Mobilizing biosciences for Africa’s development
Influencing decisions
Genomic
Characteriza/on
of
Walia
Ibex
(Capra
walie
):
An
Endangered
Species
Endemic
to
Ethiopia
This
document
is
licensed
for
use
under
a
Crea3ve
Commons
A6ribu3on-­‐Noncommercial-­‐Share
Alike
3.0
Unported
License
May
2013
Expected outputs
1. Generate
informa/on
that
help
strengthen
conserva/on
measures
for
the
endangered
species,
Walia
ibex
2. Recommend
special
conserva/on
measures
for
popula/ons
with
rare
alleles
and
high
inbreeding
values
Solomon
Benor,
Morris
Agaba
and
Tadelle
Dessie
Delivering science
Introduc3on
Walia
ibex
(Capra
walie)
is
an
endemic
species
of
ibex
in
Ethiopia,
restricted
to
the
Simien
Mountains.
Morphologically,
it
is
similar
to
the
geographically
adjacent
species,
Nubian
ibex.
The
popula/on
size
of
Walia
ibex
has
drama/cally
declined
and
it
is
included
in
the
IUCN
Red-­‐list
as
a
cri/cally
endangered
species
since
1996.
It
is
a
common
prac/ce
that
farmers,
within
and
in
the
surrounding
areas
of
the
Simien
Mountain
Na/onal
Park,
are
engaged
in
a
mixed
crop-­‐livestock
ac/vi/es.
However,
the
agricultural
ac/vity
and
occurrence
of
goat
husbandry
within
the
Walia
ibex’s
adapta/on
area
are
raising
fears
that
hybridiza/on
might
have
occurred
between
these
two
Capra
species.
This
necessitates
a
further
research
at
molecular
level
which
helps
to
address
the
following
objec/ves.
Objec3ves
• To
inves/gate
poten/al
for
introgression
of
genes
between
Walia
ibex
and
domes/c
goat
• To
assess
gene/c
diversity
and
popula/on
structure
of
Walia
ibex
• To
infer
the
phylogene/c
posi/on
of
Walia
ibex
and
inves/gate
evolu/on
in
the
Capra
genome
Methodology
• Next-­‐genera/on
sequencing
plaXorm
(Genotyping
by
sequencing)
will
be
employed
to
inves/gate
genomic
diversity
in
Walia
ibex,
test
the
introgression
hypothesis
with
domes/cated
goat,
and
infer
the
evolu/on
of
Capra
genome.
1. Address
the
hypothesis
on
hybridiza/on
between
Walia
ibex
and
domes/cated
goat
2. Inves/gate
current
levels
of
heterozygosity
,
allelic
diversity
and
rare
alleles
in
Walia
ibex
3. Iden/fy
popula/on
that
need
special
or
immediate
conserva/on
measures
DNA
Extrac/on
Diges/on
Liga/on
Mul/plexing
&
Amplifica/on
Illumina
Sequencing
Data
Analysis
Walia
ibex
Suspected
hybrid
goat
Nubian
ibex