IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v10y2019i1d10.1038_s41467-019-09806-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Genetics and evidence for balancing selection of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in a songbird

Author

Listed:
  • Kang-Wook Kim

    (University of Sheffield)

  • Benjamin C. Jackson

    (University of Sheffield)

  • Hanyuan Zhang

    (University of Sheffield)

  • David P. L. Toews

    (Cornell University
    Cornell University, Corson Hall
    The Pennsylvania State University)

  • Scott A. Taylor

    (Cornell University
    Cornell University, Corson Hall
    University of Colorado Boulder)

  • Emma I. Greig

    (Cornell University)

  • Irby J. Lovette

    (Cornell University
    Cornell University, Corson Hall)

  • Mengning M. Liu

    (University of Nottingham)

  • Angus Davison

    (University of Nottingham)

  • Simon C. Griffith

    (Macquarie University)

  • Kai Zeng

    (University of Sheffield)

  • Terry Burke

    (University of Sheffield)

Abstract

Colour polymorphisms play a key role in sexual selection and speciation, yet the mechanisms that generate and maintain them are not fully understood. Here, we use genomic and transcriptomic tools to identify the precise genetic architecture and evolutionary history of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in the Gouldian finch Erythrura gouldiae that is also accompanied by remarkable differences in behaviour and physiology. We find that differences in colour are associated with an ~72-kbp region of the Z chromosome in a putative regulatory region for follistatin, an antagonist of the TGF-β superfamily genes. The region is highly differentiated between morphs, unlike the rest of the genome, yet we find no evidence that an inversion is involved in maintaining the distinct haplotypes. Coalescent simulations confirm that there is elevated nucleotide diversity and an excess of intermediate frequency alleles at this locus. We conclude that this pleiotropic colour polymorphism is most probably maintained by balancing selection.

Suggested Citation

  • Kang-Wook Kim & Benjamin C. Jackson & Hanyuan Zhang & David P. L. Toews & Scott A. Taylor & Emma I. Greig & Irby J. Lovette & Mengning M. Liu & Angus Davison & Simon C. Griffith & Kai Zeng & Terry Bur, 2019. "Genetics and evidence for balancing selection of a sex-linked colour polymorphism in a songbird," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-09806-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09806-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09806-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-019-09806-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Josephine R. Paris & James R. Whiting & Mitchel J. Daniel & Joan Ferrer Obiol & Paul J. Parsons & Mijke J. Zee & Christopher W. Wheat & Kimberly A. Hughes & Bonnie A. Fraser, 2022. "A large and diverse autosomal haplotype is associated with sex-linked colour polymorphism in the guppy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-019-09806-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.