When one phenotype is not enough: divergent evolutionary trajectories govern venom variation in a widespread rattlesnake species.
Details
Serval ID
serval:BIB_430ECBB141F9
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
When one phenotype is not enough: divergent evolutionary trajectories govern venom variation in a widespread rattlesnake species.
Journal
Proceedings. Biological sciences
ISSN
1471-2954 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0962-8452
Publication state
Published
Issued date
13/03/2019
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
286
Number
1898
Pages
20182735
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: ppublish
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Understanding the origin and maintenance of phenotypic variation, particularly across a continuous spatial distribution, represents a key challenge in evolutionary biology. For this, animal venoms represent ideal study systems: they are complex, variable, yet easily quantifiable molecular phenotypes with a clear function. Rattlesnakes display tremendous variation in their venom composition, mostly through strongly dichotomous venom strategies, which may even coexist within a single species. Here, through dense, widespread population-level sampling of the Mojave rattlesnake, Crotalus scutulatus, we show that genomic structural variation at multiple loci underlies extreme geographical variation in venom composition, which is maintained despite extensive gene flow. Unexpectedly, neither diet composition nor neutral population structure explain venom variation. Instead, venom divergence is strongly correlated with environmental conditions. Individual toxin genes correlate with distinct environmental factors, suggesting that different selective pressures can act on individual loci independently of their co-expression patterns or genomic proximity. Our results challenge common assumptions about diet composition as the key selective driver of snake venom evolution and emphasize how the interplay between genomic architecture and local-scale spatial heterogeneity in selective pressures may facilitate the retention of adaptive functional polymorphisms across a continuous space.
Keywords
Animals, Arizona, Biological Evolution, California, Crotalid Venoms/genetics, Crotalus/genetics, Crotalus/physiology, Diet, Environment, Gene-Environment Interaction, Genotype, Phenotype, Population Dynamics, adaptive trait, diet, phenotypic variation, population structure, structural polymorphism, venom
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
09/06/2022 9:43
Last modification date
10/06/2022 5:37