The developmental and genetic architecture of the sexually selected male ornament of swordtails

Schartl, Manfred; Kneitz, Susanne; Ormanns, Jenny; Schmidt, Cornelia; Anderson, Jennifer; Amores, Angel; Catchen, Julian M.; Wilson, Catherine; Geiger, Dietmar; Du, Kang; García-Olazábal, Mateo; Sudaram, Sudha; Winkler, Christoph; Hedrich, Rainer; Warren, Wesley C.; Walter, Ronald B.; Meyer, Axel; Postlethwait, John H.

doi:10.1101/2020.07.24.219840

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 59 publications

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“…Swordtail fish provide a compelling example by their male-specific, dramatically elongated rays (the “sword”) on the ventral edge of the caudal fin. Strikingly, the swordtail phenotype was recently linked to the kcnh2a -related gene kcnh8 (Schartl et al, 2020). How fin growth periods are highly sensitive to alterations in K + channels and Ca 2+ /calcineurin is unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK⁺channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth

Stewart

Bleu

Yette

et al. 2019

Preprint

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40Organs stop growing to achieve the size and shape characteristic of the species and in scale with the animal's body. Likewise, regenerating organs sense injury extents to instruct appropriate replacement growth. Fish fins exemplify both phenomena through their tremendous diversity of form and remarkably robust regeneration. The classic zebrafish mutant longfin develops and regenerates dramatically elongated fins and underlying bony ray skeleton. We recently showed 45 longfin disrupts the orderly depletion of a growth-promoting blastema "niche" sub-population during fin regeneration. Initial niche sizes correlate with the amount of niche-generating intra-ray mesenchyme released from variably sized and tapered rays upon injury. Therefore, skeletal geometry-defined positional information and niche depletion dynamics can explain robust fin size restoration. Here, we find the longfin eponymous phenotype is entirely caused by cis over-50 expression of kcnh2a, a voltage-gated potassium channel related to human ether-a-go-go.Temporal delivery of a small molecule inhibitor confirms Kcnh2a actively extends the fin outgrowth period. We use blastula transplantations to show longfin-expressed kcnh2a acts tissue autonomously in the intra-ray mesenchyme/niche lineage, where it is concordantly ectopically expressed. We propose membrane potential dynamics and downstream ion signaling promote 55 niche-to-mesenchyme transitions to progressively slow outgrowth and thereby establish and restore fin size and shape.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK⁺channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth

Stewart

Bleu

Yette

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The genetic architecture of the sexually selected sword ornament and its evolution in hybrid populations

Powell

Payne

Keegan

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Biologists since Darwin have been fascinated by the evolution of sexually selected ornaments, particularly those that reduce viability. Uncovering the genetic architecture of these traits is key to understanding how they evolve and are maintained. Here, we investigate the genetic architecture of a sexually selected ornament, the “sword” fin extension that characterizes many species of swordtail fish (Xiphophorus). Using sworded and swordless sister species of Xiphophorus, we generated a mapping population and show that the sword ornament is polygenic – with ancestry across the genome explaining substantial variation in the trait. After accounting for the impacts of genome-wide ancestry, we identify one major effect QTL that explains ∼5% of the overall variation in the trait. Using a series of approaches, we narrow this large QTL interval to a handful of likely candidate genes, including the gene sp8. Notably, sp8 plays a regulatory role in fin regeneration and harbors several derived substitutions that are predicted to impact protein function in the species that has lost the sword ornament. Furthermore, we find evidence of selection on ancestry at sp8 in four natural hybrid populations, consistent with selection against the sword in these populations.

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The developmental and genetic architecture of the sexually selected male ornament of swordtails

Cited by 2 publications

References 59 publications

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK⁺channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK⁺channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth

The genetic architecture of the sexually selected sword ornament and its evolution in hybrid populations

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The developmental and genetic architecture of the sexually selected male ornament of swordtails

Cited by 2 publications

References 59 publications

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK+channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK+channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth

The genetic architecture of the sexually selected sword ornament and its evolution in hybrid populations

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK⁺channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth

longfincausescis-ectopic expression of thekcnh2a ether-a-go-goK⁺channel to autonomously prolong fin outgrowth