Regulatory Architecture of Gene Expression Variation in the Threespine Stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus

Regulatory Architecture of Gene Expression Variation in the Threespine Stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus

Much adaptive evolutionary change is underlain by mutational variation in regions of the genome that regulate gene expression rather than in the coding regions of the genes themselves. An understanding of the role of gene expression variation in facilitating local adaptation will be aided by an understanding of underlying regulatory networks. Here, we characterize the genetic architecture of ge...

Salinity-induced phenotypic plasticity in lateral bony plate number of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Phenotypic plasticity of the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus telencephalon in response to experi- ence in captivity

Threespine stickleback were used to examine phenotypic plasticity of telencephala in relation to inferred ecology. Fish from derived, allopatric, freshwater populations were sampled from three shallow, structurally complex lakes with benthic-foraging stickleback (benthics) and from three deep, structurally simple lakes with planktivores (limnetics). The telencephalon of specimens preserved imme...

Comparative efficacy of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and the mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) for mosquito control.

The effectiveness of the threespine stickleback as a mosquito control agent was compared to that of the mosquitofish in 28-m2 earthen ponds during 26-wk experiments where the 2 fish were stocked alone and together. Relative to ponds without fish, the stickleback was not effective for controlling larval mosquito populations; however, sticklebacks reduced the abundance of Culex pupae. Mosquitofis...

Parallel evolution of Pitx1 underlies pelvic reduction in Scottish threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus).

Little is known about the genetic and molecular mechanisms that underlie adaptive phenotypic variation in natural populations or whether similar genetic and molecular mechanisms are utilized when similar adaptive phenotypes arise in independent populations. The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a good model system to investigate these questions because these fish display a larg...