PRJNA540663
Molecular players shaping a dorsally restricted colour pattern in Tropheus duboisi
The goal of this study is to profile the expression of genes involved in the formation of a dorsally restricted yellow bar pigmentation in adult Tropheus duboisi Maswa morph from Lake Tanganyika. As a proxy, we used another morph, Tropheus duboisi Kigoma, which displays similar vertical bar formation in on its body skin but without the dorsal bar yellow pigmentation observed in Maswa morph. This allows us to identify genes underlying the yellow bar colouration, as well as genes involved in dorsal bar restriction of the pigment pattern by comparing dorsal versus ventral bar regions in each morph.Our study provides the first transcriptional profile of yellow bar pigmentation in cichlids, and also the first list of xanthophore-related genes in a member of Tropheini cichlid tribe. In addition, the identified list of differentially expressed genes in the bar regions allowed us to hypothesize potential molecular players controlling the dispersal of xanthophores along the dorso-ventral body axis in teleost fish.