Red Deer Resequencing Reveals the Importance of Sex Chromosomes for Reconstructing Late Quaternary Events
Sex chromosomes differ in their inheritance properties from autosomes and hence may encode complementary information about past demographic events. We compiled and analyzed a range-wide resequencing data set of the red deer (Cervus elaphus), one of the few Eurasian herbivores of the Late Pleistocene megafauna still found throughout much of its historic range. Our analyses of 144 whole genomes reveal striking discrepancies between the population clusters suggested by autosomal and X-chromosomal data. We postulate that the genetic legacy of Late Glacial population structure is better captured and preserved by the X chromosome than by autosomes, for two reasons. First, X chromosomes have a lower Ne and hence lose genetic variation faster during isolation in glacial refugia, causing increased population differentiation. Second, following postglacial recolonization and secondary contact, immigrant males pass on their X chromosomes to female offspring only, which effectively halves the migration rate when gene flow is male mediated. Our study illustrates how a comparison between autosomal and sex chromosomal phylogeographic signals unravels past demographic processes that otherwise would remain hidden.
Authors
- Jordi Ruiz‐Olmo
- A. Gérard
- Urmas Saarma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3222-571X)
- Magdalena Niedziałkowska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7746-4116)
- Alexandros Triantafyllidis
- Dean Konjević (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8584-9825)
- Niko Kerdikoshvili
- Juan Carranza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0368-7173)
- Axel Janke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9394-1904)
- Christine Saint‐Andrieux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2433-4326)
- Luděk Bartoš (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2667-5930)
- Étienne Guillaumat
- Stefan Merker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3142-7720)
- Maryline Pellerin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0067-6196)
- Eva de la Peña (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9567-1111)
- Giovanni Vedel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0678-936X)
- A. Membrillo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9770-0537)
- Giorgi Darchiashvili
- Josephine M. Pemberton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0075-1504)
- Aidin Niamir (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4511-3407)
- Aurélie Barboiron
- Jacob Höglund (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5840-779X)
- Elena Bužan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0714-5301)
- Gabriel Anaya (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2145-6520)
- Fatih Sarigol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5842-6114)
- Mahmoud‐Reza Hemami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8321-6776)
- Dragan Gačić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0434-6562)
- Menno de Jong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2131-9048)
- Allan D. McDevitt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2677-7833)
- Frank E. Zachos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0133-6265)
- Joost F. de Jong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8042-6022)
- Alain C. Frantz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5481-7142)
- Laura Iacolina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-6549)
- Maciej Sykut (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3226-0267)
- Ruth F. Carden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2829-4667)
- Camilla Broggini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5202-7334)
- Markus Pfenninger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1547-7245)
- Javier Pérez‐González (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0624-835X)
- Araceli Gort‐Esteve (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1894-9006)
- Knut H. Røed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5991-6070)
- José Manuel Seoane
- Marcel Nebenfuehr
- Petr Koubek
- Anja Hantschmann
Institutions
- University College Dublin (IE)
- Tbilisi State University (GE)
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- University of Primorska (SI)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Natural History Museum Vienna (AT)
- University of Vienna (AT)
- English Heritage (GB)
- University of Sassari (IT)
- Isfahan University of Technology (IR)
- University of Zagreb (HR)
- Ilia State University (GE)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZ)
- Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR)
- University of the Free State (ZA)
- Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart (DE)
- Chamber of Labour (AT)
- Senckenberg - Leibniz Institution for Biodiversity and Earth System Research (DE)
- Max Perutz Labs (AT)
- Mammal Research Institute (PL)
- Charles Darwin University (AU)
- University of Belgrade (RS)
- Zoo Atlanta (US)
- Institute of Animal Science (CZ)
- Institut für Tier-, Natur- und Umweltethik (DE)
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (ES)
- French National Agency for Water and Aquatic Environments (FR)
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (DE)
- College of Environmental Protection (SI)
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (DE)
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (ES)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology (CZ)
- Klinikum im Friedrichshain (DE)
- Department of Archaeology (LK)
- Natural Resources Institute (GB)
- Musée national d'histoire naturelle Luxembourg (LU)
- Atlantic Technological University (IE)
- University of Córdoba (ES)
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NO)
- Mendel University in Brno (CZ)
- University of Tartu (EE)
- Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (IE)
- Cordoba University (US)
- Universidad de Extremadura (ES)
- Aalborg University (DK)
- Wageningen University & Research (NL)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Molecular Biology and Evolution
- Published
- 2025-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf031
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.58
Funders
- National Research Foundation
- Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
- Haridus- ja Teadusministeerium
- Narodowe Centrum Nauki
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft