Gene duplications may serve as the raw material for evolutionary changes in physical traits. Now researchers have found an example of how this might work in mutant and domesticated fish.
Nicolas Rohner and Matthew Harris of the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, and their co-workers created a zebrafish (Danio rerio, pictured in upper panel) that is mostly scaleless. They found that the mutation responsible is in the gene fgfr1, which is required for embryonic development. Scouring the fish's genome, the authors found a previously uncharacterized copy of the gene. The two compensate for one another during embryonic growth but control different traits in adulthood.
Mutations in the same gene cause the characteristic scale pattern seen in the domesticated mirror carp (Cyprinus carpio, pictured in lower panel), providing a real-world example of how gene duplication can form the basis of new traits.
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Evolution and development: Genes in the mirror. Nature 461, 149 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/461149b
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/461149b
