AI Article Synopsis

  • Scientists are studying bird genomes to learn more about their diversity and evolution, analyzing 363 bird genomes from nearly all bird families for a big project called Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K).
  • By using advanced methods, they can compare DNA more effectively, finding new patterns and understanding how different bird species are related.
  • This research helps improve our understanding of how birds evolve and can also aid in protecting them in the future.

Article Abstract

Whole-genome sequencing projects are increasingly populating the tree of life and characterizing biodiversity. Sparse taxon sampling has previously been proposed to confound phylogenetic inference, and captures only a fraction of the genomic diversity. Here we report a substantial step towards the dense representation of avian phylogenetic and molecular diversity, by analysing 363 genomes from 92.4% of bird families-including 267 newly sequenced genomes produced for phase II of the Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K) Project. We use this comparative genome dataset in combination with a pipeline that leverages a reference-free whole-genome alignment to identify orthologous regions in greater numbers than has previously been possible and to recognize genomic novelties in particular bird lineages. The densely sampled alignment provides a single-base-pair map of selection, has more than doubled the fraction of bases that are confidently predicted to be under conservation and reveals extensive patterns of weak selection in predominantly non-coding DNA. Our results demonstrate that increasing the diversity of genomes used in comparative studies can reveal more shared and lineage-specific variation, and improve the investigation of genomic characteristics. We anticipate that this genomic resource will offer new perspectives on evolutionary processes in cross-species comparative analyses and assist in efforts to conserve species.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7759463PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2873-9DOI Listing

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