Mapping of quantitative trait loci for life history traits segregating within common frog populations

Funding Esta investigación ha contado con el apoyo de las siguientes ayudas: Ministerio de Educación de España (referencias CGL2011-23443 y CGL2012-40246-C02-02), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (referencia BES-2012-055220), Agencia Autónoma de Parques Nacionales (OAPN) ( referencia MARM 428/211), el Ministerio de Educación e Investigación de Estonia (proyecto de financiación de investigación institucional IUT8-2) y la Academia de Finlandia (subvención n.º 266321).
The evolution of complex traits is often shaped by adaptive divergence. However, very little is known about the number, effect size, and location of the genomic regions influencing the variation of these traits in natural populations. Based on a dense linkage map of the common frog, Rana temporaria, we have localized, for the first time in amphibians, three significant and nine suggestive quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for metabolic rate, growth rate, development time, and weight at metamorphosis, explaining 5.6–18.9% of the overall phenotypic variation in each trait. We also found a potential pleiotropic QTL between development time and size at metamorphosis that, if confirmed, might underlie the previously reported genetic correlation between these traits. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the genetic variation linked to fitness-related larval traits segregates within Rana temporaria populations. This study provides the first insight into the genomic regions that affect larval life history traits in anurans, providing a valuable resource to delve further into the genomic basis of evolutionary change in amphibians.
Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO)
Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC)
Agencia Autónoma de Parques Nacionales (OAPN)
Estonian Ministry of Education and Research
Academy of Finland
Depto. de Genética, Fisiología y Microbiología
Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas
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