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Parallel developmental genetic features underlie stickleback gill raker evolution.

Andrew M Glazer1, Phillip A Cleves1, Priscilla A Erickson1

  • 1Molecular and Cell Biology Department, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Evodevo
|May 23, 2014
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Convergent evolution in threespine stickleback fish shows predictable genetic patterns. Independent freshwater populations evolved reduced gill rakers due to parallel genetic changes, suggesting adaptive traits have a predictable basis.

Keywords:
Convergent evolutionGasterosteusGill rakerQuantitative trait locusStickleback

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Developmental genetics
  • Ecology

Background:

  • Convergent evolution offers insights into evolutionary mechanisms and predictability.
  • Threespine stickleback fish provide a model for studying adaptation, with freshwater populations independently evolving reduced gill rakers.
  • Previous studies identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosomes 4 and 20 influencing gill raker reduction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the developmental and genetic underpinnings of parallel gill raker reduction in independent stickleback populations.
  • To determine if convergent evolution of adaptive traits follows predictable developmental genetic pathways.

Main Methods:

  • Skeletal morphology examination in adult and developing sticklebacks.
  • Analysis of Ectodysplasin receptor (Edar) gene expression as a marker for gill raker development.
  • Linkage mapping in F2 fish from crosses with three independent freshwater stickleback populations.

Main Results:

  • Heritable differences in gill raker number and spacing were observed early in development.
  • Gill raker primordia spacing, influenced by lateral inhibition, appears altered before budding.
  • Quantitative trait loci (QTL) on chromosomes 4 and 20, previously linked to raker number, were consistently found across all three crosses and affect gill raker bud spacing.

Conclusions:

  • Parallel developmental genetic features drive the convergent evolution of gill raker reduction in freshwater sticklebacks.
  • Highly polygenic adaptive traits can exhibit a predictable developmental genetic basis.
  • This study reinforces the predictability of evolutionary trajectories in convergent evolution.