Adaptive introgression underlies polymorphic seasonal camouflage in snowshoe hares

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2018-06-21

Authors

Alves, PC (Author) FCUP; Melo-Ferreira, J (Author) FCUP; Jones, MR (Author) Other; Mills, LS (Author) Other; Callahan, CM (Author) Other; Alves, JM (Author) Other; Lafferty, D (Author) Other; Jiggins, FM (Author) Other; Jensen, JD (Author) Other; Good, JM (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Science

Vol. 360

Pages: 1355-+

ISSN: 0036-8075

Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 186 Citations

Scopus - 187 Citations

Scientific classification

CORDIS: Natural sciences

FOS: Natural sciences > Biological sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Q-3MC

DOI: 10.1126/science.aar5273

Abstract (EN): Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) maintain seasonal camouflage by molting to a white winter coat, but some hares remain brown during the winter in regions with low snow cover. We show that cis-regulatory variation controlling seasonal expression of the Agouti gene underlies this adaptive winter camouflage polymorphism. Genetic variation at Agouti clustered by winter coat color across multiple hare and jackrabbit species, revealing a history of recurrent interspecific gene flow. Brown winter coats in snowshoe hares likely originated from an introgressed black-tailed jackrabbit allele that has swept to high frequency in mild winter environments. These discoveries show that introgression of genetic variants that underlie key ecological traits can seed past and ongoing adaptation to rapidly changing environments.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 4