Quantitative Genetics of Body Size and Timing of Maturation in Two Nine-Spined Stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) Populations (original) (raw)

Body size divergence in nine‐spined sticklebacks: disentangling additive genetic and maternal effects

Biological Journal of the …, 2012

Interpopulation differences in body size are of common occurrence in vertebrates, but the relative importance of genetic, maternal, and environmental effects as causes of observed differentiation have seldom been assessed in the wild. Gigantism in pond nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius Linnaeus, 1758) has been repeatedly observed, but the quantitative genetic basis of population divergence in size has remained unstudied. We conducted a common garden experiment -using 'pure' and reciprocal crosses between two populations ('giant' pond versus 'normal' marine) -to test for the relative importance of additive genetic, non-additive genetic, and maternal effects on body size after 11 months of growth in the laboratory. We found that body size difference between the two populations in laboratory conditions owed mainly to additive genetic effects, and only to a minor degree to maternal effects. Furthermore, the weak maternal effects were seen only in the offspring of 'giant' mothers, and appeared to be mediated through differences in egg size. Thus, the results suggest that gigantism in pond populations of P. pungitius is based on the effects of additively acting genes, rather than to direct environmental induction, or maternal or non-additive gene action.

Evidence for genetic differentiation in timing of maturation among nine‐spined stickleback populations

Journal of Evolutionary …, 2013

Timing of maturation is an important life-history trait that is likely to be subjected to strong natural selection. Although population differences in timing of maturation have been frequently reported in studies of wild animal populations, little is known about the genetic basis of this differentiation. Here, we investigated population and sex differences in timing of maturation within and between two nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) populations in a laboratory breeding experiment. We found that fish from the high-predation marine population matured earlier than fish from the low-predation pond population and males matured earlier than females. Timing of maturation in both reciprocal hybrid crosses between the two populations was similar to that in the marine population, suggesting that early timing of maturation is a dominant trait, whereas delayed timing of maturation in the pond is a recessive trait. Thus, the observed population divergence is suggestive of strong natural selection against early maturation in the piscine-predator-free pond population.

Age-dependent genetic architecture underlines similar heritability of body size in sticklebacks

2021

Heritable variation in traits under natural selection is a prerequisite for evolutionary response. While it is recognised that trait heritability may vary spatially and temporally depending under which environmental conditions traits are expressed, less is known about the possibility that genetic variance contributing to the expected selection response in a given trait may vary at different stages of ontogeny. Specifically, whether different loci underlie the expression of a trait throughout development – thus providing an additional source of variation for selection to act on – is unclear. Here we show that the heritability (h2) of body size, an important life history trait, remains constant across ontogeny in a stickleback fish. Nevertheless, both analyses of quantitative trait loci (QTL) and genetic correlations across ages show that different chromosomes/loci contribute to this heritability in different ontogenic time-points. This suggests that body size can respond to selection...

Population divergence in compensatory growth responses and their costs in sticklebacks

Ecology and Evolution, 2014

Compensatory growth (CG) may be an adaptive mechanism that helps to restore an organisms' growth trajectory and adult size from deviations caused by early life resource limitation. Yet, few studies have investigated the genetic basis of CG potential and existence of genetically based population differentiation in CG potential. We studied population differentiation, genetic basis, and costs of CG potential in nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) differing in their normal growth patterns. As selection favors large body size in pond and small body size in marine populations, we expected CG to occur in the pond but not in the marine population. By manipulating feeding conditions (viz. high, low and recovery feeding treatments), we found clear evidence for CG in the pond but not in the marine population, as well as evidence for catch-up growth (i.e., size compensation without growth acceleration) in both populations. In the marine population, overcompensation occurred individuals from the recovery treatment grew eventually larger than those from the high feeding treatment. In both populations, the recovery feeding treatment reduced maturation probability. The recovery feeding treatment also reduced survival probability in the marine but not in the pond population. Analysis of interpopulation hybrids further suggested that both genetic and maternal effects contributed to the population differences in CG. Hence, apart from demonstrating intrinsic costs for recovery growth, both genetic and maternal effects were identified to be important modulators of CG responses. The results provide an evidence for adaptive differentiation in recovery growth potential.

EVOLUTION OF GIGANTISM IN NINE-SPINED STICKLEBACKS

Evolution, 2009

The relaxation of predation and interspecific competition are hypothesized to allow evolution toward "optimal" body size in island environments, resulting in the gigantism of small organisms. We tested this hypothesis by studying a small teleost (ninespined stickleback, Pungitius pungitius) from four marine and five lake (diverse fish community) and nine pond (impoverished fish community) populations. In line with theory, pond fish tended to be larger than their marine or lake conspecifics, sometimes reaching giant sizes. In two geographically independent cases when predatory fish had been introduced into ponds, fish were smaller than those in nearby ponds lacking predators. Pond fish were also smaller when found in sympatry with three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) than those in ponds lacking competitors. Size-at-age analyses demonstrated that larger size in ponds was achieved by both increased growth rates and extended longevity of pond fish. Results from a common garden experiment indicate that the growth differences had a genetic basis: pond fish developed two to three times higher body mass than marine fish during 36 weeks of growth under similar conditions. Hence, reduced risk of predation and interspecific competition appear to be chief forces driving insular body size evolution toward gigantism.

Genetic basis of sexual dimorphism in the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus

Heredity, 2011

Sexual dimorphism (SD) in morphological, behavioural and physiological features is common, but the genetics of SD in the wild has seldom been studied in detail. We investigated the genetic basis of SD in morphological traits of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) by conducting a large breeding experiment with fish from an ancestral marine population that acts as a source of morphological variation. We also examined the patterns of SD in a set of 38 wild populations from different habitats to investigate the relationship between the genetic architecture of SD of the marine ancestral population in relation to variation within and among natural populations.

Size does matter -the eco-evolutionary effects of changing body size in fish

Environmental Reviews, 2020

Body size acts as a proxy for many fitness-related traits. Body size is also subject to directional selection from various anthropogenic stressors such as increasing water temperature, decreasing dissolved oxygen, fisheries, as well as natural predators. Changes in individual body size correlate with changes in fecundity, behaviour, and survival, and can propagate through populations and ecosystems by truncating age and size structures and changing predator-prey dynamics. In this review, we will explore the causes and consequences of changing body size in fish in the light of recent literature and relevant theories. We will investigate the central role of body size in ecology by first discussing the main selective agents that influence body size: fishing, increasing water temperature, decreasing dissolved oxygen, and predation. We will then explore the impacts of these changes at the individual, population and ecosystem levels. Considering the relatively high heritability of body size, we will discuss how a change in body size can leave a genetic signature in the population and translate to a change in the evolutionary potential of the species.

Morphometric indices in an annual fish—the redtail notho, Nothobranchius guentheri (Actinopterygii: Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae): Influence of age and gender

Acta Ichthyologica Et Piscatoria, 2012

Background. Though fishes grow indeterminately, very little is known of the effects of age on the morphometric indices (length, weight, and condition) in fishes as it is often difficult to cover the entire lifespan of a species in laboratory or nature. The presently reported study was thus conducted to elucidate the effects of age (and sex) on the growth indices using the annual fish and a laboratory model of aging. Materials and methods. Experimental fish-the redtail notho, Nothobranchius guentheri (Pfeffer, 1893), were obtained by hatching the diapause eggs of the same parental lineage and reared over their entire lifespan. Length-weight measurements were recorded from 3-12 months and various indices (length-weight relation, Fulton's condition factor, and relative condition factor) were computed and compared statistically. Results. Mean lengths, weights, length-weight relations (LWRs), Fulton's condition factor (K) and relative condition factor (K n) varied significantly leading to differential indices based on age and sex. Age influenced all indices positively, which is indicative of the indeterminate growth typical of fishes. Conclusion. Age was not seen to suppress the growth indices in the annual fish, which is suggestive of a healthy and delayed senescence in the annual fish N. guentheri. Whether other short-and long-lived finfish follow the same pattern needs further investigation.

Extreme Selection on Size in the Early Lives of Fish

Evolution, 2010

Although fitness typically increases with body size and selection gradients on size are generally positive, much of this information comes from terrestrial taxa. In the early life history of fish, there is evidence of selection both for and against larger size, leaving open the question of whether the general pattern for terrestrial taxa is valid for fish. We reviewed studies of size-dependent survival in the early life history of fish and obtained estimates of standardized selection differentials from 40 studies. We found that 77% of estimated selection differentials favored larger size and that the strength of selection was more than five times that seen in terrestrial taxa. Selection decreased with study period duration and initial length, and disruptive selection occurred significantly more frequently than stabilizing selection. Contrary to expectations from Bergmann's rule, selection on size did not increase with latitude.