Partnerships for enhanced engagement in research (PEER) SCIENCE Cycle 3 (2014 Deadline)
Building a Mekong River genetic biodiversity research network
PI: Vu Ngoc Ut (vnut@ctu.edu.vn), Can Tho University, with co-PIs Dang Thuy Binh, Nha Trang University; Chheng Phen, Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute (IFReDI); So Nam, Mekong River Commission; Latsamy Phounvisouk, Living Aquatic Resources Research Centre; and Chaiwut Grudpan, Ubon Ratchathani University
U.S. Partner: Kent Carpenter, Old Dominion University Project Dates: December 2014 to June 2018 (August 2018 for LARReC portion only, September 2018 for CTU portion only, June 2019 for IFReDI portion only)
The Next Generation Sequencing workshop was held at NTU, October 16-24, 2015.
The Mekong River Basin (MRB) represents a global hotspot of aquatic biodiversity, second only to the Amazon River in terms of total fish species richness. The purpose of this project will be to initiate a network of scientists working in the MRB whose coordinated action will lead to a systematic sampling of populations and species to provide a set of robust tests of biogeographic origins of MRB biodiversity through advanced genomics and comparative phylogeography. Specifically, the research team will aim to examine a set of synchronously diverging co-distributed taxa to determine whether the genetic connectivity or barriers to gene flow are determined by processes relating to ecological (relatively recent) or evolutionary (geological) time scales. Directionality of gene flow will be tested to determine if connectivity is predominantly governed by larval dispersal through prevailing fluvial flow, or whether fish movement patterns potentially reverse this natural tendency. Shared phylogeographic patterns among taxa will be examined together with both present ecological and geological processes to corroborate likely causality in a natural experimental framework.
A significant developmental impact of this project will be the establishment of a network of scientists, managers, and conservationists interested in using genetics to better understand and manage the biodiversity of the MRB. The primary partner will be the Mekong River Commission, which previously initiated population genetic data collection for important species, and the aim will be to strengthen and expand this initiative. The implementation of the project will forge and strengthen long-term collaborative research ties through mutual design and implementation of a comparative population genetic project. Since most of the participants do not have extensive experience in next-generation sequencing and advanced genomic analysis, another proximate development impact will be training of aquatic researchers across the MRB in this methodology. Population genetic data will be systematically collected as a result of the establishment of the network, and data will be analyzed for information relative to resource management and biodiversity conservation. The data will also be used as the basis for establishing a long-term genetic monitoring system for aquatic resources and integrity of genetic biodiversity. The benefits of the collected data will include: 1) the ability to estimate and monitor effective population size of exploited stocks; 2) evaluation of spatial stock structure for fisheries management, for assessment of fragmentation due to damming, and to enhance adaptive mitigation and management in anticipation of hydrological changes from climate change and damming; 3) baseline information on genetic variability collected during this study will allow monitoring of genetic integrity that may be influenced by fishing, stock enhancement (release of hatchery reared individuals), and accidental release from aquaculture; 4) baseline information on genetic variability collected during this study that will allow monitoring of genetic variation as potential for biological adaptation and resilience to changing environmental conditions; and 5) establishment of a genetic data repository in collaboration with the Mekong River Commission for data sharing.
Dr. Ut and his team visit the fish market to collect samples (photo credit: Dr. Binh).
Final Summary of Project Activities
In 2015, the partner institutions selected eight species for collection at a variety of sites across Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, with sampling taking place across the year. The research team underwent training on sequencing alongside U.S. partners from Old Dominion University and Texas A&M. In 2016, sampling sites were revisited, and the PEER grantees met to discuss initial findings and data analysis training. Ubon Rachathani University joined the partnership and additional sites in Thailand were added. In 2017, researchers attended an international conference on conservation genetics in the MRB, which included participation of Myanmar and Vietnamese government agencies and other regional and international scientists. The team finalized sampling for the last year of the project and sent samples to Texas A&M for final analysis. This last batch included five species sampled from the Mekong Delta and Laos to complete the data set of eight species along the Lower Mekong River.
In June 2018, the research team, other PEER project grantees, and additional researchers attended a final presentation workshop on the results of the study. In particular, they discussed how to strengthen the research network and planned additional work on their selected species: Pangasius conchophilus, Trichopodus trichopterus, Ompok bimaculatus, P. macronema, P. larnaudii, P. krempfi, Labeo chrysophekadion, and Macrognathus siamensis. Workshop attendees also took a field trip to Kampong Phlouk Fisheries Community, one of the floating villages on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, where they discussed fishing techniques and community fisheries management practiced in the village. As a result of the PEER project findings, the Mekong River Commission expressed strong interest in the study's implications for upstream dam construction. Findings from this PEER Cycle 3 project also served as the basis for a PEER Cycle 6 project (6-435) that involved most of the same partners. Data collected under Cycle 3 was used for publications from the Cycle 6 team as well.
