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Gene pleiotropy constrains gene expression changes in fish adapted to different thermal conditions

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  • Spiros Papakostas

    (University of Turku, Pharmacity, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4, 20520 Turku, Finland)

  • L. Asbjørn Vøllestad

    (Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo)

  • Matthieu Bruneaux

    (University of Turku, Pharmacity, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4, 20520 Turku, Finland)

  • Tutku Aykanat

    (University of Turku, Pharmacity, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4, 20520 Turku, Finland)

  • Joost Vanoverbeke

    (Laboratory of Aquatic Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, KU Leuven)

  • Mei Ning

    (University of Turku, Pharmacity, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4, 20520 Turku, Finland
    Present address: Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences (SIBS), 294 Taiyuan Road, Shanghai, China)

  • Craig R. Primmer

    (University of Turku, Pharmacity, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4, 20520 Turku, Finland)

  • Erica H. Leder

    (University of Turku, Pharmacity, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4, 20520 Turku, Finland)

Abstract

Understanding the factors that shape the evolution of gene expression is a central goal in biology, but the molecular mechanisms behind this remain controversial. A related major goal is ascertaining how such factors may affect the adaptive potential of a species or population. Here we demonstrate that temperature-driven gene expression changes in fish adapted to differing thermal environments are constrained by the level of gene pleiotropy estimated by either the number of protein interactions or gene biological processes. Genes with low pleiotropy levels were the main drivers of both plastic and evolutionary global expression profile changes, while highly pleiotropic genes had limited expression response to temperature treatment. Our study provides critical insights into the molecular mechanisms by which natural populations can adapt to changing environments. In addition to having important implications for climate change adaptation, these results suggest that gene pleiotropy should be considered more carefully when interpreting expression profiling data.

Suggested Citation

  • Spiros Papakostas & L. Asbjørn Vøllestad & Matthieu Bruneaux & Tutku Aykanat & Joost Vanoverbeke & Mei Ning & Craig R. Primmer & Erica H. Leder, 2014. "Gene pleiotropy constrains gene expression changes in fish adapted to different thermal conditions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms5071
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5071
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    Cited by:

    1. Tuomas Hämälä & Amanda J Gorton & David A Moeller & Peter Tiffin, 2020. "Pleiotropy facilitates local adaptation to distant optima in common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia)," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-23, March.

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