The genetic architecture of divergence between threespine stickleback species

The genetic and molecular basis of morphological evolution is poorly understood, particularly in vertebrates. Genetic studies of the differences between naturally occurring vertebrate species have been limited by the expense and difficulty of raising large numbers of animals and the absence of molec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2001-12, Vol.414 (6866), p.901-905
Main Authors: Kingsley, David M, Peichel, Catherine L, Nereng, Kirsten S, Ohgi, Kenneth A, Cole, Bonnie L. E, Colosimo, Pamela F, Buerkle, C. Alex, Schluter, Dolph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agnatha. Pisces
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Chromosome Mapping
Crosses, Genetic
Domestic animals
Evolution, Molecular
Feeding Behavior
Female
Fish
Freshwater
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gasterosteus aculeatus
Gene Library
Genetic factors
Genetic Linkage
Genetic Variation
Genetics
Genomics
Glaciers
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Male
Molecular biology
Molecular Sequence Data
multidisciplinary
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Smegmamorpha - genetics
Speciation
Vertebrates
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
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Summary:The genetic and molecular basis of morphological evolution is poorly understood, particularly in vertebrates. Genetic studies of the differences between naturally occurring vertebrate species have been limited by the expense and difficulty of raising large numbers of animals and the absence of molecular linkage maps for all but a handful of laboratory and domesticated animals. We have developed a genome-wide linkage map for the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), an extensively studied teleost fish that has undergone rapid divergence and speciation since the melting of glaciers 15,000 years ago. Here we use this map to analyse the genetic basis of recently evolved changes in skeletal armour and feeding morphologies seen in the benthic and limnetic stickleback species from Priest Lake, British Columbia. Substantial alterations in spine length, armour plate number, and gill raker number are controlled by genetic factors that map to independent chromosome regions. Further study of these regions will help to define the number and type of genetic changes that underlie morphological diversification during vertebrate evolution.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/414901a