Signatures of selection on standing genetic variation underlie athletic and navigational performance in racing pigeons

Racing pigeons have been selectively bred to find their way home quickly over what are often extremely long distances. This breed is of substantial commercial value and is also an excellent avian model to gain empirical insights into the evolution of traits associated with flying performance and spatial orientation. Gazda et al. (2018) investigated the molecular basis of the superior athletic and navigational capabilities of racing pigeons using whole-genome and RNA sequencing data. The study inferred multiple signatures of positive selection distributed across the genome of racing pigeons. The strongest signature overlapped the CASK gene, a gene implicated in the formation of neuromuscular junctions. However, no diagnostic alleles were found between racing pigeons and other breeds, and only a small proportion of highly differentiated variants were exclusively detected in racing pigeons.