Sayyab, Shumaila
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2014Peer reviewedOpen access
Rabbit genome analysis reveals a polygenic basis for phenotypic change during domestication
Carneiro, Miguel; Rubin, Carl-Johan; Di Palma, Federica; Albert, Frank W.; Alföldi, Jessica; Martinez Barrio, Alvaro; Pielberg, Gerli; Rafati, Nima; Sayyab, Shumaila; Turner-Maier, Jason; Andersson, Leif
Abstract
The genetic changes underlying the initial steps of animal domestication are still poorly understood. We generated a high-quality reference genome for the rabbit and compared it to resequencing data from populations of wild and domestic rabbits. We identified more than 100 selective sweeps specific to domestic rabbits but only a relatively small number of fixed (or nearly fixed) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for derived alleles. SNPs with marked allele frequency differences between wild and domestic rabbits were enriched for conserved noncoding sites. Enrichment analyses suggest that genes affecting brain and neuronal development have often been targeted during domestication. We propose that because of a truly complex genetic background, tame behavior in rabbits and other domestic animals evolved by shifts in allele frequencies at many loci, rather than by critical changes at only a few domestication loci.
Published in
Science
2014, Volume: 345, number: 6200, pages: 1074-1079
Publisher: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
Andersson, Leif
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Texas A&M University
- Uppsala University
- Department of Animal Biosciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Publication identifier
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1253714
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/67862