Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2016. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science 354 (2016): 1305-1308, doi:10.1126/science.aah4993.
Description:
Atlantic killifish populations have rapidly adapted to normally lethal levels of pollution in four
urban estuaries. Through analysis of 384 whole killifish genome sequences and comparative
transcriptomics in four pairs of sensitive and tolerant populations, we identify the aryl
hydrocarbon receptor-based signaling pathway as a shared target of selection. This suggests
evolutionary constraint on adaptive solutions to complex toxicant mixtures at each site. However,
distinct molecular variants apparently contribute to adaptive pathway modification among
tolerant populations. Selection also targets other toxicity-mediating genes, and genes of
connected signaling pathways, indicating complex tolerance phenotypes and potentially
compensatory adaptations. Molecular changes are consistent with selection on standing genetic
variation. In killifish high nucleotide diversity has likely been a crucial substrate for selective
sweeps to propel rapid adaptation.
Description:
Primary support was from the United States
National Science Foundation (collaborative research grants DEB-1265282, DEB-1120512, DEB-
1120013, DEB-1120263, DEB-1120333, DEB-1120398 to JKC, DLC, MEH, SIK, MFO, JRS,
WW, and AW). Further support was provided by the National Institutes of Environmental Health
Sciences (1R01ES021934-01 to AW; P42ES007381 to MEH; R01ES019324 to JRS), and the
National Science Foundation (OCE-1314567 to AW). BC was supported by the Postdoctoral
Research Program at the US EPA administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education (Agreement DW92429801).
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
