On the origin of species: insights from the ecological genomics of lake whitefish

• Published in: Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences Vol. 365; no. 1547; pp. 1783 - 1800
• Main Authors: Bernatchez, Louis, Renaut, Sébastien, Whiteley, Andrew R., Derome, Nicolas, Jeukens, Julie, Landry, Lysandre, Lu, Guoqing, Nolte, Arne W., Østbye, Kjartan, Rogers, Sean M., St-Cyr, Jérôme
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 12.06.2010
• Subjects: 454 Sequencing; Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Coregonus; Ecological genetics; Ecological Genomics; Ecosystem; Evolutionary genetics; Female; Fresh Water; Gene Expression Profiling; Genes; Genetic loci; Genetic Speciation; Genomes; Genomics; Genomics - trends; Hybridity; Male; Metagenomics; Microarrays; Models, Genetic; Phenotype; Quantitative Trait Loci; Reproduction - genetics; Review; Salmonidae - classification; Salmonidae - genetics; Salmonidae - physiology; Selection; Selection, Genetic; Speciation; Stickleback; Whitefish
• ISSN: 0962-8436; 1471-2970
• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0274

In contrast to the large amount of ecological information supporting the role of natural selection as a main cause of population divergence and speciation, an understanding of the genomic basis underlying those processes is in its infancy. In this paper, we review the main findings of a long-term research programme that we have been conducting on the ecological genomics of sympatric forms of whitefish (Coregonus spp.) engaged in the process of speciation. We present this system as an example of how applying a combination of approaches under the conceptual framework of the theory of adaptive radiation has yielded substantial insight into evolutionary processes in a non-model species. We also discuss how the joint use of recent biotechnological developments will provide a powerful means to address issues raised by observations made to date. Namely, we present data illustrating the potential offered by combining next generation sequencing technologies with other genomic approaches to reveal the genomic bases of adaptive divergence and reproductive isolation. Given increasing access to these new genomic tools, we argue that non-model species studied in their ecological context such as whitefish will play an increasingly important role in generalizing knowledge of speciation.