Adaptive Evolution of Nearctic Deepwater Fish Vision: Implications for Assessing Functional Variation for Conservation.

ABSTRACT: Intraspecific functional variation is critical for adaptation to rapidly changing environments. For visual opsins, functional variation can be characterized in vitro and often reflects a species' ecological niche but is rarely considered in the context of intraspecific variation or the impact of recent environmental changes on species of cultural or commercial significance. Investigation of adaptation in postglacial lakes can provide key insight into how rapid environmental changes impact functional evolution. Here, we report evidence for molecular adaptation in vision in 2 lineages of Nearctic fishes that are deep lake specialists: ciscoes and deepwater sculpin. We found depth-related variation in the dim-light visual pigment rhodopsin that evolved convergently in these 2 lineages. In vit

SUBMITTER: Van Nynatten A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10896662 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature