Parallelism in gene transcription among sympatric lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis Mitchill) ecotypes

We tested the hypothesis that phenotypic parallelism between dwarf and normal whitefish ecotypes (Coregonus clupeaformis, Salmonidae) is accompanied by parallelism in gene transcription. The most striking phenotypic differences between these forms implied energetic metabolism and swimming activity....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: N. Derome, P. Duchesne, L. Bernatchez
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.363.5179
http://www.eebweb.arizona.edu/nachman/Archived Research Papers/Derome_et_al_2006.pdf
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Summary:We tested the hypothesis that phenotypic parallelism between dwarf and normal whitefish ecotypes (Coregonus clupeaformis, Salmonidae) is accompanied by parallelism in gene transcription. The most striking phenotypic differences between these forms implied energetic metabolism and swimming activity. Therefore, we predicted that genes showing parallel expression should mainly belong to functional groups associated with these phenotypes. Transcriptome profiles were obtained from white muscle by using a 3557 cDNA gene microarray developed for the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). A total of 1181 genes expressed in both lake populations hybridized on the array. Significant differential expression between ecotypes was detected for 134 (11.3%) and 195 (16.5%) gene clones in Cliff Lake and Indian Pond, respectively. Fifty-one genes (4.3%) showed parallel differential expression between lakes, among which 35 were expressed in opposite directions. Sixteen genes (1.35%) showed true parallelism of transcription, which mainly belonged to energetic metabolism and regulation of muscle contraction functional groups. Variance in expression was significantly reduced for these genes compared to those not showing directionality in