Elizabeth Thompson, University of Washington
Title: Genetic ancestry and descent in small populations
Date: Friday, October 24th, 2025
Time: 1:15PM (PDT)
Location: ASB 10900
Abstract:
In the management of the small populations of severely endangered species it is important to preserve not only individuals, but also their genetic diversity. In some instances, there may be only remnants of large ancestral populations, and in such cases it is of interest to consider what diversity of ancestry is represented within the genomes of key surviving animals. The small remnant population may also be the basis for future restoration. Then it is the survival and descent from the genomes of these individuals that is of interest.
Through simple probability models we consider the processes of genome-wide ancestry and descent, and of genome survival and extinction of genome segments. Key findings are (1) Time scales are short; the first few generations of a population鈥檚 management determine its future; (2) Genomes are small, due to their inheritance in large chunks; (3) The transmission of genome through meiosis is a process with high variance, and (4) The constraints of the population pedigree introduce dependencies both in ancestry and descent.