J Slate

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..Linkage map marker order was validated by making comparisons to the assembled zebra finch genome sequence...

..Here we investigate tissue specific gene expression patterns in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) with special emphasis on the genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)...

..Association mapping may be possible in this population, although a high 'baseline' level of LD could lead to false positive associations between marker loci and a trait of interest...

..If, as these data suggest, that assumption is wrong, eradication programs will disrupt this balancing selection, and may have a negative impact on the fitness or scrapie resistance of national flocks...

..However, genotyping error can result in incorrect maps being built with very strong statistical support over the correct order. Future applications of linkage maps of natural populations are discussed...

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..The relevance of these findings to the causes of heterozygosity--fitness correlations is discussed and predictions for other wild and captive populations are presented...

..The potential impact of these processes should be considered when using mtDNA as a tool in vertebrate population genetic, phylogenetic and forensic studies...

..To our knowledge this is the first time that a QTL for any trait has been mapped in a wild mammal population. It is hoped that this study will stimulate further investigations of the genetic architecture of fitness traits in the wild...

..This result demonstrates the importance of understanding the genetic basis of fitness variation when making predictions about the microevolutionary consequences of selection...

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..Some evidence of heterochiasmy, i.e. a difference in the recombination rate between the sexes, was observed...

..This highlights the importance of resolving the underlying genetic basis of phenotypic variation in explaining evolutionary dynamics...

..0001, LOD=110.20), and very tight linkage between Coat colour and TYRP1 (LOD=29.50)...

..Understanding the maintenance of horn type and length variation will require an investigation of selection on genotypes that (co)determine both traits...

..Our data suggest that using marker information to reconstruct the pedigree, and then calculating relatedness from the pedigree, is likely to give more accurate relatedness estimates than using marker-based estimators directly...

..This whole-genome map is the first for any passerine and a valuable tool for the zebra finch genome sequence project and for studies of quantitative trait loci...

..It is recommended that the statistical significance of LD is used in conjunction with coefficients such as D' to determine the true extent of LD...

..Up-regulated genes included nutrient transporters, enzymes of amino acid metabolism and some abiotic stress genes...

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..Therefore, there is no evidence that in this system mitochondrial mutations have asymmetric fitness effects on males and females, leading to genetic variation in male fertility that is blind to natural selection...

..5 of a phenotypic standard deviation. Thus, they should be regarded as major genes and are likely to be useful in breeding programmes to enhance host resistance...

..Here, we highlight the progress made in this area and define evolutionary genetic questions that have become tractable with the arrival of these new genomics technologies...

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..Therefore, dewlap color variation in A. apletophallus appears to be a polymorphism rather than an indicator of 2 fully or partially reproductively isolated populations...

..The variability in LD between and within chromosomes has important implications for genome wide association studies in birds and for our understanding of the distribution of recombination events and the processes that govern them...

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..10) with reasonable statistical power (0.80). Very few published studies have used samples sizes approaching this value...

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..Finally, the opportunity afforded by new generation sequencing and typing technologies to map fitness genes by genome-wide association studies is discussed...

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..This new protocol was validated for different types of SNPs. The method is cost- and time-effective for medium-scale evolutionary and ecological projects involving 10s to 100s of loci...

..They identify two forms of bias that may affect tests of the genetic compatibility hypothesis, and provide guidelines on how these biases may be avoided...

..Here we describe a bioinformatic analysis of zebra finch expressed sequence tag (EST) Genbank entries...

..Changes as a consequence of genetic drift were excluded. Our results show that although variable potential strengths of sexual interactions influence the evolution of interacting phenotypes, the influence may be nonlinear...

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..2 cM) compared to females (237.2 cM; female/male map ratio: 2.15). The sex-specific recombination rates will facilitate the building of a denser linkage map and cast light on hypotheses about sex-specific recombination rates...

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..These findings represent an advance in the dissection of the genetic diversity in the wild and provide the foundation for QTL analyses in the study population...

..We discuss the prospects for refining estimates of QTL position and effect size in the study population, and for QTL searches in free-living pedigrees in general...