title: Blood transcriptomes and de novo identification of candidate loci for mating success in lekking great snipe (Gallinago media).
abstract: We assembled the great snipe blood transcriptome using data from fourteen lekking males, in order to de novo identify candidate genes related to sexual selection, and determined the expression profiles in relation to mating success. The three most highly transcribed genes were encoding different haemoglobin subunits. All tended to be overexpressed in males with high mating success. We also called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the transcriptome data and found considerable genetic variation for many genes expressed during lekking. Among these, we identified 14 polymorphic candidate SNPs that had a significant genotypic association with mating success (number of females mated with) and/or mating status (mated or not). Four of the candidate SNPs were found in HBAA (encoding the haemoglobin α-chain). Heterozygotes for one of these and one SNP in the gene PABPC1 appeared to enjoy higher mating success compared to males homozygous for either of the alleles. In a larger data set of individuals, we genotyped 38 of the identified SNPs but found low support for consistent selection as only one of the zygosities of previously identified candidate SNPs and none of their genotypes were associated with mating status. However, candidate SNPs generally showed lower levels of spatial genetic structure compared to noncandidate markers. We also scored the prevalence of avian malaria in a subsample of birds. Males infected with avian malaria parasites had lower mating success in the year of sampling than noninfected males. Parasite infection and its interaction with specific genes may thus affect performance on the lek.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5840-779X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Höglund
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Stein Are
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Saether
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.|Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
authors.forename: Mozes Pil Kyu
authors.initials: MPK
authors.lastname: Blom
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Peder
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fiske
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Halvarsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Gavin J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Horsburgh
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: John Atle
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kålås
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.|Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ekblom
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D046091:Charadriiformes / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012098:Reproduction; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D059467:Transcriptome
keywords: adaptation; birds; sexual selection; transcriptomics