New paper: Functional genetic basis of reproductive mode
Our paper on the genetic basis of parity mode is now published.
The functional genetic architecture of egg-laying and live-bearing reproduction in common lizards
H. Recknagel, M. Carruthers, A. Yurchenko, M. Nokhbatolfoghahai, N.A. Kamenos, M.M. Bain, K.R. Elmer
Nature Ecology and Evolution 2021
SharedIt link: https://rdcu.be/cy5S2
All amniotes reproduce either by egg-laying (oviparity), which is ancestral to vertebrates, or by live-bearing (viviparity), which has evolved many times independently. However, the genetic basis of these parity modes has never been resolved and consequently its convergence across evolutionary scales is currently unknown. Here we leveraged natural hybridisations between oviparous and viviparous common lizards (Zootoca vivipara) to describe the functional genes and genetic architecture of parity mode and its key traits, eggshell and gestation length, and compared our findings across vertebrates. In these lizards, parity trait genes were associated with progesterone-binding functions and enriched for tissue remodelling and immune system pathways. Viviparity involved more genes and complex gene networks than did oviparity. Angiogenesis, vascular endothelial growth, and adrenoreceptor pathways were enriched in the viviparous female reproductive tissue, while pathways for transforming growth factor were enriched in the oviparous. Natural selection on these parity mode genes was evident genome-wide. Our comparison to seven independent origins of viviparity in mammals, squamates, and fish showed that genes active in pregnancy were related to immunity, tissue remodelling, and blood vessel generation. Therefore, our results suggest that pre-established regulatory networks are repeatedly recruited for viviparity and that these are shared at deep evolutionary scales.
This work was supported by NERC, Genetics Society, and a Lord Kelvin-Adam Smith Univ Glasgow PhD studentship
Big thanks to the many fieldwork helpers, young and old.
