Covariation in levels of nucleotide diversity in homologous regions of the avian genome long after completion of lineage sorting

Reduction of genetic diversity in 'Alalā (Hawaiian crow; Corvus hawaiiensis) between the late 1800s and the late 1900s

Genetic and genomic data are increasingly used to aid conservation management of endangered species by providing insights into evolutionary histories, factors associated with extinction risks, and potential for future adaptation. For the 'Alalā, or Hawaiian crow (Corvus hawaiiensis), genetic concerns include negative correlations between inbreeding and hatching success. However, it is unclear if low genetic diversity and inbreeding depression are consequences of a historical population bottleneck, or if 'Alalā had historically low genetic diversity that predated human influence, perhaps as a result of earlier declines or founding events. In this study, we applied a hybridization-based sequence capture to generate a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset for comparing historical specimens collected in the 1890s, when 'Alalā were more numerous, to samples taken between 1973 and 1998, when 'Alalā population densities were near the lowest documented levels in the wild, prior to all individuals being collected for captive rearing. We found low genome-wide diversity in both sample groups, however, the modern sample group (1973 to 1998 cohort) exhibited relatively fewer polymorphic alleles, a lower proportion of polymorphic loci, and lower observed heterozygosity, consistent with a population decline and potential bottleneck effects. These results combined with a current low population size highlight the importance of continued efforts by conservation managers to mitigate inbreeding and maintain founder representation to preserve what genetic diversity remains.

Genomic Architecture Predicts Tree Topology, Population Structuring, and Demographic History in Amazonian Birds

Geographic barriers are frequently invoked to explain genetic structuring across the landscape. However, inferences on the spatial and temporal origins of population variation have been largely limited to evolutionary neutral models, ignoring the potential role of natural selection and intrinsic genomic processes known as genomic architecture in producing heterogeneity in differentiation across the genome. To test how variation in genomic characteristics (e.g. recombination rate) impacts our ability to reconstruct general patterns of differentiation between species that cooccur across geographic barriers, we sequenced the whole genomes of multiple bird populations that are distributed across rivers in southeastern Amazonia. We found that phylogenetic relationships within species and demographic parameters varied across the genome in predictable ways. Genetic diversity was positively associated with recombination rate and negatively associated with species tree support. Gene flow was less pervasive in genomic regions of low recombination, making these windows more likely to retain patterns of population structuring that matched the species tree. We further found that approximately a third of the genome showed evidence of selective sweeps and linked selection, skewing genome-wide estimates of effective population sizes and gene flow between populations toward lower values. In sum, we showed that the effects of intrinsic genomic characteristics and selection can be disentangled from neutral processes to elucidate spatial patterns of population differentiation.

Demography and linked selection interact to shape the genomic landscape of codistributed woodpeckers during the Ice Age

The influence of genetic drift on population dynamics during Pleistocene glacial cycles is well understood, but the role of selection in shaping patterns of genomic variation during these events is less explored. We resequenced whole genomes to investigate how demography and natural selection interact to generate the genomic landscapes of Downy and Hairy Woodpecker, species codistributed in previously glaciated North America. First, we explored the spatial and temporal patterns of genomic diversity produced by neutral evolution. Next, we tested (i) whether levels of nucleotide diversity along the genome are correlated with intrinsic genomic properties, such as recombination rate and gene density, and (ii) whether different demographic trajectories impacted the efficacy of selection. Our results revealed cycles of bottleneck and expansion, and genetic structure associated with glacial refugia. Nucleotide diversity varied widely along the genome, but this variation was highly correlated between the species, suggesting the presence of conserved genomic features. In both taxa, nucleotide diversity was positively correlated with recombination rate and negatively correlated with gene density, suggesting that linked selection played a role in reducing diversity. Despite strong fluctuations in effective population size, the maintenance of relatively large populations during glaciations may have facilitated selection. Under these conditions, we found evidence that the individual demographic trajectory of populations modulated linked selection, with purifying selection being more efficient in removing deleterious alleles in large populations. These results highlight that while genome-wide variation reflects the expected signature of demographic change during climatic perturbations, the interaction of multiple processes produces a predictable and highly heterogeneous genomic landscape.

The Genomic Signature of Allopatric Speciation in a Songbird Is Shaped by Genome Architecture (Aves: Certhia americana)

The genomic signature of speciation with gene flow is often attributed to the strength of divergent selection and recombination rate in regions harboring targets for selection. In contrast, allopatric speciation provides a different geographic context and evolutionary scenario, whereby introgression is limited by isolation rather than selection against gene flow. Lacking shared divergent selection or selection against hybridization, we would predict the genomic signature of allopatric speciation would largely be shaped by genomic architecture-the nonrandom distribution of functional elements and chromosomal characteristics-through its role in affecting the processes of selection and drift. Here, we built and annotated a chromosome-scale genome assembly for a songbird (Passeriformes: Certhia americana). We show that the genomic signature of allopatric speciation between its two primary lineages is largely shaped by genomic architecture. Regionally, gene density and recombination rate variation explain a large proportion of variance in genomic diversity, differentiation, and divergence. We identified a heterogeneous landscape of selection and neutrality, with a large portion of the genome under the effects of indirect selection. We found higher proportions of small chromosomes under the effects of indirect selection, likely because they have relatively higher gene density. At the chromosome scale, differential genomic architecture of macro- and microchromosomes shapes the genomic signatures of speciation: chromosome size has: 1) a positive relationship with genetic differentiation, genetic divergence, rate of lineage sorting in the contact zone, and proportion neutral evolution and 2) a negative relationship with genetic diversity and recombination rate.

The Effects of GC-Biased Gene Conversion on Patterns of Genetic Diversity among and across Butterfly Genomes

Recombination reshuffles the alleles of a population through crossover and gene conversion. These mechanisms have considerable consequences on the evolution and maintenance of genetic diversity. Crossover, for example, can increase genetic diversity by breaking the linkage between selected and nearby neutral variants. Bias in favor of G or C alleles during gene conversion may instead promote the fixation of one allele over the other, thus decreasing diversity. Mutation bias from G or C to A and T opposes GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). Less recognized is that these two processes may-when balanced-promote genetic diversity. Here, we investigate how gBGC and mutation bias shape genetic diversity patterns in wood white butterflies (Leptidea sp.). This constitutes the first in-depth investigation of gBGC in butterflies. Using 60 resequenced genomes from six populations of three species, we find substantial variation in the strength of gBGC across lineages. When modeling the balance of gBGC and mutation bias and comparing analytical results with empirical data, we reject gBGC as the main determinant of genetic diversity in these butterfly species. As alternatives, we consider linked selection and GC content. We find evidence that high values of both reduce diversity. We also show that the joint effects of gBGC and mutation bias can give rise to a diversity pattern which resembles the signature of linked selection. Consequently, gBGC should be considered when interpreting the effects of linked selection on levels of genetic diversity.

Population structure limits parallel evolution in sticklebacks

Population genetic theory predicts that small effective population sizes (N_e) and restricted gene flow limit the potential for local adaptation. In particular, the probability of evolving similar phenotypes based on shared genetic mechanisms (i.e., parallel evolution), is expected to be reduced. We tested these predictions in a comparative genomic study of two ecologically similar and geographically codistributed stickleback species (viz. Gasterosteus aculeatus and Pungitius pungitius). We found that P. pungitius harbors less genetic diversity and exhibits higher levels of genetic differentiation and isolation-by-distance than G. aculeatus. Conversely, G. aculeatus exhibits a stronger degree of genetic parallelism across freshwater populations than P. pungitius: 2,996 versus 379 single nucleotide polymorphisms located within 26 versus 9 genomic regions show evidence of selection in multiple freshwater populations of G. aculeatus and P. pungitius, respectively. Most regions involved in parallel evolution in G. aculeatus showed increased levels of divergence, suggestive of selection on ancient haplotypes. In contrast, haplotypes involved in freshwater adaptation in P. pungitius were younger. In accordance with theory, the results suggest that connectivity and genetic drift play crucial roles in determining the levels and geographic distribution of standing genetic variation, providing evidence that population subdivision limits local adaptation and therefore also the likelihood of parallel evolution.

Positive selection plays a major role in shaping signatures of differentiation across the genomic landscape of two independent Ficedula flycatcher species pairs

A current debate within population genomics surrounds the relevance of patterns of genomic differentiation between closely related species for our understanding of adaptation and speciation. Mounting evidence across many taxa suggests that the same genomic regions repeatedly develop elevated differentiation in independent species pairs. These regions often coincide with high gene density and/or low recombination, leading to the hypothesis that the genomic differentiation landscape mostly reflects a history of background selection, and reveals little about adaptation or speciation. A comparative genomics approach with multiple independent species pairs at a timescale where gene flow and ILS are negligible permits investigating whether different evolutionary processes are responsible for generating lineage-specific versus shared patterns of species differentiation. We use whole-genome resequencing data of 195 individuals from four Ficedula flycatcher species comprising two independent species pairs: collared and pied flycatchers, and red-breasted and taiga flycatchers. We found that both shared and lineage-specific F_ST peaks could partially be explained by selective sweeps, with recurrent selection likely to underlie shared signatures of selection, whereas indirect evidence supports a role of recombination landscape evolution in driving lineage-specific signatures of selection. This work therefore provides evidence for an interplay of positive selection and recombination to genomic landscape evolution.

Genetic Diversity and Thermal Performance in Invasive and Native Populations of African Fig Flies

During biological invasions, invasive populations can suffer losses of genetic diversity that are predicted to negatively impact their fitness/performance. Despite examples of invasive populations harboring lower diversity than conspecific populations in their native range, few studies have linked this lower diversity to a decrease in fitness. Using genome sequences, we show that invasive populations of the African fig fly, Zaprionus indianus, have less genetic diversity than conspecific populations in their native range and that diversity is proportionally lower in regions of the genome experiencing low recombination rates. This result suggests that selection may have played a role in lowering diversity in the invasive populations. We next use interspecific comparisons to show that genetic diversity remains relatively high in invasive populations of Z. indianus when compared with other closely related species. By comparing genetic diversity in orthologous gene regions, we also show that the genome-wide landscape of genetic diversity differs between invasive and native populations of Z. indianus indicating that invasion not only affects amounts of genetic diversity but also how that diversity is distributed across the genome. Finally, we use parameter estimates from thermal performance curves for 13 species of Zaprionus to show that Z. indianus has the broadest thermal niche of measured species, and that performance does not differ between invasive and native populations. These results illustrate how aspects of genetic diversity in invasive species can be decoupled from measures of fitness, and that a broad thermal niche may have helped facilitate Z. indianus's range expansion.

A genome-wide investigation of adaptive signatures in protein-coding genes related to tool behaviour in New Caledonian and Hawaiian crows

Very few animals habitually manufacture and use tools. It has been suggested that advanced tool behaviour co-evolves with a suite of behavioural, morphological and life history traits. In fact, there are indications for such an adaptive complex in tool-using crows (genus Corvus species). Here, we sequenced the genomes of two habitually tool-using and ten non-tool-using crow species to search for genomic signatures associated with a tool-using lifestyle. Using comparative genomic and population genetic approaches, we screened for signals of selection in protein-coding genes in the tool-using New Caledonian and Hawaiian crows. While we detected signals of recent selection in New Caledonian crows near genes associated with bill morphology, our data indicate that genetic changes in these two lineages are surprisingly subtle, with little evidence at present for convergence. We explore the biological explanations for these findings, such as the relative roles of gene regulation and protein-coding changes, as well as the possibility that statistical power to detect selection in recently diverged lineages may have been insufficient. Our study contributes to a growing body of literature aiming to decipher the genetic basis of recently evolved complex behaviour.

Genomic differentiation across the speciation continuum in three hummingbird species pairs

BACKGROUND

The study of speciation has expanded with the increasing availability and affordability of high-resolution genomic data. How the genome evolves throughout the process of divergence and which regions of the genome are responsible for causing and maintaining that divergence have been central questions in recent work. Here, we use three pairs of species from the recently diverged bee hummingbird clade to investigate differences in the genome at different stages of speciation, using divergence times as a proxy for the speciation continuum.

RESULTS

Population measures of relative differentiation between hybridizing species reveal that different chromosome types diverge at different stages of speciation. Using FST as our relative measure of differentiation we found that the sex chromosome shows signs of divergence early in speciation. Next, small autosomes (microchromosomes) accumulate highly diverged genomic regions, while the large autosomes (macrochromosomes) accumulate genomic regions of divergence at a later stage of speciation.

CONCLUSIONS

Our finding that genomic windows of elevated FST accumulate on small autosomes earlier in speciation than on larger autosomes is counter to the prediction that FST increases with size of chromosome (i.e. with decreased recombination rate), and is not represented when weighted average FST per chromosome is compared with chromosome size. The results of this study suggest that multiple chromosome characteristics such as recombination rate and gene density combine to influence the genomic locations of signatures of divergence.

Recent introgression between Taiga Bean Goose and Tundra Bean Goose results in a largely homogeneous landscape of genetic differentiation

Several studies have uncovered a highly heterogeneous landscape of genetic differentiation across the genomes of closely related species. Specifically, genetic differentiation is often concentrated in particular genomic regions (“islands of differentiation”) that might contain barrier loci contributing to reproductive isolation, whereas the rest of the genome is homogenized by introgression. Alternatively, linked selection can produce differentiation islands in allopatry without introgression. We explored the influence of introgression on the landscape of genetic differentiation in two hybridizing goose taxa: the Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis) and the Tundra Bean Goose (A. serrirostris). We re-sequenced the whole genomes of 18 individuals (9 of each taxon) and, using a combination of population genomic summary statistics and demographic modeling, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of these birds. Next, we quantified the impact of introgression on the build-up and maintenance of genetic differentiation. We found evidence for a scenario of allopatric divergence (about 2.5 million years ago) followed by recent secondary contact (about 60,000 years ago). Subsequent introgression events led to high levels of gene flow, mainly from the Tundra Bean Goose into the Taiga Bean Goose. This scenario resulted in a largely undifferentiated genomic landscape (genome-wide F_ST = 0.033) with a few notable differentiation peaks that were scattered across chromosomes. The summary statistics indicated that some peaks might contain barrier loci while others arose in allopatry through linked selection. Finally, based on the low genetic differentiation, considerable morphological variation and incomplete reproductive isolation, we argue that the Taiga and the Tundra Bean Goose should be treated as subspecies.

Contingent Convergence: The Ability To Detect Convergent Genomic Evolution Is Dependent on Population Size and Migration

Outlier scans, in which the genome is scanned for signatures of selection, have become a prominent tool in studies of local adaptation, and more recently studies of genetic convergence in natural populations. However, such methods have the potential to be confounded by features of demographic history, such as population size and migration, which are considerably varied across natural populations. In this study, we use forward-simulations to investigate and illustrate how several measures of genetic differentiation commonly used in outlier scans (FST, DXY and Δπ) are influenced by demographic variation across multiple sampling generations. In a factorial design with 16 treatments, we manipulate the presence/absence of founding bottlenecks (N of founding individuals), prolonged bottlenecks (proportional size of diverging population) and migration rate between two populations with ancestral and diverged phenotypic optima. Our results illustrate known constraints of individual measures associated with reduced population size and a lack of migration; but notably we demonstrate how relationships between measures are similarly dependent on these features of demography. We find that false-positive signals of convergent evolution (the same simulated outliers detected in independent treatments) are attainable as a product of similar population size and migration treatments (particularly for DXY), and that outliers across different measures (for e.g., FST and DXY) can occur with little influence of selection. Taken together, we show how underappreciated, yet quantifiable measures of demographic history can influence commonly employed methods for detecting selection.

What can be learned by scanning the genome for molecular convergence in wild populations?

Convergent evolution, where independent lineages evolve similar phenotypes in response to similar challenges, can provide valuable insight into how selection operates and the limitations it encounters. However, it has only recently become possible to explore how convergent evolution is reflected at the genomic level. The overlapping outlier approach (OOA), where genome scans of multiple independent lineages are used to find outliers that overlap and therefore identify convergently evolving loci, is becoming popular. Here, we present a quantitative analysis of 34 studies that used this approach across many sampling designs, taxa, and sampling intensities. We found that OOA studies with increased biological sampling power within replicates have increased likelihood of finding overlapping, "convergent" signals of adaptation between them. When identifying convergent loci as overlapping outliers, it is tempting to assume that any false-positive outliers derived from individual scans will fail to overlap across replicates, but this cannot be guaranteed. We highlight how population demographics and genomic context can contribute toward both true convergence and false positives in OOA studies. We finish with an exploration of emerging methods that couple genome scans with phenotype and environmental measures, leveraging added information from genome data to more directly test hypotheses of the likelihood of convergent evolution.

Linked selection, demography and the evolution of correlated genomic landscapes in birds and beyond

Selection has a deep impact on the distribution of genetic diversity and population differentiation along the genome (the genomic landscapes of diversity and differentiation), reducing diversity and elevating differentiation not only at the sites it targets, but also at linked neutral sites. Fuelled by the high-throughput sequencing revolution, these genomic footprints of selection have been extensively exploited over the past decade with the aim to identify genomic regions involved in adaptation and speciation. However, while this research has shown that the genomic landscapes of diversity and differentiation are usually highly heterogeneous, it has also led to the increasing realization that this heterogeneity may evolve under processes other than adaptation or speciation. In particular, instead of being an effect of selective sweeps or barriers to gene flow, accentuated differentiation can evolve by any process reducing genetic diversity locally within the genome (Charlesworth, ), including purifying selection at linked sites (background selection). In particular, in genomic regions where recombination is infrequent, accentuated differentiation can evolve as a by-product of diversity reductions unrelated to adaptation or speciation (Cruickshank & Hahn, ; Nachman & Payseur, ; Noor & Bennett, ). In such genomic regions, linkage extends over physically larger genome stretches, and selection affects a particularly high number of linked neutral sites. Even though the effects of selection on linked neutral diversity (linked selection) within populations are well documented (Cutter & Payseur, ), recent observations of diversity and differentiation landscapes that are highly correlated even among independent lineages suggest that the effects of long-term linked selection may have a deeper impact on the evolution of the genomic landscapes of diversity and differentiation than previously anticipated. The study on Saxicola stonechats by Van Doren et al. () reported in the current issue of Molecular Ecology lines in with a rapidly expanding body of evidence in this direction. Correlations of genomic landscapes extending from within stonechats to comparisons with Ficedula flycatchers add to recent insights into the timescales across which the effects of linked selection persist. Absent and inverted correlations of genomic landscapes in comparisons involving an island taxon, on the other hand, provide important empirical clues about the role of demographic constraints in the evolution of the genomic landscapes of diversity and differentiation.

Footprints of adaptive evolution revealed by whole Z chromosomes haplotypes in flycatchers

Detecting positive selection using genomic data is critical to understanding the role of adaptive evolution. Of particular interest in this context is sex chromosomes since they are thought to play a special role in local adaptation and speciation. We sought to circumvent the challenges associated with statistical phasing when using haplotype-based statistics in sweep scans by benefitting from that whole chromosome haplotypes of the sex chromosomes can be obtained by resequencing of individuals of the hemizygous sex. We analyzed whole Z chromosome haplotypes from 100 females from several populations of four black and white flycatcher species (in birds, females are ZW and males ZZ). Based on integrated haplotype score (iHS) and number of segregating sites by length (nSL) statistics, we found strong and frequent haplotype structure in several regions of the Z chromosome in each species. Most of these sweep signals were population-specific, with essentially no evidence for regions under selection shared among species. Some completed sweeps were revealed by the cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH) statistic. Importantly, by using statistically phased Z chromosome data from resequencing of males, we failed to recover the signals of selection detected in analyses based on whole chromosome haplotypes from females; instead, what likely represent false signals of selection were frequently seen. This highlights the power issues in statistical phasing and cautions against conclusions from selection scans using such data. The detection of frequent selective sweeps on the avian Z chromosome supports a large role of sex chromosomes in adaptive evolution.

In situ quantification of individual mRNA transcripts in melanocytes discloses gene regulation of relevance to speciation

Functional validation of candidate genes involved in adaptation and speciation remains challenging. Here, we exemplify the utility of a method quantifying individual mRNA transcripts in revealing the molecular basis of divergence in feather pigment synthesis during early-stage speciation in crows. Using a padlock probe assay combined with rolling circle amplification, we quantified cell-type-specific gene expression in the histological context of growing feather follicles. Expression of Tyrosinase Related Protein 1 (TYRP1), Solute Carrier Family 45 member 2 (SLC45A2) and Hematopoietic Prostaglandin D Synthase (HPGDS) was melanocyte-limited and significantly reduced in follicles from hooded crow, explaining the substantially lower eumelanin content in grey versus black feathers. The central upstream Melanocyte Inducing Transcription Factor (MITF) only showed differential expression specific to melanocytes - a feature not captured by bulk RNA-seq. Overall, this study provides insight into the molecular basis of an evolutionary young transition in pigment synthesis, and demonstrates the power of histologically explicit, statistically substantiated single-cell gene expression quantification for functional genetic inference in natural populations.

Quantifying how constraints limit the diversity of viable routes to adaptation

Convergent adaptation occurs at the genome scale when independently evolving lineages use the same genes to respond to similar selection pressures. These patterns of genetic repeatability provide insights into the factors that facilitate or constrain the diversity of genetic responses that contribute to adaptive evolution. A first step in studying such factors is to quantify the observed amount of repeatability relative to expectations under a null hypothesis. Here, we formulate a novel index to quantify the constraints driving the observed amount of repeated adaptation in pairwise contrasts based on the hypergeometric distribution, and then generalize this for simultaneous analysis of multiple lineages. This index is explicitly based on the probability of observing a given amount of repeatability by chance under a given null hypothesis and is readily compared among different species and types of trait. We also formulate an index to quantify the effective proportion of genes in the genome that have the potential to contribute to adaptation. As an example of how these indices can be used to draw inferences, we assess the amount of repeatability observed in existing datasets on adaptation to stress in yeast and climate in conifers. This approach provides a method to test a wide range of hypotheses about how different kinds of factors can facilitate or constrain the diversity of genetic responses observed during adaptive evolution.

How many ways can evolution solve the same adaptive problem? While convergent adaptation is evident in many organisms at the phenotypic level, we are only beginning to understand how commonly this convergence extends to the genome scale. Quantifying the repeatability of adaptation at the genome scale is therefore critical for assessing how constraints affect the diversity of viable genetic responses. Here, we develop probability-based indices to quantify the deviation between observed repeatability and expectations under a range of null hypotheses, and an estimator of the proportion of loci in the genome that can contribute to adaptation. We demonstrate the usage of these indices with individual-based simulations and example datasets from yeast and conifers and discuss how they differ from previously developed approaches to studying repeatability. Because these indices are unitless, they provide a general approach to quantifying and comparing how constraints drive convergence at the genome scale across a wide range of traits and taxa.

Signatures of human-commensalism in the house sparrow genome

House sparrows (Passer domesticus) are a hugely successful anthrodependent species; occurring on nearly every continent. Yet, despite their ubiquity and familiarity to humans, surprisingly little is known about their origins. We sought to investigate the evolutionary history of the house sparrow and identify the processes involved in its transition to a human-commensal niche. We used a whole genome resequencing dataset of 120 individuals from three Eurasian species, including three populations of Bactrianus sparrows, a non-commensal, divergent house sparrow lineage occurring in the Near East. Coalescent modelling supports a split between house and Bactrianus sparrow 11 Kya and an expansion in the house sparrow at 6 Kya, consistent with the spread of agriculture following the Neolithic revolution. Commensal house sparrows therefore likely moved into Europe with the spread of agriculture following this period. Using the Bactrianus sparrow as a proxy for a pre-commensal, ancestral house population, we performed a comparative genome scan to identify genes potentially involved with adaptation to an anthropogenic niche. We identified potential signatures of recent, positive selection in the genome of the commensal house sparrow that are absent in Bactrianus populations. The strongest selected region encompasses two major candidate genes; COL11A-which regulates craniofacial and skull development and AMY2A, part of the amylase gene family which has previously been linked to adaptation to high-starch diets in humans and dogs. Our work examines human-commensalism in an evolutionary framework, identifies genomic regions likely involved in rapid adaptation to this new niche and ties the evolution of this species to the development of modern human civilization.

Meta-analysis of chromosome-scale crossover rate variation in eukaryotes and its significance to evolutionary genomics

Understanding the distribution of crossovers along chromosomes is crucial to evolutionary genomics because the crossover rate determines how strongly a genome region is influenced by natural selection on linked sites. Nevertheless, generalities in the chromosome-scale distribution of crossovers have not been investigated formally. We fill this gap by synthesizing joint information on genetic and physical maps across 62 animal, plant and fungal species. Our quantitative analysis reveals a strong and taxonomically widespread reduction of the crossover rate in the centre of chromosomes relative to their peripheries. We demonstrate that this pattern is poorly explained by the position of the centromere, but find that the magnitude of the relative reduction in the crossover rate in chromosome centres increases with chromosome length. That is, long chromosomes often display a dramatically low crossover rate in their centre, whereas short chromosomes exhibit a relatively homogeneous crossover rate. This observation is compatible with a model in which crossover is initiated from the chromosome tips, an idea with preliminary support from mechanistic investigations of meiotic recombination. Consequently, we show that organisms achieve a higher genome-wide crossover rate by evolving smaller chromosomes. Summarizing theory and providing empirical examples, we finally highlight that taxonomically widespread and systematic heterogeneity in crossover rate along chromosomes generates predictable broad-scale trends in genetic diversity and population differentiation by modifying the impact of natural selection among regions within a genome. We conclude by emphasizing that chromosome-scale heterogeneity in crossover rate should urgently be incorporated into analytical tools in evolutionary genomics, and in the interpretation of resulting patterns.

Natural selection shaped the rise and fall of passenger pigeon genomic diversity

The extinct passenger pigeon was once the most abundant bird in North America, and possibly the world. Although theory predicts that large populations will be more genetically diverse, passenger pigeon genetic diversity was surprisingly low. To investigate this disconnect, we analyzed 41 mitochondrial and 4 nuclear genomes from passenger pigeons and 2 genomes from band-tailed pigeons, which are passenger pigeons' closest living relatives. Passenger pigeons' large population size appears to have allowed for faster adaptive evolution and removal of harmful mutations, driving a huge loss in their neutral genetic diversity. These results demonstrate the effect that selection can have on a vertebrate genome and contradict results that suggested that population instability contributed to this species's surprisingly rapid extinction.

Comparative analysis examining patterns of genomic differentiation across multiple episodes of population divergence in birds

Heterogeneous patterns of genomic differentiation are commonly documented between closely related populations and there is considerable interest in identifying factors that contribute to their formation. These factors could include genomic features (e.g., areas of low recombination) that promote processes like linked selection (positive or purifying selection that affects linked neutral sites) at specific genomic regions. Examinations of repeatable patterns of differentiation across population pairs can provide insight into the role of these factors. Birds are well suited for this work, as genome structure is conserved across this group. Accordingly, we reestimated relative (F_ST ) and absolute (d_XY ) differentiation between eight sister pairs of birds that span a broad taxonomic range using a common pipeline. Across pairs, there were modest but significant correlations in window-based estimates of differentiation (up to 3% of variation explained for F_ST and 26% for d_XY ), supporting a role for processes at conserved genomic features in generating heterogeneous patterns of differentiation; processes specific to each episode of population divergence likely explain the remaining variation. The role genomic features play was reinforced by linear models identifying several genomic variables (e.g., gene densities) as significant predictors of F_ST and d_XY repeatability. F_ST repeatability was higher among pairs that were further along the speciation continuum (i.e., more reproductively isolated) providing further insight into how genomic differentiation changes with population divergence; early stages of speciation may be dominated by positive selection that is different between pairs but becomes integrated with processes acting according to shared genomic features as speciation proceeds.

Genomewide patterns of variation in genetic diversity are shared among populations, species and higher-order taxa

Genomewide screens of genetic variation within and between populations can reveal signatures of selection implicated in adaptation and speciation. Genomic regions with low genetic diversity and elevated differentiation reflective of locally reduced effective population sizes (N_e ) are candidates for barrier loci contributing to population divergence. Yet, such candidate genomic regions need not arise as a result of selection promoting adaptation or advancing reproductive isolation. Linked selection unrelated to lineage-specific adaptation or population divergence can generate comparable signatures. It is challenging to distinguish between these processes, particularly when diverging populations share ancestral genetic variation. In this study, we took a comparative approach using population assemblages from distant clades assessing genomic parallelism of variation in N_e . Utilizing population-level polymorphism data from 444 resequenced genomes of three avian clades spanning 50 million years of evolution, we tested whether population genetic summary statistics reflecting genomewide variation in N_e would covary among populations within clades, and importantly, also among clades where lineage sorting has been completed. All statistics including population-scaled recombination rate (ρ), nucleotide diversity (π) and measures of genetic differentiation between populations (F_ST , PBS, d_xy ) were significantly correlated across all phylogenetic distances. Moreover, genomic regions with elevated levels of genetic differentiation were associated with inferred pericentromeric and subtelomeric regions. The phylogenetic stability of diversity landscapes and stable association with genomic features support a role of linked selection not necessarily associated with adaptation and speciation in shaping patterns of genomewide heterogeneity in genetic diversity.