Despite the significance of phenotypic plasticity in the evolution and ecology of natural populations and the ongoing development of new genomic tools, the underlying genetic basis remains unresolved.
Facultative paedomorphosis, a widespread polyphenism among several species of salamanders and newts, is considered to be the result of interactions between ecological factors and genotypes, resulting in the manifestation of alternative morphotypes.
We examined the underlying mechanisms of genetic and phenotypic divergence among the alternative morphs of a natural population of the Greek smooth newt (Lissotriton graecus). By obtaining thousands of SNPs through ddRAD-sequencing, we detected candidate loci, putatively associated with each morphotype, that mapped to four genes.
The identified genes have functional roles in metabolic processes and stress responses that may mediate the persistence of alternative ontogenetic trajectories in newts.
Find more here: https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blac103
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