Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves
Morphological diversity within closely related species is an essential aspect of evolution and adaptation. Mutations in the Melanocortin 1 receptor ( Mc1r ) gene contribute to pigmentary diversity in natural populations of fish, birds, and many mammals. However, melanism in the gray wolf, Canis lupu...
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craaas:10.1126/science.1165448 2024-09-15T18:01:12+00:00 Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves Anderson, Tovi M. vonHoldt, Bridgett M. Candille, Sophie I. Musiani, Marco Greco, Claudia Stahler, Daniel R. Smith, Douglas W. Padhukasahasram, Badri Randi, Ettore Leonard, Jennifer A. Bustamante, Carlos D. Ostrander, Elaine A. Tang, Hua Wayne, Robert K. Barsh, Gregory S. 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1165448 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1165448 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science volume 323, issue 5919, page 1339-1343 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 journal-article 2009 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165448 2024-08-22T04:01:10Z Morphological diversity within closely related species is an essential aspect of evolution and adaptation. Mutations in the Melanocortin 1 receptor ( Mc1r ) gene contribute to pigmentary diversity in natural populations of fish, birds, and many mammals. However, melanism in the gray wolf, Canis lupus , is caused by a different melanocortin pathway component, the K locus, that encodes a beta-defensin protein that acts as an alternative ligand for Mc1r. We show that the melanistic K locus mutation in North American wolves derives from past hybridization with domestic dogs, has risen to high frequency in forested habitats, and exhibits a molecular signature of positive selection. The same mutation also causes melanism in the coyote, Canis latrans , and in Italian gray wolves, and hence our results demonstrate how traits selected in domesticated species can influence the morphological diversity of their wild relatives. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus gray wolf AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Science 323 5919 1339 1343 |
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Open Polar |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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language |
English |
description |
Morphological diversity within closely related species is an essential aspect of evolution and adaptation. Mutations in the Melanocortin 1 receptor ( Mc1r ) gene contribute to pigmentary diversity in natural populations of fish, birds, and many mammals. However, melanism in the gray wolf, Canis lupus , is caused by a different melanocortin pathway component, the K locus, that encodes a beta-defensin protein that acts as an alternative ligand for Mc1r. We show that the melanistic K locus mutation in North American wolves derives from past hybridization with domestic dogs, has risen to high frequency in forested habitats, and exhibits a molecular signature of positive selection. The same mutation also causes melanism in the coyote, Canis latrans , and in Italian gray wolves, and hence our results demonstrate how traits selected in domesticated species can influence the morphological diversity of their wild relatives. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Anderson, Tovi M. vonHoldt, Bridgett M. Candille, Sophie I. Musiani, Marco Greco, Claudia Stahler, Daniel R. Smith, Douglas W. Padhukasahasram, Badri Randi, Ettore Leonard, Jennifer A. Bustamante, Carlos D. Ostrander, Elaine A. Tang, Hua Wayne, Robert K. Barsh, Gregory S. |
spellingShingle |
Anderson, Tovi M. vonHoldt, Bridgett M. Candille, Sophie I. Musiani, Marco Greco, Claudia Stahler, Daniel R. Smith, Douglas W. Padhukasahasram, Badri Randi, Ettore Leonard, Jennifer A. Bustamante, Carlos D. Ostrander, Elaine A. Tang, Hua Wayne, Robert K. Barsh, Gregory S. Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves |
author_facet |
Anderson, Tovi M. vonHoldt, Bridgett M. Candille, Sophie I. Musiani, Marco Greco, Claudia Stahler, Daniel R. Smith, Douglas W. Padhukasahasram, Badri Randi, Ettore Leonard, Jennifer A. Bustamante, Carlos D. Ostrander, Elaine A. Tang, Hua Wayne, Robert K. Barsh, Gregory S. |
author_sort |
Anderson, Tovi M. |
title |
Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves |
title_short |
Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves |
title_full |
Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves |
title_fullStr |
Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Molecular and Evolutionary History of Melanism in North American Gray Wolves |
title_sort |
molecular and evolutionary history of melanism in north american gray wolves |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1165448 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1165448 |
genre |
Canis lupus gray wolf |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus gray wolf |
op_source |
Science volume 323, issue 5919, page 1339-1343 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165448 |
container_title |
Science |
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323 |
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5919 |
container_start_page |
1339 |
op_container_end_page |
1343 |
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1810438386971836416 |