Convergence in organ size but not energy metabolism enzyme activities among wild Lake Whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) species pairs

The repeated evolution of similar phenotypes by similar mechanisms can be indicative of local adaptation, constraints or biases in the evolutionary process. Little is known about the incidence of physiological convergence in natural populations, so here we test whether energy metabolism in ‘dwarf’ and ‘normal’ Lake Whitefish evolves by similar mechanisms. Prior genomic and transcriptomic studies have found that divergence in energy metabolism is key to local adaptation in whitefish species pairs, but that distinct genetic and transcriptomic changes often underlie phenotypic evolution among lakes. Here, we predicted that traits at higher levels of biological organization, including the activities of energy metabolism enzymes (the product of enzyme concentration and turnover rate) and the relative proportions of metabolically active tissues (heart, liver, skeletal muscle), would show greater convergence than genetic and transcriptomic variation. We compared four whitefish species pairs an...

通过相似机制重复演化出相似表型（phenotypes）可能表明进化过程中的局部适应、约束或偏向性。目前对自然种群中生理趋同（physiological convergence）的发生率知之甚少，因此本研究旨在验证‘侏儒型’和‘正常型’湖白鲑（Lake Whitefish）的能量代谢（energy metabolism）是否通过相似机制演化。先前的基因组（genomic）和转录组（transcriptomic）研究表明，能量代谢的分化是白鲑物种对局部适应的关键，但不同湖泊间表型演化的基础往往是独特的遗传和转录组变化。本研究预测，生物组织较高层级的性状——包括能量代谢酶的活性（酶浓度与周转率的乘积）和代谢活跃组织（心脏、肝脏、骨骼肌）的相对比例——将比遗传和转录组变异表现出更强的趋同性。我们比较了四对白鲑物种...