Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation.
Abstract
Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance
across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from
48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally
characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific
erosion of repetitive elements, large segmental deletions, and gene loss. Avian genomes
furthermore show a remarkably high degree of evolutionary stasis at the levels of
nucleotide sequence, gene synteny, and chromosomal structure. Despite this pattern
of conservation, we detected many non-neutral evolutionary changes in protein-coding
genes and noncoding regions. These analyses reveal that pan-avian genomic diversity
covaries with adaptations to different lifestyles and convergent evolution of traits.
Type
Journal articleSubject
Adaptation, PhysiologicalAnimals
Biodiversity
Biological Evolution
Birds
Conserved Sequence
Diet
Evolution, Molecular
Female
Flight, Animal
Genes
Genetic Variation
Genome
Genomics
Male
Molecular Sequence Annotation
Phylogeny
Reproduction
Selection, Genetic
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Synteny
Vision, Ocular
Vocalization, Animal
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11151Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1126/science.1251385Publication Info
Zhang, Guojie; Li, Cai; Li, Qiye; Li, Bo; Larkin, Denis M; Lee, Chul; ... Wang, Jun (2014). Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation.
Science, 346(6215). pp. 1311-1320. 10.1126/science.1251385. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/11151.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Erich David Jarvis
Adjunct Professor in the Dept. of Neurobiology
Dr. Jarvis' laboratory studies the neurobiology of vocal communication. Emphasis is
placed on the molecular pathways involved in the perception and production of learned
vocalizations. They use an integrative approach that combines behavioral, anatomical,
electrophysiological and molecular biological techniques. The main animal model used
is songbirds, one of the few vertebrate groups that evolved the ability to learn vocalizations.
The generality of the discoveries is tested in other vocal

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