Abstract
The genetic basis of adaptive traits has rarely been used to predict future vulnerability of populations to climate change. We show that light versus dark seasonal pelage in white-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus townsendii) tracks snow cover and is primarily determined by genetic variation at endothelin receptor type B (EDNRB), corin serine peptidase (CORIN), and agouti signaling protein (ASIP). Winter color variation was associated with deeply divergent alleles at these genes, reflecting selection on both ancestral and introgressed variation. Forecasted reductions in snow cover are likely to induce widespread camouflage mismatch. However, simulated populations with variation for darker winter pelage are predicted to adapt rapidly, providing a trait-based genetic framework to facilitate evolutionary rescue. These discoveries demonstrate how the genetic basis of climate change adaptation can inform conservation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1238-1242 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Science |
| Volume | 379 |
| Issue number | 6638 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 24 2023 |
Funding
L. Rossier, T. Williams, N. Herrera, B. Davis, E. Larson, J. Sweatman, M. McLaughlin, USDA Wildlife Services (North and South Dakota), and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Gunnison and Monte Vista) assisted in sample collection. We thank L. Olson, E. Braker, E. Rickart, A. Hornsby, E. Westwig, N. Duncan, A. Doll and J. Stephenson for access to museum collections and R. Wicker for specimen photographs (IV.ZM.4312.P ©DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE). We thank P. Boursot, J. Jensen, M. Kardos, members of EVOCHANGE, the UNVEIL Network and CIBIO-InBIO, T. Wheeler, and the UM Genomics Core for helpful discussions and experimental support. Sequencing was performed at Novogene Technology Co., Ltd (Davis, CA), and UC Davis Genome Center (Davis, CA). Computational resources were provided by Griz Shared Computing Cluster and CIBIO New-Gen platform. National Science Foundation (NSF), EPSCoR grant (OIA-1736249) (J.M.G.). Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), “2CHANGE” PTDC/BIA-EVL/28124/2017, cofunded by ERDF through COMPETE 2020 POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028124 (J.M.-F.). FCT, PhD grant PD/BD/108131/2015 (POPH-QREN funds from ESF and Portuguese MCTES/FCT) (M.S.F.). FCT, 2021.00150. CEECIND (J.M.-F). NSF, DEB-1907022 (L.S.M., J.M.G.), DGE-1702043 (M.R.J.), DGE-1313190 (M.R.J.), and PRFB-1907243 (T.J.T.). Society for the Study of Evolution, Rosemary Grant Graduate Student Research Award (M.S.F.). European Society for Evolutionary Biology, Godfrey Hewitt Mobility Award (M.S.F.). Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento, Portugal-United States of America Research Networks Program (M.S.F., P.C.A.). European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme, grant no. 286431 (CIBIO New-Gen). GenomePT POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184. National Institutes of Health Shared Instrumentation Grant 1S10OD010786-01 (UC Davis Genome Center).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| DGE-1702043, PRFB-1907243, 2021.00150, DEB-1907022, DGE-1313190 | |
| OIA-1736249 | |
| Colorado Parks and Wildlife | |
| 1S10OD010786-01, 286431, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022184 | |
| PTDC/BIA-EVL/28124/2017 | |
| PD/BD/108131/2015 | |
