Data from: Cis-regulatory differences in isoform expression associate with life history strategy variation in Atlantic salmon
| dc.contributor.affiliation | University of Helsinki-Primmer, Craig | |
| dc.contributor.author | Primmer, Craig | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-29T14:00:03Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-08-26 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-08-26 | |
| dc.description | A major goal in biology is to understand how evolution shapes variation in individual life histories. Genome-wide association studies have been successful in uncovering genome regions linked with traits underlying life history variation in a range of species. However, lack of functional studies of the discovered genotype-phenotype associations severely restrains our understanding how alternative life history traits evolved and are mediated at the molecular level. Here, we report a cis-regulatory mechanism whereby expression of alternative isoforms of the transcription co-factor vestigial-like 3 (vgll3) associate with variation in a key life history trait, age at maturity, in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Using a common-garden experiment, we first show that vgll3 genotype associates with puberty timing in one-year-old salmon males. By way of temporal sampling of vgll3 expression in ten tissues across the first year of salmon development, we identify a pubertal transition in vgll3 expression where maturation coincided with a 66% reduction in testicular vgll3 expression. The late maturation allele was not only associated with a tendency to delay puberty, but also with expression of a rare transcript isoform of vgll3 pre-puberty. By comparing absolute vgll3 mRNA copies in heterozygotes we show that the expression difference between the earlyand late maturity alleles is largely cis-regulatory. We propose a model whereby expression of a rare isoform from the late allele shifts the liability of its carriers towards delaying puberty. These results exemplify the potential importance of regulatory differences as a mechanism for the evolution of life history traits. | |
| dc.identifier | https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k6djh9w4w | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://datakatalogi.helsinki.fi/handle/123456789/4599 | |
| dc.rights.license | cc-zero | |
| dc.subject | Salmo salar | |
| dc.subject | digital droplet PCR | |
| dc.subject | allele-specific expression | |
| dc.subject | gene expression | |
| dc.subject | MCMCglmm | |
| dc.title | Data from: Cis-regulatory differences in isoform expression associate with life history strategy variation in Atlantic salmon | |
| dc.type | dataset |