Patterns of Z chromosome divergence among Heliconius species highlight the importance of historical demography.

ABSTRACT: Sex chromosomes are disproportionately involved in reproductive isolation and adaptation. In support of such a "large-X" effect, genome scans between recently diverged populations and species pairs often identify distinct patterns of divergence on the sex chromosome compared to autosomes. When measures of divergence between populations are higher on the sex chromosome compared to autosomes, such patterns could be interpreted as evidence for faster divergence on the sex chromosome, that is "faster-X", barriers to gene flow on the sex chromosome. However, demographic changes can strongly skew divergence estimates and are not always taken into consideration. We used 224 whole-genome sequences representing 36 populations from two Heliconius butterfly clades (H. erato and H. melpomene) to explo

SUBMITTER: Van Belleghem SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6151167 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature