Landscape genomics and multivariate analysis: examples and prospects for poultry

Overview & Synopsis

Landscape genetics describes how geographical and environmental features structure genetic variation at both the population and individual levels, highlighting the relationship existing between spatial genetic structure and the structure of landscapes. In the context of multivariate analysis, this problem may be addressed through specific methods, namely spatial multivariate analyses and redundancy analyses (a.k.a analyses with instrumental variables). Features of these methods are illustrated through the analysis of published data consisting in 317 African chickens sampled in an area including Ghana, Benin and the Ivory Coast. The growing amount of genomic data available for domesticated animals makes these approaches particularly suitable to understand the evolutionary processes and adaptive events that have shaped the genetic diversity of domesticated animals