Domestication genomics: evidence from animals

Abstract

Animal domestication has far-reaching significance for human society. The sequenced genomes of domesticated animals provide critical resources for understanding the genetic basis of domestication. Various genomic analyses have shed a new light on the mechanism of artificial selection and have allowed the mapping of genes involved in important domestication traits. Here, we summarize the published genomes of domesticated animals that have been generated over the past decade, as well as their origins, from a phylogenomic point of view. This review provides a general description of the genomic features encountered under a two-stage domestication process. We also introduce recent findings for domestication traits based on results from genome-wide association studies and selective-sweep scans for artificially selected genomic regions. Particular attention is paid to issues relating to the costs of domestication and the convergent evolution of genes between domesticated animals and humans.

Keywords: artificial selection; demographic history; domestication genomics; origin.