EEB Thursday Seminar Series - The genomic basis of environmental adaptation in house mice

This event is part of our ongoing Thursday Seminar Series.

Connecting genotype with phenotype for complex, adaptive traits is a central goal of evolutionary biology. House mice (Mus musculus domesticus) have recently been introduced into new environments where they have adapted through changes in morphology, physiology, and behavior. We collected wild house mice across North and South America, from 55° S latitude to 54° N latitude, and sequenced their genomes. We also established inbred strains of mice from diverse environments, allowing us to study traits in a controlled laboratory environment and to conduct crosses between strains differing in traits of interest. House mice in the Americas conform to Bergmann’s rule (larger body size farther from the equator) and Allen’s rule (shorter extremities farther from the equator). These differences are genetically based, although differences in the length of extremities also show considerable phenotypic plasticity when mice are reared at different temperatures. Through a combination of genome scans for selection, studies of gene expression in the wild and in the lab, association studies in natural populations, and genetic crosses in the lab, we have begun to identify genes and genomic patterns associated with adaptation to new environments.