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Population genomics: a new generation of genome scans to bridge the gap with functional genomics
Author(s) -
BONIN AURÉLIE
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2008.03854.x
Subject(s) - population genomics , biology , genomics , adaptation (eye) , population , functional genomics , genome , local adaptation , evolutionary biology , comparative genomics , genetic algorithm , personal genomics , genetics , gene , demography , neuroscience , sociology
Population genomics is an increasingly popular approach to investigate the genetic basis of adaptation and speciation at the genome scale. However, it has so far largely failed to go beyond the mere identification of anonymous markers displaying selection signatures. Will population genomics ever be up to our expectations and able to really pinpoint genes underlying adaptation and speciation processes? In this issue of Molecular Ecology , Namroud et al. use population genomics to investigate local adaptation in natural populations of a conifer tree, the white spruce ( Picea glauca ). They show how population and functional genomics can finally converge with the deployment of the next generation of genome scans, which target gene‐rich regions rather than the whole genome.