10.3389/fevo.2019.00152.s004
Veronika N. Laine
Veronika N.
Laine
Els Atema
Els
Atema
Priscilla Vlaming
Priscilla
Vlaming
Irene Verhagen
Irene
Verhagen
Christa Mateman
Christa
Mateman
Jip J. C. Ramakers
Jip J. C.
Ramakers
Kees van Oers
Kees
van Oers
Kamiel Spoelstra
Kamiel
Spoelstra
Marcel E. Visser
Marcel E.
Visser
Image_4_The Genomics of Circadian Timing in a Wild Bird, the Great Tit (Parus major).pdf
Frontiers
2019
circadian rhythm
clock
GWAS
heritability
Parus major
2019-05-03 10:43:40
Figure
https://frontiersin.figshare.com/articles/figure/Image_4_The_Genomics_of_Circadian_Timing_in_a_Wild_Bird_the_Great_Tit_Parus_major_pdf/8075285
<p>Circadian rhythms are ubiquitous among taxa and are essential for coping with recurrent daily events, leading to selection on the properties of the clock underlying these rhythms. To quantify this selection in the wild, we need, however, to phenotype wild individuals, which is difficult using the standard laboratory approach for which individuals need to be kept under constant conditions. To overcome this problem, we explored the possibility to link the variation in a key clock property, circadian period (Tau), to genetic variation. We measured Tau in 152 captive great tits (Parus major). We further linked Tau to two circadian phase markers, the onset of activity in the Light:Dark cycle, and the first onset in constant conditions (Dim:Dim), directly after entrainment. We did a genome-wide association study using a 650 k SNP chip, and we linked genetic polymorphisms of a set of 12 candidate genes, to Tau and the two circadian phase markers. In line with earlier studies, Tau was heritable (h<sup>2</sup> = 0.48 ± 0.22). Despite this genetic variation, we did not find any significant associations at the genome-wide level with the measured traits and only one candidate gene showed association with onset of activity in the Light:Dark cycle. Identifying the genetic base of circadian timing for wild species thus remains challenging. Including alternative molecular methods such as epigenetics or transcriptomics could help to unravel the molecular basis of the biological clock in great tits.</p>