title: Opsin gene duplication and diversification in the guppy, a model for sexual selection.
abstract: Identification of genes that control variation in adaptive characters is a prerequisite for understanding the processes that drive sexual and natural selection. Male coloration and female colour perception play important roles in mate choice in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a model organism for studies of natural and sexual selection. We examined a potential source for the known variation in colour perception, by analysing genomic and complementary DNA sequences of genes that code for visual pigment proteins. We find high sequence variability, both within and between populations, and expanded copy number for long-wave sensitive (LWS) opsin genes. Alleles with non-synonymous changes that suggest dissimilar spectral tuning properties occur in the same population and even in the same individual, and the high frequency of non-synonymous substitutions argues for diversifying selection acting on these proteins. Therefore, variability in tuning amino acids is partitioned within individuals and populations of the guppy, in contrast to variability for LWS at higher taxonomic levels in cichlids, a second model system for differentiation owing to sexual selection. Since opsin variability parallels the extreme male colour polymorphism within guppy populations, we suggest that mate choice has been a major factor driving the coevolution of opsins and male ornaments in this species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen D72076, Germany.
authors.forename: Margarete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Namita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.forename: Stefan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Henz
authors.forename: Anna K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Lindholm
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weigel
authors.forename: Felix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Breden
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dreyer
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003118:Color Perception / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018628:Gene Dosage; D020440:Gene Duplication; D006239:Haplotypes; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011036:Poecilia / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017299:Rod Opsins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D017299:Rod Opsins; C095855:long-wavelength opsin