ArticleBMC ecology and evolution2021
Genetic mapping of metabolic traits in the blind Mexican cavefish reveals sex-dependent quantitative trait loci associated with cave adaptation.
Article in BMC ecology and evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- The resident effect dominates over previous winner/loser experience in surface fish of the Mexican tetra.Animal behaviour · 2026Article
- Disruption of carotenoid metabolism in cavefish via loss of beta-carotene oxygenase 2a.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Automated Profiling of Social Behaviors to Assess the Genetic Basis of Evolution of Aggressive Behaviors in Astyanax mexicanus.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2026Article
- Lack of gastric acidification reduces postprandial energy expenditure and protein digestion but not growth in Astyanax mexicanus.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Article
- CRISPR screening reveals genetic regulators associated with the evolution of eye degeneration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Cave adaptation favors aging resilience in the Mexican tetra.npj metabolic health and disease · 2025Article
- Article
- Differential expression of sex regulatory genes in gonads of Astyanax mexicanus surface fish and cavefish.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Quantitative trait loci concentrate in specific regions of the Mexican cavefish genome and reveal key candidate genes for cave-associated evolution.The Journal of heredity · 2025Article
- Postprandial Sleep in Short-Sleeping Mexican Cavefish.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2024Article
- Sugar assimilation underlying dietary evolution of Neotropical bats.Nature ecology & evolution · 2024Article
- Sex-specific life-history trait expression in hybrids of a cave- and surface-dwelling fish (Current zoology · 2024Article
- Postprandial sleep in short-sleeping Mexican cavefish.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Sensing in the dark: Constructive evolution of the lateral line system in blind populations ofEcology and evolution · 2024Review
- Host evolution shapes gut microbiome composition inEcology and evolution · 2024Article
- From darkness to discovery: evolutionary, adaptive, and translational genetic insights from cavefish.Trends in genetics : TIG · 2024Review
- The first cavefish in the Dinaric Karst? Cave colonization made possible by phenotypic plasticity inZoological research · 2023Article
- Convergence on reduced aggression through shared behavioral traits in multiple populations of Astyanax mexicanus.BMC ecology and evolution · 2022Article
- Sex-specific aging in animals: Perspective and future directions.Aging cell · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDespite a longstanding interest in understanding how animals adapt to environments with limited nutrients, we have incomplete knowledge of the genetic basis of metabolic evolution. The Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, is a species of fish that consists of two morphotypes; eyeless cavefish that have adapted to a low-nutrient cave environment, and ancestral river-dwelling surface fish with abundant access to nutrients. Cavefish have evolved altered blood sugar regulation, starvation tolerance, increased fat accumulation, and superior body condition. To investigate the genetic basis of cavefish metabolic evolution we carried out a quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis in surface/cave F2 hybrids. We genetically mapped seven metabolism-associated traits in hybrids that were challenged with a nutrient restricted diet.
resultsWe found that female F2 hybrids are bigger than males and have a longer hindgut, bigger liver, and heavier gonad, even after correcting for fish size. Although there is no difference between male and female blood sugar level, we found that high blood sugar is associated with weight gain in females and lower body weight and fat level in males. We identified a significant QTL associated with 24-h-fasting blood glucose level with the same effect in males and females. Differently, we identified sex-independent and sex-dependent QTL associated with fish length, body condition, liver size, hindgut length, and gonad weight. We found that some of the genes within the metabolism QTL display evidence of non-neutral evolution and are likely to be under selection. Furthermore, we report predicted nonsynonymous changes to the cavefish coding sequence of these genes.
conclusionsOur study reveals previously unappreciated genomic regions associated with blood glucose regulation, body condition, gonad size, and internal organ morphology. In addition, we find an interaction between sex and metabolism-related traits in A. mexicanus. We reveal coding changes in genes that are likely under selection in the low-nutrient cave environment, leading to a better understanding of the genetic basis of metabolic evolution.
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