title: Recombination rate variation in mice from an isolated island.
abstract: Recombination rate is a heritable trait that varies among individuals. Despite the major impact of recombination rate on patterns of genetic diversity and the efficacy of selection, natural variation in this phenotype remains poorly characterized. We present a comparison of genetic maps, sampling 1212 meioses, from a unique population of wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) that recently colonized remote Gough Island. Crosses to a mainland reference strain (WSB/EiJ) reveal pervasive variation in recombination rate among Gough Island mice, including subchromosomal intervals spanning up to 28% of the genome. In spite of this high level of polymorphism, the genomewide recombination rate does not significantly vary. In general, we find that recombination rate varies more when measured in smaller genomic intervals. Using the current standard genetic map of the laboratory mouse to polarize intervals with divergent recombination rates, we infer that the majority of evolutionary change occurred in one of the two tested lines of Gough Island mice. Our results confirm that natural populations harbour a high level of recombination rate polymorphism and highlight the disparities in recombination rate evolution across genomic scales.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 425-G Henry Mall, 2428 Genetics, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 425-G Henry Mall, 2428 Genetics, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 425-G Henry Mall, 2428 Genetics, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Parmenter
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Karl W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Broman
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 425-G Henry Mall, 2428 Genetics, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Bret A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Payseur
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D016678:Genome; D062312:Islands; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
keywords: island evolution; linkage map; recombination; recombination rate evolution