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Physiological stress and the maintenance of adaptive genetic variation in a livebearing fish

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Abstract

The importance of genetic variation in evolution is well established. Yet, the mechanisms by which genetic variation—particularly variation in traits under selection—is maintained in natural populations has long been an evolutionary puzzle. Understanding individual variables driving selection and their functional mechanisms is increasingly important in the context of global change and its potential consequences for biodiversity. Here we examined intra-population performance among allelic variants of a pleiotropic locus in response to thermal stress in the variable platyfish, Xiphophorus variatus. The wild-type tailspot allele exhibited significantly lower heat tolerance than all three pattern alleles found in the population, conforming to predictions based on previously observed correlations between temperature and pattern frequencies in the wild. Furthermore, differences between tailspot pattern frequencies in adults and juveniles were broadly consistent with this trend. Thus, it appears that physiological stress and reduced performance of the wild-type allele at higher relative temperatures is a mechanism balancing its frequency in natural populations. Temperature variation and not dissolved oxygen alone, as previously reported, is likely a important abiotic variable contributing to the maintenance of adaptive polymorphism. Furthermore, our findings underscore the potential implications of rising temperatures and physiological stress for levels of genetic variation in natural populations.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Mexican Government for collecting permits. We thank Gil Rosenthal (Texas A&M University, College Station, TX) who allowed us to use the facilities at the CICHAZ field station (http://www.cichaz.org/). This work was supported by a Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT) Grant in basic science (Clave 0127310) to SM which supported ZWC as a postdoctoral researcher. CEBH was supported by a CONACyT scholarship (Clave 254023).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico

    Zachary W. Culumber, Christian E. Bautista-Hernández & Scott Monks

  2. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas Aguazarca, Calnali, Hidalgo, Mexico

    Zachary W. Culumber & Christian E. Bautista-Hernández

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  1. Zachary W. Culumber
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  2. Christian E. Bautista-Hernández
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Correspondence to Zachary W. Culumber.

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Culumber, Z.W., Bautista-Hernández, C.E. & Monks, S. Physiological stress and the maintenance of adaptive genetic variation in a livebearing fish. Evol Ecol 28, 117–129 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-013-9663-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-013-9663-x

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