Gene expression remodelling and immune response during adaptive divergence in an African cichlid fish

Variation in gene expression contributes to ecological speciation by facilitating population persistence in novel environments. Likewise, immune response can be a relevant factor in speciation driven by adaptation to different environments. Previous studies examining gene expression differences between recently diverged ecotypes often relied on only one pair of populations, targeted the expression of only a subset of genes, or used wild caught-individuals. Here, we investigated the contribution of habitat-specific parasites and symbionts and the underlying immunological capabilities of ecotype hosts to adaptive divergence in lake-river population pairs of the cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni. To shed light on the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptive divergence, we compared parasite and microbiota communities, immune response, and gene expression patterns of fish from natural habitats and a lake-like pond setup. In all investigated population pairs, lake fish were more heavily par...