Mapping seasonal migration in a songbird hybrid zone -- heritability, genetic correlations, and genomic patterns linked to speciation.

ABSTRACT: Seasonal migration is a widespread behavior relevant for adaptation and speciation, yet knowledge of its genetic basis is limited. We leveraged advances in tracking and sequencing technologies to bridge this gap in a well-characterized hybrid zone between songbirds that differ in migratory behavior. Migration requires the coordinated action of many traits, including orientation, timing, and wing morphology. We used genetic mapping to show these traits are highly heritable and genetically correlated, explaining how migration has evolved so rapidly in the past and suggesting future responses to climate change may be possible. Many of these traits mapped to the same genomic regions and small structural variants indicating the same, or tightly linked, genes underlie them. Analyses integrating

SUBMITTER: Justen HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11067064 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature