Conservation Genomics in the Sagebrush Sea: Population Divergence, Demographic History, and Local Adaptation in Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus spp.).

ABSTRACT: Sage-grouse are two closely related iconic species of the North American West, with historically broad distributions across sagebrush-steppe habitat. Both species are dietary specialists on sagebrush during winter, with presumed adaptations to tolerate the high concentrations of toxic secondary metabolites that function as plant chemical defenses. Marked range contraction and declining population sizes since European settlement have motivated efforts to identify distinct population genetic variation, particularly that which might be associated with local genetic adaptation and dietary specialization of sage-grouse. We assembled a reference genome and performed whole-genome sequencing across sage-grouse from six populations, encompassing both species and including several populations on the

SUBMITTER: Oh KP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6656326 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature