The objective of the project, which is funded by Visegrad Fund, is to study the conservation genetics of Natura 2000 moths protected at EU level. Apart from the research findings and results, the participants also intend to focus on the possibilities of networking and knowledge transfer.
The project members include the University of Debrecen, the University of Białystok and the University of Wrocłav in Poland and the Biology Centre of the CAS, the Czech Academy of Sciences.
“We hosted three Czech and two Polish researchers last week, and expect more Poles to arrive in April. Under the guidance of Virág Nyíri and Sod-Erdene Bayambadash, two of our Ph.D. students, they have completed the genome library of Euplagia quadripunctaria and, as a next step, they will do the same for Eriogaster catax. The aim of our studies is to learn about the genetic structure of these protected butterflies in their European distribution area in order to assist conservation management in figuring out what steps to take to prevent further decline in the populations of these endangered species,” said Gábor Sramkó, Assistant Professor at Department of Botany, Institute of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen and head of Evolutionary Phylogenomics Research Group.
There is not too much genetic information available about these two moths examined in Debrecen, so whatever the results might be, they are quite sure to be interesting. The eighteen-month project expects to examine a total of six different species before it ends this summer.
The next step is going to be the processing of DNA sequences: the researchers outside Hungary will be following the bio-informatic processing online coming from UD’s bioinformatics “witches’ kitchen.” The Debrecen contingent has also been active in collecting samples. For example, they collected butterflies from several parts of Romania. They also caught scarce fritillaries (Euphydryas maturna), which is notable because UD’ professor emeritus Zoltán Varga has samples he had collected way back in the 1950s, and now these can be compared. It may become clear how much genetic change has occurred over two generations.
Professor Zoltán Varga, who is a professor emeritus of the Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology at the Faculty of Science and Technology of UD, is also a world-renowned butterfly researcher who not only helps with the collection of samples, but also with the research. What is more, to their great delight, he gave the foreign guests a guided tour of Life Sciences Gallery, where they could check out his exhibition titled Négyszemközt a természettel (még mindig) [One-on-one with nature (still)]. He shared some behind-the-scenes secret information about the exhibits, followed by an academic lecture on the evolutionary origins of the Steppe fauna through an analysis of the species of owlet moths (Noctuidae).
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