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Transcriptomic and macroevolutionary evidence for phenotypic uncoupling between frog life history phases

Wollenberg Valero, Katharina C.; Garcia-Porta, Joan; Rodríguez, Ariel; Arias, Mónica; Shah, Abhijeet; Randrianiaina, Roger Daniel; Brown, Jason L.; Glaw, Frank; Amat, Felix; Künzel, Sven; Metzler, Dirk; Isokpehi, Raphael D.; Vences, Miguel

Authors

Katharina C. Wollenberg Valero

Joan Garcia-Porta

Ariel Rodríguez

Mónica Arias

Abhijeet Shah

Roger Daniel Randrianiaina

Jason L. Brown

Frank Glaw

Felix Amat

Sven Künzel

Dirk Metzler

Raphael D. Isokpehi

Miguel Vences



Abstract

Anuran amphibians undergo major morphological transitions during development, but the contribution of their markedly different life-history phases to macroevolution has rarely been analysed. Here we generate testable predictions for coupling versus uncoupling of phenotypic evolution of tadpole and adult life-history phases, and for the underlying expression of genes related to morphological feature formation. We test these predictions by combining evidence from gene expression in two distantly related frogs, Xenopus laevis and Mantidactylus betsileanus, with patterns of morphological evolution in the entire radiation of Madagascan mantellid frogs. Genes linked to morphological structure formation are expressed in a highly phase-specific pattern, suggesting uncoupling of phenotypic evolution across life-history phases. This gene expression pattern agrees with uncoupled rates of trait evolution among life-history phases in the mantellids, which we show to have undergone an adaptive radiation. Our results validate a prevalence of uncoupling in the evolution of tadpole and adult phenotypes of frogs.

Citation

Wollenberg Valero, K. C., Garcia-Porta, J., Rodríguez, A., Arias, M., Shah, A., Randrianiaina, R. D., …Vences, M. (2017). Transcriptomic and macroevolutionary evidence for phenotypic uncoupling between frog life history phases. Nature communications, 8, Article 15213. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15213

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 9, 2017
Online Publication Date May 15, 2017
Publication Date May 15, 2017
Deposit Date May 30, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Nature communications
Electronic ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher Nature Publishing Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Article Number 15213
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15213
Keywords Adaptive radiation; Evolutionary developmental biology; Herpetology; Transcriptomics
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/451732
Publisher URL https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15213
Additional Information This is a copy of an open access article published in Nature communications, 2017, v.8.

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Copyright Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/





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