Shared neural transcriptomic patterns underlie the repeated evolution of mutualistic cleaning behaviour in Labridae wrasses.
Saved in:
| Title: | Shared neural transcriptomic patterns underlie the repeated evolution of mutualistic cleaning behaviour in Labridae wrasses. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Young, Rebecca L.1 (AUTHOR) youngrl@utexas.edu, Weitekamp, Chelsea A.1 (AUTHOR) chelseaweitekamp@gmail.com, Triki, Zegni2 (AUTHOR) zegni.triki@unine.ch; zegni.triki@gmail.com, Su, Yiheng3 (AUTHOR) sam.su@utexas.edu, Beman, Abigail G.1 (AUTHOR) abbygrace917@gmail.com, Petershack, Matthew A.1,4 (AUTHOR) mpetersh@umich.edu, Bshary, Redouan2 (AUTHOR) redouan.bshary@unine.ch, Hofmann, Hans A.1 (AUTHOR) hans@utexas.edu |
| Source: | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 6/3/2026, Vol. 293 Issue 2072, p1-12. 12p. |
| Subjects: | Transcriptomes, Convergent evolution, Cooperativeness, Wrasses, Gene expression |
| Abstract: | Despite the astonishing diversity of life, evolutionary biologists have documented numerous instances where species converge in how they behave, look and function. Given the importance of happenstance in evolution, it is often assumed that mechanisms driving independent evolution of similar phenotypes (convergence) are distinct; yet recent discoveries suggest that conserved genomic mechanisms can underlie convergent traits. Here, we generate forebrain transcriptomes from six sympatric Labridae wrasses that vary in mutualistic cleaning behaviour and apply differential gene expression, co-expression and phylogenetic comparative analyses to address three questions. First, do neurotranscriptomes vary among species with distinct cleaning behaviour? Second, do species that have independently evolved facultative cleaning share neurotranscriptomic patterns? Third, are transcriptomic signatures linked to facultative cleaning also expressed in obligate cleaners? We identify shared neurotranscriptomic patterns in the repeated evolution of facultative cleaning, including 25 novel candidate genes. We then find that transcriptomic patterns associated with facultative cleaning are shared in our focal obligate cleaner species, with more genes than expected by chance with concordant expression patterns in obligate and facultative cleaners. Our results illuminate the neuromolecular basis of cooperative behaviour and demonstrate the predictive potential of comparative transcriptomics to unravel mechanistic underpinnings of the repeated evolution of complex phenotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences is the property of Royal Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Engineering Source |
Be the first to leave a comment!
