3. Kangaroo Island: Koala's Surviving Chlamydia (Sienna Fedoruk)
Chlamydia is a very common sexually transmitted infection that can be spread through intercourse or maternal transmission through the spread of bacteria. In Australia up to 88% of koalas have been affected by this epidemic caused by the bacteria Chlamydia pecorum often leading to death among this population. This specific article goes into detail about a koala population on Kangaroo Island that is free of chlamydia despite it being 12 miles away from the main island. Genetically, this population of koalas comes from a very limited gene pool because of how secluded they are leading to a lot of inbreeding and are said to be "genetically fragile"(BBC).
Although their isolation has protected them from the fatal epidemic, their evolutionary potential is in danger. The main island might be affected by chlamydia but as time goes on the genetic diversity among these koala's will mutate and create an antibody. Whereas the isolated koalas will slowly start to degrade through genetic mutations linked to inbreeding. However, if the two mix together maybe an antibody could be produced sooner due to the mixing of different alleles!
https://www.bbc.com/future/
Other Source:https://my.
April 22
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