Studies of threespine stickleback developmental evolution: progress and promise

Abstract

A promising route for understanding the origin and diversification of organismal form is through studies at the intersection of evolution and development (evo-devo). While much has been learned over the last two decades concerning macroevolutionary patterns of developmental change, a fundamental gap in the evo-devo synthesis is the integration of mathematical population and quantitative genetics with studies of how genetic variation in natural populations affects developmental processes. This micro-evo-devo synthesis requires model organisms with which to ask empirical questions. Threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus), long a model for studying behavior, ecology and evolution, is emerging as a prominent model micro-evo-devo system. Research on stickleback over the last decade has begun to address the genetic basis of morphological variation and sex determination, and much of this work has important implications for understanding the genetics of speciation. In this paper we review recent threespine stickleback micro-evo-devo results, and outline the resources that have been developed to make this synthesis possible. The prospects for stickleback research to speed the micro-(and macro-) evo-devo syntheses are great, and this workhorse model system is well situated to continue contributing to our understanding of the generation of diversity in organismal form for many more decades.

Extensive linkage disequilibrium and parallel adaptive divergence across threespine stickleback genomes

“…Across coastal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, oceanic stickleback have repeatedly given rise to freshwater populations that have diverged in numerous traits. In some cases, this diversification has led to the formation of new species [61][62][63][64][65]. These speciation events in stickleback correspond to significant environmental differences, such as salinity and temperature variation between ocean and freshwater habitats, or benthic and limnetic niches in fresh water [63,[66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75].…”

Toward conservation of genetic and phenotypic diversity in Japanese sticklebacks

“…Stickleback fishes have been established as a leading model system for studying the genetic mechanisms that underlie naturally occurring phenotypic diversification and speciation (Peichel, 2005;Cresko et al, 2007;Kingsley and Peichel, 2007). Fishes belonging to family Gasterosteidae (order Gasterosteiformes) are generally called sticklebacks.…”

Evolution of growth by genetic accommodation in Icelandic freshwater stickleback

“…I evaluate the interplay between environmental influences on phenotype and microevolution using threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) [47,48]. These small Holarctic fish are ideal because an evolutionarily conservative marine population frequently makes a major ecological transition by colonizing and rapidly diversifying in freshwater environments [47,49,50].…”

“…These small Holarctic fish are ideal because an evolutionarily conservative marine population frequently makes a major ecological transition by colonizing and rapidly diversifying in freshwater environments [47,49,50]. In Iceland, freshwater stickleback have diverged from extant marine forms in body size, shape and coloration [51,52] as elsewhere [47,48]. Phenotypic change in freshwater populations can be rapid [53,54] and is limited by deglaciation in Iceland to less than 10 000 years [55].…”