Welcome to the American Ornithological Society 2018 Annual Conference. We are pleased to have you join us at the lovely Hilton El Conquistador Resort in Tucson, AZ.
Recently, genomic datasets have been harnessed to elucidate the underlying genetic architecture of speciation and thus can illuminate important evolutionary processes. Here, we take a novel approach to correlate patterns of genome-wide divergence with degree of reproductive isolation among three closely related species pairs within Cardinalidae (Aves: Passeriformes). These species pairs represent varying degrees of reproductive isolation (hybridizing vs. non-hybridizing) and different geographic relationships (allopatric vs. sympatric). Our study provides empirical data to inform theory of genome-wide divergence by making comparisons of 1) different geographic outcomes of speciation, and 2) different levels of reproductive isolation upon secondary contact. We first generated a reference genome for Passerina amoena. Our sequencing generated {raise.17exhbox{\$scriptstylemathtt{sim}\$}}760 million reads; the resultant assembly is 0.92 Gb with a contig N50 of 62.7 kb. We will align whole-genome resequencing data ({raise.17exhbox{\$scriptstylemathtt{sim}\$}}1.5 billion reads) from 56 individuals of P. amoena, P. cyanea, P. ciris, P. versicolor, Cyanocompsa parellina, and C. brissonii to this reference. P. amoena and P. cyanea hybridize extensively in the Great Plains, while P. ciris and P. versicolor do not hybridize despite sympatry in Texas and Mexico. The Cyanocompsa species are completely allopatric. We will quantify patterns of genome-wide divergence for these species pairs and identify specific genomic divergence patterns associated with degree of reproductive isolation by comparing among species pairs. For example, comparing the location of divergence peaks between the hybridizing, sympatric species pair to those between the non-hybridizing, sympatric species pair will allow us to investigate how gene flow impacts patterns of genome-wide divergence.
