Developmental divergence in gene regulation underlies trophic innovation in Lake Victoria cichlids.
7 affiliations
- 1Institute for Aquatic Ecology and Fisheries Management, Federal Agency for Water Management 2 , Austria
- 2Institute of Biology, University of Graz 1 , Graz, Austria
- 3Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern 3 , Bern, Switzerland
- 4Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) 4 , Kastanienbaum, Lucerne, Switzerland
- 5Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, University of Helsinki 5 , Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
- 6Core Facility Computational Bioanalytics, Centre for Medical Research, Medical University of Graz 7 , Graz, Austria
- 7Diagnostic and Research Centre for Molecular BioMedicine, Institute of Pathology, Medical University of Graz 6 , Graz, Austria
Abstract
The role of developmental shifts in the emergence of ecological diversity during adaptive radiation remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we investigate the developmental gene regulatory landscape of trophic innovation in the rapid adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes from Lake Victoria (LV), which evolved into hundreds of species in less than 16 000 years. By analysing the whole transcriptomes of functionally decoupled oral and pharyngeal jaws from two life stages, we show that both gene and isoform expression are highly developmentally dynamic in ecologically divergent species. Gene regulation is conserved at the tissue level in the jaws of ecologically distinct species at the early life stage and then diverges into guild-specific developmental programmes in adults. We further show that gene expression and alternative splicing regulate different pathways, particularly in adults, suggesting that these two gene regulatory mechanisms are constrained to perform non-redundant functions, at least at the early stages of adaptive radiation. Interestingly, we found that splicing-mediated exonization of the craniofacial development gene, kaznb, may have contributed to the evolution of herbivory in LV cichlids. Overall, our study suggests that ontogenetic shifts in gene regulation play a key role in the rapid emergence of guild-specific ecological diversity in LV cichlids.
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BibTeX
@article{duenser2026developmental,
title = {{Developmental divergence in gene regulation underlies trophic innovation in Lake Victoria cichlids.}},
author = {Anna Duenser and Pooja Singh and Ehsan Pashay Ahi and Marija Durdević and Sylvia Schäffer and Julian Gallaun and Wolfgang Gessl and Ole Seehausen C D and Christian Sturmbauer},
journal = {Proceedings. Biological sciences},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1098/rspb.2025.3318},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42838562},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Developmental divergence in gene regulation underlies trophic innovation in Lake Victoria cichlids.
AU - Anna Duenser
AU - Pooja Singh
AU - Ehsan Pashay Ahi
AU - Marija Durdević
AU - Sylvia Schäffer
AU - Julian Gallaun
AU - Wolfgang Gessl
AU - Ole Seehausen C D
AU - Christian Sturmbauer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Proceedings. Biological sciences
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2025.3318
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42838562
AB - The role of developmental shifts in the emergence of ecological diversity during adaptive radiation remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we investigate the developmental gene regulatory landscape of trophic innovation in the rapid adaptive radiation of cichlid fishes from Lake Victoria (LV), which evolved into hundreds of species in less than 16 000 years. By analysing the whole transcriptomes of functionally decoupled oral and pharyngeal jaws from two life stages, we show that both gene and isoform expression are highly developmentally dynamic in ecologically divergent species. Gene regulation is conserved at the tissue level in the jaws of ecologically distinct species at the early life stage and then diverges into guild-specific developmental programmes in adults. We further show that gene expression and alternative splicing regulate different pathways, particularly in adults, suggesting that these two gene regulatory mechanisms are constrained to perform non-redundant functions, at least at the early stages of adaptive radiation. Interestingly, we found that splicing-mediated exonization of the craniofacial development gene, kaznb, may have contributed to the evolution of herbivory in LV cichlids. Overall, our study suggests that ontogenetic shifts in gene regulation play a key role in the rapid emergence of guild-specific ecological diversity in LV cichlids.
SN - 0962-8452
SN - 1471-2954
SN - 0080-4649
SN - 2053-9193
ER -