| 1. |
- Corral-López, Alberto, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Functional convergence of genomic and transcriptomic architecture underlies schooling behaviour in a live-bearing fish
- 2024
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Ingår i: Nature Ecology and Evolution. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-334X. ; 8:1, s. 98-110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The organization and coordination of fish schools provide a valuable model to investigate the genetic architecture of affiliative behaviours and dissect the mechanisms underlying social behaviours and personalities. Here we used replicate guppy selection lines that vary in schooling propensity and combine quantitative genetics with genomic and transcriptomic analyses to investigate the genetic basis of sociability phenotypes. We show that consistent with findings in collective motion patterns, experimental evolution of schooling propensity increased the sociability of female, but not male, guppies when swimming with unfamiliar conspecifics. This finding highlights a relevant link between coordinated motion and sociability for species forming fission–fusion societies in which both group size and the type of social interactions are dynamic across space and time. We further show that alignment and attraction, the two major traits forming the sociability personality axis in this species, showed heritability estimates at the upper end of the range previously described for social behaviours, with important variation across sexes. The results from both Pool-seq and RNA-seq data indicated that genes involved in neuron migration and synaptic function were instrumental in the evolution of sociability, highlighting a crucial role of glutamatergic synaptic function and calcium-dependent signalling processes in the evolution of schooling.
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| 2. |
- Darolti, Iulia, et al.
(författare)
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Extreme heterogeneity in sex chromosome differentiation and dosage compensation in livebearers
- 2019
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : NATL ACAD SCIENCES. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 116:38, s. 19031-19036
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Once recombination is halted between the X and Y chromosomes, sex chromosomes begin to differentiate and transition to heteromorphism. While there is a remarkable variation across clades in the degree of sex chromosome divergence, far less is known about the variation in sex chromosome differentiation within clades. Here, we combined whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing data to characterize the structure and conservation of sex chromosome systems across Poeciliidae, the livebearing Glade that includes guppies. We found that the Poecilia reticulata XY system is much older than previously thought, being shared not only with its sister species, Poecilia wingei, but also with Poecilia picta, which diverged roughly 20 million years ago. Despite the shared ancestry, we uncovered an extreme heterogeneity across these species in the proportion of the sex chromosome with suppressed recombination, and the degree of Y chromosome decay. The sex chromosomes in P. reticulata and P. wingei are largely homomorphic, with recombination in the former persisting over a substantial fraction. However, the sex chromosomes in P. picta are completely nonrecombining and strikingly heteromorphic. Remarkably, the profound degradation of the ancestral Y chromosome in P. picta is counterbalanced by the evolution of functional chromosome-wide dosage compensation in this species, which has not been previously observed in teleost fish. Our results offer important insight into the initial stages of sex chromosome evolution and dosage compensation.
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| 3. |
- Darolti, Iulia, et al.
(författare)
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Slow evolution of sex-biased genes in the reproductive tissue of the dioecious plant Salix viminalis
- 2018
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - : WILEY. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 27:3, s. 694-708
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relative rate of evolution for sex-biased genes has often been used as a measure of the strength of sex-specific selection. In contrast to studies in a wide variety of animals, far less is known about the molecular evolution of sex-biased genes in plants, particularly in dioecious angiosperms. Here, we investigate the gene expression patterns and evolution of sex-biased genes in the dioecious plant Salix viminalis. We observe lower rates of sequence evolution for male-biased genes expressed in the reproductive tissue compared to unbiased and female-biased genes. These results could be partially explained by the lower codon usage bias for male-biased genes leading to elevated rates of synonymous substitutions compared to unbiased genes. However, the stronger haploid selection in the reproductive tissue of plants, together with pollen competition, would also lead to higher levels of purifying selection acting to remove deleterious variation. Future work should focus on the differential evolution of haploid- and diploid-specific genes to understand the selective dynamics acting on these loci.
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| 4. |
- Fox, Graeme, et al.
(författare)
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Bespoke markers for ex-situ conservation : application, analysis and challenges in the assessment of a population of endangered undulate rays
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. - 2214-7594. ; 6:2, s. 50-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic data are important and informative in the management of ex-situ populations. Where the risk of inbreeding is particularly great, it is critical that tools are employed that allow for the quantification of genetic variation and to identify potential breeding pairs. This study demonstrates the rapid application of laboratory and bioinformatics techniques to develop a novel microsatellite marker panel for use with a population of the endangered undulate ray (Raja undulata) and shows how a minimally invasive sampling method can be used with aquarium-dwelling individuals. The study assesses the population and investigates how informative a small microsatellite marker panel is to the conservation of a restricted ex-situ group. It was found that after a single captive generation of R. undulata there is no detectable evidence of reduced heterozygosity and no observable aquaria effects or differences between the generations. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that it is practical, quick and informative to develop a bespoke panel of markers to aid ex-situ conservation efforts of non-model species and make recommendations that these processes should constitute the minimum effort required in managing such a population.
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| 5. |
- Meunier, Cecile, et al.
(författare)
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Nuclear-specific gene expression in heterokaryons of the filamentous ascomycete Neurospora tetrasperma
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 0962-8452 .- 1471-2954. ; 289:1980
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Heterokaryosis is a system in which genetically distinct nuclei coexist within the same cytoplasm. While heterokaryosis dominates the life cycle of many fungal species, the transcriptomic changes associated with the transition from homokaryosis to heterokaryosis is not well understood. Here, we analyse gene expression profiles of homokaryons and heterokaryons from three phylogenetically and reproductively isolated lineages of the filamentous ascomycete Neurospora tetrasperma. We show that heterokaryons are transcriptionally distinct from homokaryons in the sexual stage of development, but not in the vegetative stage, suggesting that the phenotypic switch to fertility in heterokaryons is associated with major changes in gene expression. Heterokaryon expression is predominantly defined by additive effects of its two nuclear components. Furthermore, allele-specific expression analysis of heterokaryons with varying nuclear ratios show patterns of expression ratios strongly dependent on nuclear ratios in the vegetative stage. By contrast, in the sexual stage, strong deviations of expression ratios indicate a co-regulation of nuclear gene expression in all three lineages. Taken together, our results show two levels of expression control: additive effects suggest a nuclear level of expression, whereas co-regulation of gene expression indicate a heterokaryon level of control.
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| 6. |
- Morris, Jake, et al.
(författare)
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Shared and Species-Specific Patterns of Nascent Y Chromosome Evolution in Two Guppy Species
- 2018
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Ingår i: Genes. - : MDPI. - 2073-4425. ; 9:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sex chromosomes form once recombination is halted around the sex-determining locus between a homologous pair of chromosomes, resulting in a male-limited Y chromosome. We recently characterized the nascent sex chromosome system in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata). The guppy Y is one of the youngest animal sex chromosomes yet identified, and therefore offers a unique window into the early evolutionary forces shaping sex chromosome formation, particularly the rate of accumulation of repetitive elements and Y-specific sequence. We used comparisons between male and female genomes in P. reticulata and its sister species, Endler's guppy (P. wingei), which share an ancestral sex chromosome, to identify male-specific sequences and to characterize the degree of differentiation between the X and Y chromosomes. We identified male-specific sequence shared between P. reticulata and P. wingei consistent with a small ancestral non-recombining region. Our assembly of this Y-specific sequence shows substantial homology to the X chromosome, and appears to be significantly enriched for genes implicated in pigmentation. We also found two plausible candidates that may be involved in sex determination. Furthermore, we found that the P. wingei Y chromosome exhibits a greater signature of repetitive element accumulation than the P. reticulata Y chromosome. This suggests that Y chromosome divergence does not necessarily correlate with the time since recombination suppression. Overall, our results reveal the early stages of Y chromosome divergence in the guppy.
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| 7. |
- Wright, Alison E., et al.
(författare)
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Convergent recombination suppression suggests role of sexual selection in guppy sex chromosome formation
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sex chromosomes evolve once recombination is halted between a homologous pair of chromosomes. The dominant model of sex chromosome evolution posits that recombination is suppressed between emerging X and Y chromosomes in order to resolve sexual conflict. Here we test this model using whole genome and transcriptome resequencing data in the guppy, a model for sexual selection with many Y-linked colour traits. We show that although the nascent Y chromosome encompasses nearly half of the linkage group, there has been no perceptible degradation of Y chromosome gene content or activity. Using replicate wild populations with differing levels of sexually antagonistic selection for colour, we also show that sexual selection leads to greater expansion of the non-recombining region and increased Y chromosome divergence. These results provide empirical support for longstanding models of sex chromosome catalysis, and suggest an important role for sexual selection and sexual conflict in genome evolution.
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