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Extensive genetic differentiation between recently evolved sympatric Arctic charr morphs.

ABSTRACT: The availability of diverse ecological niches can promote adaptation of trophic specializations and related traits, as has been repeatedly observed in evolutionary radiations of freshwater fish. The role of genetics, environment, and history in ecologically driven divergence and adaptation, can be studied on adaptive radiations or populations showing ecological polymorphism. Salmonids, especially the Salvelinus genus, are renowned for both phenotypic diversity and polymorphism. Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) invaded Icelandic streams during the glacial retreat (about 10,000 years ago) and exhibits many instances of sympatric polymorphism. Particularly, well studied are the four morphs in Lake Þingvallavatn in Iceland. The small benthic (SB), large benthic (LB), planktivorous (PL), and piscivorous (PI) charr differ in many regards, including size, form, and life history traits. To investigate relatedness and genomic differentiation between morphs, we identified variable sites from RNA-sequencing data from three of those morphs and verified 22 variants in population samples. The data reveal genetic differences between the morphs, with the two benthic morphs being more similar and the PL-charr more genetically different. The markers with high differentiation map to all linkage groups, suggesting ancient and pervasive genetic separation of these three morphs. Furthermore, GO analyses suggest differences in collagen metabolism, odontogenesis, and sensory systems between PL-charr and the benthic morphs. Genotyping in population samples from all four morphs confirms the genetic separation and indicates that the PI-charr are less genetically distinct than the other three morphs. The genetic separation of the other three morphs indicates certain degree of reproductive isolation. The extent of gene flow between the morphs and the nature of reproductive barriers between them remain to be elucidated.

SUBMITTER: Guðbrandsson J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6802010 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Extensive genetic differentiation between recently evolved sympatric Arctic charr morphs.

Guðbrandsson Jóhannes J Kapralova Kalina H KH Franzdóttir Sigríður R SR Bergsveinsdóttir Þóra Margrét ÞM Hafstað Völundur V Jónsson Zophonías O ZO Snorrason Sigurður S SS Pálsson Arnar A

Ecology and evolution 20190912 19

The availability of diverse ecological niches can promote adaptation of trophic specializations and related traits, as has been repeatedly observed in evolutionary radiations of freshwater fish. The role of genetics, environment, and history in ecologically driven divergence and adaptation, can be studied on adaptive radiations or populations showing ecological polymorphism. Salmonids, especially the <i>Salvelinus</i> genus, are renowned for both phenotypic diversity and polymorphism. Arctic cha ...[more]

PMID: 31641448

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Project description:Phenotypic differences between closely related taxa or populations can arise through genetic variation or be environmentally induced, leading to altered transcription of genes during development. Comparative developmental studies of closely related species or variable populations within species can help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms related to evolutionary divergence and speciation. Studies of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and related salmonids have revealed considerable phenotypic variation among populations and in Arctic charr many cases of extensive variation within lakes (resource polymorphism) have been recorded. One example is the four Arctic charr morphs in the ?10,000 year old Lake Thingvallavatn, which differ in numerous morphological and life history traits. We set out to investigate the molecular and developmental roots of this polymorphism by studying gene expression in embryos of three of the morphs reared in a common garden set-up. We performed RNA-sequencing, de-novo transcriptome assembly and compared gene expression among morphs during an important timeframe in early development, i.e., preceding the formation of key trophic structures. Expectedly, developmental time was the predominant explanatory variable. As the data were affected by some form of RNA-degradation even though all samples passed quality control testing, an estimate of 3'-bias was the second most common explanatory variable. Importantly, morph, both as an independent variable and as interaction with developmental time, affected the expression of numerous transcripts. Transcripts with morph effect, separated the three morphs at the expression level, with the two benthic morphs being more similar. However, Gene Ontology analyses did not reveal clear functional enrichment of transcripts between groups. Verification via qPCR confirmed differential expression of several genes between the morphs, including regulatory genes such as AT-Rich Interaction Domain 4A (arid4a) and translin (tsn). The data are consistent with a scenario where genetic divergence has contributed to differential expression of multiple genes and systems during early development of these sympatric Arctic charr morphs.

Project description:BackgroundStudying the development of fitness related traits in hybrids from populations diverging in sympatry is a fundamental approach to understand the processes of speciation. However, such traits are often affected by covariance structures that complicate the comprehension of these processes, especially because the interactive relationships between traits of different nature (e.g. morphology, behaviour, life-history) remain largely unknown in this context. In a common garden setup, we conducted an extensive examination of a large suit of traits putatively involved in the divergence of two morphs of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), and investigated the consequences of potential patterns of trait covariance on the phenotype of their hybrids. These traits were measured along ontogeny and involved growth, yolk sac resorption, developmental timing (hatching and the onset of exogeneous feeding), head morphology and feeding behaviour.ResultsGrowth trajectories provided the strongest signal of phenotypic divergence between the two charr. Strikingly, the first-generation hybrids did not show intermediate nor delayed growth but were similar to the smallest morph, suggesting parental biases in the inheritance of growth patterns. However, we did not observe extensive multivariate trait differences between the two morphs and their hybrids. Growth was linked to head morphology (suggesting that morphological variations in early juveniles relate to simple allometric effects) but this was the only strong signal of covariance observed between all the measured traits. Furthermore, we did not report evidence for differences in overall phenotypic variance between morphs, nor for enhanced phenotypic variability in their hybrids.ConclusionOur study shed light on the multivariate aspect of development in a context of adaptive divergence. The lack of evidence for the integration of most traits into a single covariance structure suggested that phenotypic constraints may not always favour nor impede divergence toward ecological niches differing in numerous physical and ecological variables, as observed in the respective habitats of the two charr. Likewise, the role of hybridization as a disruptive agent of trait covariance may not necessarily be significant in the evolution of populations undergoing resource polymorphism.

Project description:BackgroundThe capacity to maintain internal ion homeostasis amidst changing conditions is particularly important for teleost fishes whose reproductive cycle is dependent upon movement from freshwater to seawater. Although the physiology of seawater osmoregulation in mitochondria-rich cells of fish gill epithelium is well understood, less is known about the underlying causes of inter- and intraspecific variation in salinity tolerance. We used a genome-scan approach in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) correlated with variation in four salinity tolerance performance traits and six body size traits. Comparative genomics approaches allowed us to infer whether allelic variation at candidate gene loci (e.g., ATP1α1b, NKCC1, CFTR, and cldn10e) could have underlain observed variation.ResultsCombined parental analyses yielded genome-wide significant QTL on linkage groups 8, 14 and 20 for salinity tolerance performance traits, and on 1, 19, 20 and 28 for body size traits. Several QTL exhibited chromosome-wide significance. Among the salinity tolerance performance QTL, trait co-localizations occurred on chromosomes 1, 4, 7, 18 and 20, while the greatest experimental variation was explained by QTL on chromosomes 20 (19.9%), 19 (14.2%), 4 (14.1%) and 12 (13.1%). Several QTL localized to linkage groups exhibiting homeologous affinities, and multiple QTL mapped to regions homologous with the positions of candidate gene loci in other teleosts. There was no gene × environment interaction among body size QTL and ambient salinity.ConclusionsVariation in salinity tolerance capacity can be mapped to a subset of Arctic charr genomic regions that significantly influence performance in a seawater environment. The detection of QTL on linkage group 12 was consistent with the hypothesis that variation in salinity tolerance may be affected by allelic variation at the ATP1α1b locus. IGF2 may also affect salinity tolerance capacity as suggested by a genome-wide QTL on linkage group 19. The detection of salinity tolerance QTL in homeologous regions suggests that candidate loci duplicated from the salmonid-specific whole-genome duplication may have retained their function on both sets of homeologous chromosomes. Homologous affinities suggest that loci affecting salinity tolerance in Arctic charr may coincide with QTL for smoltification and salinity tolerance traits in rainbow trout. The effects of body size QTL appear to be independent of changes in ambient salinity.

Dataset Information

Extensive genetic differentiation between recently evolved sympatric Arctic charr morphs.

Publications

Extensive genetic differentiation between recently evolved sympatric Arctic charr morphs.

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