scholarly journals Selection on the morphology-physiology-performance nexus: Lessons from freshwater stickleback morphs

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1286-1299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Morozov ◽  
Tuomas Leinonen ◽  
Juha Merilä ◽  
R. J. Scott McCairns
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Stickleback

scholarly journals Salinity-induced phenotypic plasticity in threespine stickleback sperm activation

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 20170516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Taugbøl ◽  
Anna B. Mazzarella ◽  
Emily R. A. Cramer ◽  
Terje Laskemoen
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Osmotic Shock ◽  
Phenotypic Expression ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Sperm Activation ◽  
Freshwater Population ◽  
Freshwater Stickleback ◽  
Sperm Mobility

Phenotypic expression may be and often is influenced by an organism's developmental environment, referred to as phenotypic plasticity. The sperm cells of teleosts have been found to be inactive in the seminal plasma and are activated by osmotic shock for most fish species, through release in either hypertonic (for marine fish) or hypotonic (for freshwater fish) water. If this is the case, the regulatory system of sperm mobility should be reversed in salt- and freshwater fish. We tested this hypothesis by first activating sperm of salt- and freshwater populations of threespine stickleback in salt- and freshwater. The sperm from saltwater stickleback could be activated in either salinity, which matches the freshwater colonization history of the species, whereas the sperm from the freshwater population acted as predicted by the osmotic shock theory and was activated in freshwater only. As the freshwater population used here was calculated to be thousands of years old, we went on to test whether the trait(s) were plastic and sperm from freshwater males still could be activated in saltwater after individuals were exposed to saltwater. After raising freshwater stickleback in saltwater, we found the mature males to have active sperm in both saltwater and freshwater. Further, we also found the sperm of wild-caught freshwater stickleback to be active in saltwater after exposing those mature males to saltwater for only 2 days. This illustrates that the ability for stickleback sperm to be activated in a range of water qualities is an environmentally induced plastic trait.

Postglacial evolution in lateral plate morphs in Norwegian freshwater populations of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 898-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Klepaker
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Morphological Variability ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Evolutionary Stage ◽  
Lateral Plate ◽  
Land Uplift ◽  
Founding Population ◽  
Freshwater Stickleback ◽  
Age Range

Norwegian freshwater stickleback populations were founded after the last glacial period, and the progressive uplift of the land has produced an age range (1000 – 13 000 years) of the stickleback habitats. Most of the freshwater populations of today have probably been formed by isolation of marine sticklebacks in the process of land uplift. The freshwater threespine stickleback is known for its great morphological variability. Three distinct morphs ("low," "partial," and "complete") are recognized on the basis of variation in the lateral row of plates. Among the Norwegian populations, all three morphs were found, but the low morph was by far the most common and occurred mostly in monomorphic populations. The presence of the complete and partial morphs was mostly restricted to young lakes near the sea. It is likely that the plate polymorphism in this region is a transitionary evolutionary stage from a founding population dominated by complete to a monomorphic low population. The hypothesis of a polytypic origin of the low morph is discussed, and an alternative hypothesis is proposed. Within each plate morph, the number of plates also varied, and populations with exceptionally low plate numbers were mostly confined to three different areas. Within these areas, populations with plateless specimens also occurred. These plateless specimens tended to inhabit old lakes. The low plate number and plateless populations were found in parts of Norway that were deglaciated early. The advanced plate reduction can therefore be a result of a longer period of isolation and freshwater evolution. Other populations may be on their way towards extreme plate reduction, but have not yet reached the level of platelessness.

scholarly journals All day-long: Sticklebacks effectively forage on whitefish eggs during all light conditions

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255497
Author(s):  
Jan Baer ◽  
Sarah Maria Gugele ◽  
Joachim Bretzel ◽  
J. Tyrell DeWeber ◽  
Alexander Brinker
Keyword(s):  
Egg Production ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Energy Content ◽  
Stomach Content Analysis ◽  
Pelagic Zone ◽  
Light Conditions ◽  
Egg Predation ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Freshwater Stickleback

The three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus invaded Lake Contance in the 1940s and expanded in large numbers from an exclusively shoreline habitat into the pelagic zone in 2012. Stickleback abundance is very high in the pelagic zone in winter near the spawning time of pelagic whitefish Coregonus wartmanni, and it is hypothesized that this is triggered by the opportunity to consume whitefish eggs. Field sampling has qualitatively confirmed predation of whitefish eggs by stickleback, but quantification has proven difficult due to stormy conditions that limit sampling. One fundamental unknown is if freshwater stickleback, known as visual feeders, can successfully find and eat whitefish eggs during twilight and night when whitefish spawn. It is also unknown how long eggs can be identified in stomachs following ingestion, which could limit efforts to quantify egg predation through stomach content analysis. To answer these questions, 144 individuals were given the opportunity to feed on whitefish roe under daylight, twilight, and darkness in controlled conditions. The results showed that stickleback can ingest as many as 100 whitefish eggs under any light conditions, and some individuals even consumed maximum numbers in complete darkness. Furthermore, eggs could be unambiguously identified in the stomach 24 hours after consumption. Whitefish eggs have 28% more energy content than the main diet of sticklebacks (zooplankton) based on bomb-calorimetric measurements, underlining the potential benefits of consuming eggs. Based on experimental results and estimates of stickleback abundance and total egg production, stickleback could potentially consume substantial proportions of the total eggs produced even if relatively few sticklebacks consume eggs. Given the evidence that stickleback can feed on eggs during nighttime spawning and may thereby hamper recruitment, future studies aimed at quantifying actual egg predation and resulting effects on the whitefish population are urgently needed.

Selection, linkage, and population structure interact to shape genetic variation among threespine stickleback genomes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Nelson ◽  
Johnathan G. Crandall ◽  
Catherine M. Ituarte ◽  
Julian M Catchen ◽  
William A. Cresko
Keyword(s):  
Population Structure ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Divergent Selection ◽  
Genetic Maps ◽  
Freshwater Habitats ◽  
Freshwater Stickleback ◽  
Combine Population ◽  
Stickleback Genome

AbstractThe outcome of selection on genetic variation depends on the geographic organization of individuals and populations as well as the syntenic organization of loci within the genome. Spatially variable selection between marine and freshwater habitats has had a significant and heterogeneous impact on patterns of genetic variation across the genome of threespine stickleback fish. When marine stickleback invade freshwater habitats, more than a quarter of the genome can respond to divergent selection, even in as little as 50 years. This process largely uses standing genetic variation that can be found ubiquitously at low frequency in marine populations, can be millions of years old, and is likely maintained by significant bidirectional gene flow. Here, we combine population genomic data of marine and freshwater stickleback from Cook Inlet, Alaska, with genetic maps of stickleback fish derived from those same populations to examine how linkage to loci under selection affects genetic variation across the stickleback genome. Divergent selection has had opposing effects on linked genetic variation on chromosomes from marine and freshwater stickleback populations: near loci under selection, marine chromosomes are depauperate of variation while these same regions among freshwater genomes are the most genetically diverse. Forward genetic simulations recapitulate this pattern when different selective environments also differ in population structure. Lastly, dense genetic maps demonstrate that the interaction between selection and population structure may impact large stretches of the stickleback genome. These findings advance our understanding of how the structuring of populations across geography influences the outcomes of selection, and how the recombination landscape broadens the genomic reach of selection.

Genetic variability in freshwater and anadromous sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) of southern British Columbia

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 528-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Withler ◽  
J. D. McPhail
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Electrophoretic Variation ◽  
Average Heterozygosity ◽  
Polymorphic Loci ◽  
Allelic Frequencies ◽  
Marine Habitats ◽  
Freshwater Habitats ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
Freshwater Stickleback

Electrophoretic variation at eight loci was compared between anadromous and freshwater populations of threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) collected from 56 sites in southwestern British Columbia and northwestern Washington. Allelic frequencies at five polymorphic loci were heterogeneous among populations and the average allelic frequencies at four loci differed between anadromous and freshwater sticklebacks. The average number of polymorphic loci was greater in anadromous (4.6) than in freshwater (3.2) populations. The average heterozygosity was 0.113 ± 0.001 in anadromous and 0.117 ± 0.003 in freshwater stickleback populations. Anadromous populations were more polymorphic but less heterogeneous than freshwater populations. The standardized genetic variance indicated only moderate differentiation among anadromous populations from marine habitats, but considerable differentiation among populations from freshwater habitats. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis of postglacial polyphyletic origins for freshwater populations of Gasterosteus, but also indicate that selection favours different alleles in marine and freshwater environments, at least at the Mdh-1 locus.

scholarly journals Two developmentally temporal quantitative trait loci underlie convergent evolution of increased branchial bone length in sticklebacks

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1788) ◽  
pp. 20140822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla A. Erickson ◽  
Andrew M. Glazer ◽  
Phillip A. Cleves ◽  
Alyson S. Smith ◽  
Craig T. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Trait Loci ◽  
Quantitative Trait ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Bone Growth ◽  
Chromosome 21 ◽  
Bone Length ◽  
Morphological Adaptations ◽  
Trait Loci ◽  
Freshwater Stickleback

In convergent evolution, similar phenotypes evolve repeatedly in independent populations, often reflecting adaptation to similar environments. Understanding whether convergent evolution proceeds via similar or different genetic and developmental mechanisms offers insight towards the repeatability and predictability of evolution. Oceanic populations of threespine stickleback fish, Gasterosteus aculeatus , have repeatedly colonized countless freshwater lakes and streams, where new diets lead to morphological adaptations related to feeding. Here, we show that heritable increases in branchial bone length have convergently evolved in two independently derived freshwater stickleback populations. In both populations, an increased bone growth rate in juveniles underlies the convergent adult phenotype, and one population also has a longer cartilage template. Using F 2 crosses from these two freshwater populations, we show that two quantitative trait loci (QTL) control branchial bone length at distinct points in development. In both populations, a QTL on chromosome 21 controls bone length throughout juvenile development, and a QTL on chromosome 4 controls bone length only in adults. In addition to these similar developmental profiles, these QTL show similar chromosomal locations in both populations. Our results suggest that sticklebacks have convergently evolved longer branchial bones using similar genetic and developmental programmes in two independently derived populations.

The ACTH-interrenal axis in the freshwater stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus form leiurus

1974 ◽  
Vol 155 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Benjamin ◽  
MichaelP. Ireland
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Freshwater Stickleback
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