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Genomic basis of melanin-phenotypes indicates colour-specific environmental adaptations in tawny owls
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  • Miguel Baltazar-Soares,
  • Patrik Karell,
  • Dominic Wright,
  • Jan-Åke Nilsson,
  • Jon Brommer
Miguel Baltazar-Soares
University of Turku

Corresponding Author:miguelalexsoares@gmail.com

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Patrik Karell
Lund University
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Dominic Wright
Linköping University
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Jan-Åke Nilsson
Lund University
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Jon Brommer
University of Turku
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Abstract

Feathers comprise a series of evolutionary innovations but also harbor colour, a biological trait with immense selective value and known to co-vary with life history or complex traits. Such an intricate web of relationships is particularly true in melanin-based pigmentation species, mainly due to known pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin pathway – originating so-called melanin-phenotypes. Here we explored the molecular basis of melanin coloration and expected co-variation at molecular level in a melanin-based, colour polymorphic benchmark system, the tawny owl. An extensive body of literature has revealed grey and brown tawny owl color morphs differ in a series of life history and behavioral traits. We assembled the first draft genome of the species against which we mapped ddRADseq reads from 220 grey and 150 brown morphs - representing 10 years of pedigree data from a population in Southern Finland - and explored genome-wide associations with colour phenotype. Our results revealed molecular signatures of cold adaptation strongly associated with grey coloration, namely a non-synonymous substitution in MCHR1 detected when comparing genomes, plus 2 substitutions in non-coding regions of FTCD and FAM135A whose genotype combinations obtained a predictive power of up to 100% (predicting grey colour). All these genes have functions related to energy homeostasis, fat deposition and control of starvation response and indicate the molecular basis of some cold environment adaptations predicted to be grey-morph specific. our results unveil part of the molecular machinery of melanin-phenotypes and shed light on the maintenance and evolution of colour polymorphism in melanin-based pigmented species.