Different Sources of Allelic Variation Drove Repeated Color Pattern Divergence in Cichlid Fishes.

ABSTRACT: The adaptive radiations of East African cichlid fish in the Great Lakes Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika are well known for their diversity and repeatedly evolved phenotypes. Convergent evolution of melanic horizontal stripes has been linked to a single locus harboring the gene agouti-related peptide 2 (agrp2). However, where and when the causal variants underlying this trait evolved and how they drove phenotypic divergence remained unknown. To test the alternative hypotheses of standing genetic variation versus de novo mutations (independently originating in each radiation), we searched for shared signals of genomic divergence at the agrp2 locus. Although we discovered similar signatures of differentiation at the locus level, the haplotypes associated with stripe patterns are surprisingly

SUBMITTER: Urban S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7826197 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature