title: Genome scans and elusive candidate genes: detecting the variation that matters for speciation.
abstract: Next-generation sequencing is providing us with vast amounts of genetic data, yet we are currently struggling in our attempts to make sense of them. In particular, it has proven difficult to link phenotypic divergence and speciation to genome level divergence. In the current issue of Molecular Ecology, Ruegg et al. () present new empirical results from two closely related bird taxa. They use a promising approach combining genome scan and candidate gene analysis. Their results suggest that we may have been looking in vain for candidate speciation genes by focusing only on genes found within genomic islands of divergence. This is because genes important in divergence and speciation may not be detected by genome scans and because features of the genomic architecture per se may have a large effect on the pattern of genome divergence.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, P. O. Box 1066 Blindern, N-0316, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Glenn-Peter
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Sætre
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D051456:Gene Flow; D044404:Genomic Islands; D008297:Male; D020308:Songbirds / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: bird migration; divergent selection; genome evolution; speciation