An allelic series at pax7a is associated with colour polymorphism diversity in Lake Malawi cichlid fish.

ABSTRACT: Despite long-standing interest in the evolution and maintenance of discrete phenotypic polymorphisms, the molecular genetic basis of such polymorphism in the wild is largely unknown. Female sex-associated blotched colour polymorphisms found in cichlids of Lake Malawi, East Africa, represent a highly successful polymorphic phenotype, found and maintained in four genera across the geographic expanse of the lake. Previously, we identified an association with an allelic variant of the paired-box transcription factor gene pax7a and blotched colour morphs in Lake Malawi cichlid fishes. Although a diverse range of blotched phenotypes are present in Lake Malawi cichlid species, they all appeared to result from an allele of pax7a that produces increased levels of transcript. Here, we examine the de

SUBMITTER: Roberts RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5425315 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature