Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Convergent evolution of gene expression in two high-toothed stickleback populations

View ORCID ProfileJames C. Hart, Nicholas A. Ellis, View ORCID ProfileMichael B. Eisen, View ORCID ProfileCraig T. Milller
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/259499
James C. Hart
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California-Berkeley, CA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for James C. Hart
Nicholas A. Ellis
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California-Berkeley, CA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Michael B. Eisen
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California-Berkeley, CA, USA
2Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Michael B. Eisen
Craig T. Milller
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California-Berkeley, CA, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Craig T. Milller
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Changes in developmental gene regulatory networks enable evolved changes in morphology. These changes can be in cis regulatory elements that act in an allele-specific manner, or changes to the overall trans regulatory environment that interacts with cis regulatory sequences. Here we address several questions about the evolution of gene expression accompanying a convergently evolved constructive morphological trait, increases in tooth number in two independently derived freshwater populations of threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Are convergently evolved cis and/or trans changes in gene expression associated with convergently evolved morphological evolution? Do cis or trans regulatory changes contribute more to the evolutionary gain of a morphological trait? Transcriptome data from dental tissue of ancestral low-toothed and two independently derived high-toothed stickleback populations revealed significantly shared gene expression changes that have convergently evolved in the two high-toothed populations. Comparing cis and trans regulatory changes using phased gene expression data from F1 hybrids, we found that trans regulatory changes were predominant and more likely to be shared among both high-toothed populations. In contrast, while cis regulatory changes have evolved in both high-toothed populations, overall these changes were distinct and not shared among high-toothed populations. Together these data suggest that a convergently evolved trait can occur through genetically distinct regulatory changes that converge on similar trans regulatory environments.

Author Summary Convergent evolution, where a similar trait evolves in different lineages, provides an opportunity to study the repeatability of evolution. Convergent morphological evolution has been well studied at multiple evolutionary time scales ranging from ancient, to recent, such as the gain in tooth number in freshwater stickleback fish. However, much less is known about the accompanying evolved changes in gene regulation during convergent evolution. Here we compared evolved changes in gene expression in dental tissue of ancestral low-toothed marine fish to fish from two independently derived high-toothed freshwater populations. We also partitioned gene expression changes into those affecting a gene’s regulatory elements (cis), and those affecting the overall regulatory environment (trans). Both freshwater populations have evolved similar gene expression changes, including a gain of expression of putative dental genes. These similar gene expression changes are due mainly to shared changes to the trans regulatory environment, while the cis changes are largely population specific. Thus, during convergent evolution, overall similar and perhaps predictable transcriptome changes can evolve despite largely different underlying genetic bases.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted February 03, 2018.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Convergent evolution of gene expression in two high-toothed stickleback populations
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Convergent evolution of gene expression in two high-toothed stickleback populations
James C. Hart, Nicholas A. Ellis, Michael B. Eisen, Craig T. Milller
bioRxiv 259499; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/259499
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Convergent evolution of gene expression in two high-toothed stickleback populations
James C. Hart, Nicholas A. Ellis, Michael B. Eisen, Craig T. Milller
bioRxiv 259499; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/259499

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Genomics
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4116)
  • Biochemistry (8820)
  • Bioengineering (6523)
  • Bioinformatics (23470)
  • Biophysics (11798)
  • Cancer Biology (9216)
  • Cell Biology (13327)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7440)
  • Ecology (11417)
  • Epidemiology (2066)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15160)
  • Genetics (10442)
  • Genomics (14051)
  • Immunology (9176)
  • Microbiology (22170)
  • Molecular Biology (8817)
  • Neuroscience (47600)
  • Paleontology (350)
  • Pathology (1429)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2492)
  • Physiology (3733)
  • Plant Biology (8084)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1437)
  • Synthetic Biology (2221)
  • Systems Biology (6039)
  • Zoology (1254)