Embryonic origin and genetic basis of cave associated phenotypes in the isopod crustacean Asellus aquaticus.

Hafasa Mojaddidi; Franco Fernandez; Priscilla A. Erickson; Meredith E. Protas

Embryonic origin and genetic basis of cave associated phenotypes in the isopod crustacean Asellus aquaticus.

Hafasa Mojaddidi
, Franco Fernandez
, Priscilla A. Erickson
, Meredith E. Protas

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Characteristics common to animals living in subterranean environments include the reduction or absence of eyes, lessened pigmentation and enhanced sensory systems. How these characteristics have evolved is poorly understood for the majority of cave dwelling species. In order to understand the evolution of these changes, this study uses an invertebrate model system, the freshwater isopod crustacean, Asellus aquaticus, to examine whether adult differences between cave and surface dwelling individuals first appear during embryonic development. We hypothesized that antennal elaboration, as well as eye reduction and pigment loss, would be apparent during embryonic development. We found that differences in pigmentation, eye formation, and number of segments of antenna II were all present by the end of embryonic development. In addition, we found that cave and surface hatchlings do not significantly differ in the relative size of antenna II and the duration of embryonic development. To investigate whether the regions responsible for eye and pigment differences could be genetically linked to differences in article number, we genotyped F2 hybrids for the four previously mapped genomic regions associated with eye and pigment differences and phenotyped these F2 hybrids for antenna II article number. We found that the region previously known to be responsible for both presence versus absence of pigment and eye size also was significantly associated with article number. Future experiments will address whether pleiotropy and/or genetic linkage play a role in the evolution of cave characteristics in Asellus aquaticus.

Original language	American English
Article number	16589
Pages (from-to)	16589
Journal	Default journal
Volume	8
Issue number	1
State	Published - Nov 8 2018

Funding

We thank Simona Turk-Prevorčnik, Peter Trontelj, Crystal Chaw, and Markus Friedrich for critical reading of the manuscript and advice throughout the project. We thank Peter Trontelj, Teo Delić, and Gregor Bračko for collecting animals. Thanks to Cassandra Re, Sivan Brodo-Abo, and Tia Furness for technical assistance. Thanks to CD Genomics for genotyping services. Thanks to Maryam Ahmed for assistance with figures; to Nipam Patel and Heather Bruce for advice about working with the embryos; to Isaac Villalpando, John Wallace, and Monique Bennett for assistance with embryos; to Hillary Protas for statistics advice. This research was funded by the National Speleological Society, Old Timer’s Reunion Association, Cave Conservancy Foundation, National Speleological Foundation and Dominican University of California.

Funders
Cave Conservancy Foundation
National Speleological Foundation
National Speleological Society
Old Timer’s Reunion Association

Keywords

Animals
Arthropod Antennae
Arthropod Proteins
Biological Evolution
Caves
Eye
Gene Expression Regulation
Developmental
Genotyping Techniques
Isopoda
Ocular Physiological Phenomena
Organ Size
Phenotype
Pigmentation
Sequence Analysis
DNA

Disciplines

Genetics and Genomics
Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

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Embryonic origin and genetic basis of cave associated phenotypesFinal published version, 1.67 MBLicense: Unspecified

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title = "Embryonic origin and genetic basis of cave associated phenotypes in the isopod crustacean Asellus aquaticus.",

abstract = "Characteristics common to animals living in subterranean environments include the reduction or absence of eyes, lessened pigmentation and enhanced sensory systems. How these characteristics have evolved is poorly understood for the majority of cave dwelling species. In order to understand the evolution of these changes, this study uses an invertebrate model system, the freshwater isopod crustacean, Asellus aquaticus, to examine whether adult differences between cave and surface dwelling individuals first appear during embryonic development. We hypothesized that antennal elaboration, as well as eye reduction and pigment loss, would be apparent during embryonic development. We found that differences in pigmentation, eye formation, and number of segments of antenna II were all present by the end of embryonic development. In addition, we found that cave and surface hatchlings do not significantly differ in the relative size of antenna II and the duration of embryonic development. To investigate whether the regions responsible for eye and pigment differences could be genetically linked to differences in article number, we genotyped F2 hybrids for the four previously mapped genomic regions associated with eye and pigment differences and phenotyped these F2 hybrids for antenna II article number. We found that the region previously known to be responsible for both presence versus absence of pigment and eye size also was significantly associated with article number. Future experiments will address whether pleiotropy and/or genetic linkage play a role in the evolution of cave characteristics in Asellus aquaticus.",

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AU - Erickson, Priscilla A.

AU - Protas, Meredith E.

PY - 2018/11/8

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KW - Biological Evolution

KW - Caves

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KW - Gene Expression Regulation

KW - Developmental

KW - Genotyping Techniques

KW - Isopoda

KW - Ocular Physiological Phenomena

KW - Organ Size

KW - Phenotype

KW - Pigmentation

KW - Sequence Analysis

KW - DNA

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ER -

Embryonic origin and genetic basis of cave associated phenotypes in the isopod crustacean Asellus aquaticus.

Abstract

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Keywords

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