Department of Environmental Sciences, Zoology, University of Basel, 4051 Basel, Switzerland.
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
G3 (Bethesda). 2022 May 30;12(6). doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkac077.
Variation in lateral plating in stickleback fish represents a classical example of rapid and parallel adaptation in morphology. The underlying genetic architecture involves polymorphism at the ectodysplasin-A gene (EDA). However, lateral plate number is influenced by additional loci that remain poorly characterized. Here, we search for such loci by performing genome-wide differentiation mapping based on pooled whole-genome sequence data from a European stickleback population variable in the extent of lateral plating, while tightly controlling for the phenotypic effect of EDA. This suggests a new candidate locus, the EDA receptor gene (EDAR), for which additional support is obtained by individual-level targeted Sanger sequencing and by comparing allele frequencies among natural populations. Overall, our study illustrates the power of pooled whole-genome sequencing for searching phenotypically relevant loci and opens opportunities for exploring the population genetics and ecological significance of a new candidate locus for stickleback armor evolution.
棘鱼的侧线板变异代表了形态上快速和并行适应的经典范例。其潜在的遗传结构涉及外胚层发育不良素-A 基因（EDA）的多态性。然而，侧线板的数量受到其他仍然描述不足的基因座的影响。在这里，我们通过对来自欧洲棘鱼群体的全基因组序列数据进行基于池的全基因组分化作图来寻找这些基因座，该群体在侧线板的程度上存在可变性，同时严格控制 EDA 的表型效应。这表明了一个新的候选基因座，即 EDA 受体基因（EDAR），通过个体水平的靶向 Sanger 测序和比较自然种群中的等位基因频率得到了额外的支持。总的来说，我们的研究说明了基于池的全基因组测序在搜索表型相关基因座方面的强大功能，并为探索棘鱼装甲进化的新候选基因座的群体遗传学和生态意义提供了机会。
