Dr. Kurt Benirschke – Founder of CRES/San Diego Zoo ICR

Hawaiian crow Mississippi gopher frog Sumatran rhinoceros

Northern white rhinoceros black-footed ferret Pacific pocket mouse

Frozen early passage cell cultures constitute an expandable resource.

Access to chromosomes and karyotypes.

Sufficient quantity of DNA and RNA from small organisms for multiple sequencing libraries and different platforms.

Highest quality DNA extracts for improved genome assemblies.

Resource for functional studies, including receptor biology, cell signaling, disease investigation, etc.

Source for reprogramming to produce iPSC.

May be used for genetic rescue.

Reduced animal welfare concerns.

Future interests may be better served.

Why Save Cells?

Lithobates (Rana) muscosagenome project

Austin Mudd – UC Berkeley Beth Shapiro – UCSC

Natalie Catalyud – SDZG ICR Oliver Ryder – SDZG ICR

Cynthia Steiner – SDZG ICR Ed Green - Dovetail

Genomics

Mountain yellow-legged frog cells growing in culture

Carl Satore

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubenstein_/

Shinya Yamanaka Kyoto University

Rosin Institute

~ 10,000 individuals

> 1,000 taxa

GenBank hits for >120 species

Number of Families

Amphibia: 12

Reptilia: 16

Aves: 64

Mammalia: 82

San Diego Zoo’s Frozen Zoo®

Northern white rhinoceros fibroblasts

Artiodactyls33%

Primates23%

Perissodactyls10%

Carnivores12%

Other mammals8%

Birds10%

Reptiles3%

Amphibians/Fishes1%

fibroblasts

Artiodactyla26%

Carnivora15%

Primates9%

Perissodactyla3%

Marsupials2%

Other Mammals25%

Aves11%Reptilia

8%

Amphibia1%

Reproductive cells

Barbara Durrant

Director, Reproductive Physiology Division,

San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research

Northern White RhinoStem Cell Project

Jeanne Loring

Marisa Korody

Strategy for Rescuing the Northern White Rhino

J. Saragusty et al, Zoo Biology 2016

Contributions of the Frozen Zoo® to Genome 10K and Other Genome Projects

whole genome sequencing projects so far:

amphibian species (incomplete)

reptile species

avian species (including one of the highest quality assemblies)

mammalian species

BGI; Dovetail; Broad; PacBio (directly; more indirect);

Swedish National Museum; Natural History Museum of Denmark;

Smithsonian Institution

Recipients and collaborators:

BGI; Broad Institute; Dovetail Genomics; Washington University; Univ. of

Washington; and Baylor Genome Centers; Penn State , Stanford, PacBio,

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; Duke Univerisity; Univ of

Hawaii, UC Davis.

Primate sample requests (2011-6) species # requests

chimpanzee 77 bonobo 133 gorilla 175 orangutan

(2 species) 173 gibbons (all

taxa) 88 great and lesser ape

total 646 Old World Monkey 317 New World

Monkey 241 Prosimian 132 Primates total 1346 ~36% of all requests

Approximately 290 institutions requested and received samples. Since 1980, approximately 3695 requests for species-level requests were received and fulfilled. NCBI lists 28 primate taxa for which San Diego Zoo Global provided the samples that were the source for the nucleotide sequence information.

Source: National Human Genome Research Institute, National Center for Biotechnology

Information. Data as of October 2015. downloaded from merrilledge.com/

Before long all

biological

sciences will

incorporate

genomic

analyses

Marlys Houck

Julie Fronczek

Cat Avila

Marisa KorodyAnn Misuraka

Not pictured: Suellen J. Charter

Cynthia Steiner

Asako Navarro

Lindsay Sidak-Loftis

Tate Tunstall

Leona

Chemnick

Heidi Davis

Our efforts are focused in 8 key

areas:

Conservation GeneticsSustaining and restoring genetic diversity through bioresource banking and research

Reproductive SciencesApplying innovative science and technology to enhance reproduction

Population SustainabilityIntegrating behavior and ecology to ensure population viability

Disease InvestigationsRemoving disease as a roadblock to conservation

Plant ConservationWorking across scientific disciplines to save rare plants

Recovery EcologyAdaptively managing and restoring species to the wild

Community EngagementDriving conservation action through science education and community collaborations

Global PartnershipsBuilding collaborations with key partners to achieve shared conservation goals.

Nola

March 3, 2016