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Chakraborty A, Mondal S, Mahajan S, Sharma VK. High-quality genome assemblies provide clues on the evolutionary advantage of blue peafowl over green peafowl. Heliyon 2023; 9:e18571. [PMID: 37576271 PMCID: PMC10412995 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
An intriguing example of differential adaptability is the case of two Asian peafowl species, Pavo cristatus (blue peafowl) and Pavo muticus (green peafowl), where the former has a "Least Concern" conservation status and the latter is an "Endangered" species. To understand the genetic basis of this differential adaptability of the two peafowl species, a comparative analysis of these species is much needed to gain the genomic and evolutionary insights. Thus, we constructed a high-quality genome assembly of blue peafowl with an N50 value of 84.81 Mb (pseudochromosome-level assembly), and a high-confidence coding gene set to perform the genomic and evolutionary analyses of blue and green peafowls with 49 other avian species. The analyses revealed adaptive evolution of genes related to neuronal development, immunity, and skeletal muscle development in these peafowl species. Major genes related to axon guidance such as NEO1 and UNC5, semaphorin (SEMA), and ephrin receptor showed adaptive evolution in peafowl species. However, blue peafowl showed the presence of 42% more coding genes compared to the green peafowl along with a higher number of species-specific gene clusters, segmental duplicated genes and expanded gene families, and comparatively higher evolution in neuronal and developmental pathways. Blue peafowl also showed longer branch length compared to green peafowl in the species phylogenetic tree. These genomic insights obtained from the high-quality genome assembly of P. cristatus constructed in this study provide new clues on the superior adaptability of the blue peafowl over green peafowl despite having a recent species divergence time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhisek Chakraborty
- MetaBioSys Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, 462066, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Samuel Mondal
- MetaBioSys Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, 462066, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Shruti Mahajan
- MetaBioSys Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, 462066, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Vineet K. Sharma
- MetaBioSys Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, 462066, Madhya Pradesh, India
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Aguiar de Souza Penha V, Maia Chaves Bicalho Domingos F, Fecchio A, Bell JA, Weckstein JD, Ricklefs RE, Braga EM, de Abreu Moreira P, Soares L, Latta S, Tolesano-Pascoli G, Alquezar RD, Del-Claro K, Manica LT. Haemosporidian parasites and incubation period influence plumage coloration in tanagers (Passeriformes: Thraupidae). Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221283. [PMID: 36416043 PMCID: PMC9682435 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Birds are highly visually oriented and use plumage coloration as an important signalling trait in social communication. Hence, males and females may have different patterns of plumage coloration, a phenomenon known as sexual dichromatism. Because males tend to have more complex plumages, sexual dichromatism is usually attributed to female choice. However, plumage coloration is partly condition-dependent; therefore, other selective pressures affecting individuals' success may also drive the evolution of this trait. Here, we used tanagers as model organisms to study the relationships between dichromatism and plumage coloration complexity in tanagers with parasitism by haemosporidians, investment in reproduction and life-history traits. We screened blood samples from 2849 individual birds belonging to 52 tanager species to detect haemosporidian parasites. We used publicly available data for plumage coloration, bird phylogeny and life-history traits to run phylogenetic generalized least-square models of plumage dichromatism and complexity in male and female tanagers. We found that plumage dichromatism was more pronounced in bird species with a higher prevalence of haemosporidian parasites. Lastly, high plumage coloration complexity in female tanagers was associated with a longer incubation period. Our results indicate an association between haemosporidian parasites and plumage coloration suggesting that parasites impact mechanisms of sexual selection, increasing differences between the sexes, and social (non-sexual) selection, driving females to develop more complex coloration.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Alan Fecchio
- Centro de Investigación Esquel de Montaña y Estepa Patagónica (CIEMEP), CONICET—Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, U9200, Esquel, Chubut, Argentina
| | - Jeffrey A. Bell
- Department of Biology, University of North Dakota, 58202-9019, Grand Forks, USA
| | - Jason D. Weckstein
- Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and Department of Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science, Drexel University, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Robert E. Ricklefs
- Department of Biology, University of Missouri—Saint Louis, Saint Louis, MO, USA
| | - Erika Martins Braga
- Department of Parasitology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | | - Letícia Soares
- Research Associate, National Aviary, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Steven Latta
- Conservation and Field Research, National Aviary, 15212, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Graziela Tolesano-Pascoli
- Zoology Department, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasilia, 70910-900, Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil
| | - Renata Duarte Alquezar
- Animal Behavior Laboratory, Graduate Program in Ecology, University of Brasilia, 70910-900, Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil
| | - Kleber Del-Claro
- Behavioral Ecology and Interactions Laboratory, Graduate Program in Ecology and Conservation of Natural Resources, Federal University of Uberlândia, 38405-240, Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | - Lilian Tonelli Manica
- Zoology Department, Federal University of Paraná, 81531-980, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
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