Abstract
House mice (Mus musculus) arrived in the Americas only recently in association with European colonization (~400–600 generations), but have spread rapidly and show evidence of local adaptation. Here, we take advantage of this genetic model system to investigate the genomic basis of environmental adaptation in house mice. First, we documented clinal patterns of phenotypic variation in 50 wild-caught mice from a latitudinal transect in Eastern North America. Next, we found that progeny of mice from different latitudes, raised in a common laboratory environment, displayed differences in a number of complex traits related to fitness. Consistent with Bergmann’s rule, mice from higher latitudes were larger and fatter than mice from lower latitudes. They also built bigger nests and differed in aspects of blood chemistry related to metabolism. Then, combining exomic, genomic, and transcriptomic data, we identified specific candidate genes underlying adaptive variation. In particular, we defined a short list of genes with cis-eQTL that were identified as candidates in exomic and genomic analyses, all of which have known ties to phenotypes that vary among the studied populations. Thus, wild mice and the newly developed strains represent a valuable resource for future study of the links between genetic variation, phenotypic variation, and climate.
Highlights
Understanding how organisms adapt to their environment is at the heart of evolutionary biology
We were able to make connections between genetic and phenotypic variation for complex traits related to fitness
Labborn progeny of wild mice from different environments differ in body size, metabolic traits, and behavioral traits, indicating that these differences are genetically based
Summary
Understanding how organisms adapt to their environment is at the heart of evolutionary biology. The recent introduction of the western house mouse (Mus musculus domesticus) into North America from Europe provides a unique opportunity to study the genetic basis of environmental adaptation over short evolutionary timescales in the context of a genetic model system. While their time in the Americas may seem short, in most locations, mice breed seasonally and may produce two generations per year. Less progress has been made in understanding the genetic basis of adaptive evolution for complex traits [but see 6, 7]
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