Evolutionary signals of selection on cognition from the great tit genome and methylome

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evolutionary signals of selection on cognition from the great tit genome and methylome

AU - Laine, Veronika

AU - Gossmann, T.I.

AU - Schachtschneider, K.M.

AU - Garroway, C.J.

AU - Madsen, O.

AU - Verhoeven, K.J.F.

AU - de Jager, V.C.L.

AU - Megens, H-J.

AU - Warren, W.C.

AU - Minx, P.

AU - Crooijmans, R.P.M.A.

AU - Corcoran, P.

AU - Sheldon, B.C.

AU - Slate, J.

AU - Zeng, K.

AU - van Oers, K.

AU - Visser, M.E.

AU - Groenen, M.A.M.

N1 - 5988, AnE; Data Archiving: Data archived at Genbank

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - For over 50 years, the great tit (Parus major) has been a model species for research in evolutionary, ecological and behavioural research; in particular, learning and cognition have been intensively studied. Here, to provide further insight into the molecular mechanisms behind these important traits, we de novo assemble a great tit reference genome and whole-genome re-sequence another 29 individuals from across Europe. We show an overrepresentation of genes related to neuronal functions, learning and cognition in regions under positive selection, as well as increased CpG methylation in these regions. In addition, great tit neuronal non-CpG methylation patterns are very similar to those observed in mammals, suggesting a universal role in neuronal epigenetic regulation which can affect learning-, memory- and experience-induced plasticity. The high-quality great tit genome assembly will play an instrumental role in furthering the integration of ecological, evolutionary, behavioural and genomic approaches in this model species.

AB - For over 50 years, the great tit (Parus major) has been a model species for research in evolutionary, ecological and behavioural research; in particular, learning and cognition have been intensively studied. Here, to provide further insight into the molecular mechanisms behind these important traits, we de novo assemble a great tit reference genome and whole-genome re-sequence another 29 individuals from across Europe. We show an overrepresentation of genes related to neuronal functions, learning and cognition in regions under positive selection, as well as increased CpG methylation in these regions. In addition, great tit neuronal non-CpG methylation patterns are very similar to those observed in mammals, suggesting a universal role in neuronal epigenetic regulation which can affect learning-, memory- and experience-induced plasticity. The high-quality great tit genome assembly will play an instrumental role in furthering the integration of ecological, evolutionary, behavioural and genomic approaches in this model species.

KW - international

UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/?term=JRXK00000000

U2 - 10.1038/ncomms10474

DO - 10.1038/ncomms10474

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 7

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 10474

ER -