Genetic analysis of cavefish reveals molecular convergence in the evolution of albinism
Genetic analysis of cavefish reveals molecular convergence in the evolution of albinism
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DOI：
10.1038/ng1700
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发表时间：
2006-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
30.8
通讯作者：
Tabin, CJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Protas, ME;Hersey, C;Tabin, CJ
传统上，脊椎动物形态进化的遗传基础很难在自然发生的种群中进行研究。在这里，我们描述了一个全基因组的连锁图谱的生成，以允许在墨西哥洞穴四，一个物种，在一系列独立的洞穴，反复进化的专业特点，适应一个独特的和充分研究的生态环境的进化衍生形态的定量性状分析。我们专注于白化病的特征，并发现它与两个洞穴人群中的已知色素沉着基因Oca2有关。我们在每个群体中发现了不同的Oca2缺失，并且使用基于细胞的测定，表明两者都导致相应蛋白OCA2的功能丧失。因此，这两个洞穴种群通过类似的突变事件独立地进化出白化病。
The genetic basis of vertebrate morphological evolution has traditionally been very difficult to examine in naturally occurring populations. Here we describe the generation of a genome-wide linkage map to allow quantitative trait analysis of evolutionarily derived morphologies in the Mexican cave tetra, a species that has, in a series of independent caves, repeatedly evolved specialized characteristics adapted to a unique and well-studied ecological environment. We focused on the trait of albinism and discovered that it is linked to Oca2, a known pigmentation gene, in two cave populations. We found different deletions in Oca2 in each population and, using a cell-based assay, showed that both cause loss of function of the corresponding protein, OCA2. Thus, the two cave populations evolved albinism independently, through similar mutational events.