High-throughput sequencing reveals inbreeding depression in a natural population
Proxy measures of genome-wide heterozygosity based on approximately 10 microsatellites have been used to uncover heterozygosity fitness correlations (HFCs) for a wealth of important fitness traits in natural populations. However, effect sizes are typically very small and the underlying mechanisms re...
Saved in:
Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 111; no. 10; pp. 3775 - 3780 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
National Academy of Sciences
11.03.2014
National Acad Sciences |
Series | From the Cover |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Proxy measures of genome-wide heterozygosity based on approximately 10 microsatellites have been used to uncover heterozygosity fitness correlations (HFCs) for a wealth of important fitness traits in natural populations. However, effect sizes are typically very small and the underlying mechanisms remain contentious, as a handful of markers usually provides little power to detect inbreeding. We therefore used restriction site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing to accurately estimate genome-wide heterozygosity, an approach transferrable to any organism. As a proof of concept, we first RAD sequenced oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus) from a known pedigree, finding strong concordance between the inbreeding coefficient and heterozygosity measured at 13,198 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). When applied to a natural population of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), a weak HFC for parasite infection based on 27 microsatellites strengthened considerably with 14,585 SNPs, the deviance explained by heterozygosity increasing almost fivefold to a remarkable 49%. These findings arguably provide the strongest evidence to date of an HFC being due to inbreeding depression in a natural population lacking a pedigree. They also suggest that under some circumstances heterozygosity may explain far more variation in fitness than previously envisaged. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Edited by Brian Charlesworth, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and approved February 6, 2014 (received for review October 21, 2013) Author contributions: J.I.H. and K.K.D. designed research; J.I.H., F.S., J.M.R., T.K., R.C.L., and K.K.D. performed research; J.I.H. and K.K.D. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; J.I.H., P.D., M.A.S.T., and K.K.D. analyzed data; and J.I.H., P.D., and K.K.D. wrote the paper. |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.1318945111 |