title: Phenotypic plasticity in gene expression contributes to divergence of locally adapted populations of Fundulus heteroclitus.
abstract: We examine the interaction between phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary adaptation using muscle gene expression levels among populations of the fish Fundulus heteroclitus acclimated to three temperatures. Our analysis reveals shared patterns of phenotypic plasticity due to thermal acclimation as well as non-neutral patterns of variation among populations adapted to different thermal environments. For the majority of significant differences in gene expression levels, phenotypic plasticity and adaptation operate on different suites of genes. The subset of genes that demonstrate both adaptive differences and phenotypic plasticity, however, exhibit countergradient variation of expression. Thus, expression differences among populations counteract environmental effects, reducing the phenotypic differentiation between populations. Finally, gene-by-environment interactions among genes with non-neutral patterns of expression suggest that the penetrance of adaptive variation depends on the environmental conditions experienced by the individual.
authors.affiliation: Marine Biology and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA.
authors.forename: David I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Dayan
authors.affiliation: Marine Biology and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Crawford
authors.affiliation: Marine Biology and Fisheries, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL, 33149, USA.
authors.forename: Marjorie F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Oleksiak
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005431:Florida; D023781:Fundulidae / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005845:Georgia; D008281:Maine; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010641:Phenotype; D013696:Temperature
keywords: adaptation; fish; genomics; phenotypic plasticity