The genetic treasure of Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), which contains information about its fascinating biodiversity, is safe in a biobank where thousands of DNA samples throughout the archipelago, considered a natural laboratory in which Charles Darwin He developed his theory of the evolution of species in the 19th century.
in freezers for -80 degrees Celsiuson the premises of Galapagos Science Center (GSC)for its acronym in English), part of the genetic wealth of the so-called “Enchanted Islands”, from the largest forms of life to the most microscopic.
“Any sample we collect is a very valuable resource”, says the researcher Diana Pazminodirector of the GSC biobank, managed by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) and the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill (United States).
What others see as a liquid in a simple tube, for us is gold, because in the long run it can help us answer many questions.
“What others see as a liquid in a simple tube, for us is gold, because in the long run it can help us answer many questions,” says Pazmiño.
The bank grows with the samples that are collected by the 60 research projects which are held at the GSC, located on the island of San Cristóbal, the easternmost of the archipelago, about a thousand kilometers from the mainland coast of Ecuador and declared a natural heritage of humanity by Unesco in 1978.
Endangered Species Samples
The most valued samples are those from critically endangered species or from places that are difficult to access, such as the western islands or the depths of the ocean.
It is the case of galapagos cormorant or the galapagos penguinthat are in very restricted and difficult access areas, or Hammer sharka highly endangered species from which several samples have been collected over the years, which will serve to analyze evolutionary patterns.
Thus, any researcher can have easy access to a large sample of these species.
“It is not only a scientific interest, but also what the genetic resource can represent for the country. Ecuador is a mega-diverse country, and one of those diversities is genetics,” says Pazmiño.
Group of sea lions (zalophus wollebaeki), on July 1, 2023, on Punta Carola beach, on San Cristóbal Island, the easternmost of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador). EFE/Fernando Gimeno
A unique biodiversity
“And these species have different populations in different places in Ecuador. We see this a lot in the Galapagos. O Genetical diversity that we see on the islands we cannot find anywhere else on the continent, so it is very valuable to preserve these resources”, adds the researcher.
Among the projects that feed the biobank, one of the most important is the bar code (barcode), an initiative that seeks to create a genetic database of the biodiversity of the Galápagos from the genome sequencing of at least 5,000 samples of different types, both soil and water, plants and vertebrate and invertebrate animals.
The ‘Bar Code’ project seeks to create a database of Galápagos biodiversity from the genome sequencing of at least 5,000 samples
“There are so many things yet to be discovered…as part of the ‘Barcode’ project, a new species of fungus for science, which was found from these soil collections”, highlights Pazmiño about a finding whose publication is about to come out.
Zayapa, also known as red crab (grapsus grapsus), on July 2, 2023, in Tijeretas Bay on San Cristóbal Island, the easternmost of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador). EFE/Fernando Gimeno
Also the microbial diversity
Another key project for the gene bank is focused on studying the archipelago’s microbial life to discover part of the species evolution that Darwin could not see at the time.
“It is a diversity that is not so evident because we always tend to think first of birds, fish or reptiles… microbial diversity it is equally important”, comments Pazmiño.
“It is an excellent indicator of how healthy an ecosystem is, and it is a diversity that we know so little about that we are also starting to see that there are new things for science there,” he adds.
In this case, the samples were collected at a similar altitude on three islands and the first analyzes show differences between them and between ecosystems.
It also seeks to understand the influence of microbial life on the evolution of biodiversity in the Galápagos and how they may or may not help to resist endemic species such as the plant genus. scales against the advance of invasive species.
Darwin’s cotton flower (gossypium darwinii), on July 2, 2023, on Cerro Tijeretas on San Cristóbal Island, the easternmost of the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador). EFE / Fernando Gimeno
National Network of Biobanks Project
It is now hoped that this GSC biobank experience will be replicated nationally with the project to create the National Bank of Genetic Resources of Ecuadoran initiative of the National Biodiversity Institute (Inabio) with the financial support of South Korean cooperation, which contributes with 9 million dollars.
Listed as the “Ecuador’s Biodiversity Noah’s Ark”, this initiative will form part of a network of seven biobanks distributed throughout Ecuador to conserve not only the biodiversity of the Galápagos, but also the coast, the Andean highlands and the Amazon.
Within this network is the GSC together with the National Institute of Agricultural Research (Iniap), the University of the Armed Forces (Espe), Yachay Tech, the Regional University of the Amazon Ikiam, the National Center for Aquaculture and Marine Research of the Escola Superior Politécnica del Litoral (Cenaim-Espol) and the Private Technical University of Loja (UTPL).