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Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Polysome Purification from Soybean Symbiotic Nodules

Polysome Purification from Soybean Symbiotic Nodules

Published on: July 1, 2022

Transcriptomic bases of a polyphenism.

Nicholas A Levis^1,2, Patrick W Kelly¹, Emily A Harmon¹

¹Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part B, Molecular and Developmental Evolution

|June 18, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Polyphenism in spadefoot toad tadpoles reveals that developing into a carnivore morph involves fewer gene expression changes than maintaining the omnivore morph. Lipid metabolism and peroxisomes are key to this developmental plasticity.

Keywords:

developmental plasticity gene expression phenotypic plasticity phenotypic variation spadefoot toad

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Area of Science:

Developmental Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Molecular Biology

Background:

Polyphenism, where one genotype produces multiple phenotypes based on environmental cues, is common but its molecular underpinnings are unclear.
Mexican spadefoot toads (Spea multiplicata) exhibit polyphenism, with tadpoles developing into either omnivore or carnivore morphs.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the transcriptomic basis of polyphenism in Spea multiplicata tadpoles.
To identify molecular mechanisms underlying the development of the novel carnivore morph.

Main Methods:

Comparative transcriptomics of Spea multiplicata tadpoles reared in conditions inducing carnivore morph versus non-inducing conditions.
Analysis of gene expression patterns in body and head tissue samples.

Main Results:

Development of the carnivore morph involved fewer gene expression changes than maintaining the omnivore morph in inducing environments, with tissue-specific differences observed.
Significant alterations in lipid metabolism, particularly cholesterol biosynthesis, and peroxisome function were associated with morph determination.
The carnivore morph appears to arise from a breakdown of robustness mechanisms maintaining the omnivore phenotype.

Conclusions:

Carnivore morph development is developmentally regulated by lipid metabolism and peroxisomal pathways.
This study provides insights into the evolution of phenotypic plasticity and identifies Spea multiplicata as a model system for further research.