Project description:Columnaris disease is a prevalent disease in freshwater environments worldwide caused by the ubiquitous aquatic bacterium Flavobacterium species. Adhesion to the external mucosal surfaces of fishes is the initial stage of infection, and the gills specifically have been identified as both a primary target and release site for this pathogen. Previous research has indicated that a predominant US aquaculture product, the hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis), is more susceptible to infection with Flavobacterium columnare (covae) than the maternal white bass (M. chrysops) parental species. Therefore, to further elucidate the differences between these fish we conducted a transcriptomic profiling study examining the differences of gene expression in gill mucosal tissue over time after exposure to F. covae isolate LSU-066-04. Combined with previous work, these data provide a greater understanding of host immune response to a common pathogen in moronids.
Project description:Natural selection often produces parallel phenotypic changes in response to a similar adaptive challenge. However, the extent to which parallel gene expression differences and genomic divergence underlie parallel phenotypic traits and whether they are decoupled or not remains largely unexplored. We performed a population genomic study of parallel local adaptation among replicate ecotype pairs of the rough periwinkle (Littorina saxatilis) at a regional geographical scale (NW Spain). We show that phenotypic divergence followed complex evolutionary paths, affecting multiple loci, and including the parallel recruitment of the same genes as well as completely different genes in distinct ecotype pairs. The majority of divergent genes were divergent either for gene expression or coding sequence, but not for both simultaneously, providing evidence for a decoupled evolution among regulatory and coding regions. Overall, our findings suggest that gene expression and coding sequences may evolve independently as a result of being distinctly targeted by evolutionary constraints, and that divergent selection significantly contributed to the process of molecular differentiation among ecotype pairs.
Project description:Natural selection often produces parallel phenotypic changes in response to a similar adaptive challenge. However, the extent to which parallel gene expression differences and genomic divergence underlie parallel phenotypic traits and whether they are decoupled or not remains largely unexplored. We performed a population genomic study of parallel local adaptation among replicate ecotype pairs of the rough periwinkle (Littorina saxatilis) at a regional geographical scale (NW Spain). We show that phenotypic divergence followed complex evolutionary paths, affecting multiple loci, and including the parallel recruitment of the same genes as well as completely different genes in distinct ecotype pairs. The majority of divergent genes were divergent either for gene expression or coding sequence, but not for both simultaneously, providing evidence for a decoupled evolution among regulatory and coding regions. Overall, our findings suggest that gene expression and coding sequences may evolve independently as a result of being distinctly targeted by evolutionary constraints, and that divergent selection significantly contributed to the process of molecular differentiation among ecotype pairs.