Journal of Heredity 2003:94(4)
© 2003 The American Genetic Association 94:291-301
Genetic Basis of Adaptive Shape Differences in the Cichlid Head
From the Hubbard Center for Genome Studies and the Department of Zoology, University of New Hampshire, 35 Colovos Road, Durham, NH 03824 (Albertson, Streelman, and Kocher). R. C. Albertson is currently at the Department of Cytokine Biology, The Forsyth Institute, 140 Fenway, Boston, MA 02115.
Address correspondence to R. C. Albertson at the address above, or e-mail: calbertson{at}forsyth.org.
East African cichlids exhibit an extraordinary level of morphological diversity. Key to their success has been a dramatic radiation in trophic biology, which has occurred rapidly and repeatedly in different lakes. In this report we take the first step in understanding the genetic basis of differences in cichlid oral jaw design. We estimate the effective number of genetic factors that control differences in the cichlid head through a comprehensive morphological assessment of two Lake Malawi cichlid species and their F1 and F2 hybrid progeny. We estimate that between one and 11 factors underlie shape difference of individual bony elements. We show that many of the skeletal differences in the head and oral jaw apparatus are inherited together, suggesting a degree of pleiotropy in the genetic architecture of this character complex. Moreover, we find that cosegregation of shape differences in different elements corresponds to developmental, rather than functional, units.
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