scholarly journals Genomic Signatures of Fine-Scale Local Adaptation in Atlantic Salmon Suggest Involvement of Sexual Maturation, Energy Homeostasis, Behaviour, and Immune Defence-Related Genes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria L. Pritchard ◽  
Hannu Mäkinen ◽  
Juha-Pekka Vähä ◽  
Jaakko Erkinaro ◽  
Panu Orell ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTElucidating the genetic basis of adaptation to the local environment can improve our understanding of how the diversity of life has evolved. In this study we used a dense SNP array to identify candidate loci underlying fine-scale local adaptation within a large Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) population. By combining outlier, gene-environment association, and haplotype homozygosity analyses, we identified multiple regions of the genome with strong evidence for diversifying selection. Several of these candidate regions had previously been identified in other studies, demonstrating that the same loci be adaptively important in Atlantic salmon at sub-drainage, regional and continental scales. Notably, we identified signals consistent with local selection around genes associated with variation in sexual maturation, energy homeostasis, behaviour, and immune defence. These included the large-effect age-at-matunty gene vgll3, the known obesity gene mc4r, and major histocompatibility complex II. Most strikingly, we confirmed a genomic region on Ssa09 that was extremely differentiated among subpopulations, and that is also a candidate for local selection over the global range of Atlantic salmon. This region co-localized with a genomic region strongly associated with spawning ecotype in sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), with circumstantial evidence that the same gene (six6) may be the selective target in both cases. The phenotypic effect of this region in Atlantic salmon remains cryptic, although allelic variation is related to river flow volume and co-vanes with timing of the return spawning migration. Our results further inform management of Atlantic salmon and open multiple avenues for future research.

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 2560-2575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria L. Pritchard ◽  
Hannu Mäkinen ◽  
Juha-Pekka Vähä ◽  
Jaakko Erkinaro ◽  
Panu Orell ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 881-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciar L. O'Toole ◽  
Thomas E. Reed ◽  
Deborah Bailie ◽  
Caroline Bradley ◽  
Deirdre Cotter ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Sinclair-Waters ◽  
Nikolai Piavchenko ◽  
Annukka Ruokolainen ◽  
Tutku Aykanat ◽  
Jaakko Erkinaro ◽  
...  

Efforts to understand the genetic underpinnings of phenotypic variation often lead to the identification of candidate regions showing signals of association and/or selection. These regions may contain multiple genes and therefore validation of which genes are actually responsible for the signal is required. In Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), a large-effect locus for maturation timing occurs in a genomic region including two candidate genes, vgll3 and akap11, but data for clearly determining which of the genes (or both) contribute to the association have been lacking. Here, we take advantage of natural recombination events detected between the two candidate genes in a salmon broodstock to reduce linkage disequilibrium at the locus, and thus enabling delineation of the influence of variation at these two genes on maturation timing. By rearing 5895 males to maturation age, of which 81% had recombinant vgll3/akap11 allelic combinations, we found that vgll3 SNP variation was strongly associated with maturation timing, whereas there was little or no association between akap11 SNP variation and maturation timing. These findings provide strong evidence supporting vgll3 as the primary candidate gene in the chromosome 25 locus for influencing maturation timing. This will help guide future research for understanding the genetic processes controlling maturation timing. This also exemplifies the utility of natural recombinants to more precisely map causal variation underlying phenotypic diversity.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Wellband ◽  
Claire Mérot ◽  
Tommi Linnansaari ◽  
J. A. K. Elliott ◽  
R. Allen Curry ◽  
...  

AbstractChromosomal inversions have been implicated in facilitating adaptation in the face of high levels of gene flow, but whether chromosomal fusions also have similar potential remains poorly understood. Atlantic salmon are usually characterized by population structure at multiple spatial scales; however, this is not the case for tributaries of the Miramichi River in North America. To resolve genetic relationships between populations in this system and the potential for known chromosomal fusions to contribute to adaptation we genotyped 728 juvenile salmon using a 50K SNP array. Consistent with previous work, we report extremely weak overall population structuring (Global FST = 0.004) and failed to support hierarchical structure between the river’s two main branches. We provide the first genomic characterization of a previously described polymorphic fusion between chromosomes 8 and 29. Fusion genomic characteristics included high LD, reduced heterozygosity in the fused homokaryotes, and strong divergence between the fused and the unfused rearrangement. Population structure based on fusion karyotype was five times stronger than neutral variation (FST = 0.019) and the frequency of the fusion was associated with summer precipitation supporting a hypothesis that this rearrangement may contribute local adaptation despite weak neutral differentiation. Additionally, both outlier variation among populations and a polygenic framework for characterizing adaptive variation in relation to climate identified a 250 Kb region of chromosome 9, including the gene six6 that has previously been linked to age-at-maturity and run-timing for this species. Overall our results indicate that adaptive processes, independent of major river branching, are more important than neutral processes for structuring these populations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin K. Esoh ◽  
Tobias O. Apinjoh ◽  
Steven G. Nyanjom ◽  
Ambroise Wonkam ◽  
Emile R. Chimusa ◽  
...  

AbstractInferences from genetic association studies rely largely on the definition and description of the underlying populations that highlight their genetic similarities and differences. The clustering of human populations into subgroups (population structure) can significantly confound disease associations. This study investigated the fine-scale genetic structure within Cameroon that may underlie disparities observed with Cameroonian ethnicities in malaria genome-wide association studies in sub-Saharan Africa. Genotype data of 1073 individuals from three regions and three ethnic groups in Cameroon were analyzed using measures of genetic proximity to ascertain fine-scale genetic structure. Model-based clustering revealed distinct ancestral proportions among the Bantu, Semi-Bantu and Foulbe ethnic groups, while haplotype-based coancestry estimation revealed possible longstanding and ongoing sympatric differentiation among individuals of the Foulbe ethnic group, and their Bantu and Semi-Bantu counterparts. A genome scan found strong selection signatures in the HLA gene region, confirming longstanding knowledge of natural selection on this genomic region in African populations following immense disease pressure. Signatures of selection were also observed in the HBB gene cluster, a genomic region known to be under strong balancing selection in sub-Saharan Africa due to its co-evolution with malaria. This study further supports the role of evolution in shaping genomes of Cameroonian populations and reveals fine-scale hierarchical structure among and within Cameroonian ethnicities that may impact genetic association studies in the country.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1803
Author(s):  
Valentino Palombo ◽  
Elena De Zio ◽  
Giovanna Salvatore ◽  
Stefano Esposito ◽  
Nicolaia Iaffaldano ◽  
...  

Mediterranean trout is a freshwater fish of particular interest with economic significance for fishery management, aquaculture and conservation biology. Unfortunately, native trout populations’ abundance is significantly threatened by anthropogenic disturbance. The introduction of commercial hatchery strains for recreation activities has compromised the genetic integrity status of native populations. This work assessed the fine-scale genetic structure of Mediterranean trout in the two main rivers of Molise region (Italy) to support conservation actions. In total, 288 specimens were caught in 28 different sites (14 per basins) and genotyped using the Affymetrix 57 K rainbow-trout-derived SNP array. Population differentiation was analyzed using pairwise weighted FST and overall F-statistic estimated by locus-by-locus analysis of molecular variance. Furthermore, an SNP data set was processed through principal coordinates analysis, discriminant analysis of principal components and admixture Bayesian clustering analysis. Firstly, our results demonstrated that rainbow trout SNP array can be successfully used for Mediterranean trout genotyping. In fact, despite an overwhelming number of loci that resulted as monomorphic in our populations, it must be emphasized that the resulted number of polymorphic loci (i.e., ~900 SNPs) has been sufficient to reveal a fine-scale genetic structure in the investigated populations, which is useful in supporting conservation and management actions. In particular, our findings allowed us to select candidate sites for the collection of adults, needed for the production of genetically pure juvenile trout, and sites to carry out the eradication of alien trout and successive re-introduction of native trout.


2017 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 255-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darcy S.O. Mora ◽  
Mo D. Salman ◽  
Christopher A. Myrick ◽  
Jack C. Rhyan ◽  
Lowell A. Miller ◽  
...  

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiago da Silva Ribeiro ◽  
José A Galván ◽  
John E Pool

Local adaptation can lead to elevated genetic differentiation at the targeted genetic variant and nearby sites. Selective sweeps come in different forms, and depending on the initial and final frequencies of a favored variant, very different patterns of genetic variation may be produced. If local selection favors an existing variant that had already recombined onto multiple genetic backgrounds, then the width of elevated genetic differentiation (high FST) may be too narrow to detect using a typical windowed genome scan, even if the targeted variant becomes highly differentiated. We therefore used a simulation approach to investigate the power of SNP-level FST (specifically, the maximum SNP FST value within a window) to detect diverse scenarios of local adaptation, and compared it against whole-window FST and the Comparative Haplotype Identity statistic. We found that SNP FST had superior power to detect complete or mostly complete soft sweeps, but lesser power than window-wide statistics to detect partial hard sweeps. To investigate the relative enrichment and nature of SNP FST outliers from real data, we applied the two FST statistics to a panel of Drosophila melanogaster populations. We found that SNP FST had a genome-wide enrichment of outliers compared to demographic expectations, and though it yielded a lesser enrichment than window FST, it detected mostly unique outlier genes and functional categories. Our results suggest that SNP FST is highly complementary to typical window-based approaches for detecting local adaptation, and merits inclusion in future genome scans and methodologies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elia Ciani ◽  
Kristine von Krogh ◽  
Rasoul Nourizadeh-Lillabadi ◽  
Ian Mayer ◽  
Romain Fontaine ◽  
...  

AbstractMale Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) display different sexual strategies, maturing either as parr during the freshwater phase (as sneaky spawners), or as post smolts following one or several years at sea. First sexual maturation (puberty) occurs at different times depending on environmental and genetic factors. To improve our knowledge on the timing (age and season) of first sexual maturation in Atlantic salmon male parr, we investigated pubertal activation in second generation farmed salmon from the Norwegian river Figgjo, reared under natural conditions of photoperiod and water temperature. Histological analysis, in combination with morphometric measurements, plasma androgen levels and pituitary gonadotropin gene expression analysis revealed that, as previously reported, some male parr initiated early sexual maturation in spring at one year of age. Interestingly, some male parr were observed to initiate sexual maturation already in autumn, six months after hatching (under-yearlings), much earlier than reported in previous studies. One-year old maturing males showed a low induction in gonadotropin levels, while under-yearling maturing males displayed a significant increase in fshb transcripts as compared to immature fish. Plasma testosterone, detectable also in immature males, increased constantly during testes development, while 11-ketotestosterone, undetectable in immature and early maturing males, increased during more advanced stages of maturation. A mild feminization of the testes (ovotestes) was detected in a subset of samples. This study brings new knowledge on the little investigated field of sexually maturing under-yearlings in Atlantic salmon. This is also the first study comparing the physiology of under-yearling vs one-year old maturing male parr, thus bringing new insights to the remarkable plasticity of Atlantic salmon puberty.


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