Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Genomics
Selfish, promiscuous, and sometimes useful: how mobile genetic elements drive horizontal gene transfer in microbial populations
Published: 2021-12-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences, Microbiology, Other Microbiology
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) drives microbial adaptation but is often under the control of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) whose interests are not necessarily aligned with those of their hosts. In general, transfer is costly to the donor cell while potentially beneficial to the recipients. The diversity and plasticity of cell-MGEs interactions, and those among MGEs, results in complex [...]
Misinterpretation of genomic data matters for endangered species listing: the subspecific status of the Peñasco least chipmunk (Neotamias minimus atristriatus)
Published: 2021-09-30
Subjects: Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences
Puckett et al. (2021. Ecology and Evolution, 11, 12114-12128) evaluated the subspecies status of the Peñasco least chipmunk (Neotamias minimus atristriatus) using genomic approaches and concluded that their results did not support the distinction of this taxon as a subspecies and recommended it be synonymized with N. m. operarius. We refute the interpretations, conclusions, and taxonomic [...]
Supergenes on Steroids
Published: 2021-09-09
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences
At the birth of supergenes, the genomic landscape is dramatically re-organized leading to pronounced differences in phenotypes and increased intrasexual diversity. Two of the best- studied supergenes in vertebrates are arguably the inversion polymorphisms on chromosomes 2 and 11 in the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) and the ruff (Calidris pugnax), respectively. In both species, [...]
Maturation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Salmonidae): a synthesis of ecological, genetic, and molecular processes
Published: 2020-11-10
Subjects: Behavior and Ethology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Genetics, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences, Physiology, Population Biology
Over the past decades, Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Salmonidae) has emerged as a model system for sexual maturation research, owing to the high diversity of life history strategies, knowledge of trait genetic architecture, and their high economic value. The aim of this synthesis is to summarize the current state of knowledge concerning maturation in Atlantic salmon, outline knowledge gaps, and [...]
Removing the bad apples: a simple bioinformatic method to improve loci-recovery in de novo RADseq data for non-model organisms
Published: 2020-08-30
Subjects: Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences
The restriction site-associated DNA (RADseq) family of protocols involves digesting DNA and sequencing the region flanking the cut site, thus providing a cost and time efficient way for obtaining thousands of genomic markers. However, when working with non-model taxa with few genomic resources, optimization of RADseq wet-lab and bioinformatic tools may be challenging, often resulting in allele [...]
The genomic revolution and species delimitation in birds (and other organisms): gene flow matters, but what about other evolutionary forces?
Published: 2020-04-09
Subjects: Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences
Given the notion that species are population-level lineages and the availability of genomic data to identify separately evolving populations, researchers usually establish species limits based on gene flow or lack thereof. A strict focus on gene flow as the main –or only– criterion to delimit species involves two main complications in practice. First, approaches often used to apply this criterion [...]
DNA methylation patterns in the round goby hypothalamus support an on-the-spot decision scenario for territorial behaviour
Published: 2018-12-11
Subjects: Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Life Sciences
How early life experiences are stored on a molecular level and affect behavioural phenotypes later in life is not well understood. In fish, reproductive phenotypes are often easily discernible and frequently depend on previous life experiences. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism which is both sensitive to environmental conditions and stable across cell divisions. In this study, we [...]