Two new complete sets of Tasmanian devil genetic blueprints hold some good news and bad news for the species. The bad news is that the marsupial’s genetic diversity is among the lowest known for any species. The good news is that the devil’s low diversity has a long history and may not be reason for as much concern as once thought.
This low genetic diversity “does not mean the species is doomed,” says genomicist Stephan Schuster of Pennsylvania State University. “If you maintain the entire diversity this can still be a viable species.”
An international team of researchers led by Schuster and Webb Miller, also of Penn State, deciphered the genetic blueprints of Tasmanian devils named Cedric and Spirit that hail from opposite ends of Tasmania, the team reports online June 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The two devils also represent a contrast in their response to the infectious cancer that has decimated wild devil populations. The work was done as part of an effort to better understand the deadly disease and save the species.