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PARTNERSHIPS FOR ENHANCED ENGAGEMENT IN RESEARCH (PEER)
Cycle 6 (2017 Deadline)


Riverscape Genetics to Inform Natural History of Exploited Fishes in the Lower Mekong River Basin 

PI: Dang Thuy Binh (binhdangthuy@gmail.com), Institute for Biotechnology and Environment, Nha Trang University (NTU); with co-PIs Chheng Phen(chhengp@yahoo.com) (deceased), Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute (IFReDI); Latsamy Phounvisouk (meetouna@yahoo.com), Living Aquatic Resources Research Center (LARReC); Chaiwut Grudpan (k_chaiwut@hotmail.com), Ubon Ratchathani University (UBU); and Mie Mie Kyaw (mmkama74@gmail.com), University of Mandalay
U.S. Partner: Jeffrey Williams, Smithsonian Institution
Project Dates: December 2017 - April 2023

Project Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/MRB-BioNetwork-250046029052455/

Project Overview


Riverscape genetics, or the influence of hydrographic features on the genetics and ecology of lentic and lotic populations, is a young discipline (Selkoe et al. 2016). There have been several temperate riverscape studies with a few tropical studies, being limited mostly to the Amazon and Australia. Very little is known about the population genetics of fishes in the Mekong River Basin (MRB), which is characterized by complicated hydrographic features, including wide seasonal fluctuations in flow (Mekong River Commission 2005, Chea et al. 2016) and numerous changes experienced and expected with more than 350 hydropower dams built, under construction, and planned (Winemiller et al. 2016). This PEER project will support the completion of population genetic studies of 14 species across 26 MRB locations from Myanmar to the Vietnam delta. This will augment information on 2 species collected and analyzed during the PI’s project in PEER Cycle 2, add new localities to species initiated in a project on which she was co-PI in PEER Cycle 3, and add an additional 6 species not already initiated in previous PEER projects. Advanced genomic analyses will continue to be conducted on data collected using restriction site-associated DNA (RAD) data. These analyses will provide important information on the population structure, effective population size, and directionality of gene flow to substantially add to our knowledge of the natural history of Mekong River fishes. The extent of collection sites throughout the Lower Mekong Basin and the number of species in this study provide the basis for the first ever comparative riverscape genetic analysis of fishes of tropical Southeast Asia.

To ensure that the scientific information to be developed is available to and useful for resource managers, outreach will take place in conjunction with all field and annual meeting activities throughout this project. This will include seminars followed by roundtable discussions to introduce and understand how these analyses can be used and the consequences of disrupting the present population structure. The outreach efforts will target resource managers and development planners in governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental, and academic institutions in the region, with particular emphasis on those involved in hydropower development projects. This project will also build on the need to create stronger regional collaborations for a better knowledge base to inform decision making by solidifying collaborations initiated during the PEER Cycle 3 project. This will be done by expanding the work done by collaborators in each of the four Lower Mekong Basin existing partner countries (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam) and expanding this to Myanmar by including for the first time a collection component in that country. This new PEER project will add the University of Mandalay, Myanmar, to the network and will aim to build the advanced genomic capacity of all collaborative institutions to the level currently enjoyed at Nha Trang University.

6-435 Partner Visit at Lake6-435 Siem Reap Meeting
The team pauses for a picture during sample collection at Tonle Sap Lake.Participants of kick-off meeting in Siem Reap, Cambodia (photo courtesy of Dr. Binh).

Summary of Recent Activities

By the end of 2022, all sampling had been completed on this project. After long delays due to COVID pandemic-related travel restrictions in the region, co-PIs Dr. Latsamy Phounvisouk of Laos and Dr. Mie Mie Kyaw of Myanmar were finally able to deliver their samples to Nha Trang University and participate in a final partners’ meeting in March 2023. Members of PI Dr. Dang Thuy Binh’s team at NTU have completed the DNA extractions from the new specimens, which are being sent to Texas A&M University for sequencing. The NTU researchers also continued to work on data analysis and preparation of manuscripts for publication during the first quarter of this year.

Although this project is coming to an end as of April 30, 2023, the PI and her colleagues have plans for continuing their work, including their collaboration with the U.S. partner on their Cycle 2 and Cycle 3 projects, Dr. Kent Carpenter. He has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar for 2024, during which he will spend time at NTU working with the project team on additional manuscripts. Meanwhile, PhD student Ms. Truong Thi Oanh continues working under a three-year scholarship from the Innovation Foundation of the Vin group (VinIF). A final update will be posted here this summer after the final report is received.

In Memoriam

On November 9, 2022, PEER staff received the sad news that co-PI Dr. Chheng Phen of the Cambodian Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute (IFReDI) had passed away in Thailand. Dr. Phen was a much valued and beloved member not only of this project team but also of the teams that carried out two other PEER projects. Colleagues noted his kindness, humility, good humor, and willingness to share his exceptional knowledge of Mekong fisheries. He was an outstanding teacher and mentor to his students, an irreplaceable expert and leader in his field, and a treasured friend who will be greatly missed by his many colleagues and associates worldwide. PEER offers its deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Publications

Oanh Thi Truong, Sang Quang Tran, Quyen Dang Ha Vu, Van Ngo Thai Bich, Binh Thuy Dang. 2022. Comparative tools for de novo genome assembly: Apply in population genetics of Mekong fish species, Pangasius larnaudii (Siluriformes: Pangasiidae). Proceeding books in 7th Asia Pacific International Modern Sciences Congress, Jakarta, Indonesia, ISBN 978-625-8246-59-9. 

Oanh T. Truong, Sang Q. Tran, Binh T. Dang. 2022. Complete mitochondrial genomes of peacock eel (Macrognathus siamensis) and phylogenetic relationships among Synbranchiformes. ASEAN – FEN 10th International Fisheries Symposium 2022, Nha Trang, Vietnam. 

Sang Q. Tran, Oanh T. Truong, Quyen D.H. Vu, Binh T. Dang. 2022. Mitochondrial genome-wide analysis: Phylogenetic network and divergent timeline of Pangasiidae. ASEAN – FEN 10th International Fisheries Symposium 2022, Nha Trang, Vietnam. https://ifs2022.ntu.edu.vn/

Truong, T.O., Tran, Q.S., Vu, D.H.Q., and Dang, T.B. 2021. Genetic diversity and population structure of Lethrinus lentjan (Lethrinidae) in Vietnam based on SNP markers. SPAST Abstracts, 1(01). Retrieved from https://spast.org/techrep/article/view/1306

Biesack, E.E., B.T. Dang, A.S. Ackiss, C.E. Bird, P. Chheng, L. Phounvisouk, O.T. Truong, and K.E. Carpenter. 2020. Evidence for population genetic structure in two exploited Mekong River fishes across a natural riverine barrier. Journal of Fish Biology. See https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14424.

Achkiss, A.S., B.T. Dang, C.E. Bird, E.E. Biesack, P. Chheng, L. Phounvisouk, Q.H.D. Vu, S. Uy, and K.E. Carpenter. 2019. Cryptic lineages and a population dammed to incipient extinction? Insights into the genetic structure of a Mekong River catfish. Journal of Heredity 110(5): 535-547. See https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esz016.

Dang, B.T., Q.H.D. Vu, E.E. Biesack, T.V. Doan, O.T. Truong, T.L. Tran, A.S. Achkiss, B.L. Stockwell, and K.E. Carpenter. 2019. Population genomics of the peripheral freshwater fish Polynemus melanochir (Perciformes, Polynemidae) in a changing Mekong Delta. Conservation Genetics 20: 961-972. See https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-019-01189-x.

In October 2020, the international science website SciDev.Net Asia & Pacific published a story on this PEER team's research in the Mekong: https://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/role-models/save-mekong-s-rich-biodiversity-for-future-generations/ 

 
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