Journal Article
Trait loss in evolution: What cavefish have taught us about mechanisms underlying eye regression
Sifuentes-Romero, I., Aviles, A.M., Carter, J.L., Chan-Pong, A., Clarke, A., Crotty, P., Engstrom, D., Meka, P., Perez, A., Perez, R., Phelan, C., Sharrard, T., Smirnova, M.I.,Wade, A.J. and Kowalko, J.E.
Record Number:
6468
Year:
2023
Journal:
Integrative and Comparative Biology
Pages:
393-406
Volume:
63(2)
Notes:
From the symposium “Neuroethology in the age of gene editing: New tools and novel insights into the molecular and neural basis of behavior’’ presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology virtual annual meeting
Abstract:
Synopsis Reduction or complete loss of traits is a common occurrence throughout evolutionary history. In spite of this, numerous questions remain about why and how trait loss has occurred. Cave animals are an excellent system in which these
questions can be answered, as multiple traits, including eyes and pigmentation, have been repeatedly reduced or lost across
populations of cave species. This review focuses on how the blind Mexican cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus, has been used as
a model system for examining the developmental, genetic, and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie eye regression in cave
animals.We focus onmultiple aspects of how eye regression evolved in A. mexicanus, including the developmental and genetic
pathways that contribute to eye regression, the effects of the evolution of eye regression on other traits that have also evolved
in A. mexicanus, and the evolutionary forces contributing to eye regression.We also discuss what is known about the repeated
evolution of eye regression, both across populations of A. mexicanus cavefish and across cave animals more generally. Finally,
we offer perspectives on how cavefish can be used in the future to further elucidate mechanisms underlying trait loss using tools
and resources that have recently become available
Times Cited:
1
Relevent Species: