Admixture mapping identifies introgressed genomic regions in North American canids. Author Bridgett vonHoldt, Roland Kays, John Pollinger, Robert Wayne Publication Year 2016 Type Journal Article Abstract Hybrid zones typically contain novel gene combinations that can be tested by natural selection in a unique genetic context. Parental haplotypes that increase fitness can introgress beyond the hybrid zone, into the range of parental species. We used the Affymetrix canine SNP genotyping array to identify genomic regions tagged by multiple ancestry informative markers that are more frequent in an admixed population than expected. We surveyed a hybrid zone formed in the last 100 years as coyotes expanded their range into eastern North America. Concomitant with expansion, coyotes hybridized with wolves and some populations became more wolflike, such that coyotes in the northeast have the largest body size of any coyote population. Using a set of 3102 ancestry informative markers, we identified 60 differentially introgressed regions in 44 canines across this admixture zone. These regions are characterized by an excess of exogenous ancestry and, in northeastern coyotes, are enriched for genes affecting body size and skeletal proportions. Further, introgressed wolf-derived alleles have penetrated into Southern US coyote populations. Because no wolves currently exist in this area, these alleles are unlikely to have originated from recent hybridization. Instead, they probably originated from intraspecific gene flow or ancient admixture. We show that grey wolf and coyote admixture has far-reaching effects and, in addition to phenotypically transforming admixed populations, allows for the differential movement of alleles from different parental species to be tested in new genomic backgrounds. Keywords Animals, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Genomics, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Gene Flow, Genetics, Population, Hybridization, Genetic, Alleles, Chromosome Mapping, North America, Wolves, Coyotes Journal Mol Ecol Volume 25 Issue 11 Pages 2443-53 Date Published 2016 Jun ISSN Number 1365-294X DOI 10.1111/mec.13667 Alternate Journal Mol Ecol PMID 27106273 PubMedGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML