Data from: When phenotypes do not match genotypes – unexpected phenotypic diversity and potential environmental constraints in Icelandic stickleback

Divergent lateral plate phenotypes in stickleback represent one of only a few cases known where a single gene underlies the phenotype under divergent selection between different habitats. However, the selection pressures leading to the repeated loss of lateral plates in freshwater are still not well understood. By genotyping 838 individuals from nine independently colonized lakes and one marine population in Iceland, we found i) that only in some lakes are phenotypes associated with the expected genotype and ii) that the independent repeated occurrence of a rarely described plate phenotype is expressed in the absence of an allele that is usually associated with this phenotype. This suggests that either other genes such as modifiers might be under divergent selection between lakes or that lateral plate expression in these populations is restricted due to environmental constraints.

棘鱼的趋异侧板表型，是目前已知少数几个以单基因作为遗传基础、对应不同生境间趋异选择的表型案例之一。然而，导致淡水生境中侧板反复丢失的选择压力，目前仍未被充分阐明。本研究对冰岛9个独立定殖的淡水湖泊及1个海洋种群的838个个体开展基因分型后发现：其一，仅在部分湖泊中，表型与预期基因型存在关联；其二，一种此前鲜有报道的侧板表型，可在缺少该表型通常关联的等位基因的情况下独立反复出现。这表明，要么是诸如修饰基因等其他基因在不同湖泊间受到趋异选择，要么是这些种群的侧板表达受到环境约束的限制。