Pronounced heritable variation and limited phenotypic plasticity in visual pigments and opsin expression of threespine stickleback photoreceptors

2012 ◽  
Vol 216 (4) ◽  
pp. 656-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. N. Flamarique ◽  
C. L. Cheng ◽  
C. Bergstrom ◽  
T. E. Reimchen
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Visual Pigments ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Heritable Variation ◽  
Opsin Expression

scholarly journals An experimental investigation of how intraspecific competition and phenotypic plasticity can promote the evolution of novel, complex phenotypes

2020 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-87
Author(s):  
Nicholas A Levis ◽  
Carly G Fuller ◽  
David W Pfennig
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Intraspecific Competition ◽  
Morphological Plasticity ◽  
Standard Diet ◽  
Heritable Variation ◽  
Evolutionary Diversification ◽  
Evolutionary Innovation ◽  
Spadefoot Toad ◽  
Scaphiopus Holbrookii ◽  
Novel Complex

Abstract Intraspecific competition has long been considered a key driver of evolutionary diversification, but whether it can also promote evolutionary innovation is less clear. Here we examined the interplay between competition and phenotypic plasticity in fuelling the origins of a novel, complex phenotype – a distinctive carnivore morph found in spadefoot toad tadpoles (genus Spea) that specializes on fairy shrimp. We specifically sought to explore the possible origins of this phenotype by providing shrimp to Scaphiopus holbrookii tadpoles (the sister genus to Spea that does not produce carnivores) while subjecting them to competition for their standard diet of detritus. Previous research had shown that this species will eat shrimp when detritus is limited, and that these shrimp-fed individuals produce features that are redolent of a rudimentary Spea carnivore. In this study, we found that: (1) behavioural and morphological plasticity enabled some individuals to expand their diet to include shrimp; (2) there was heritable variation in this plasticity; and (3) individuals received a growth and development benefit by eating shrimp. Thus, novel resource use can arise via plasticity as an adaptive response to intraspecific competition. More generally, our results show how competition and plasticity may interact to pave the way for the evolution of complex, novel phenotypes, such as the distinctive carnivore morph in present-day Spea.

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.

Changing times, spaces, and faces: tests and implications of adaptive morphological plasticity in the fishes of northern postglacial lakes

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 1819-1833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beren W Robinson ◽  
Kevin J Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Morphological Plasticity ◽  
Freshwater Fishes ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Heritable Variation ◽  
Species Formation ◽  
Changing Times

The phenotypic diversity exhibited within and among populations of freshwater fishes in postglacial lakes has intrigued biologists for two reasons: (i) their high phenotypic variation and (ii) the apparently recent and rapid divergence of forms. Genetic and ecological studies of these taxa are shedding new light on mechanisms of divergence and species formation. Surprisingly, the roles of phenotypic plasticity in the origins, maintenance, and generation of phenotypic diversity in this system are rarely directly addressed. We synthesize the available literature on morphological plasticity in these fishes and, using a meta-analysis, test for adaptive plasticity. We conclude that (i) morphological plasticity is common in at least six families of northern freshwater fishes, (ii) plastic responses can often be induced by conditions related to littoral and pelagic lake environments, (iii) plasticity often represents adaptive responses to conditions in these habitats, and (iv) that although rarely tested, heritable variation in morphological plasticity is present. The rich amount of phenotypic plasticity has not constrained recent adaptive divergence and species formation in postglacial fishes, and instead plasticity may play a role in the notably high rates of divergence observed in these and other fishes currently undergoing adaptive radiation.

scholarly journals Phenotypic plasticity in opsin expression in a butterfly compound eye complements sex role reversal

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Everett ◽  
Xiaoling Tong ◽  
Adriana D Briscoe ◽  
Antónia Monteiro
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Compound Eye ◽  
Sex Role ◽  
Role Reversal ◽  
Opsin Expression ◽  
Sex Role Reversal

scholarly journals Opsin expression predicts male nuptial color in threespine stickleback

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (14) ◽  
pp. 7094-7102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad D. Brock ◽  
Diana Rennison ◽  
Thor Veen ◽  
Daniel I. Bolnick
Keyword(s):  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Opsin Expression ◽  
Nuptial Color

scholarly journals Dimensionality and modularity of adaptive variation: Divergence in threespine stickleback from diverse environments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant E. Haines ◽  
Louis Moisan ◽  
Alison M. Derry ◽  
Andrew P. Hendry
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cook Inlet ◽  
Heritable Variation ◽  
Phenotypic Divergence ◽  
Multiple Phenotype ◽  
Effective Dimensionality ◽  
Plastic Responses ◽  
Trait Covariance

In nature, populations are subjected to a wide variety of environmental conditions that affect fitness and induce adaptive or plastic responses in traits, resulting in phenotypic divergence between populations. The dimensionality of that divergence, however, remains contentious. At the extremes, some contend that populations diverge along a single axis of trait covariance with greatest availability of heritable variation, even if this does not lead a population directly to its fitness optimum. Those at the other extreme argue that selection can push populations towards their fitness optima along multiple phenotype axes simultaneously, resulting in divergence in numerous dimensions. Here, we address this debate using populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in the Cook Inlet region of southern Alaska from lakes with contrasting ecological conditions. We calculated effective dimensionality of divergence in several trait suites (defensive, swimming, and trophic) thought to be under correlated selection pressures, as well as across all traits. We also tested for integration among the trait suites and between each trait suite and the environment. We found that populations in the Cook Inlet radiation exhibit dimensionality of phenotype high enough to preclude a single axis of divergence.

scholarly journals Adaptive plasticity generates microclines in threespine stickleback male nuptial color

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad D. Brock ◽  
Molly E. Cummings ◽  
Daniel I. Bolnick
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Habitat Choice ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Visual Signal ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ambient Light ◽  
Color Changes

AbstractAdaptive phenotypic divergence is typically studied across relatively broad spatial scales (continents, archipelagos, river basins) because at these scales we expect environmental differences to be strong, and the homogenizing effect of gene flow to be weak. However, phenotypic plasticity and phenotype-dependent habitat choice are additional mechanisms that could also drive adaptation across spatially variable environments. We present evidence for apparently adaptive phenotypic variation across surprisingly small spatial scales (<2 vertical meters) in the threespine stickleback. We find that male breeding coloration varies as a function of the lakes’ optical-depth gradient, and these small-scale clines (‘microclines’) appear to be an adaptive response to ambient light gradients, as male color changes predictably in the opposite direction (‘countergradient’) to ambient light spectral shifts. Using visual models and field enclosure experiments, we show that these microclines result from phenotypic plasticity that maintains male conspicuousness. Our results show that adaptive phenotypic clines can exist across small spatial scales, because phenotypic plasticity rapidly generates repeatable trait-environment correlations despite the overwhelming opportunity for gene flow. Furthermore, these results provide strong evidence that phenotypic plasticity in nuptial coloration is an important mechanism for adjusting the conspicuousness of a visual signal to conspecifics.

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