title: Genome-wide analyses suggest parallel selection for universal traits may eclipse local environmental selection in a highly mobile carnivore.
abstract: Ecological and environmental heterogeneity can produce genetic differentiation in highly mobile species. Accordingly, local adaptation may be expected across comparatively short distances in the presence of marked environmental gradients. Within the European continent, wolves (Canis lupus) exhibit distinct north-south population differentiation. We investigated more than 67-K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci for signatures of local adaptation in 59 unrelated wolves from four previously identified population clusters (northcentral Europe n = 32, Carpathian Mountains n = 7, Dinaric-Balkan n = 9, Ukrainian Steppe n = 11). Our analyses combined identification of outlier loci with findings from genome-wide association study of individual genomic profiles and 12 environmental variables. We identified 353 candidate SNP loci. We examined the SNP position and neighboring megabase (1 Mb, one million bases) regions in the dog (C. lupus familiaris) genome for genes potentially under selection, including homologue genes in other vertebrates. These regions included functional genes for, for example, temperature regulation that may indicate local adaptation and genes controlling for functions universally important for wolves, including olfaction, hearing, vision, and cognitive functions. We also observed strong outliers not associated with any of the investigated variables, which could suggest selective pressures associated with other unmeasured environmental variables and/or demographic factors. These patterns are further supported by the examination of spatial distributions of the SNPs associated with universally important traits, which typically show marked differences in allele frequencies among population clusters. Accordingly, parallel selection for features important to all wolves may eclipse local environmental selection and implies long-term separation among population clusters.
authors.affiliation: Section of Biology and Environmental Science Department of Chemistry and Bioscience Aalborg University Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H DK-9220 Aalborg Øst Denmark ; Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences ul. Waszkiewicza 1 PL 17-230 Bialowieza Poland.
authors.forename: Astrid Vik
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Stronen
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences ul. Waszkiewicza 1 PL 17-230 Bialowieza Poland.
authors.forename: Bogumiła
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jędrzejewska
authors.affiliation: Section of Biology and Environmental Science Department of Chemistry and Bioscience Aalborg University Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H DK-9220 Aalborg Øst Denmark ; Aalborg Zoo Mølleparkvej 63 DK-9000 Aalborg Denmark.
authors.forename: Cino
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pertoldi
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics University of Aarhus Wilhelm Meyers Allé DK-8000 Aarhus Denmark.
authors.forename: Ditte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demontis
authors.affiliation: Section of Biology and Environmental Science Department of Chemistry and Bioscience Aalborg University Fredrik Bajers Vej 7H DK-9220 Aalborg Øst Denmark ; Laboratorio di Genetica ISPRA via Cà Fornacetta 9 I-40064 Ozzano Emilia (BO) Italy.
authors.forename: Ettore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Randi
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences ul. Waszkiewicza 1 PL 17-230 Bialowieza Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niedziałkowska
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences ul. Waszkiewicza 1 PL 17-230 Bialowieza Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Borowik
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology Scientific and Practical Centre for Biological Resources National Academy of Science of Belarus Akademicheskaya Str 27 220072 Minsk Belarus.
authors.forename: Vadim E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Sidorovich
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia.
authors.forename: Josip
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kusak
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland Box 16 FI-96500 Rovaniemi Finland.
authors.forename: Ilpo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kojola
authors.affiliation: ARCTUROS Civil Society for the Protection and Management of Wildlife and the Natural Environment GR-53075 Aetos Greece ; Department of Ecology and Natural Resources Management Norwegian University of Life Sciences NO-1432 Ås Norway.
authors.forename: Alexandros A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Karamanlidis
authors.affiliation: Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava" Rīgas 111 LV-2169 Salaspils Latvia.
authors.forename: Janis
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ozolins
authors.affiliation: Biosphere Reserve Askania Nova Frunze Str. 13 Askania-Nova Chaplynka District Kherson Region 75230 Ukraine.
authors.forename: Vitalii
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dumenko
authors.affiliation: Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences ul. Waszkiewicza 1 PL 17-230 Bialowieza Poland.
authors.forename: Sylwia D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Czarnomska
keywords: CanineHD BeadChip microarray; Canis lupus; environmental selection; genome‐wide association study; single nucleotide polymorphism; wolf