Rapid and parallel adaptive evolution of the visual system of Neotropical Midas cichlid fishes

Torres-Dowdall, J., Pierotti, M. E.R., Härer, A., Karagic, N., Woltering, J. M., Henning, F., Elmer, K. R. and Meyer, A. (2017) Rapid and parallel adaptive evolution of the visual system of Neotropical Midas cichlid fishes. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 34(10), pp. 2469-2485. (doi: 10.1093/molbev/msx143) (PMID:28444297)

Abstract

Midas cichlid fish are a Central American species flock containing 13 described species that has been dated to only few thousand years old, a historical timescale infrequently associated with speciation. Their radiation involved the colonization of several clear water crater lakes from two turbid great lakes. Therefore, Midas cichlids have been subjected to widely varying photic conditions during their radiation. Being a primary signal relay for information from the environment to the organism, the visual system is under continuing selective pressure and a prime organ system for accumulating adaptive changes during speciation, particularly in the case of dramatic shifts in photic conditions. Here, we characterize the full visual system of Midas cichlids at organismal and genetic levels, to determine what types of adaptive changes evolved within the short time span of their radiation. We show that Midas cichlids have a diverse visual system with unexpectedly high intra- and interspecific variation in color vision sensitivity and lens transmittance. Midas cichlid populations in the clear crater lakes have convergently evolved visual sensitivities shifted towards shorter wavelengths compared to the ancestral populations from the turbid great lakes. This divergence in sensitivity is driven by changes in chromophore usage, differential opsin expression, opsin coexpression, and to a lesser degree by opsin coding sequence variation. The visual system of Midas cichlids has the evolutionary capacity to rapidly integrate multiple adaptations to changing light environments. Our data may indicate that, in early stages of divergence, changes in opsin regulation could precede changes in opsin coding sequence evolution.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the European Research Council through ERC - advanced (grant number 293700 - GenAdap to A.M) , the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grant number 914/2 - 1 to J.T.D.) , the EU FP7 Marie Curie Zukunftskol leg Incoming Fellowship Programme, University of Konstanz (grant number 291784 to J.T.D.) , and the Young Scholar Fund of the University of Konstanz (grant number FP 794/15 to J.T.D.).
• Keywords: Amphilophus, cichlid, crater lake, opsin, vision, visual sensitivity.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Elmer, Professor Kathryn
• Authors: Torres-Dowdall, J., Pierotti, M. E.R., Härer, A., Karagic, N., Woltering, J. M., Henning, F., Elmer, K. R., and Meyer, A.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Molecular Biology and Evolution
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 0737-4038
• ISSN (Online): 1537-1719
• Published Online: 21 April 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Molecular Biology and Evolution 34(10): 2469-2485
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher