Research Support
SPIRITS

Studies for Great Ape Conservation using Japan-Africa Cooperative Research Network and Renovated Technology of DNA Analysis

Project Gist

Promote studies for conservation of African great apes through collaboration with African research institutions

Keywords

Afirica, cooperative research, great ape, DNA analysis, genetic diversity

Background and Purpose

In coordination with JSPS Core-to-Core Program, we established the African Primatological Consortium (APC) with an African researcher as a coordinator, and we held the first APC congress in December 2015 in Makerere University, Uganda. During this congress, we concluded MoU between important African universities and Kyoto University. We extracted DNA from fecal samples of wild great apes that we collected through member institutions of APC, and tried to evaluate genetic diversity in each local population of great apes. In two years of this project, we tried to establish the methodologies for the genome-wide analysis of exome using fecal samples of wild bonobos.

Project Achievements

During the first APC Congress, we exchanged information about research projects by all APC members. We agreed to organize a training workshop for young researchers in Kyoto University in 2016, and we started preparation for it. We concluded two MoU’s in the APC Congress, one between Kinshasa University in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kyoto University, and another between Makerere University in Uganda and Kyoto University. APC had registration of about 100 researchers from 8 African countries, 4 European countries, United states, and Japan by the end of 2015 fiscal year. As for the DNA analysis, we extracted DNA from 71 fecal samples that we collected from three local populations of bonobos. We selected DNA samples of 4 individuals from three local populations, and performed genome-wide DNA analysis using next-generation sequencers. We are evaluating the genetic diversity in each local population using these results.

Future Prospects

We will organize a community of Kyoto University researchers working on Africa and African researchers who graduated the Kyoto University, and will aim to establish a Kyoto University office in Africa. Through such network of academic collaboration, we will launch a program for informatics analysis of bonobo DNA using next-generation sequencer and super computer to reveal genetic diversity in each local population and its formation, and a program to study structure and evolution of local community, and try to secure external funds for those projects.

Figure

Field trip to a study site of gorillas after 2014 symposium
First Congress of the African Primatological Consortium in 2015

Principal Investigator

FURUICHI Takeshi

・FURUICHI Takeshi
・Primate Research Institute
・After studying social behavior and ecology of Japanese monkeys during master course of Kyoto University, he started studies of social/sexual behavior and female life history of wild bonobos in 1983, and ecological studies of wild chimpanzees in 1996. He also established an international NGO called Support for Conservation of Bonobos and undertook activities for conservation and support for local people in his study sites, and devoted himself for conservation of African great apes as an executive committee member of International Union for Conservation of Nature.
http://www.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/sections/social_systems_evolution/furuichi/index.htm
 http://www.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/before2010/shakai-seitai/shakai/BONOBOHP/index.htm