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Over the last decade, the genomic revolution has offered the possibility to generate tremendous amounts of data that contain valuable information on the genetic basis of phenotypic traits, such as those linked to human diseases or those that allow for species to adapt to a changing environment. Most ecologically relevant traits are controlled by a large number of genes with small individual effects on trait variation, but that are connected with one another through complex developmental, metabolic and biochemical networks. As a result, it has recently been suggested that most adaptation events in natural populations are reached via correlated changes at multiple genes at a time, for which the name polygenic adaptation has been coined. The current challenge is to develop methods to extract the relevant information from genomic data to detect the signature of polygenic evolutionary change. The symposium entitled "Detecting the Genomic Signal of Polygenic Adaptation and the Role of Epistasis in Evolution" held in 2017 at the University of Zürich aimed at reviewing our current state of knowledge. In this review, we use the talks of the invited speakers to summarize some of the most recent developments in this field.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mec.14499 | DOI Listing |
New Phytol
September 2025
Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
Understanding the rate and nature of adaptation is crucial for managing biodiversity across our changing landscapes. This perspective synthesizes insights from resistance evolution - a case of rapid, repeated adaptation to extreme human-mediated selection - to reveal how adaptive genetic architectures determine and feedback with evolutionary dynamics. Recent population genomic and quantitative genetic approaches have demonstrated that the extent of genetic parallelism and reliance on de novo vs standing genetic variation can vary with the complexity of genetic architectures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Genet
August 2025
College of Poultry Production and Management, TANUVAS, Hosur, India.
Background: India's indigenous sheep breeds have evolved under extreme and diverse agro-ecological pressures, yet the genomic basis of their resilience and local adaptation remains poorly understood.
Method: This study combines genomic inbreeding estimates, runs of homozygosity (ROH), population structure analyses, and composite selection scans to investigate three native Indian breeds-Changthangi, Deccani, and Garole-within a panel of nine breeds that also includes populations from Africa (Ethiopian Menz), East and South Asia (Tibetan, Chinese Merino, Bangladesh Garole, Bangladesh East), and Europe (Suffolk).
Results: ROH and heterozygosity estimates revealed strong contrasts: Bangladesh East sheep exhibited high genomic inbreeding (F≈14.
Trends Ecol Evol
September 2025
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Marine Evolutionary Ecology, Kiel, Germany.
Chromosomal inversions are ubiquitous across the Tree of Life, with genome-wide studies revealing a bias toward smaller inversions, yet research has disproportionately focused on large, supergene-like inversions linked to discrete phenotypes. This limits our understanding of inversions' roles in trait evolution, as their size affects their potential functional impact. Investigation of smaller inversions and multi-inversion genotypes is crucial to elucidate their role in shaping continuous traits and evolutionary adaptation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhilos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci
September 2025
Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.
BMC Plant Biol
September 2025
Institute of Plant Breeding, Seed Science and Population Genetics, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany.
Background: Understanding how crops adapt to specific environmental conditions is becoming increasingly important in the face of accelerating climate change, but the genetics of local adaptation remains little understood for many crops. Landscape genomics can reveal patterns of genetic variation that indicate adaptive diversification during crop evolution and dispersal. Here, we examine genetic differentiation and association signatures with environmental gradients in soybean () germplasm groups from China that were inferred from the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection ( = 17, 019 accessions) based on population structure and passport information.
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