A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff

Clemens Küpper; Michael Stocks; Judith E Risse; Natalie Dos Remedios; Lindsay L Farrell; Susan B McRae; Tawna C Morgan; Natalia Karlionova; Pavel Pinchuk; Yvonne I Verkuil; Alexander S Kitaysky; John C Wingfield; Theunis Piersma; Kai Zeng; Jon Slate; Mark Blaxter; David B Lank; Terry Burke

doi:10.1038/ng.3443

A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff

Clemens Küpper, Michael Stocks, Judith E Risse, Natalie Dos Remedios, Lindsay L Farrell, Susan B McRae, Tawna C Morgan, Natalia Karlionova, Pavel Pinchuk, Yvonne I Verkuil, Alexander S Kitaysky, John C Wingfield, Theunis Piersma, Kai Zeng, Jon Slate, Mark Blaxter, David B Lank, Terry Burke

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Abstract / Description of output

Three strikingly different alternative male mating morphs (aggressive 'independents', semicooperative 'satellites' and female-mimic 'faeders') coexist as a balanced polymorphism in the ruff, Philomachus pugnax, a lek-breeding wading bird. Major differences in body size, ornamentation, and aggressive and mating behaviors are inherited as an autosomal polymorphism. We show that development into satellites and faeders is determined by a supergene consisting of divergent alternative, dominant and non-recombining haplotypes of an inversion on chromosome 11, which contains 125 predicted genes. Independents are homozygous for the ancestral sequence. One breakpoint of the inversion disrupts the essential CENP-N gene (encoding centromere protein N), and pedigree analysis confirms the lethality of homozygosity for the inversion. We describe new differences in behavior, testis size and steroid metabolism among morphs and identify polymorphic genes within the inversion that are likely to contribute to the differences among morphs in reproductive traits.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	79-83
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature Genetics
Volume	48
Early online date	16 Nov 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3443
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2016

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Küpper, C., Stocks, M., Risse, J. E., Dos Remedios, N., Farrell, L. L., McRae, S. B., Morgan, T. C., Karlionova, N., Pinchuk, P., Verkuil, Y. I., Kitaysky, A. S., Wingfield, J. C., Piersma, T., Zeng, K., Slate, J., Blaxter, M., Lank, D. B., & Burke, T. (2016). A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff. Nature Genetics, 48, 79-83. https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3443

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title = "A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff",

abstract = "Three strikingly different alternative male mating morphs (aggressive 'independents', semicooperative 'satellites' and female-mimic 'faeders') coexist as a balanced polymorphism in the ruff, Philomachus pugnax, a lek-breeding wading bird. Major differences in body size, ornamentation, and aggressive and mating behaviors are inherited as an autosomal polymorphism. We show that development into satellites and faeders is determined by a supergene consisting of divergent alternative, dominant and non-recombining haplotypes of an inversion on chromosome 11, which contains 125 predicted genes. Independents are homozygous for the ancestral sequence. One breakpoint of the inversion disrupts the essential CENP-N gene (encoding centromere protein N), and pedigree analysis confirms the lethality of homozygosity for the inversion. We describe new differences in behavior, testis size and steroid metabolism among morphs and identify polymorphic genes within the inversion that are likely to contribute to the differences among morphs in reproductive traits.",

author = "Clemens K{\"u}pper and Michael Stocks and Risse, {Judith E} and {Dos Remedios}, Natalie and Farrell, {Lindsay L} and McRae, {Susan B} and Morgan, {Tawna C} and Natalia Karlionova and Pavel Pinchuk and Verkuil, {Yvonne I} and Kitaysky, {Alexander S} and Wingfield, {John C} and Theunis Piersma and Kai Zeng and Jon Slate and Mark Blaxter and Lank, {David B} and Terry Burke",

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doi = "10.1038/ng.3443",

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Küpper, C, Stocks, M, Risse, JE, Dos Remedios, N, Farrell, LL, McRae, SB, Morgan, TC, Karlionova, N, Pinchuk, P, Verkuil, YI, Kitaysky, AS, Wingfield, JC, Piersma, T, Zeng, K, Slate, J, Blaxter, M, Lank, DB & Burke, T 2016, 'A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff', Nature Genetics, vol. 48, pp. 79-83. https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3443

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T1 - A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff

AU - Küpper, Clemens

AU - Stocks, Michael

AU - Risse, Judith E

AU - Dos Remedios, Natalie

AU - Farrell, Lindsay L

AU - McRae, Susan B

AU - Morgan, Tawna C

AU - Karlionova, Natalia

AU - Pinchuk, Pavel

AU - Verkuil, Yvonne I

AU - Kitaysky, Alexander S

AU - Wingfield, John C

AU - Piersma, Theunis

AU - Zeng, Kai

AU - Slate, Jon

AU - Blaxter, Mark

AU - Lank, David B

AU - Burke, Terry

PY - 2016/1/1

Y1 - 2016/1/1

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AB - Three strikingly different alternative male mating morphs (aggressive 'independents', semicooperative 'satellites' and female-mimic 'faeders') coexist as a balanced polymorphism in the ruff, Philomachus pugnax, a lek-breeding wading bird. Major differences in body size, ornamentation, and aggressive and mating behaviors are inherited as an autosomal polymorphism. We show that development into satellites and faeders is determined by a supergene consisting of divergent alternative, dominant and non-recombining haplotypes of an inversion on chromosome 11, which contains 125 predicted genes. Independents are homozygous for the ancestral sequence. One breakpoint of the inversion disrupts the essential CENP-N gene (encoding centromere protein N), and pedigree analysis confirms the lethality of homozygosity for the inversion. We describe new differences in behavior, testis size and steroid metabolism among morphs and identify polymorphic genes within the inversion that are likely to contribute to the differences among morphs in reproductive traits.

U2 - 10.1038/ng.3443

DO - 10.1038/ng.3443

M3 - Article

C2 - 26569125

SN - 1061-4036

VL - 48

SP - 79

EP - 83

JO - Nature Genetics

JF - Nature Genetics

ER -

A supergene determines highly divergent male reproductive morphs in the ruff

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