Recent Evolutionary History of Tigers Highlights Contrasting Roles of Genetic Drift and Selection.

ABSTRACT: Species conservation can be improved by knowledge of evolutionary and genetic history. Tigers are among the most charismatic of endangered species and garner significant conservation attention. However, their evolutionary history and genomic variation remain poorly known, especially for Indian tigers. With 70% of the world's wild tigers living in India, such knowledge is critical. We re-sequenced 65 individual tiger genomes representing most extant subspecies with a specific focus on tigers from India. As suggested by earlier studies, we found strong genetic differentiation between the putative tiger subspecies. Despite high total genomic diversity in India, individual tigers host longer runs of homozygosity, potentially suggesting recent inbreeding or founding events, possibly due to smal

SUBMITTER: Armstrong EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8136513 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature