Journal Article
Genetic mapping of craniofacial traits in the Mexican tetra reveals loci associated with bite differences between cave and surface fish
Powers, A.K., Hyacinthe, C., Riddle, M., Kim, Y.K., Amaismeier, A., Thiel, K., Martineau, B., Ferrante, E., Moran, R., McGaugh, S., Boggs, T., Gross, J.B. and Tabin, C.J.
Record Number:
6122
Year:
2022
Journal:
bioRxiv preprint November 23rd 2022
Pages:
1-33
Abstract:
The Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, includes interfertile surface-dwelling
and cave-dwelling morphs, enabling powerful studies aimed at uncovering genes
involved in the evolution of cave-associated traits. Compared to surface fish, cavefish
harbor several extreme traits within their skull, such as a protruding lower jaw, a wider
gape, and an increase in tooth number. These features are highly variable between
individual cavefish and even across different cavefish populations. To investigate these
traits, we created a novel feeding behavior assay wherein bite impressions could be
obtained. We determined that fish with an underbite leave larger bite impressions with
an increase in the number of tooth marks. Capitalizing on the ability to produce hybrids
from surface and cavefish crosses, we investigated genes underlying these segregating
orofacial traits by performing Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) analysis with F2 hybrids. We
discovered significant QTL for bite (underbite vs. overbite) that mapped to a single
region of the Astyanax genome. This work highlights cavefish as a valuable genetic
model for orofacial patterning and will provide insight into the genetic regulators of jaw
and tooth development.
Times Cited:
1
Relevent Species: