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Rodríguez-Morales R. Sensing in the dark: Constructive evolution of the lateral line system in blind populations of Astyanax mexicanus. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11286. [PMID: 38654714 PMCID: PMC11036076 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Cave-adapted animals evolve a suite of regressive and constructive traits that allow survival in the dark. Most studies aiming at understanding cave animal evolution have focused on the genetics and environmental underpinnings of regressive traits, with special emphasis on vision loss. Possibly as a result of vision loss, other non-visual sensory systems have expanded and compensated in cave species. For instance, in many cave-dwelling fish species, including the blind cavefish of the Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, a major non-visual mechanosensory system called the lateral line, compensated for vision loss through morphological expansions. While substantial work has shed light on constructive adaptation of this system, there are still many open questions regarding its developmental origin, synaptic plasticity, and overall adaptive value. This review provides a snapshot of the current state of knowledge of lateral line adaption in A. mexicanus, with an emphasis on anatomy, synaptic plasticity, and behavior. Multiple open avenues for future research in this system, and how these can be leveraged as tools for both evolutionary biology and evolutionary medicine, are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Rodríguez-Morales
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, School of Medicine University of Puerto Rico San Juan Puerto Rico
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2
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Swaminathan A, Xia F, Rohner N. From darkness to discovery: evolutionary, adaptive, and translational genetic insights from cavefish. Trends Genet 2024; 40:24-38. [PMID: 38707509 PMCID: PMC11068324 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2024]
Abstract
How genotype determines phenotype is a well-explored question, but genotype-environment interactions and their heritable impact on phenotype over the course of evolution are not as thoroughly investigated. The fish Astyanax mexicanus, consisting of surface and cave ecotypes, is an ideal emerging model to study the genetic basis of adaptation to new environments. This model has permitted quantitative trait locus mapping and whole-genome comparisons to identify the genetic bases of traits such as albinism and insulin resistance and has helped to better understand fundamental evolutionary mechanisms. In this review, we summarize recent advances in A. mexicanus genetics and discuss their broader impact on the fields of adaptation and evolutionary genetics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fanning Xia
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, USA
| | - Nicolas Rohner
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, USA
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA
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Garduño-Sánchez M, Hernández-Lozano J, Moran RL, Miranda-Gamboa R, Gross JB, Rohner N, Elliott WR, Miller J, Lozano-Vilano L, McGaugh SE, Ornelas-García CP. Phylogeographic relationships and morphological evolution between cave and surface Astyanax mexicanus populations (De Filippi 1853) (Actinopterygii, Characidae). Mol Ecol 2023; 32:5626-5644. [PMID: 37712324 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2022] [Revised: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
The Astyanax mexicanus complex includes two different morphs, a surface- and a cave-adapted ecotype, found at three mountain ranges in Northeastern Mexico: Sierra de El Abra, Sierra de Guatemala and Sierra de la Colmena (Micos). Since their discovery, multiple studies have attempted to characterize the timing and the number of events that gave rise to the evolution of these cave-adapted ecotypes. Here, using RADseq and genome-wide sequencing, we assessed the phylogenetic relationships, genetic structure and gene flow events between the cave and surface Astyanax mexicanus populations, to estimate the tempo and mode of evolution of the cave-adapted ecotypes. We also evaluated the body shape evolution across different cave lineages using geometric morphometrics to examine the role of phylogenetic signal versus environmental pressures. We found strong evidence of parallel evolution of cave-adapted ecotypes derived from two separate lineages of surface fish and hypothesize that there may be up to four independent invasions of caves from surface fish. Moreover, a strong congruence between the genetic structure and geographic distribution was observed across the cave populations, with the Sierra de Guatemala the region exhibiting most genetic drift among the cave populations analysed. Interestingly, we found no evidence of phylogenetic signal in body shape evolution, but we found support for parallel evolution in body shape across independent cave lineages, with cavefish from the Sierra de El Abra reflecting the most divergent morphology relative to surface and other cavefish populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Garduño-Sánchez
- Colección Nacional de Peces, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Jorge Hernández-Lozano
- Colección Nacional de Peces, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Rachel L Moran
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Department of Ecology & Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Ramsés Miranda-Gamboa
- Instituto de Energías Renovables, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Temixco, Mexico
| | - Joshua B Gross
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Nicolas Rohner
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
- Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, KU Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, USA
| | - William R Elliott
- Association for Mexican Cave Studies, Austin, Texas, USA
- Missouri Department of Conservation, Georgetown, Texas, USA
| | - Jeff Miller
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Lourdes Lozano-Vilano
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico
| | - Suzanne E McGaugh
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - C Patricia Ornelas-García
- Colección Nacional de Peces, Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico
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Sun C, Yang F, Huang Q, Zeng X, Zhang Y, Li S, Yu J, Zhang Q. Genetic population structure and demographic history of the endemic fish
Paralichthys olivaceus
of the Northwest Pacific Ocean. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9506. [DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Cheng‐He Sun
- Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology Jinan University Guangzhou China
| | - Fan Yang
- Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology Jinan University Guangzhou China
| | - Qi Huang
- Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology Jinan University Guangzhou China
| | - Xiao‐Shu Zeng
- Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology Jinan University Guangzhou China
| | - Ya‐Nan Zhang
- Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology Jinan University Guangzhou China
| | - Sha Li
- Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute China Three Gorges Corporation Yichang Hubei China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Three Gorges Project for Conservation of Fishes Yichang Hubei China
| | - Jian‐Feng Yu
- Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology Jinan University Guangzhou China
| | - Qun Zhang
- Department of Ecology and Institute of Hydrobiology Jinan University Guangzhou China
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