Evolution of the potassium channel gene Kcnj13 underlies colour pattern diversification in Danio fish

Marco Podobnik, Hans Georg Frohnhöfer, Christopher M. Dooley, Anastasia Eskova, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Uwe Irion ()
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Marco Podobnik: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
Hans Georg Frohnhöfer: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
Christopher M. Dooley: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
Anastasia Eskova: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology
Uwe Irion: Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract The genetic basis of morphological variation provides a major topic in evolutionary developmental biology. Fish of the genus Danio display colour patterns ranging from horizontal stripes, to vertical bars or spots. Stripe formation in zebrafish, Danio rerio, is a self-organizing process based on cell−contact mediated interactions between three types of chromatophores with a leading role of iridophores. Here we investigate genes known to regulate chromatophore interactions in zebrafish that might have evolved to produce a pattern of vertical bars in its sibling species, Danio aesculapii. Mutant D. aesculapii indicate a lower complexity in chromatophore interactions and a minor role of iridophores in patterning. Reciprocal hemizygosity tests identify the potassium channel gene obelix/Kcnj13 as evolved between the two species. Complementation tests suggest evolutionary change through divergence in Kcnj13 function in two additional Danio species. Thus, our results point towards repeated and independent evolution of this gene during colour pattern diversification.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20021-6

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