Examples of Molecular Evolution - Dogs

Dogs are a great system in which to explore molecular evolution. In recent years, scientists have made substantial progress in identifying the molecular changes underlying the wide range of phenotypes in domesticated dogs. The following resources explore some of these recent discoveries.

Gross L, 2010 A Dog's Eye View of Morphological Diversity. PLoS Biol 8(8): e1000452. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000452
This article provides an overview of the evolutionary genetics of dog breeds.

Wide Variety of Breed Born of Few Genes

S.N. Bhanoo
NYTimes August 16, 2010
This article provides an overview of the Boyko, et al scientific paper below.

Boyko AR, Quignon P, Li L, Schoenebeck JJ, Degenhardt JD, et al.2010 A Simple Genetic Architecture Underlies Morphological Variation in Dogs. PLoS Biol 8(8): e1000451. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000451
In this paper, researchers use genome wide studies to identify areas of the genome involved in several key morphological features of domesticated dogs.

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: Interpreting Evidence for Recent Natural Selection in the Human Genome

Carlos Bustamante
From the 2008 NABT Evolution Symposium
This 40-minute presentation explains how scientists are exploring differences in genomes, and linking molecular differences to phenotypic differences. The discussion covers work in humans and dogs.