Contribution of a mutational hot spot to hemoglobin adaptation in high-altitude Andean house wrens.

ABSTRACT: A key question in evolutionary genetics is why certain mutations or certain types of mutation make disproportionate contributions to adaptive phenotypic evolution. In principle, the preferential fixation of particular mutations could stem directly from variation in the underlying rate of mutation to function-altering alleles. However, the influence of mutation bias on the genetic architecture of phenotypic evolution is difficult to evaluate because data on rates of mutation to function-altering alleles are seldom available. Here, we report the discovery that a single point mutation at a highly mutable site in the β(A)-globin gene has contributed to an evolutionary change in hemoglobin (Hb) function in high-altitude Andean house wrens (Troglodytes aedon). Results of experiments on native Hb

SUBMITTER: Galen SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4653164 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature