Conference Paper
Hybridization underlies localized trait evolution in cavefish
Moran, R.L., Jaggard, J.B., Roback, E.Y., Kenzior, A., Rohner, N., Kowalko, J.E., Ornelas-García, C.P., McGaugh, S.E. and Keene, A.C.
Record Number:
5634
Year:
2022
Journal:
AIM 2022
Pages:
38
Abstract:
Introgressive hybridization often drives patterns of phenotypic evolution and may play an integral role in the evolutionary processes of local adaptation and speciation. In the
Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, cave populations have repeatedly evolved traits
including eye loss, sleep loss, and albinism. Of the 30 caves inhabited by A. mexicanus,
Chica cave is unique because it contains pool microenvironments inhabited by putative hybrids between surface and cave populations, providing an opportunity to investigate the impact of hybridization on complex trait evolution. We provide evidence that hybridization between cave and surface populations may contribute to localized variation in traits associated with cave evolution, including pigmentation, eye development, and sleep. We also uncover an example of convergent evolution in a circadian clock gene in multiple cavefish lineages and burrowing mammals, suggesting a shared genetic
mechanism underlying circadian disruption in subterranean vertebrates. Our results
provide insight into the role of hybridization in facilitating phenotypic evolution.
Times Cited:
1
Relevent Species: