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Development of G: a test in an amphibious fish.

ABSTRACT: Heritable variation in, and genetic correlations among, traits determine the response of multivariate phenotypes to natural selection. However, as traits develop over ontogeny, patterns of genetic (co)variation and integration captured by the G matrix may also change. Despite this, few studies have investigated how genetic parameters underpinning multivariate phenotypes change as animals pass through major life history stages. Here, using a self-fertilizing hermaphroditic fish species, mangrove rivulus (Kryptolebias marmoratus), we test the hypothesis that G changes from hatching through reproductive maturation. We also test Cheverud's conjecture by asking whether phenotypic patterns provide an acceptable surrogate for patterns of genetic (co)variation within and across ontogenetic stages. For a set of morphological traits linked to locomotor (jumping) performance, we find that the overall level of genetic integration (as measured by the mean-squared correlation across all traits) does not change significantly over ontogeny. However, we also find evidence that some trait-specific genetic variances and pairwise genetic correlations do change. Ontogenetic changes in G indicate the presence of genetic variance for developmental processes themselves, while also suggesting that any genetic constraints on morphological evolution may be age-dependent. Phenotypic correlations closely resembled genetic correlations at each stage in ontogeny. Thus, our results are consistent with the premise that-at least under common environment conditions-phenotypic correlations can be a good substitute for genetic correlations in studies of multivariate developmental evolution.

SUBMITTER: Styga JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6461753 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Development of G: a test in an amphibious fish.

Styga Joseph M JM Houslay Thomas M TM Wilson Alastair J AJ Earley Ryan L RL

Heredity 20181016 5

Heritable variation in, and genetic correlations among, traits determine the response of multivariate phenotypes to natural selection. However, as traits develop over ontogeny, patterns of genetic (co)variation and integration captured by the G matrix may also change. Despite this, few studies have investigated how genetic parameters underpinning multivariate phenotypes change as animals pass through major life history stages. Here, using a self-fertilizing hermaphroditic fish species, mangrove ...[more]

PMID: 30327484

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Project description:There is increasing concern that particulate contaminants including manufactured nanomaterials and nano- and microplastics taken up and or accumulating in lower-trophic level aquatic organisms results in dietary exposure of fish feeding on these organisms. Controlled feeding studies can help advance our understanding of dietary uptake, bioaccumulation, and associated effects of (nano)particulate contaminants in fish, and also provide information about their likelihood to be transferred along the trophic chain and or to act as vector for other, surface-adsorbed pollutants. However, traditional approaches to prepare test feed for dietary exposure studies where commercial fish feed such as flakes, granules or pellets are soaked or spray-spiked with dissolved chemicals are not well suitable for (nano-)particulate contaminants. Microplastics, which often have sizes in the µm to mm range, and manufactured nanomaterials, in particular those which are soluble, such as metal/metal oxide nanoparticles, have to be incorporated into the feed to avoid their dissociation and or dissolution before the feed is ingested by the animal to avoid undesired waterborne exposure, which may confound results.•Here we describe a methodological approach to produce worm-shaped food packages, that is a practical diet, of controlled diameter and length (in the millimeter range), which allows to prepare food rations with a weight in the order of a few milligrams and to adjust the food rations to the individual body wet weight of small experimental fish with high accuracy (±0.5 mg) without the need for weighing/proportioning the feed using a scale.•The method can be used to prepare test feed with internally incorporated particulate contaminants, such as manufactured nanomaterials and nano- and microplastics, to assess the latter's dietary uptake, bioaccumulation and associated toxicity in fish. We described two protocol variations: One using dry starting material, such as feed flakes, and one using liquid starting material, such as worm homogenate.•The method has been developed for academic research environments with no access to specialized equipment for test feed preparation, and uses utensils and inexpensive plastic ware belonging to the standard inventory of ecotoxicological research laboratories.

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Development of G: a test in an amphibious fish.

Publications

Development of G: a test in an amphibious fish.

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