On the origin of species: insights from the ecological genomics of lake whitefish
In contrast to the large amount of ecological information supporting the role of natural selection as a main cause of population divergence and speciation, an understanding of the genomic basis underlying those processes is in its infancy. In this paper, we review the main findings of a long-term re...
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Published in | Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences Vol. 365; no. 1547; pp. 1783 - 1800 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
The Royal Society
12.06.2010
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | In contrast to the large amount of ecological information supporting the role of natural selection as a main cause of population divergence and speciation, an understanding of the genomic basis underlying those processes is in its infancy. In this paper, we review the main findings of a long-term research programme that we have been conducting on the ecological genomics of sympatric forms of whitefish (Coregonus spp.) engaged in the process of speciation. We present this system as an example of how applying a combination of approaches under the conceptual framework of the theory of adaptive radiation has yielded substantial insight into evolutionary processes in a non-model species. We also discuss how the joint use of recent biotechnological developments will provide a powerful means to address issues raised by observations made to date. Namely, we present data illustrating the potential offered by combining next generation sequencing technologies with other genomic approaches to reveal the genomic bases of adaptive divergence and reproductive isolation. Given increasing access to these new genomic tools, we argue that non-model species studied in their ecological context such as whitefish will play an increasingly important role in generalizing knowledge of speciation. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/V84-6Q7FCQZ3-W href:rstb20090274.pdf ArticleID:rstb20090274 istex:C86FC4A46F075934CFDD1FD2E3443F755CCF61D7 Theme Issue 'Origin of Species: 150 years later' compiled and edited by Hans Ellegren ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0962-8436 1471-2970 |
DOI: | 10.1098/rstb.2009.0274 |