Meeting Abstract
The isopod crustacean, Asellus aquaticus, has surface and cave dwelling forms that differ in pigmentation, eye size and appendage length. There are multiple cave populations of this species that are thought to have evolved independently from the surface ancestor. We asked if two cave populations, Zelske and Planina, used similar or different genetic regions to obtain the same eye and pigment phenotypes. We already knew regions of the genome responsible for eye and pigment phenotypes in the Planina cave population; therefore, our goal was to examine the Zelske cave population and see if the same regions were responsible. We generated F2 and backcross animals with Zelske and surface individuals and genotyped them for the same regions responsible for pigment and eye loss in the Planina cave population. We found that there were associations between genotypes of all four known regions responsible for eye and pigment phenotypes in the Planina cave and the corresponding phenotypes. Therefore, it is likely that all four regions responsible in the Planina cave for eye and pigment phenotypes are also responsible for the same phenotypes in the Zelske cave. Because the same regions are responsible in both cave populations, we wondered if these regions could be responsible for advantageous traits as well as loss traits. Our next step is to ask whether the same regions that are responsible for eye and pigment loss are also responsible for elaboration of antennal characteristics. To address this question, we are phenotyping F2 hatchlings for antennal characteristics and genotyping them for the same genetic markers associated with eye and pigment traits. Ultimately, we hope to understand why the same genetic regions are responsible for eye and pigment traits in these two different cave populations.
