlife.  For marine turtles the number of affected species increased from 86 to 100 % (now 7 of 7 species), for marine mammals from 43 to 66 % (now 81 of 123 species) and for seabirds from 44 to 50 % of species (now 203 of 406 species).  Strong increases in records were also listed for fish and invertebrates, groups that were previously not considered in detail.  In future records of interactions between marine debris and wildlife we recommend to focus on standardized data on frequency of occurrence and quantities of debris ingested.  In combination with dedicated impact studies in the wild or experiments, this will allow more detailed assessments of the deleterious effects of marine debris on individuals and populations.”

With thanks to Jan van Franeker.

Reference:

Kühn, S., Bravo Rebolledo, E.L. & van Franeker, J.A. 2015.  Deleterious effects of litter on marine life.  In: Bergmann, M., Gutow, L. & Klages, M. (Eds).  Marine Anthropogenic Litter.  Cham: Springer International Publishing.  pp 75-116.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 15 June 2015