Nature Communications (May 2021)

Genetic architecture and lifetime dynamics of inbreeding depression in a wild mammal

  • M. A. Stoffel,
  • S. E. Johnston,
  • J. G. Pilkington,
  • J. M. Pemberton

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23222-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Without understanding the genetic architecture of inbreeding depression, its effects are hard to pinpoint. Long-term data from wild Soay sheep shows that inbreeding manifests in long runs of homozygosity, which made up nearly half of the genome in the most inbred individuals with severe fitness consequences.