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Evolution of the Eye Transcriptome under Constant Darkness in Sinocyclocheilus Cavefish

Overview of attention for article published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, April 2013
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Title
Evolution of the Eye Transcriptome under Constant Darkness in Sinocyclocheilus Cavefish
Published in
Molecular Biology and Evolution, April 2013
DOI 10.1093/molbev/mst079
Pubmed ID
Authors

Fanwei Meng, Ingo Braasch, Jennifer B. Phillips, Xiwen Lin, Tom Titus, Chunguang Zhang, John H. Postlethwait

Abstract

In adaptating to perpetual darkness, cave species gradually lose eyes and body pigmentation and evolve alternatives for exploring their environments. Although troglodyte features evolved independently many times in cavefish, we do not yet know whether independent evolution of these characters involves common genetic mechanisms. Surface-dwelling and many cave-dwelling species make the freshwater teleost genus Sinocyclocheilus an excellent model for studying the evolution of adaptations to life in constant darkness. We compared the mature retinal histology of surface and cave species in Sinocyclocheilus and found that adult cavefish showed a reduction in the number and length of photoreceptor cells. To identify genes and genetic pathways that evolved in constant darkness, we used RNA-seq to compare eyes of surface and cave species. De novo transcriptome assemblies were developed for both species, and contigs were annotated with gene ontology. Results from cave-dwelling Sinocyclocheilus revealed reduced transcription of phototransduction and other genes important for retinal function. In contrast to the blind Mexican tetra cavefish Astyanax mexicanus, our results on morphologies and gene expression suggest that evolved retinal reduction in cave-dwelling Sinocyclocheilus occurs in a lens-independent fashion by the reduced proliferation and downregulation of transcriptional factors shown to have direct roles in retinal development and maintenance, including cone-rod homeobox (crx) and Wnt pathway members. These results show that the independent evolution of retinal degeneration in cavefish can occur by different developmental genetic mechanisms.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 127 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United Kingdom 3 2%
Brazil 1 <1%
Canada 1 <1%
China 1 <1%
Japan 1 <1%
United States 1 <1%
Unknown 119 94%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 32 25%
Researcher 25 20%
Student > Master 15 12%
Professor 7 6%
Student > Bachelor 7 6%
Other 18 14%
Unknown 23 18%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 71 56%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 19 15%
Neuroscience 3 2%
Nursing and Health Professions 1 <1%
Psychology 1 <1%
Other 4 3%
Unknown 28 22%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 March 2016.
All research outputs
#7,896,290
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Molecular Biology and Evolution
#3,136
of 5,214 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#63,906
of 207,222 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Molecular Biology and Evolution
#28
of 56 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,373,627 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 68th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,214 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 17.6. This one is in the 39th percentile – i.e., 39% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 207,222 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 56 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 50% of its contemporaries.