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Divergence and Degradation of a Supergene/ Curr. Biol., Jan. 21, 2015 (Vol. 26, Issue 3)

1,376 views · Published 8 February 2016 · 5:16 · Indexed 12 November 2026

Channel: Cell Press · 2016 · Science & Technology

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Morphs of the white-throated sparrow are determined by large alternative supergenes located on an inversion of chromosome 2. Using over two decades of field data, Tuttle et al. document near-perfect disassortative mating and fitness consequences for those birds that pair assortatively. They then used de novo whole-genome sequencing coupled with population- and phylo-genomic data to show that white and tan morphs are highly divergent at over 1,000 genes, that both supergenes originated prior to the split of the white-throated sparrow from its sister species, and that the white morph supergene was introduced into the lineage through past hybridization/introgression and is degrading over time. The results show how supergenes can arise and become polymorphic in a single species and how, despite their apparent stability in the short term, they are likely to be unstable over long evolutionary time periods.

Check out the paper at http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01562-6.

Elaina M. Tuttle, Alan O. Bergland, Marisa L. Korody, Michael S. Brewer, Daniel J. Newhouse, Patrick Minx, Maria Stager, Adam Betuel, Zachary A. Cheviron, Wesley C. Warren, Rusty A. Gonser, and Christopher N. Balakrishnan (2016). Divergence and Functional Degradation of a Sex Chromosome-like Supergene. Curr. Biol. 26.

And read more great research at http://www.cell.com/current-biology/home.

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