Genetic basis of adaptive population divergence in androgen signaling for a fish in relation to mating system

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24570105
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Biodiversity/Systematics
• Research Institution: Fukui Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: KOKITA Tomoyuki 福井県立大学, 海洋生物資源学部, 准教授 (60372835)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 生態ゲノミクス / 行動生態学 / 繁殖システム / 繁殖戦略 / 適応進化 / 雄性ホルモン / 自然選択 / 魚類

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Extreme diversity in male reproductive strategy is found in fishes. Elucidating genetic basis of such diversity is important for understanding its evolutionary mechanism. Androgen is a key hormone for the expression of multiple male reproductive traits that are important for male reproductive success. Therefore, selection on androgen-mediated traits might result in the adaptive evolution of androgen titers themselves. We used natural variation in androgen-mediated traits and androgen production between different ecotype populations of the Japanese freshwater threespined stickleback as a model system. Ecological genomic analyses including comparative transcriptome and QTL mapping and a variety of molecular biology experiments were conducted to examine this prediction. This study suggests that adaptive divergence in androgen production between these populations occurred by regulatory mutations of a gene that encodes an important enzyme for androgen synthesis.

Free Research Field

生態ゲノム学