Gefaell Juan, Galindo Juan, Rolán-Alvarez Emilio
Departamento de Bioquímica Genética e Inmunología Centro de Investigación Mariña Universidade de Vigo Vigo Spain.
Evol Appl. 2022 Jun 7;16(2):202-222. doi: 10.1111/eva.13416. eCollection 2023 Feb.
Marine gastropods are characterized by an incredible variation in shell color. In this review, we aim to introduce researchers to previous studies of shell color polymorphism in this group of animals, trying to provide an overview of the topic and highlighting some potential avenues for future research. For this, we tackle the different aspects of shell color polymorphism in marine gastropods: its biochemical and genetic basis, its patterns of spatial and temporal distribution, as well as its potential evolutionary causes. In particular, we put special emphasis on the evolutionary studies that have been conducted so far to reveal the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of shell color polymorphism in this group of animals, as it constitutes the least addressed aspect in existing literature reviews. Several general conclusions can be drawn from our review: First, natural selection is commonly involved in the maintenance of gastropod color polymorphism; second, although the contribution of neutral forces (gene flow-genetic drift equilibrium) to shell color polymorphism maintenance do not seem to be particularly important, it has rarely been studied systematically; third, a relationship between shell color polymorphism and mode of larval development (related to dispersal capability) may exist. As for future studies, we suggest that a combination of both classical laboratory crossing experiments and - approaches may yield interesting results on the molecular basis of color polymorphism. We believe that understanding the various causes of shell color polymorphism in marine gastropods is of great importance not only to understand how biodiversity works, but also for protecting such biodiversity, as knowledge of its evolutionary causes may help implement conservation measures in those species or ecosystems that are threatened.
海洋腹足纲动物的特征是其外壳颜色具有令人难以置信的多样性。在这篇综述中，我们旨在向研究人员介绍此前关于这类动物外壳颜色多态性的研究，试图对该主题进行概述，并突出一些未来研究的潜在方向。为此，我们探讨了海洋腹足纲动物外壳颜色多态性的不同方面：其生化和遗传基础、时空分布模式以及潜在的进化原因。特别是，我们特别强调了迄今为止所进行的进化研究，以揭示负责维持这类动物外壳颜色多态性的进化机制，因为这是现有文献综述中最少涉及的方面。从我们的综述中可以得出几个一般性结论：第一，自然选择通常参与维持腹足纲动物的颜色多态性；第二，尽管中性力量（基因流 - 遗传漂变平衡）对外壳颜色多态性维持的贡献似乎并不特别重要，但很少有人对其进行系统研究；第三，外壳颜色多态性与幼虫发育模式（与扩散能力有关）之间可能存在关联。至于未来的研究，我们建议将经典的实验室杂交实验和其他方法相结合，可能会在颜色多态性的分子基础上产生有趣的结果。我们认为，了解海洋腹足纲动物外壳颜色多态性的各种原因不仅对于理解生物多样性的运作方式非常重要，而且对于保护这种生物多样性也很重要，因为了解其进化原因可能有助于在那些受到威胁的物种或生态系统中实施保护措施。
