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Microinjection for Transgenesis and Genome Editing in Threespine Sticklebacks
Published on: May 13, 2016
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Gene expression plasticity in response to salinity acclimation in threespine stickleback ecotypes from different
Taylor C Gibbons1, David C H Metzger1, Timothy M Healy1
1Biodiversity Research Centre and Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
Molecular Ecology
|February 19, 2017
Summary
Phenotypic plasticity aids species colonization. This study reveals diverse gene expression changes in stickleback gills across salinities, showing multiple evolutionary pathways are possible.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Genomics
- Physiology
Background:
- Phenotypic plasticity is crucial for adapting to new environments.
- Understanding how plasticity evolves after colonization is key to evolutionary studies.
- Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are a model organism for studying adaptation and speciation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate gene expression plasticity in stickleback gills across different salinities.
- To compare plasticity patterns between freshwater and saltwater ecotypes.
- To identify how colonization influences the evolution of gene expression plasticity.
Main Methods:
- Whole-transcriptome sequencing of threespine stickleback gills.
- Exposure of fish to a range of environmental salinities.
- Differential gene expression analysis between ecotypes and salinity treatments.
Main Results:
- A large shared transcriptional response to salinity was observed in both ecotypes, involving ion transport and gill restructuring.
- Significant differences in gene expression patterns between ecotypes were linked to gill structure and permeability.
- Few genes showed both ecotype-specific expression and salinity response, with no dominant pattern of plasticity change.
Conclusions:
- Colonization of novel habitats can lead to diverse patterns of gene expression plasticity evolution.
- Both shared and divergent transcriptional responses to salinity occur between stickleback ecotypes.
- The study highlights the complex evolutionary trajectories of phenotypic plasticity.
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