Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
497
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.7.1
Dataset results
497 results for “stickleback”
Data from: Phosphorus limitation does not drive loss of bony lateral plates in freshwater stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Connecting the selective forces that drive the evolution of phenotypes to their underlying genotypes is key to understanding adaptation, but such connections are rarely tested experimentally. Threespine stickleback (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>) are a powerful model for such tests because genotypes that underlie putatively adaptive traits have been identified. For example, a regulatory mutation in the <i>Ectodysplasin</i> (<i>Eda</i>) gene causes a reduction in the number of bony armor plates, which occurs rapidly and repeatedly when marine sticklebacks invade freshwater. However, the source of selection on plate loss in freshwater is unknown. Here, we tested whether dietary reduction of phosphorus can account for selection on plate loss due to a growth advantage of low-plated fish in freshwater. We crossed marine fish heterozygous for the 16 kilobase freshwater <i>Eda</i> haplotype and compared the growth of offspring with different genotypes under contrasting levels of dietary phosphorus in both saltwater and freshwater. <i>Eda</i> genotype was not associated with growth differences in any treatment, or with mechanisms that could mitigate the impacts of phosphorus limitation, like differential phosphorus deposition, phosphorus excretion, or intestine length. This study highlights the importance of experimentally testing the putative selective forces acting on phenotypes and their underlying genotypes in the wild.
Inferred genetic architecture underlying evolution in a fossil stickleback lineage
<p>Inferring the genetic architecture of evolution in the fossil record is difficult because genetic crosses are impossible, the acquisition of DNA is usually impossible, and phenotype-genotype maps are rarely obvious. However, such inference is valuable because it reveals the genetic basis of microevolutionary change across many more generations than is possible in studies of extant taxa, thereby integrating microevolutionary process and macroevolutionary pattern. Here, we infer the genetic basis of pelvic skeleton reduction in <i>Gasterosteus doryssus</i>, a Miocene stickleback fish from a finely resolved stratigraphic sequence that spans nearly 17,000 years. Reduction in pelvic score, a categorical measure of pelvic structure, resulted primarily from reciprocal frequency changes of two discrete phenotypic classes. Pelvic vestiges also showed left-side-larger asymmetry. These patterns implicate <i>Pitx1</i>, a large-effect gene whose deletion generates left-larger asymmetry of pelvic vestiges in extant, closely-related <i>Gasterosteus aculeatus. </i>In contrast, reductions in lengths of the pelvic girdle and pelvic spines resulted from directional shifts of unimodal, continuous trait distributions, suggesting an additional suite of genes with minor, additive pelvic effects, again like <i>G. aculeatus</i>. Similar genetic architectures explain shared but phyletically independent patterns across 10 million years of stickleback evolution.</p>
On the causes of geographically heterogeneous parallel evolution in sticklebacks
<p>The three-spined stickleback (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>) is an important model system for the study of parallel evolution in the wild, having repeatedly colonized and adapted to freshwater from the sea throughout the northern hemisphere. Previous studies identified numerous genomic regions showing consistent genetic differentiation between freshwater and marine ecotypes but these had typically limited geographic sampling and mostly focused on the Eastern Pacific region. We analysed population genomic data from global samples of the three-spined stickleback marine and freshwater ecotypes to detect loci involved in parallel evolution at different geographic scales. Most signatures of parallel evolution were unique to the Eastern Pacific and trans-oceanic marine–freshwater differentiation was restricted to a limited number of shared genomic regions, including three chromosomal inversions. On the basis of simulations and empirical data, we demonstrate that this could result from the stochastic loss of freshwater-adapted alleles during the invasion of the Atlantic basin and selection against freshwater-adapted variants in the sea, both of which can reduce standing genetic variation available for freshwater adaptation outside the Eastern Pacific region. Moreover, the elevated linkage disequilibrium associated with marine–freshwater differentiation in the Eastern Pacific is consistent with secondary contact between marine and freshwater populations that evolved in isolation from each other during past glacial periods. Thus, contrary to what earlier studies from the Eastern Pacific region have led us to believe, parallel marine–freshwater differentiation in sticklebacks is far less prevalent and pronounced in all other parts of the species global distribution range.</p>
Data from: Phenotypic flexibility in background-mediated color change in sticklebacks
<p>Phenotypic flexibility may incur a selective advantage in changing and heterogeneous environments, and is increasingly recognized as an integral aspect of organismal adaptation. Despite the widespread occurrence and potential importance of rapid and reversible background-mediated color change for predator avoidance, knowledge gaps remain regarding its adaptive value, repeatability within individuals, phenotypic correlates, and whether its expression is context dependent. We used manipulative experiments to investigate these issues in two fish species, the three-spined (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>) and nine-spined stickleback (<i>Pungitius pungitius</i>). We sequentially exposed individuals to dark and light visual background treatments, quantified color change from video recordings, and examined associations of color change with phenotypic dimensions that can influence the outcome of predator-prey interactions. <i>G. aculeatus</i> expressed a greater degree of color change compared to <i>P. pungitius</i>. In <i>G. aculeatus, </i>the<i> </i>color change response was repeatable within individuals. Moreover, the color change response was independent of body size but affected by sex and boldness, with males and bolder individuals changing less. Infection by the parasite <i><span>Schistocephalus solidus</span></i> did not affect the degree of color change, but it did modulate its association with sex and boldness. <i>G. aculeatus</i> adjusted the expression of color change in response to predation risk, with enhanced color change expression in individuals exposed to either simulated attacks, or olfactory cues from a natural predator. These results provide novel evidence on repeatability, correlated traits, and context dependence in the color change response and highlight how a suite of factors can contribute to individual variation in phenotypic flexibility.</p>
Prior exposure to long day photoperiods alters immune responses and increases susceptibility to parasitic infection in stickleback
<p>Seasonal disease and parasitic infection are common across organisms, including humans, and there is increasing evidence for intrinsic seasonal variation in immune systems. Changes are orchestrated through organisms' physiological clocks using cues such as day length. Ample research in diverse taxa has demonstrated multiple immune responses are modulated by photoperiod, but to date, there have been few experimental demonstrations that photoperiod cues alter susceptibility to infection. We investigated the interactions among photoperiod history, immunity, and susceptibility in laboratory-bred three-spined stickleback, a long-day breeding fish, and its external, directly-reproducing, monogenean parasite <i>Gyrodactylus gasterostei</i>. We demonstrate that previous exposure to long day photoperiods (PLD) increases susceptibility to infection relative to previous exposure to short days (PSD), and modifies the response to infection for the mucin gene <i>muc2</i> and Treg cytokine <i>foxp3a</i> in skin tissues in an intermediate 12L:12D photoperiod experimental trial. Expression of skin <i>muc2</i> is reduced in PLD fish, and negatively associated with parasite abundance. We also observe inflammatory gene expression variation associated with natural inter-population variation in resistance, but find that photoperiod modulation of susceptibility is consistent across host populations. Thus, photoperiod-modulation of the response to infection is important for host susceptibility, highlighting new mechanisms affecting seasonality of host-parasite interactions.</p>
Data from: The genomic signature of ecological divergence along the benthic-limnetic axis in allopatric and sympatric threespine stickleback
<p>The repeated occurrence of similar phenotypes in independent lineages (i.e., parallel evolution) in response to similar ecological conditions can provide compelling insights into the process of adaptive evolution. An intriguing question is to what extent repeated phenotypic changes are underlain by repeated changes at the genomic level and whether patterns of genomic divergence differ with the geographic context in which populations evolve. Here, we combine genomic, morphological and ecological datasets to investigate the genomic signatures of divergence across populations of threespine stickleback (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>) that adapted to contrasting ecological niches (benthic or limnetic) in either sympatry or allopatry. We found that genome-wide differentiation (F<sub>ST</sub>) was an order of magnitude higher and substantially more repeatable for sympatric benthic and limnetic specialists compared to allopatric populations with similar levels of ecological divergence. We identified genomic regions consistently differentiated between sympatric ecotypes that were also differentiated between or associated with benthic vs. limnetic niche in allopatric populations. These candidate regions were enriched on three chromosomes known to be involved in the benthic-limnetic divergence of threespine stickleback. Some candidate regions overlapped with QTL for body shape and trophic traits such as gill raker number, traits that strongly differ between benthic and limnetic ecotypes. In sum, our study shows that magnitude and repeatability of genomic signatures of ecological divergence in threespine stickleback highly depend on the geographic context. The identified candidate regions provide starting points to identify functionally important genes for the adaptation to benthic and limnetic niches.</p>
Raw nucleotide counts for clinal Misty Lake and stream stickleback samples
<div> <p class="x_MsoNormal"><span>How ecological divergence causes strong reproductive isolation between populations in close geographic contact remains poorly understood at the genomic level. We here study this question in a stickleback fish population pair adapted to contiguous, ecologically different lake and stream habitats. Clinal whole-genome sequence data reveal numerous genome regions (nearly) fixed for alternative alleles over a distance of just a few hundred meters. This strong polygenic adaptive divergence must constitute a genome-wide barrier to gene flow because a steep cline in allele frequencies is observed across the entire genome, and because the cline center co-localizes with the habitat transition. Simulations confirm that such strong divergence can be maintained by polygenic selection despite high dispersal and small per-locus selection coefficients. Finally, comparing samples from near the habitat transition before and after an unusual ecological perturbation demonstrates the fragility of the balance between gene flow and selection. Overall, our study highlights the efficacy of divergent selection in maintaining reproductive isolation without physical isolation, and the analytical power of studying speciation at a fine eco-geographic and genomic scale.</span></p> </div> <p> </p>
Fitness maps to a large-effect locus in introduced stickleback populations
<p>Mutations of small effect underlie most adaptation to new environments, but beneficial variants with large fitness effects are expected to contribute under certain conditions. Genes and genomic regions having large effects on phenotypic differences between populations are known from numerous taxa, but fitness effect sizes have rarely been estimated. We mapped fitness over a generation in an F2 intercross between a marine and a lake stickleback population introduced to a freshwater pond. A QTL map of the number of surviving offspring per F2 female detected a single, large-effect locus near <i>Ectodysplasin</i> (<i>Eda</i>), a gene having an ancient freshwater allele causing reduced bony armor and other changes. F2 females homozygous for the freshwater allele had twice the number of surviving offspring as homozygotes for the marine allele, producing a large selection coefficient, <i>s</i> = 0.50 ± 0.09 SE. Correspondingly, the frequency of the freshwater allele increased from 0.50 in F2 mothers to 0.58 in surviving offspring. We compare these results to observed allele frequency changes at the <i>Eda</i> gene in an Alaskan lake population colonized by marine stickleback in the 1980's. The frequency of the freshwater <i>Eda</i> allele rose steadily over multiple generations and reached 95% within 20 years, yielding a similar estimate of selection, <i>s</i> = 0.49 ± 0.05. These findings are consistent with other studies suggesting strong selection on this gene (and/or linked genes) in fresh water. Selection on ancient genetic variants carried by colonizing ancestors is likely to increase the prevalence of large-effect fitness variants in adaptive evolution.</p>
Microhabitat contributes to microgeographic divergence in threespine stickleback
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Since the New Synthesis, most migration-selection balance theory predicted that there should be negligible differentiation over small spatial scales (relative to dispersal), because gene flow should erode any effect of divergent selection. Nevertheless, there are classic examples of microgeographic divergence, which theory suggests can arise under specific conditions: exceptionally strong selection, phenotypic plasticity in philopatric individuals, or non-random dispersal. Here, we present evidence of microgeographic morphological variation within lake and stream populations of threespine stickleback (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>). It seems reasonable to assume, and most researchers have, that a given lake or stream population of fish is well-mixed. However, we found this assumption to be untenable. We examined trap-to-trap variation in 34 morphological traits measured on stickleback from 16 lakes and 16 streams. Most traits varied appreciably among traps within populations. Both between-trap distance and microhabitat characteristics like depth and substrate explained some of the within-population morphological variance. Microhabitat was also associated with genotype at particular loci but there was no genetic isolation by distance, implying that heritable habitat preferences may contribute to microgeographic variation. Our study adds to growing evidence that microgeographic divergence can occur across small spatial scales within individuals' daily dispersal neighborhood where gene flow is expected to be strong. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Attractive male sticklebacks carry more oxidative DNA damage in the soma and germline
<p>Trade-offs between the expression of sexual signals and the maintenance of somatic and germline tissues are expected when these depend upon the same resources. Despite the importance of sperm DNA integrity, its trade-off with sexual signalling has rarely been explored. We experimentally tested the trade-off between carotenoid-based sexual colouration and oxidative DNA damage in skeletal muscle, testis and sperm by manipulating reproductive schedule (early <i>vs.</i> late onset of breeding) in male three-spined sticklebacks. Oxidative DNA damage was measured as the amount of 8-hydroxy-2-deoxy-Guanosine in genomic DNA. Irrespective of the experimentally manipulated reproductive schedule, individuals investing more in red colouration showed higher levels of oxidative DNA damage in muscle, testis and sperm during the peak breeding season. Our results show that the expression of red colouration traded off against the level of oxidative DNA damage possibly due to the competing functions of carotenoids as colorants and antioxidants. Thus, female sticklebacks may risk fertility and viability of offspring by choosing redder, more deteriorated partners with decreased sperm DNA integrity. The evolution of sexual signal may be constrained by oxidative DNA damage in the soma and germline. </p>
Data from: A phylogenomic perspective to diversity, hybridization and evolutionary affinities in the stickleback genus Pungitius
<p>Hybridization and convergent evolution are phenomena of broad interest in evolutionary biology, but their occurrence poses challenges for reconstructing evolutionary affinities among affected taxa. Sticklebacks in the genus Pungitius are a case in point: evolutionary relationships and taxonomic validity of different species and populations in this circumpolarly distributed species complex remain contentious due to convergent evolution of traits regarded as diagnostic in their taxonomy, and possibly also due to frequent hybridization among taxa. To clarify the evolutionary relationships among different Pungitius species and populations globally, as well as to study prevalence and extent of introgression among recognized species, genomic datasets of both reference genome-anchored SNPs and de novo assembled RAD-tag loci were constructed with RAD-seq data. Both datasets yielded topologically identical and well-supported species trees. Incongruence between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA-based trees was found and suggested frequent hybridization and mitogenome capture during the evolution of Pungitius sticklebacks. Further analyses revealed evidence for frequent nuclear genetic introgression among Pungitius species, although the estimated proportions of autosomal introgression were low. Apart from providing evidence for frequent hybridization, the results challenge earlier mitochondrial and morphology-based hypotheses about the number of species and their affinities in this genus: at least seven extant species can be recognized on the basis of genetic data. The results also shed new light on the biogeographic history of the Pungitius-complex, including suggestion of several trans-Arctic invasions of Europe from the Northern Pacific. The well-resolved phylogeny should facilitate the utility of this genus as a model system for future comparative evolutionary studies.</p>
Pelvic spine reduction affects diet but not gill raker morphology in two polymorphic brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) populations
<p>Pelvic spine polymorphism occurs in several species in the stickleback family (<em>Gasterosteidae</em>). Given parallel selection driving similar phenotypic polymorphisms in multiple stickleback species, we sought to determine the extent of parallelism in the ecological consequences of pelvic spine reduction. Based on a metabarcoding analysis of brook stickleback gut contents in two polymorphic populations, we found a shift towards a planktonic diet was associated with pelvic spine reduction. These results contrast with those found in threespine stickleback where pelvic spine reduction is associated with a shift towards a benthic diet. Hence, we found non-parallel consequences of spine polymorphism across species. Furthermore, a change in gill raker morphology has been consistently implicated in the change in diet in pelvic-reduced threespine stickleback. But we found no evidence of any difference in gill raker morphology associated with pelvic spine polymorphism in brook stickleback.</p>
Characterizing contemporary evolutionary change in a recently isolated population of Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.)
<p>Parallel evolution of lateral plates and body shape in threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is an iconic example of adaptation. We test a case of contemporary evolutionary transition in a recently isolated population of marine G. aculeatus in British Columbia, Canada. We investigate Ectodysplasin (Eda) genotypes, plate counts, neutral genetic divergence and whole-body phenotypes to determine genetic and phenotypic distance between this population and nearby comparative populations. Our focal population is in the process of adapting both genetically and phenotypically to a freshwater environment and we provide an example of the genetic basis for parallel evolutionon a contemporary timescale. The frequency of Eda genotypes and lateral plate phenotypes in our focal population are not consistent with those of marine or fully freshwater populations. Although our focal population is genetically distinct from nearby marine populations, these fish still more closely resemble marine populations in overall body shape while demonstrating an intriguing intermediate phenotype. Eda frequency and lateral plate phenotype change faster than body shape in response to freshwater conditions, suggesting that the pace of adaptation differs across traits in response to the same environmental conditions. Our results further bolster the case for G. aculeatus as a key model of contemporary evolution.</p>
Late Pleistocene stickleback environmental genomes reveal the chronology of freshwater adaptation
<p>Directly observing the chronology and tempo of adaptation in response to ecological change is rarely possible in natural ecosystems. Sedimentary aDNA (sedaDNA) has been shown to be a tractable source of genome-scale data of long-dead organisms, and to thereby potentially provide an understanding of the evolutionary histories of past populations. To date, time series of ecosystem biodiversity have been reconstructed from sedaDNA, typically using DNA metabarcoding or shotgun sequence data generated from less than one gram of sediment. Here we maximise sequence coverage by extracting DNA from ~50x more sediment per sample than the majority of previous studies, to achieve genotype resolution. From a time-series of Late Pleistocene sediments spanning from a marine to freshwater ecosystem, we compare adaptive genotypes reconstructed from the environmental genomes of threespine stickleback at key time points of this transition. We find a staggered temporal dynamic, in which freshwater alleles at known loci of large effect in marine-freshwater divergence of threespine stickleback (e.g. <em>EDA</em>) were already established during the brackish phase of the formation of the isolation basin. Yet marine alleles were still detected across the majority of marine-freshwater divergence associated loci, even after the complete isolation of the lake from marine ingression. Our retrospective approach to studying adaptation from environmental genomes of threespine sticklebacks at the end of the last glacial period complements contemporary experimental approaches and highlights the untapped potential for retrospective 'evolve-and-resequence' natural experiments using sedaDNA.</p>
Parallel evolution despite low genetic diversity in three-spined sticklebacks
<p>The three-spined stickleback (<em>Gasterosteus aculeatus</em>) is a model organism for studies of parallel evolution in the wild; marine stickleback populations have repeatedly colonized and adapted to different brackish and freshwater habitats. Population genetic studies of European three-spined sticklebacks have usually been conducted only in high-latitude areas. Here, we analysed southern and northern European samples of marine and freshwater three-spined stickleback to test two hypotheses. First, southern European freshwater populations – which currently lack or have limited connection to marine populations – have lost genetic diversity due to population bottlenecks and inbreeding compared to their northern European counterparts. Second, the degree of genetic parallelism in response to freshwater colonisation is higher among northern than southern European populations as the latter have been isolated and likely subjected to strong genetic drift. The results show that southern populations exhibit lower genetic diversity but a higher degree of genetic parallelism than northern populations. Hence, they confirm the hypothesis that southern populations have lost genetic diversity, but this loss likely happened after they had already adapted to freshwater conditions, explaining the high degree of genetic parallelism in the south.</p>
Habitat fragmentation induces rapid phenotypic divergence of migratory and isolated sticklebacks
<p>The adaptive capacity of many organisms is seriously challenged by human-imposed environmental change, which currently happens at unprecedented rates and magnitudes. For migratory fish, habitat fragmentation is a major challenge that can compromise their survival and reproduction. Therefore, it is important to study if fish populations can adapt to such modifications of their habitat. Here, we study whether originally anadromous three-spined stickleback populations (Gasterosteus aculeatus; 'migrants') changed in behavior and morphology in response to human-induced isolation. We made use of a natural field-experiment, where the construction of pumping stations and sluices in the 1970s unintendedly created replicates of land-locked stickleback populations ('resident') in the Netherlands. For two years, we systematically tested populations of residents and migrants for differences in morphology and behavioral traits (activity, aggressiveness, exploration, boldness and shoaling) in lab-based assays. We detected differences between migrant and resident populations in virtually all phenotypic traits studied: compared to the ancestral migrants, residents were smaller in size, had fewer and smaller plates and were significantly more active, aggressive, exploratory and bolder and shoaled less. Despite large ecological differences between 2018 and 2019, results were largely consistent across the two years. Our study shows that human-induced environmental change has led to the rapid and consistent morphological and behavioral divergence of stickleback populations in about 50 generations. Such changes may be adaptive but this remains to be tested.</p>
Data From: Fit and fatty freshwater fish: Contrasting polyunsaturated fatty acid phenotypes between hybridizing stickleback lineages
<p>Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids are biologically important lipids that are unevenly distributed between and throughout environments. This heterogeneity can affect the evolution of metabolic processes, as populations adapt to the resource landscape that they encounter. Here, we compare fatty acid phenotypes of stickleback over two time scales of evolutionary divergence: between two lineages with different metabolic capacities for fatty acid synthesis (i.e. different copy number of the fatty acid desaturase gene; FADS2) that independently colonized European freshwaters during the Pleistocene and Holocene; and between two ecotypes within each lineage that have diverged more recently (~150 years) in different habitats (i.e. lake and stream). We measured fatty acid profiles of wild-caught and lab-reared fish for each lineage and ecotype combination after rearing lab fish on a diet deficient in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Since these lineages hybridize in nature, we also measured profiles of lab-reared hybrids and backcrosses raised on the same deficient diet. Wild fish showed strong compositional differences in fatty acids between habitats, lineages, and sexes. Common garden fish had generally lower polyunsaturated fatty acid levels than wild fish, and females had lower omega-6:omega-3 than males. Fish from the lineage with fewer FADS2 copies also had lower levels of docosahexaenoic acid. Overall, we document divergence in fatty acid phenotypes between stickleback lineages with different histories of freshwater colonization, and between ecotypes in the early stages of adaptive population divergence.</p>
Shedding light on the threespine stickleback circadian clock
<p>The circadian clock is an internal timekeeping system shared by most organisms, and knowledge about its functional importance and evolution in natural environments is still needed. Here, we investigated the circadian clock of wild-caught threespine sticklebacks (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>) at the behavioural and molecular levels. While their behaviour, ecology, and evolution are well studied, information on their circadian rhythms are scarce. We quantified the daily locomotor activity rhythm under a light-dark cycle (LD) and under constant darkness (DD). Under LD, all fish exhibited significant daily rhythmicity, while under DD, only 18% of individuals remained rhythmic. This interindividual variation suggests that the circadian clock controls activity only in certain individuals. Moreover, under LD, some fish were almost exclusively nocturnal, while others were active around the clock. Furthermore, the most nocturnal fish were also the least active. These results suggest that light masks activity (i.e. suppresses activity without entraining the internal clock) more strongly in some individuals than others. Finally, we quantified the expression of five clock genes in the brain of sticklebacks under DD using qPCR. We did not detect circadian rhythmicity, which could either indicate that the clock molecular oscillator is highly light-dependent, or that there was an oscillation but that we were unable to detect it. Overall, our study suggests that a strong circadian control on behavioural rhythms may not necessarily be advantageous in a natural population of sticklebacks and that the daily phase of activity varies greatly between individuals because of a differential masking effect of light.</p>
Data from: Courtship behaviour, nesting microhabitat and assortative mating in sympatric stickleback species-pairs
<p>The maintenance of reproductive isolation in the face of gene-flow is a particularly contentious topic, but differences in reproductive behaviour may provide the key to explaining this phenomenon. However, we do not yet fully understand how behaviour contributes to maintaining species boundaries. How important are behavioural differences during reproduction? To what extent does assortative mating maintain reproductive isolation in recently diverged populations and how important are 'magic traits'? Assortative mating can arise as a by-product of accumulated differences between divergent populations as well as an adaptive response to contact between those populations, but this is often overlooked. Here we address these questions using recently described species-pairs of three-spined stickleback (<i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>), from two separate locations and a phenotypically intermediate allopatric population on the island of North Uist, Scottish Western Isles. We identified stark differences in the preferred nesting substrate, and courtship behaviour of species-pair males. We showed that all males selectively court females of their own ecotype and all females prefer males of the same ecotype, regardless of whether they are from species-pairs or allopatric populations. We also showed that mate choice does not appear to be driven by body-size differences (a potential 'magic trait'). By explicitly comparing the strength of these mating preferences between species-pairs and single-ecotype locations we were able to show that present levels of assortative mating due to direct mate choice are likely a by-product of other adaptations between ecotypes, and not subject to obvious selection in species-pairs. Our results suggest that ecological divergence in mating characteristics, particularly nesting microhabitat may be more important than direct mate choice in maintaining reproductive isolation in stickleback species-pairs.</p>
Physiological and environmental data from: Are you ready for the heat? Plasticity vs adaptation of heat tolerance in three-spined stickleback
<p>Heat waves constitute a challenge for aquatic ectotherms. However, the thermal tolerance of animals and their individual phenotypic plasticity to respond to heat waves may be influenced by thermal history. We tested these hypotheses by comparing the upper thermal tolerance and the individual capacities of three-spined sticklebacks from populations with different thermal histories to respond to heat waves. Two populations originated from thermally polluted nuclear power plant (NPP) habitats, while four locations represented geographically adjacent control areas. To disentangle the genetic adaptation from the phenotypic plastic response, we measured the individual upper thermal tolerance and the responses at molecular level in common garden conditions before and after a laboratory-mimicked heat wave. We found that the sticklebacks exhibit considerable phenotypic plasticity in thermal tolerance since the heat wave increased fish upper thermal tolerance significantly. The individual plasticity to respond to the heat wave was also negatively correlated to initial thermal tolerance. On the other hand, neither the thermal tolerance nor the plastic responses differed between NPP and control sites despite detection of significant but low genome-wide divergence in 10 out of 15 pairwise comparisons. Our results suggest that five decades of nuclear power plant activity with warmer water has not resulted in a detectable evolutionary change in either the upper thermal tolerance or its plasticity in three-spined sticklebacks potentially rendering them sensitive to frequent heat waves.</p>
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.