Shining light on the cost of domestication in the dark genome

The process of domestication invariably leads to a loss of genetic diversity and a reduction in population size, leaving the animals more vulnerable to mutations. As these populations interbreed and mutations accumulate, they can cause disease, developmental disorders and infertility - making them ideal models for rare human disorders. Most studies focus on the ~2% of the genome encoding proteins, mainly due to the difficulty in identifying functional non-coding elements. This leaves aside the non-coding regions - sometimes called 'the dark genome' - which harbours functional regulatory sequences. The majority of disease- or trait-associated variants are present in these non-coding, often conserved, sequences.
The aim of the project is to use a unique resource consisting of 252 mammal genomes, along with population data, to assess the extent by which population sizes have been reduced and deleterious mutations accumulated.