Genetic basis of ecologically relevant body shape variation among four genera of cichlid fishes.
Mol Ecol
; 32(14): 3975-3988, 2023 07.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37161914
ABSTRACT
Divergence in body shape is one of the most widespread and repeated patterns of morphological variation in fishes and is associated with habitat specification and swimming mechanics. Such ecological diversification is the first stage of the explosive adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes in the East African Rift Lakes. We use two hybrid crosses of cichlids (Metriaclima sp. × Aulonocara sp. and Labidochromis sp. × Labeotropheus sp., >975 animals total) to determine the genetic basis of body shape diversification that is similar to benthic-pelagic divergence across fishes. Using a series of both linear and geometric shape measurements, we identified 34 quantitative trait loci (QTL) that underlie various aspects of body shape variation. These QTL are spread throughout the genome, each explaining 3.2-8.6% of phenotypic variation, and are largely modular. Further, QTL are distinct both between these two crosses of Lake Malawi cichlids and compared to previously identified QTL for body shape in fishes such as sticklebacks. We find that body shape is controlled by many genes of small effect. In all, we find that convergent body shape phenotypes commonly observed across fish clades are most likely due to distinct genetic and molecular mechanisms.
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Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Somatotipos
/
Ciclídeos
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article