Project description:Understanding how polygenic traits evolve and respond to selection is a major unsolved problem, because challenges exist for identifying genes underlying a complex trait and understanding how multi-locus selection operates in the genome. Here we used artificial selection experiments to study polygenic response to selection. Inbred strains from seven independent long-term selection experiments in mice for extreme bodyweight (“High” lines weigh 77-42g vs. 40-16g in “Controls” lines), were genotyped at 527,572 SNPs to identify genetic variants controlling bodyweight. We identified 67 high-resolution parallel selected regions (PSRs) where multiple High lines share variants rarely found among the Controls. By comparing allele frequencies in one selection experiment against its unselected control, we found classical selective sweep signatures centered on the PSRs. Multiple lines of evidence support two G protein-coupled receptors GPR133 and Prlhr, as positional candidate genes controlling bodyweight. Artificial selection may mimic natural selection in the wild: compared to control loci, we detected reduced heterozygosity in PSRs in wild populations of unusually large mice on islands. Many PSRs overlap loci associated with human height variation, possibly through evolutionary conservation of functional pathways. Our data suggest that parallel selection on complex traits may evoke parallel responses at many genes involved in diverse but relevant pathways. These samples were used to test the enrichment of certain gene functional categories. Genomic DNA SNP comparison between artificially selected high lines (BEH, DAHi, DUH, MUH, EDH, RAHi, Du6/G154 and Du6i/G80) and unselected control lines.
Project description:Using whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), we profiled 18 DNA methylomes of cattle sperms that were collected from 18 representative age-matched Holstein bulls with high reliable phenotypes on many complex traits, including sire-conception rate (SCR), gestation length (GL), sire calving ease (SCE), cow conception rate (CCR) and body depth (BDE). Through comparison with human sperm methylome, we observed that genomic regions with differetial DNA methylation levels were enriched for GWAS signals and had important evolutionary impact. By comparing animals with extreme SCR, we showed that differentially methylated regions (DMR) associated with SCR and aging were significantly and selectively enriched for GWAS signals of male fertility traits in cattle. In addition, we detected ans compared DMRs assocaited with GL, CCR, SCE and BDE. We integrated GWAS signals of 37 complex traits with DMRs associated with GL to provide insights into genetic basis of GL.
Project description:Understanding how polygenic traits evolve and respond to selection is a major unsolved problem, because challenges exist for identifying genes underlying a complex trait and understanding how multi-locus selection operates in the genome. Here we used artificial selection experiments to study polygenic response to selection. Inbred strains from seven independent long-term selection experiments in mice for extreme bodyweight (“High” lines weigh 77-42g vs. 40-16g in “Controls” lines), were genotyped at 527,572 SNPs to identify genetic variants controlling bodyweight. We identified 67 high-resolution parallel selected regions (PSRs) where multiple High lines share variants rarely found among the Controls. By comparing allele frequencies in one selection experiment against its unselected control, we found classical selective sweep signatures centered on the PSRs. Multiple lines of evidence support two G protein-coupled receptors GPR133 and Prlhr, as positional candidate genes controlling bodyweight. Artificial selection may mimic natural selection in the wild: compared to control loci, we detected reduced heterozygosity in PSRs in wild populations of unusually large mice on islands. Many PSRs overlap loci associated with human height variation, possibly through evolutionary conservation of functional pathways. Our data suggest that parallel selection on complex traits may evoke parallel responses at many genes involved in diverse but relevant pathways. These samples were used to test the enrichment of certain gene functional categories.
Project description:Understanding how polygenic traits evolve and respond to selection is a major unsolved problem, because challenges exist for identifying genes underlying a complex trait and understanding how multi-locus selection operates in the genome. Here we used artificial selection experiments to study polygenic response to selection. Inbred strains from seven independent long-term selection experiments in mice for extreme bodyweight (“High” lines weigh 77-42g vs. 40-16g in “Controls” lines), were genotyped at 527,572 SNPs to identify genetic variants controlling bodyweight. We identified 67 high-resolution parallel selected regions (PSRs) where multiple High lines share variants rarely found among the Controls. By comparing allele frequencies in one selection experiment against its unselected control, we found classical selective sweep signatures centered on the PSRs. Multiple lines of evidence support two G protein-coupled receptors GPR133 and Prlhr, as positional candidate genes controlling bodyweight. Artificial selection may mimic natural selection in the wild: compared to control loci, we detected reduced heterozygosity in PSRs in wild populations of unusually large mice on islands. Many PSRs overlap loci associated with human height variation, possibly through evolutionary conservation of functional pathways. Our data suggest that parallel selection on complex traits may evoke parallel responses at many genes involved in diverse but relevant pathways. These samples were used to test the enrichment of certain gene functional categories.
Project description:Suspended animation (e.g. hibernation, diapause) allows organisms to survive extreme environments. But the mechanisms underlying the evolution of suspended animation states are unknown. The African turquoise killifish has evolved diapause as a form of suspended development to survive the complete drought that occurs every summer. Here, we show that gene duplicates – paralogs – exhibit specialized expression in diapause compared to normal development in the African turquoise killifish. Surprisingly, paralogs with specialized expression in diapause are evolutionarily very ancient and are present even in vertebrates that do not exhibit diapause. To determine if evolution of diapause is due to the regulatory landscape rewiring at ancient paralogs, we assessed chromatin accessibility genome-wide in fish species with or without diapause. This analysis revealed an evolutionary recent increase in chromatin accessibility at very ancient paralogs in African turquoise killifish. The increase in chromatin accessibility is linked to the presence of new binding sites for transcription factors, likely due to de novo mutations and transposable element (TE) insertion. Interestingly, accessible chromatin regions in diapause are enriched for lipid metabolism genes, and our lipidomics studies uncover a striking difference in lipid species in African turquoise killifish diapause, which could be critical for long-term survival. Together, our results show that diapause likely originated by repurposing pre-existing gene programs via recent changes in the regulatory landscape. This work raises the possibility that suspended animation programs could be reactivated in other species for long-term preservation via transcription factor remodeling and suggests a mechanism for how complex adaptations evolve in nature.