title: Stable recombination hotspots in birds.
abstract: The DNA-binding protein PRDM9 has a critical role in specifying meiotic recombination hotspots in mice and apes, but it appears to be absent from other vertebrate species, including birds. To study the evolution and determinants of recombination in species lacking the gene that encodes PRDM9, we inferred fine-scale genetic maps from population resequencing data for two bird species: the zebra finch, Taeniopygia guttata, and the long-tailed finch, Poephila acuticauda. We found that both species have recombination hotspots, which are enriched near functional genomic elements. Unlike in mice and apes, most hotspots are shared between the two species, and their conservation seems to extend over tens of millions of years. These observations suggest that in the absence of PRDM9, recombination targets functional features that both enable access to the genome and constrain its evolution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. sonal.singhal1@gmail.com molly.przew@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sonal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singhal
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Ellen M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Leffler
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Keerthi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sannareddy
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Venn
authors.affiliation: Committee on Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hooper
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Alva I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Strand
authors.affiliation: China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors.forename: Qiye
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Raney
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McVean
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. Department of Systems Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. sonal.singhal1@gmail.com molly.przew@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Molly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Przeworski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D046369:Finches / Q000235:genetics*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016678:Genome; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D012097:Repressor Proteins