Genomic insights into natural selection in the common loon (Gavia immer): evidence for aquatic adaptation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The common loon (Gavia immer) is one of five species that comprise the avian order Gaviiformes. Loons are specialized divers, reaching depths up to 60 m while staying submerged for intervals up to three minutes. In this study we used comparative genomics to investigate the genetic basis of the common loon adaptations to its ecological niche. We used Illumina short read DNA sequence data from a female bird to produce a draft assembly of the common loon (Gavia immer) genome.

Results

We identified 14,169 common loon genes, which based on well-resolved avian genomes, represent approximately 80.7% of common loon genes. Evolutionary analyses between common loon and Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), red-throated loon (Gavia stellata), chicken (Gallus gallus), northern

SUBMITTER: Gayk ZG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5921391 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature