Genetic variation, which is generated by mutation, recombination and gene flow, can reduce
the mean fitness of a population, both now and in the future. This 'genetic load'has been …

Deleterious mutations decrease reproductive fitness and are ubiquitous in genomes. Given
that many organisms face ongoing threats of extinction, there is interest in elucidating the …

The current rate of species extinction is rapidly approaching unprecedented highs, and life
on Earth presently faces a sixth mass extinction event driven by anthropogenic activity …

Abstract Background The international Dog10K project aims to sequence and analyze
several thousand canine genomes. Incorporating 20× data from 1987 individuals, including …

Despite the substantial role that chickens have played in human societies across the world,
both the geographic and temporal origins of their domestication remain controversial. To …

The domestication of animals led to a major shift in human subsistence patterns, from a
hunter–gatherer to a sedentary agricultural lifestyle, which ultimately resulted in the …

Domestic dog breeds are characterized by an unrivaled diversity of morphologic traits and
breed-associated behaviors resulting from human selective pressures. To identify the …

Human activity has caused dramatic population declines in many wild species. The resulting
bottlenecks have a profound impact on the genetic makeup of a species with unknown …

This review presents a broader approach to the implementation and study of runs of
homozygosity (ROH) in animal populations, focusing on identifying and characterizing ROH …

The observation that small isolated populations often suffer reduced fitness from inbreeding
depression has guided conservation theory and practice for decades. However …