Strongly deleterious mutations influence reproductive output and longevity in an endangered population.

ABSTRACT: Inbreeding depression has been documented in various fitness traits in a wide range of species and taxa, however, the mutational basis is not yet well understood. We investigate how putatively deleterious variation influences fitness and is shaped by individual ancestry by re-sequencing complete genomes of 37 individuals in a natural arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) population subjected to both inbreeding depression and genetic rescue. We find that individuals with high proportion of homozygous loss of function genotypes (LoFs), which are predicted to exert a strong effect on fitness, generally have lower lifetime reproductive success and live shorter lives compared with individuals with lower proportion of LoFs. We also find that juvenile survival is negatively associated with the proportion o

SUBMITTER: Hasselgren M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11436772 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature