Molecular basis of canalization in an ascidian species complex adapted to different thermal conditions.

ABSTRACT: Canalization is a result of intrinsic developmental buffering that ensures phenotypic robustness under genetic variation and environmental perturbation. As a consequence, animal phenotypes are remarkably consistent within a species under a wide range of conditions, a property that seems contradictory to evolutionary change. Study of laboratory model species has uncovered several possible canalization mechanisms, however, we still do not understand how the level of buffering is controlled in natural populations. We exploit wild populations of the marine chordate Ciona intestinalis to show that levels of buffering are maternally inherited. Comparative transcriptomics show expression levels of genes encoding canonical chaperones such as Hsp70 and Hsp90 do not correlate with buffering. However

SUBMITTER: Sato A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4649386 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature