Liedtke Hans Christoph, Harney Ewan, Gomez-Mestre Ivan
Ecology, Evolution and Development Group, Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Seville, Spain.
Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, Institute of Infection, Veterinary & Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Mol Ecol. 2021 May;30(10):2220-2234. doi: 10.1111/mec.15883. Epub 2021 Apr 2.
That hardcoded genomes can manifest as plastic phenotypes responding to environmental perturbations is a fascinating feature of living organisms. How such developmental plasticity is regulated at the molecular level is beginning to be uncovered aided by the development of -omic techniques. Here, we compare the transcriptome-wide responses of two species of spadefoot toads with differing capacity for developmental acceleration of their larvae in the face of a shared environmental risk: pond drying. By comparing gene expression profiles over time and performing cross-species network analyses, we identified orthologues and functional gene pathways whose environmental sensitivity in expression have diverged between species. Genes related to lipid, cholesterol and steroid biosynthesis and metabolism make up most of a module of genes environmentally responsive in one species, but canalized in the other. The evolutionary changes in the regulation of the genes identified through these analyses may have been key in the genetic accommodation of developmental plasticity in this system.
硬编码基因组能够表现为对环境扰动做出响应的可塑性表型，这是生物体的一个迷人特征。借助组学技术的发展，这种发育可塑性在分子水平上是如何受到调控的正开始被揭示。在这里，我们比较了两种锄足蟾在面对共同环境风险（池塘干涸）时，其幼体发育加速能力不同的转录组范围的反应。通过比较不同时间的基因表达谱并进行跨物种网络分析，我们鉴定出了直系同源基因和功能基因途径，其表达的环境敏感性在不同物种间存在差异。与脂质、胆固醇和类固醇生物合成及代谢相关的基因构成了一个基因模块的大部分，该模块中的基因在一个物种中对环境有响应，但在另一个物种中则是固定不变的。通过这些分析鉴定出的基因调控方面的进化变化，可能是该系统中发育可塑性的遗传适应的关键所在。
