Polar Bear Y Chromosome Reconstructed: What DNA Reveals About Endangered Species

As polar bear populations decline, it's more important than ever to learn more about them. Now, scientists have reconstructed part of the male chromosome in polar bears and have found out why the Y chromosome is so important.

The polar bear is the world's largest land-dwelling predator. Unfortunately, polar bears are quickly declining due to climate change, and researchers struggle to learn more about them since they live and die on the frozen sea, which means that their remains are seldom found.

Now, researchers have reconstructed large sections of the polar bear Y chromosome. To date, most studies have been limited to female animals, neglecting the Y chromosome.

The researchers studied billions of small anonymous sequence segments. This allowed the scientists to identify the pieces associated with the polar bear Y chromosome. In fact, the researchers were able to identify 1.9 million base pairs in the genetic material of male polar bears.

The scientists identified two genetic groups of male polar bear lineages which started to evolve separately more than 100,000 years ago.

"Today, individuals from both genetic groups can be found in various Arctic regions-from Alaska to Spitsbergen," said Tobias Bidon, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The findings, in particular, confirm the idea that polar bears roam across vast distances and distribute their genetic material throughout the entire Arctic. This may have large implications for conservation efforts.

Currently, the scientists hope to use their approach to further reconstruct parts of the Y chromosome. They plan to study paternal inheritance and migration from the perspective of male polar bears.

The findings are published in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution.

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