Francisco J. Garcia De Leon

Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste | CIBNOR · Planeacion Ambiental y Conservación

An important research goal for plant species of conservation concern is to identify and spatially delimit genetically distinct populations and understand their degree of connectivity. Here, we evaluated structure, diversity, and genetic connectivity using neutral genetic markers in cirio (Fouquieria columnaris), a unique succulent tree restricted t...

The responses of marine species to environmental changes and anthropogenic pressures (e.g. fishing) interact with ecological and evolutionary processes that are not well understood. Knowledge of changes in the distribution range and genetic diversity of species and their populations into the future is essential for the conservation and sustainable...

The sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria is distributed on the continental shelf of the North Pacific, has a high commercial value for both fisheries and aquaculture, and represents a shared resource between countries in the North Pacific basin. In the present study, we extend the geographic range surveyed in previous studies and reexamine the population's...

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genomes of the Mexican golden trout, Oncorhynchus chrysogaster, and Nelson’s trout, O. mykiss nelson, were assembled and characterized. The mitogenomes were 16,655 bp and 16,661 bp long, respectively, and were composed of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes, and 22 transfer RNA genes (al...

A high diversity of rattlesnake species can be found in the Baja California peninsula and the island of the Gulf of California, nevertheless, their venom has been poorly evaluated. The aim of this work was to present the first characterization of endemic Crotalus mitchellii, micro endemic C. polisi and C. thalassoporus venoms. All samples provoke h...

The distribution of zooplankton groups, with an emphasis on fish larvae, in the Oxygen Minimum Zone off southern Mexico (December 2020) was analyzed. A hydrographic section of five sampling stations was made in the confluence of Transitional Water and Tropical Surface Waters. In each station, horizontal zooplankton trawls on three different dissolv...

Genetic structure and phylogeographic patterns of natural populations are of great importance to assess the conservation status of species. These population properties can be estimated using molecular markers of either mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or nuclear (nDNA) DNA to understand the historical, ecological, and dispersal patterns that influence gen...

Background Whole mitochondrial genomes are quickly becoming markers of choice for the exploration of within-species genealogical and among-species phylogenetic relationships. Most often, ‘primer walking’ or ‘long PCR’ strategies plus Sanger sequencing or low-pass whole genome sequencing using Illumina short reads are used for the assembling of mito...

The Mexican cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus (Characidae), has become an important model in evolutionary physiology and developmental biology, providing insights into the evolution of sensory systems, pigmentation, and metabolism. In contrast, comparatively little is known about the natural history and trophic ecology of this elusive cave inhabitant. W...

The spatial and temporal heterogeneity of rivers largely determine both the richness and the variability of the fish assemblages; however, few studies have been carried out in the northern parts of Mexico. This study assesses the species diversity and longitudinal distribution of fish fauna in the Soto La Marina River (northeast Mexico) and how thi...

• The Yaqui catfish, Ictalurus pricei, is the only native ictalurid species described from north-west México and south-west USA. It is an endangered species owing to the decline and loss of most of its historical populations, mainly because of competition and hybridization with the non-native channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. The Arroyo Cajón B...

Recent climatic conditions are affecting biodiversity, particularly those species highly isolated and at their distribution limits such as trout (Oncorhynchus sp.) inhabiting the Northern Sierra Madre Occidental (NSMO) in Mexico, which is a current conservation concern due to their fragmented distribution and anthropogenic threads. Here, we compile...

Aliger gigas is an economically important and vulnerable marine species. We present a new mitogenome of A. gigas from the Mexican Caribbean and use the eight publicly available Strombidae mitogenomes to analyze intra- and interspecific variation. We present the most complete phylogenomic understanding of Hypsogastropoda to date (17 superfamilies, 3...

Background Astyanax mexicanus from the river basins of the Gulf of Mexico slope are small freshwater fish that usually live in large groups in different freshwater environments. The group is considered successful due to its high capacity for dispersal and adaptation to different habitats, and the species present high morphological variability throu...

In the face of human-induced environmental change, basic biological data for species threatened by the impacts of human activities are sorely needed to devise and execute proper conservation strategies. Here we provide aspects of basic life-history data for 2 populations of the critically endangered Tamesí molly Poecilia latipunctata (Poeciliidae),...

Rattlesnake's venom constitutes an important ecological trait that dynamically changes over time. Venoms of adult and juvenile rattleless rattlesnakes, Crotalus catalinensis, an endemic insular species from the Gulf of California, were compared by electrophoretic profile, fibrinogenolytic activity, and proteomic composition to assess ontogenetic va...

How environmental and anthropogenic factors influence genetic variation and local adaptation is a central issue in evolutionary biology. The Mexican golden trout (Oncorhynchus chrysogaster), one of the southernmost native salmonid species in the world, is susceptible to climate change, habitat perturbations and the competition and hybridization wit...

To assess some demographic aspects of Totoaba macdonaldi, 40 years after its commercial exploitation was banned, sampling trips in the Gulf of California were performed from April 2010 to July 2014. The spatial distribution, age structure, growth, length-weight relationship, and sex ratio were determined. Based on otolith growth ring detection, fis...

Genotyping-by-sequencing reveals the effects of riverscape, climate and interspecific introgression on the genetic diversity and local adaptation of the endangered Mexican golden trout (Oncorhynchus chrysogaster)

How environmental and anthropogenic factors influence genetic variation and local adaptation is a central issue in evolutionary biology. The Mexican golden trout (Oncorhynchus chrysogaster), one of the southernmost native salmonid species in the world, is susceptible to climate change, habitat perturbations and the competition and hybridization wit...

We have examined the phylogeographical distribution of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) lineages of Fouquieria columnaris (Kellogg) Kellogg ex Curran (Fouquieriaceae) in the Sonoran Desert, to understand how historical climatic and/or geological changes have influenced genetic patterns in the species. Using two chloroplast intergenic DNA spacers (psbJ-petA...

In the remote high-elevation streams and rivers in the northwest of Mexico, there is an endemic and highly diverse group of native trout related to the rainbow trout lineage (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Currently, only two species have been formally described from this trout complex, the Mexican golden trout, O. chrysogaster, and the San Pedro Mártir rai...

The almaco jack Seriola rivoliana is a circumtropical pelagic fish of importance both in commercial fisheries and aquaculture. To understand levels of genetic diversity within and among populations in the wild, population genetic structure and the relative magnitude of migration were assessed with mtDNA sequence data and SNPs from individuals sampl...

El Convenio sobre la Diversidad Biológica, que surgió en la Conferencia sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, celebrada en Río de Janeiro en 1992, define la diversidad biológica como el conjunto de toda la variabilidad de los organismos que integran los complejos ecológicos que existen en ambientes terrestres, marinos y otros hábitats acuáticos. Esa d...

Studies of population genetic structure in relation to ecological and evolutionary processes are crucial for conservation genetics and particularly for sustainable management of fisheries. However, such knowledge is not always available for the management of fisheries, as is the case of the edible cannonball jellyfish Stomolophus spp. fishery in th...

Next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS) offers many benefits, but major factors limiting NGS include reducing costs of: 1) start-up (i.e., doing NGS for the first time); 2) buy-in (i.e., getting the smallest possible amount of data from a run); and 3) sample preparation. Reducing sample preparation costs is commonly addressed, but start-up and buy-in...

In accordance with the Red Queen hypothesis, the lower genotypic diversity in clonally reproducing species should make them easier targets for pathogen infection, especially when closely related sexually reproducing species occur in close proximity. We analyzed two populations of clonal P. formosa and their sexual parental species P. mexicana by co...

The Smooth Hammerhead Shark Sphyrna zygaena is a species with anti-tropical distribution in the eastern Pacific from California USA, to southern Chile with a remarkably gap in abundance in equatorial areas between southern Mexico and Central America. For temperate species, warm waters can represent oceanographic barriers limiting the gene flow betw...

Published by the British Herpetological Society The islands of the Gulf of California are divided into three categories-oceanic, continental, and landbridge-and were formed from the Middle Miocene to the Holocene. The species of the Crotalus genus are an important ecological element of the endemic fauna of these islands. This study is the first to...

Eleven microsatellite loci were developed and characterized for the sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria. The markers were identified from sequences obtained by next generation sequencing. Thirty samples from Aleutians Islands were genotyped. The amplifications were performed with three different annealing temperature and amplification products were visua...

Para determinar caracteres diagnósticos de utilidad en la identificación taxonómica infraespecífica de la codorniz de California (Callipepla californica) de la península de Baja California, comparamos fenotípicamente cuatro subespecies nominales mediante el análisis estadístico multivariado de 18 caracteres: nueve morfométricos y nueve colorimétric...

Aim We explored the factors between riverscape features and exotic introgression of cultured rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) that drive the current genetic structure in the endemic Mexican golden trout (Oncorhynchus chrysogaster) using a riverscape genetics simulator. Location Sierra Madre Occidental, Northwest Mexico, North America. Methods...

Determining the relative influence of biotic and abiotic factors on genetic connectivity among populations remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology and in the management and conservation of species. North Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) inhabits upwelling regions in the California Current ecosystem from the Gulf of California to the Gu...

Table A. Collection dates and geographical coordinates of sampling sites. Table B. Genbank accession numbers for CYTB sequences of Merluccius spp. used to estimate divergence times. Table C. Estimates of null allele frequencies using the FreeNA program (Chapuis & Estoup 2007). Table D. Test of Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium by locus. A. Probability...

Microsatellite database. (XLSX)

Description of the ecosystems inhabiting the hake in the Northeast Pacific. (DOCX)

Fig A. Isolation by distance relationship. Scatter plot of pairwise genetic distance (linearized FST) vs geographic distances of eight microsatellite loci for Merluccius productus showing significant correlation between geographic and genetic distance. Fig B. General patterns of estimates of migration rates between Merluccius productus populations....

Polyploidy, the possession of more than two sets of chromosomes, is a major biological process a ecting plant evolution and diversi cation. In the Cactaceae, genome doubling has also been associated with re- productive isolation, changes in breeding systems, colonization ability, and speciation. Pachycereus pringlei (S. Watson, 1885) Britton & Rose...

Morphological dimorphism traits play an important role in our understanding of species evolution. In birds, sexual dimorphism occurs in a number of characteristics, such as body and shape size, wing and bill morphology. Hylocharis xantusii is the only hummingbird species endemic to the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico that has adapted to xeric con...

A priority issue in ecology and biogeography is understanding the patterns in species diversity and the causal factors of their distribution, which allows the generation of information for conservation strategies. The longitudinal distribution of fishes and their relationships with environmental variables were studied in the Guayalejo-Río Tamesí sy...

Population-level morphometric variation of the Mountain Mullet (Agonostomus monticola) was assessed in 419 adult specimens from 25 sample sites (river basins) across its Middle American distribution (Pacific and Atlantic-Caribbean drainages). This analysis was based on 36 standardized linear measurements and 19 landmarks on geometric morphometrics...

Studies on breeding systems and flower morphology are valuable to infer how environmental factors impose evolutionary change in plants. This study focused on the characterization of floral morphs and reproductive systems in Pachycereus pringlei and how this iconic columnar cactus might be a useful genus to understand the evolution of these highly v...

The Mexican Golden Trout (Oncorhynchus chrysogaster) is a threatened native species inhabiting three river basins in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Despite some efforts from science groups to obtain information about this trout, the Rio Sinaloa and Rio Culiacan basins, to the south, remain the least studied area, compared to the Rio Fuerte basin. To...

Understanding the factors that explain the patterns of genetic structure or phylogeographic breaks at an intraspecific level is key to inferring the mechanisms of population differentiation in its early stages. These topics have been well studied in the Baja California region, with vicariance and the dispersal ability of individuals being the preva...

The queen conch (Strombus gigas) is a commercially important marine invertebrate that is widely distributed throughout the western Atlantic, from Bermuda to Brazil. Intense exploitation has resulted in a decrease in population numbers of this species, which is listed as protected from commercial exploitation under IUCN and CITES. Previous studies o...

The Cannonball jellyfish (Stomolophus sp.) is a species of jellyfish with high relevance in artisanal fishing. Studies of their populations do not extend beyond the morphological descriptions knowing that presents a great morphological variability. However, there are no genetic studies to determine the number of independent populations, so microsat...

The live-bearing fish Xenotoca variata is representative of the viviparous Goodeinae subfamily (Goodeidae) from central Mexico. The mitogenome of the X. variata consist of 37 genes in 16,462 bp. Comparing with X. eiseni, the most related of the mitogenomes included, an identity of 91.1% was found and trna-met duplication in X. eiseni is absent in X...

State of the art about an endemic trout from the Sierra Madre Occidental (Mexico), with notes on conservation and management plans to preserve this endangered species (Language: Spanish)

Los peces de la familia Salmonidae son especies de agua fría que se encuentran naturalmente en las regiones subártica y templada del hemisferio norte, tanto en el océano Pacífico como en el Atlántico. Las truchas de la Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) en México son las poblaciones nativas más sureñas en el rango mundial de esta familia. Por tanto, mue...

The phylogeographic structure of some species distributed across the Baja California Peninsula has been traditionally hypothesized as resulting from vicariant events thought to have occurred between 1-3 Mya. Climatic fluctuations during the Pleistocene have also been shown to influence the distribution patterns of species, and vicariant patterns ma...

Conservation of the evolutionary legacy of endangered species is a key component for long-term persistence. Totoaba is a long-lived fish endemic to the Gulf of California and is considered critically endangered. There is currently a debate concerning its conservation status and whether it can be used as a fishery resource. Unfortunately, basic info...

Pacific trout Oncorhynchus spp. in western North America are strongly valued in ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural views, and have been the subject of substantial research and conservation efforts. Despite this, the understanding of their evolutionary histories, overall diversity, and challenges to their conservation is incomplete. We review t...

Studies of phylogeographic patterns provide insight into the processes driving lineage divergence in a particular region. To identify the processes that caused phylogeographic breaks, it is necessary to use historical information and a set of appropriate molecular data to explain current patterns. To understand the influence of geological or ecolog...

Introgression might be exceptionally common during the evolution of narrowly endemic species. For instance, in the springs of the small and isolated Cuatro Ciénegas Valley, the mitogenome of the cichlid fish Herichthys cyanoguttatus could be rapidly introgressing into populations of the trophically polymorphic H. minckleyi. We used a combination of...

The study of complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) revealed different gene rearrangements, highly variable markers, and delineated clades that have aided the understanding of the evolutionary history in corals. In this study, we examined mitogenomic variation of reef-building Porites corals and designed 34 primer pairs to target high diversi...