Back to search

FRIMEDBIO-Fri prosj.st. med.,helse,biol

GENOMICS OF ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE IN TWO WILD BIRD POPULATIONS

Awarded: NOK 3.6 mill.

Understanding the genetic basis of fitness related traits in natural populations is one of the major research goals of 21st century biology. The aims of this project was to contribute to this understanding using genome wide association mapping approaches in two species of birds for which genomic data (SNP arrays) were developed. During the project period we made significant advances in our understanding of the genetic basis of complex traits and provided novel insights into how genetic variation can be maintained. The project has been a great success and all goals initially proposed have been achieved and has resulted in 11 high quality publications.

One of the biggest challenges in evolutionary biology today is to understand how populations are adapted to the environment they occupy and how they can adapt if the environment changes. Apart from dispersal there are two main mechanisms by which adaptati on can occur: through evolutionary change and by phenotypic plasticity. Convincingly demonstrating if a phenotypic change is due to an evolutionary response or is a result of plasticity has proven a difficult task. Yet it is fundamental if we want to unde rstand how populations adapt. To demonstrate evolutionary change we need to show allele frequency changes in genes coding for traits under selection. It is therefore widely recognized that progress need to come from incorporating molecular genetic data in a genetic mapping framework to detect genes in traits involved in adaptive processes. In this project we aim to examine ecological adaptation on the molecular genetic level by using an association mapping approach to identify the genomic regions, and, ul timately, the causative mutations, that code for important ecological traits and for plasticity in these traits. This will be achieved using state-of-the-art high density Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotype data and sophisticated statistical met hods. Two different natural avian model systems will be used, each with extensive pedigrees and long-term individual-level data on phenotypic trait values and fitness. These systems are therefore ideal to address these questions. This project will provide novel and timely insights into the molecular genetic basis of trait variation in natural populations and significantly improve our understanding of how populations adapt to environmental change.

Publications from Cristin

No publications found

No publications found

No publications found

No publications found

Funding scheme:

FRIMEDBIO-Fri prosj.st. med.,helse,biol

Funding Sources