Presenter: Taylor Wilson, Biology
Poster: D-6
Mentor: William Cresko, Biology
Differences in physical traits among species arise first as variations within and among populations. Studying this intraspecific variation provides important new knowledge about the process that gives rise to biodiversity. To better understand this variation and its genetic and developmental basis I am studying a small fish, the threespine stickleback (Gasteroseus aculeatus). The threespine stickleback is undergoing rapid evolution in bodies of water recently formed by uplift and glacial melt, diverging into very different anadromous and freshwater life history forms. With each saltwater-to-freshwater evolutionary transition, there is a reduction in the stickleback’s bony armor plates and characteristic spines. In order to discover the genetic basis for the diversity of armor phenotypes, I am measuring variation in the size and number of lateral and pelvic armor structures of 148 stickleback collected from the McKenzie River in Springfield, OR. The genetic variation in these same individuals has been measured using high-throughput sequencing techniques.
We are correlating these genetic data with specific aspects of the armor variation, such as spine lengths and plate sizes. This is the first such study in stickleback, and is providing us with key information on which genes are responsible for the rapid evolution in some of the phenotypes of the threespine stickleback. My results will have general importance beyond stickleback by providing new knowledge about the genetic and genome basis of evolution in the wild.