title: Quantitative trait locus analysis of body shape divergence in nine-spined sticklebacks based on high-density SNP-panel.
abstract: Heritable phenotypic differences between populations, caused by the selective effects of distinct environmental conditions, are of commonplace occurrence in nature. However, the actual genomic targets of this kind of selection are still poorly understood. We conducted a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping study to identify genomic regions responsible for morphometric differentiation between genetically and phenotypically divergent marine and freshwater nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) populations. Using a dense panel of SNP-markers obtained by restriction site associated DNA sequencing of an F2 recombinant cross, we found 22 QTL that explained 3.5-12.9% of phenotypic variance in the traits under investigation. We detected one fairly large-effect (PVE = 9.6%) QTL for caudal peduncle length-a trait with a well-established adaptive function showing clear differentiation among marine and freshwater populations. We also identified two large-effect QTL for lateral plate numbers, which are different from the lateral plate QTL reported in earlier studies of this and related species. Hence, apart from identifying several large-effect QTL in shape traits showing adaptive differentiation in response to different environmental conditions, the results suggest intra- and interspecific heterogeneity in the genomic basis of lateral plate number variation.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.|Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Baocheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Takahito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shikano
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Merilä
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010473:Perciformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci