Growth genes are implicated in the evolutionary divergence of sympatric piscivorous and insectivorous rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Identifying ecologically significant phenotypic traits and the genomic mechanisms that underly them are crucial steps in understanding the traits associated with population divergence. We used genome-wide data to identify genomic regions associated with a key trait that distinguishes two ecotypes of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) – insectivores and piscivores – that coexist in Kootenay Lake, southeastern British Columbia, for the non-breeding portion of the year. \"Gerrards\" are large-bodied (breeding maturity at >60cm) piscivores that spawn 50km north of Kootenay Lake in the Lardeau River, in contrast to the insectivorous populations that are on average smaller in body size, mainly forage on aquatic insects, and spawn in tributaries immediately surrounding Kootenay Lake. We used pool-seq data covering 60 percent of the genome to assess the level of genomic divergence between ecotypes, test for genotype-phenotype associations, and identify loci that may play functional or selecti...

识别具有生态意义的表型性状（phenotypic traits）及其背后的基因组机制（genomic mechanisms），是理解与种群分化（population divergence）相关性状的关键步骤。我们利用全基因组数据（genome-wide data）识别了与一个关键性状相关的基因组区域，该性状可区分虹鳟（Oncorhynchus mykiss）的两个生态型（ecotypes）——食虫型和食鱼型，这两种生态型在不列颠哥伦比亚省东南部的库特尼湖（Kootenay Lake）的非繁殖期共存。"杰拉德鳟"（Gerrards）是体型较大的食鱼型个体（繁殖成熟体长>60厘米），它们在库特尼湖以北50公里处的拉尔多河（Lardeau River）产卵；相比之下，食虫型种群平均体型较小，主要以水生昆虫为食，并在库特尼湖周边的支流中产卵。我们利用覆盖基因组60%的池测序数据（pool-seq data）评估了生态型之间的基因组分化水平，检验了基因型-表型关联（genotype-phenotype associations），并识别了可能发挥功能或选择...