Bangladeshi researchers claim to have decoded hilsa genome
Dhaka: Researchers in Bangladesh claimed to have successfully mapped the genome sequence of the popular hilsa fish.
The research was conducted separately by two teams, but they announced their results to media nearly simultaneously, the bdnews reported. Scientists believe that discovering the genome sequence of the hilsa fish will provide a holistic understanding of the organism’s biology and can be used to increase the fish’s production and ensure its conservation.
A genome is the complete set of genes or genetic material present in an organism.
The genome sequence is the order of DNA neucleotides that make up the organism’s DNA. The particular sequence of these neucleotides determines many of an organism’s characteristics. Nearly 75 per cent of the world’s hilsa comes from Bangladesh.
However, hilsa production is nearly 10 per cent of the country’s total fish production. Bangladesh produces nearly 387,000 tonnes of hilsa a year, with a total market value of Tk 158.7 billion.
Hilsa production composes nearly 1 per cent of Bangladesh’s GDP. Last year the hilsa was internationally recognised as a geographical indication (GI) product of Bangladesh. Prof Dr Samsul Alam of the Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) led one of the research teams investigating the hilsa genome, the daily said. (PTI)
Brazilian parrot extinct in wild
Brasilia: A new study has found the Brazilian Spix’s macaw parrot has become extinct in the wild. The bird achieved onscreen fame as an animated character in the Disney movie Rio as a charming parrot named Blu.
The Spix’s macaw is one of eight bird species, half of them in Brazil, confirmed extinct or suspected extinct in the report from BirdLife International published on Sunday, reports CNN.
But 60 to 80 Spix’s macaws still live in captivity.
Deforestation is a leading cause of the Spix’s macaw’s disappearance from its natural habitat, according to the report.
For the first time, extinctions on the mainland are outpacing those on islands, it said.
“Ninety per cent of bird extinctions in recent centuries have been of species on islands,” said Stuart Butchart, BirdLife’s chief scientist and the paper’s lead author.
“However, our results confirm that there is a growing wave of extinctions sweeping across the continents, driven mainly by habitat loss and degradation from unsustainable agriculture and logging.”
In the 2011 movie, Blu was raised in captivity and travels from Minnesota to Brazil with his owner to repopulate his species with the last wild female of their kind, Jewel.
But the movie was 11 years too late, the study found, as Jewel likely would have died in 2000. (IANS)