Cargando…

Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs

Phenotypic differences between closely related taxa or populations can arise through genetic variation or be environmentally induced, leading to altered transcription of genes during development. Comparative developmental studies of closely related species or variable populations within species can...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Guðbrandsson, Jóhannes, Franzdóttir, Sigríður Rut, Kristjánsson, Bjarni Kristófer, Ahi, Ehsan Pashay, Maier, Valerie Helene, Kapralova, Kalina Hristova, Snorrason, Sigurður Sveinn, Jónsson, Zophonías Oddur, Pálsson, Arnar
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5807978/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29441236
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4345
_version_ 1783299375766700032
author Guðbrandsson, Jóhannes
Franzdóttir, Sigríður Rut
Kristjánsson, Bjarni Kristófer
Ahi, Ehsan Pashay
Maier, Valerie Helene
Kapralova, Kalina Hristova
Snorrason, Sigurður Sveinn
Jónsson, Zophonías Oddur
Pálsson, Arnar
author_facet Guðbrandsson, Jóhannes
Franzdóttir, Sigríður Rut
Kristjánsson, Bjarni Kristófer
Ahi, Ehsan Pashay
Maier, Valerie Helene
Kapralova, Kalina Hristova
Snorrason, Sigurður Sveinn
Jónsson, Zophonías Oddur
Pálsson, Arnar
author_sort Guðbrandsson, Jóhannes
collection PubMed
description Phenotypic differences between closely related taxa or populations can arise through genetic variation or be environmentally induced, leading to altered transcription of genes during development. Comparative developmental studies of closely related species or variable populations within species can help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms related to evolutionary divergence and speciation. Studies of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and related salmonids have revealed considerable phenotypic variation among populations and in Arctic charr many cases of extensive variation within lakes (resource polymorphism) have been recorded. One example is the four Arctic charr morphs in the ∼10,000 year old Lake Thingvallavatn, which differ in numerous morphological and life history traits. We set out to investigate the molecular and developmental roots of this polymorphism by studying gene expression in embryos of three of the morphs reared in a common garden set-up. We performed RNA-sequencing, de-novo transcriptome assembly and compared gene expression among morphs during an important timeframe in early development, i.e., preceding the formation of key trophic structures. Expectedly, developmental time was the predominant explanatory variable. As the data were affected by some form of RNA-degradation even though all samples passed quality control testing, an estimate of 3′-bias was the second most common explanatory variable. Importantly, morph, both as an independent variable and as interaction with developmental time, affected the expression of numerous transcripts. Transcripts with morph effect, separated the three morphs at the expression level, with the two benthic morphs being more similar. However, Gene Ontology analyses did not reveal clear functional enrichment of transcripts between groups. Verification via qPCR confirmed differential expression of several genes between the morphs, including regulatory genes such as AT-Rich Interaction Domain 4A (arid4a) and translin (tsn). The data are consistent with a scenario where genetic divergence has contributed to differential expression of multiple genes and systems during early development of these sympatric Arctic charr morphs.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5807978
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher PeerJ Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-58079782018-02-13 Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs Guðbrandsson, Jóhannes Franzdóttir, Sigríður Rut Kristjánsson, Bjarni Kristófer Ahi, Ehsan Pashay Maier, Valerie Helene Kapralova, Kalina Hristova Snorrason, Sigurður Sveinn Jónsson, Zophonías Oddur Pálsson, Arnar PeerJ Developmental Biology Phenotypic differences between closely related taxa or populations can arise through genetic variation or be environmentally induced, leading to altered transcription of genes during development. Comparative developmental studies of closely related species or variable populations within species can help to elucidate the molecular mechanisms related to evolutionary divergence and speciation. Studies of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) and related salmonids have revealed considerable phenotypic variation among populations and in Arctic charr many cases of extensive variation within lakes (resource polymorphism) have been recorded. One example is the four Arctic charr morphs in the ∼10,000 year old Lake Thingvallavatn, which differ in numerous morphological and life history traits. We set out to investigate the molecular and developmental roots of this polymorphism by studying gene expression in embryos of three of the morphs reared in a common garden set-up. We performed RNA-sequencing, de-novo transcriptome assembly and compared gene expression among morphs during an important timeframe in early development, i.e., preceding the formation of key trophic structures. Expectedly, developmental time was the predominant explanatory variable. As the data were affected by some form of RNA-degradation even though all samples passed quality control testing, an estimate of 3′-bias was the second most common explanatory variable. Importantly, morph, both as an independent variable and as interaction with developmental time, affected the expression of numerous transcripts. Transcripts with morph effect, separated the three morphs at the expression level, with the two benthic morphs being more similar. However, Gene Ontology analyses did not reveal clear functional enrichment of transcripts between groups. Verification via qPCR confirmed differential expression of several genes between the morphs, including regulatory genes such as AT-Rich Interaction Domain 4A (arid4a) and translin (tsn). The data are consistent with a scenario where genetic divergence has contributed to differential expression of multiple genes and systems during early development of these sympatric Arctic charr morphs. PeerJ Inc. 2018-02-07 /pmc/articles/PMC5807978/ /pubmed/29441236 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4345 Text en ©2018 Guðbrandsson et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Developmental Biology
Guðbrandsson, Jóhannes
Franzdóttir, Sigríður Rut
Kristjánsson, Bjarni Kristófer
Ahi, Ehsan Pashay
Maier, Valerie Helene
Kapralova, Kalina Hristova
Snorrason, Sigurður Sveinn
Jónsson, Zophonías Oddur
Pálsson, Arnar
Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs
title Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs
title_full Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs
title_fullStr Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs
title_full_unstemmed Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs
title_short Differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric Arctic charr morphs
title_sort differential gene expression during early development in recently evolved and sympatric arctic charr morphs
topic Developmental Biology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5807978/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29441236
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4345
work_keys_str_mv AT guðbrandssonjohannes differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT franzdottirsigriðurrut differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT kristjanssonbjarnikristofer differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT ahiehsanpashay differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT maiervaleriehelene differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT kapralovakalinahristova differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT snorrasonsigurðursveinn differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT jonssonzophoniasoddur differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs
AT palssonarnar differentialgeneexpressionduringearlydevelopmentinrecentlyevolvedandsympatricarcticcharrmorphs