Comparative Genomics Reveals Insights Into Avian Genome Evolution and Adaptation

Authors

Guojie Zhang, China National GenebankFollow
Cai Li, University of Copenhagen
Qiye Li, Royal Veterinary College University of London
Bo Li, Seoul National University
Denis M. Larkin, University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Chul Lee, Universidade do Porto
Jay F. Storz, University of Porto
Agostinho Antunes, University of South Carolina
Matthew J. Greenwold, Montclair State University
Robert W. Meredith, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Robert Meredith, Montclair State UniversityFollow
Jie Cui, University of California at Berkeley
Qi Zhou, Wuhan University
Luohao Xu, South China University of Technology
Hailin Pan, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zongji Wang, CAS - Kunming Institute of Zoology
Lijun Jin, Duke University
Pei Zhang, Aberystwyth University
Haofu Hu, University of Kent
Wei Yang, University of California at Riverside
Jiang Hu, Mississippi State University
Jin Xiao, Universidad Austral de Chile
Zhikai Yang, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Yang Liu, China Agricultural UniversityFollow
Qiaolin Xie, Cardiff University
Hao Yu, CAS - Institute of Zoology
Jinmin Lian, International Wildlife Consultants
Ping Wen, Copenhagen Zoo
Fang Zhang, Tulane UniversityFollow
Hui Li, Louisiana State University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-12-2014

Journal / Book Title

Science

Abstract

Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from 48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific erosion of repetitive elements, large segmental deletions, and gene loss. Avian genomes furthermore show a remarkably high degree of evolutionary stasis at the levels of nucleotide sequence, gene synteny, and chromosomal structure. Despite this pattern of conservation, we detected many non-neutral evolutionary changes in protein-coding genes and noncoding regions. These analyses reveal that pan-avian genomic diversity covaries with adaptations to different lifestyles and convergent evolution of traits.

DOI

10.1126/science.1251385

Montclair State University Digital Commons Citation

Zhang, Guojie; Li, Cai; Li, Qiye; Li, Bo; Larkin, Denis M.; Lee, Chul; Storz, Jay F.; Antunes, Agostinho; Greenwold, Matthew J.; Meredith, Robert W.; Meredith, Robert; Cui, Jie; Zhou, Qi; Xu, Luohao; Pan, Hailin; Wang, Zongji; Jin, Lijun; Zhang, Pei; Hu, Haofu; Yang, Wei; Hu, Jiang; Xiao, Jin; Yang, Zhikai; Liu, Yang; Xie, Qiaolin; Yu, Hao; Lian, Jinmin; Wen, Ping; Zhang, Fang; and Li, Hui, "Comparative Genomics Reveals Insights Into Avian Genome Evolution and Adaptation" (2014). Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 81.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/biology-facpubs/81

Published Citation

Zhang, G., Li, C., Li, Q., Li, B., Larkin, D. M., Lee, C., Storz, J. F., Antunes, A., Greenwold, M. J., Meredith, R. W., Ödeen, A., Cui, J., Zhou, Q., Xu, L., Pan, H., Wang, Z., Jin, L., Zhang, P., Hu, H., Yang, W., … Wang, J. (2014). Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation. Science (New York, N.Y.), 346(6215), 1311–1320. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251385