Functional evolution of pigment synthesis pathways in teleost fish through gen(om)e duplication

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Whole genome duplications have been proposed to correspond to major evolutionary events possibly associated with important biological transitions, major leaps in evolution and adaptive radiations of species. Using a multidisciplinary comparative approach combining bioinformatics with molecular, evolutionary and developmental biology, this project aims to better understand the functional consequences of genome duplications on biological processes. More specifically, this analysis will focus on the evolutionary impact of an ancestral fish-specific genome duplication (FSGD) on pigmentation, and its possible causal relationship with the huge diversity of coloration and color patterning observed in teleosts. Using the five fish genome drafts available so far, as well as sequence data and biological material from other representative teleost species, a catalogue of duplicated pigmentation genes will be systematically established. In order to assess the evolutionary mechanisms behind the persistence of such duplicates over about 300 million years of evolution, their expression pattern and function will be analyzed and compared to the single copy genes in tetrapods. Importantly, duplicated genes will be analyzed in different fish lineages, since differential evolution of duplicates after whole genome duplications might significantly contribute to speciation and other forms of biodiversity.