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Maternal genetic effects in Astyanax cavefish development.

Li Ma1, Allen G Strickler1, Amy Parkhurst1

  • 1Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

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Maternal genetic factors influence cavefish eye degeneration. Reciprocal hybridization revealed maternal control over eye development, but not pigmentation or jaw changes in Astyanax mexicanus.

Keywords:
Astyanax mexicanusCavefishDorsoventral pattern formationEvolution of developmentMaternal genetic effectsOptic regressionsonic hedgehog mRNA

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary developmental biology
  • Genetics
  • Ichthyology

Background:

  • The role of maternal factors in evolutionary developmental changes is not well understood.
  • Cavefish (CF) and surface fish (SF) morphs of Astyanax mexicanus offer a model to study developmental divergence.
  • Previous research has not fully elucidated the maternal genetic contributions to CF adaptations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of maternal genetic effects in the development of cavefish (CF) traits.
  • To determine if maternal factors influence CF eye degeneration, pigmentation loss, or jaw enhancement.
  • To establish Astyanax mexicanus as a model for studying maternal influences on evolutionary development.

Main Methods:

  • Reciprocal hybridization between SF and CF Astyanax mexicanus morphs.
  • Generation of F1 hybrids by crossing SF eggs with CF sperm (SF × CF) and CF eggs with SF sperm (CF × SF).
  • Analysis of embryonic and larval phenotypes, including eye morphology, lens development, and gene expression patterns.
  • Quantification of maternal transcripts (pou2f1b, runx2b, axin1, ß-catenin, syntabulin, sonic hedgehog) in unfertilized eggs and early embryos.

Main Results:

  • Reciprocal hybridization demonstrated significant maternal genetic effects on CF eye degeneration.
  • CF × SF hybrids exhibited degenerate eye phenotypes (retinal ventral reduction, lens displacement, smaller eye/lens, increased apoptosis) resembling CF.
  • Maternal transcripts for ventral fate genes (pou2f1b, runx2b, axin1) were elevated in CF eggs, while dorsal fate gene expression was similar between morphs.
  • Maternal effects were not supported for CF pigmentation or jaw development phenotypes.
  • Maternal transcripts of a sonic hedgehog gene were present in both SF and CF eggs.

Conclusions:

  • Cavefish eye degeneration is significantly controlled by maternal factors established during oogenesis.
  • Maternal genetic contributions play a crucial role in the evolution of specific developmental pathways, such as eye loss.
  • Astyanax mexicanus reciprocal hybridization is a powerful tool for dissecting maternal genetic influences in evolutionary development.