title: Evolutionary signals of selection on cognition from the great tit genome and methylome.
abstract: For over 50 years, the great tit (Parus major) has been a model species for research in evolutionary, ecological and behavioural research; in particular, learning and cognition have been intensively studied. Here, to provide further insight into the molecular mechanisms behind these important traits, we de novo assemble a great tit reference genome and whole-genome re-sequence another 29 individuals from across Europe. We show an overrepresentation of genes related to neuronal functions, learning and cognition in regions under positive selection, as well as increased CpG methylation in these regions. In addition, great tit neuronal non-CpG methylation patterns are very similar to those observed in mammals, suggesting a universal role in neuronal epigenetic regulation which can affect learning-, memory- and experience-induced plasticity. The high-quality great tit genome assembly will play an instrumental role in furthering the integration of ecological, evolutionary, behavioural and genomic approaches in this model species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Veronika N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Laine
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: Toni I
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Gossmann
authors.affiliation: Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Schachtschneider
authors.affiliation: Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Colin J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Garroway
authors.affiliation: Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Koen J F
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Verhoeven
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: de Jager
authors.affiliation: Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hendrik-Jan
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Megens
authors.affiliation: The Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63108, USA.
authors.forename: Wesley C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: The Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63108, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Minx
authors.affiliation: Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Richard P M A
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Crooijmans
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: Pádraic
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corcoran
authors.affiliation: Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Ben C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Sheldon
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Slate
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kees
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van Oers
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), P.O. Box 50, 6700AB Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Animal Breeding and Genomics Centre, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martien A M
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Groenen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D003071:Cognition; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D016678:Genome; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D046109:Passeriformes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D010641:Phenotype