{"dp_type": "Project", "free_text": "Cryonotothenioid"}
[{"awards": "2232891 Postlethwait, John", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -37,-144 -37,-108 -37,-72 -37,-36 -37,0 -37,36 -37,72 -37,108 -37,144 -37,180 -37,180 -42.3,180 -47.6,180 -52.9,180 -58.2,180 -63.5,180 -68.8,180 -74.1,180 -79.4,180 -84.69999999999999,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -84.7,-180 -79.4,-180 -74.1,-180 -68.8,-180 -63.5,-180 -58.2,-180 -52.9,-180 -47.6,-180 -42.300000000000004,-180 -37))", "dataset_titles": null, "datasets": null, "date_created": "Mon, 14 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Antarctic animals face tremendous threats as Antarctic ice sheets melt and temperatures rise. About 34 million years ago, when Antarctica began to cool, most species of fish became locally extinct. A group called the notothenioids, however, survived due to the evolution of antifreeze. The group eventually split into over 120 species. Why did this group of Antarctic fishes evolve into so many species? One possible reason why a single population splits into two species relates to sex genes and sex chromosomes. Diverging species often have either different sex determining genes (genes that specify whether an individual\u2019s gonads become ovaries or testes) or have different sex chromosomes (chromosomes that differ between males and females within a species, like the human X and Y chromosomes). We know the sex chromosomes of only a few notothenioid species and know the genetic basis for sex determination in none of them. \r\nThe aims of this research are to: 1) identify sex chromosomes in species representing every major group of Antarctic notothenioid fish; 2) discover possible sex determining genes in every major group of Antarctic notothenioid fish; and 3) find sex chromosomes and possible sex determining genes in two groups of temperate, warmer water, notothenioid fish. These warmer water fish include groups that never experienced the frigid Southern Ocean and groups that had ancestors inhabiting Antarctic oceans that later adjusted to warmer waters. This project will help explain the mechanisms that led to the division of a group of species threatened by climate change. This information is critical to conserve declining populations of Antarctic notothenioids, which are major food sources for other Antarctic species such as bird and seals. \r\nThe project will offer a diverse group of undergraduates the opportunity to develop a permanent exhibit at the Eugene Science Center Museum. The exhibit will describe the Antarctic environment and explain its rapid climate change. It will also introduce the continent\u2019s bizarre fishes that live below the freezing point of water. The project will collaborate with the university\u2019s Science and Comics Initiative and students in the English Department\u2019s Comics Studies Minor to prepare short graphic novels explaining Antarctic biogeography, icefish specialties, and the science of this project as it develops.", "east": 180.0, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Speciation; Southern Ocean; Dragonfish; Antarctica; Plunderfish; Fish; Notothenioid; FISH; Eleginopsioidea; Icefish; MARINE ECOSYSTEMS; Cryonotothenioid; Sub-Antarctic", "locations": "Antarctica; Southern Ocean; Sub-Antarctic", "north": -37.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Postlethwait, John; Desvignes, Thomas", "platforms": null, "repositories": null, "science_programs": null, "south": -90.0, "title": "ANT LIA: The Role of Sex Determination in the Radiation of Antarctic Notothenioid Fish", "uid": "p0010431", "west": -180.0}, {"awards": "2232891 Postlethwait, John; 1543383 Postlethwait, John; 1947040 Postlethwait, John", "bounds_geometry": "POLYGON((-180 -37,-144 -37,-108 -37,-72 -37,-36 -37,0 -37,36 -37,72 -37,108 -37,144 -37,180 -37,180 -42.3,180 -47.6,180 -52.9,180 -58.2,180 -63.5,180 -68.8,180 -74.1,180 -79.4,180 -84.69999999999999,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -84.7,-180 -79.4,-180 -74.1,-180 -68.8,-180 -63.5,-180 -58.2,-180 -52.9,-180 -47.6,-180 -42.300000000000004,-180 -37))", "dataset_titles": "aBSREL tests for episodic diversifying selection on hemoglobin genes in notothenioids.; MEME tests of sites evolving under episodic diversifying selection in notothenioid hemoglobin genes.; Notothenioid hemoglobin protein 3D modeling.; Notothenioid species tree used in the study.; Phylogenetic trees of hemoglobin proteins in notothenioids.; Rates of hemoglobin evolution among genes and across notothenioid species.; RELAX tests for pervasive changes in strength of natural selection on hemoglobin genes in notothenioids.", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "601721", "doi": "10.15784/601721", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cold Adaptation; Cryonotothenioid; Dragonfish; Eleginopsioidea; Fish; Gene; Hemoglobin; Icefish; Notothenioid; Plunderfish; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Desvignes, Thomas; Postlethwait, John", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Notothenioid species tree used in the study.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601721"}, {"dataset_uid": "601730", "doi": "10.15784/601730", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cold Adaptation; Cryonotothenioid; Dragonfish; Eleginopsioidea; Fish; Genetic Analysis; Hemoglobin; Icefish; Notothenioid; Notothenioid Fishes; Plunderfish; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Postlethwait, John; Desvignes, Thomas", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "MEME tests of sites evolving under episodic diversifying selection in notothenioid hemoglobin genes.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601730"}, {"dataset_uid": "601722", "doi": "10.15784/601722", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cold Adaptation; Cryonotothenioid; Dragonfish; Eleginopsioidea; Fish; Gene; Hemoglobin; Icefish; Notothenioid; Plunderfish; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Postlethwait, John; Desvignes, Thomas", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Phylogenetic trees of hemoglobin proteins in notothenioids.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601722"}, {"dataset_uid": "601731", "doi": "10.15784/601731", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cold Adaptation; Cryonotothenioid; Dragonfish; Eleginopsioidea; Fish; Genetic Analysis; Hemoglobin; Icefish; Notothenioid; Notothenioid Fishes; Plunderfish; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Desvignes, Thomas; Postlethwait, John", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "RELAX tests for pervasive changes in strength of natural selection on hemoglobin genes in notothenioids.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601731"}, {"dataset_uid": "601728", "doi": "10.15784/601728", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cold Adaptation; Cryonotothenioid; Dragonfish; Eleginopsioidea; Fish; Gene; Genetic Analysis; Hemoglobin; Icefish; Notothenioid; Notothenioid Fishes; Plunderfish; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Desvignes, Thomas; Postlethwait, John", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "aBSREL tests for episodic diversifying selection on hemoglobin genes in notothenioids.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601728"}, {"dataset_uid": "601729", "doi": "10.15784/601729", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cold Adaptation; Cryonotothenioid; Dragonfish; Eleginopsioidea; Fish; Genetic Analysis; Hemoglobin; Icefish; Notothenioid; Notothenioid Fishes; Plunderfish; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Desvignes, Thomas; Postlethwait, John", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Rates of hemoglobin evolution among genes and across notothenioid species.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601729"}, {"dataset_uid": "601732", "doi": "10.15784/601732", "keywords": "Antarctica; Cold Adaptation; Cryonotothenioid; Dragonfish; Eleginopsioidea; Fish; Genetic Analysis; Hemoglobin; Icefish; Notothenioid; Notothenioid Fishes; Plunderfish; Sub-Antarctic", "people": "Desvignes, Thomas; Postlethwait, John", "repository": "USAP-DC", "science_program": null, "title": "Notothenioid hemoglobin protein 3D modeling.", "url": "https://www.usap-dc.org/view/dataset/601732"}], "date_created": "Wed, 03 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "Antarctic notothenioid fishes, also known as cryonotothenioids, inhabit the icy and highly oxygenated waters surrounding the Antarctic continent after diverging from notothenioids inhabiting more temperate waters. Notothenioid hemoglobin and blood parameters are known to have evolved along with the establishment of stable polar conditions, and among Antarctic notothenioids, icefishes are evolutionary oddities living without hemoglobin following the deletion of all functional hemoglobin genes from their genomes. In this project, we investigate the evolution of hemoglobin genes and gene clusters across the notothenioid radiation until their loss in the icefish ancestor after its divergence from the dragonfish lineage to understand the forces, mechanisms, and potential causes for hemoglobin gene loss in the icefish ancestor.", "east": 180.0, "geometry": "POINT(0 -89.999)", "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "FISH; Icefish; Cryonotothenioid; Gene; Plunderfish; Eleginopsioidea; AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS; Dragonfish; Sub-Antarctic; Notothenioid; Blood; Hemoglobin", "locations": "Sub-Antarctic", "north": -37.0, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems; Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Desvignes, Thomas; Postlethwait, John", "platforms": null, "repo": "USAP-DC", "repositories": "USAP-DC", "science_programs": null, "south": -90.0, "title": "Evolution of hemoglobin genes in notothenioid fishes", "uid": "p0010417", "west": -180.0}, {"awards": "1645087 Catchen, Julian", "bounds_geometry": null, "dataset_titles": "Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly and Circadian Gene Repertoire of the Patagonia Blennie Eleginops maclovinus\u2014The Closest Ancestral Proxy of Antarctic Cryonotothenioids; Evaluating Illumina-, Nanopore-, and PacBio-based genome assembly strategies with the bald notothen, Trematomus borchgrevinki; Genomics of Secondarily Temperate Adaptation in the Only Non-Antarctic Icefish", "datasets": [{"dataset_uid": "200380", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI", "science_program": null, "title": "Genomics of Secondarily Temperate Adaptation in the Only Non-Antarctic Icefish", "url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA857989"}, {"dataset_uid": "200330", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI ", "science_program": null, "title": "Evaluating Illumina-, Nanopore-, and PacBio-based genome assembly strategies with the bald notothen, Trematomus borchgrevinki", "url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA861284"}, {"dataset_uid": "200381", "doi": "", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "NCBI", "science_program": null, "title": "Chromosome-Level Genome Assembly and Circadian Gene Repertoire of the Patagonia Blennie Eleginops maclovinus\u2014The Closest Ancestral Proxy of Antarctic Cryonotothenioids", "url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA917608"}, {"dataset_uid": "200331", "doi": "10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffbs3", "keywords": null, "people": null, "repository": "Dryad", "science_program": null, "title": "Evaluating Illumina-, Nanopore-, and PacBio-based genome assembly strategies with the bald notothen, Trematomus borchgrevinki", "url": "https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.ghx3ffbs3"}], "date_created": "Mon, 10 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT", "description": "As plate tectonics pushed Antarctica into a polar position, by ~34 million years ago, the continent and its surrounding Southern Ocean (SO) became geographically and thermally isolated by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Terrestrial and marine glaciation followed, resulting in extinctions as well as the survival and radiation of unique flora and fauna. The notothenioid fish survived and arose from a common ancestral stock into tax with 120 species that dominates today\u0027s SO fish fauna. The Notothenioids evolved adaptive traits including novel antifreeze proteins for survival in extreme cold, but also suffered seemingly adverse trait loss including red blood cells in the icefish family, and the ability to mount cellular responses to mitigate heat stress ? otherwise ubiquitous across all life. This project aims to understand how the notothenoid genomes have changed and contributed to their evolution in the cold. The project will sequence, analyze and compare the genomes of two strategic pairs of notothenioid fishes representing both red-blooded and white-blooded species. Each pair will consist of one Antarctic species and one that has readapted to the temperate waters of S. America or New Zealand. The project will also compare the Antarctic species genomes to a genome of the closet non-Antarctic relative representing the temperate notothenioid ancestor. The work aims to uncover the mechanisms that enabled the adaptive evolution of this ecologically vital group of fish in the freezing Southern Ocean, and shed light on their adaptability to a warming world. The finished genomes will be made available to promote and advance Antarctic research and the project will host a symposium of Polar researchers to discuss the cutting edge developments regarding of genomic adaptations in the polar region.\u003cbr/\u003eDespite subzero, icy conditions that are perilous to teleost fish, the fish fauna of the isolated Southern Ocean (SO) surrounding Antarctica is remarkably bountiful. A single teleost group - the notothenioid fishes - dominate the fauna, comprising over 120 species that arose from a common ancestor. When Antarctica became isolated and SO temperatures began to plunge in early Oligocene, the prior temperate fishes became extinct. The ancestor of Antarctic notothenioids overcame forbidding polar conditions and, absent niche competition, it diversified and filled the SO. How did notothenioids adapt to freezing environmental selection pressures and achieve such extraordinary success? And having specialized to life in chronic cold for 30 myr, can they evolve in pace with today\u0027s warming climate to stay viable? Past studies of Antarctic notothenioid evolutionary adaptation have discovered various remarkable traits including the key, life-saving antifreeze proteins. But life specialized to cold also led to paradoxical trait changes such as the loss of the otherwise universal heat shock response, and of the O2-transporting hemoglobin and red blood cells in the icefish family. A few species interestingly regained abilities to live in temperate waters following the escape of their ancestor out of the freezing SO. \u003cbr/\u003eThis proposed project is the first major effort to advance the field from single trait studies to understanding the full spectrum of genomic and genetic responses to climatic and environmental change during notothenioid evolution, and to evaluate their adaptability to continuing climate change. To this end, the project will sequence the genomes of four key species that embody genomic responses to different thermal selection regimes during notothenioids\u0027 evolutionary history, and by comparative analyses of genomic structure, architecture and content, deduce the responding changes. Specifically, the project will (i) obtain whole genome assemblies of the red-blooded T. borchgrevinki and the S. American icefish C. esox; (ii) using the finished genomes from (i) as template, obtain assemblies of the New Zealand notothenioid N. angustata, and the white-blooded icefish C. gunnari, representing a long (11 myr) and recent (1 myr) secondarily temperate evolutionary history respectively. Genes that are under selection in the temperate environment but not in the Antarctic environment can be inferred to be directly necessary for that environment and the reverse is also true for genes under selection in the Antarctic but not in the temperate environment. Further, genes important for survival in temperate waters will show parallel selection between N. angustata and C. esox despite the fact that the two fish left the Antarctic at far separated time points. Finally, gene families that expanded due to strong selection within the cold Antarctic should show a degradation of duplicates in the temperate environment. The project will test these hypotheses using a number of techniques to compare the content and form of genes, the structure of the chromosomes containing those genes, and through the identification of key characters, such as selfish genetic elements, introns, and structural variants.", "east": null, "geometry": null, "instruments": null, "is_usap_dc": true, "keywords": "Mcmurdo Sound; Genome Assembly; FISH; Icefish; SHIPS; Notothenioid; Puerto Natales, Chile", "locations": "Mcmurdo Sound; Puerto Natales, Chile", "north": null, "nsf_funding_programs": "Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems", "paleo_time": null, "persons": "Catchen, Julian; Cheng, Chi-Hing", "platforms": "WATER-BASED PLATFORMS \u003e VESSELS \u003e SURFACE \u003e SHIPS", "repo": "NCBI", "repositories": "Dryad; NCBI; NCBI ", "science_programs": null, "south": null, "title": "Evolutionary Genomic Responses in Antarctic Notothenioid Fishes", "uid": "p0010384", "west": null}]
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Project Title/Abstract/Map | NSF Award(s) | Date Created | PIs / Scientists | Dataset Links and Repositories | Abstract | Bounds Geometry | Geometry | Selected | Visible | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ANT LIA: The Role of Sex Determination in the Radiation of Antarctic Notothenioid Fish
|
2232891 |
2023-08-14 | Postlethwait, John; Desvignes, Thomas | No dataset link provided | Antarctic animals face tremendous threats as Antarctic ice sheets melt and temperatures rise. About 34 million years ago, when Antarctica began to cool, most species of fish became locally extinct. A group called the notothenioids, however, survived due to the evolution of antifreeze. The group eventually split into over 120 species. Why did this group of Antarctic fishes evolve into so many species? One possible reason why a single population splits into two species relates to sex genes and sex chromosomes. Diverging species often have either different sex determining genes (genes that specify whether an individual’s gonads become ovaries or testes) or have different sex chromosomes (chromosomes that differ between males and females within a species, like the human X and Y chromosomes). We know the sex chromosomes of only a few notothenioid species and know the genetic basis for sex determination in none of them. The aims of this research are to: 1) identify sex chromosomes in species representing every major group of Antarctic notothenioid fish; 2) discover possible sex determining genes in every major group of Antarctic notothenioid fish; and 3) find sex chromosomes and possible sex determining genes in two groups of temperate, warmer water, notothenioid fish. These warmer water fish include groups that never experienced the frigid Southern Ocean and groups that had ancestors inhabiting Antarctic oceans that later adjusted to warmer waters. This project will help explain the mechanisms that led to the division of a group of species threatened by climate change. This information is critical to conserve declining populations of Antarctic notothenioids, which are major food sources for other Antarctic species such as bird and seals. The project will offer a diverse group of undergraduates the opportunity to develop a permanent exhibit at the Eugene Science Center Museum. The exhibit will describe the Antarctic environment and explain its rapid climate change. It will also introduce the continent’s bizarre fishes that live below the freezing point of water. The project will collaborate with the university’s Science and Comics Initiative and students in the English Department’s Comics Studies Minor to prepare short graphic novels explaining Antarctic biogeography, icefish specialties, and the science of this project as it develops. | POLYGON((-180 -37,-144 -37,-108 -37,-72 -37,-36 -37,0 -37,36 -37,72 -37,108 -37,144 -37,180 -37,180 -42.3,180 -47.6,180 -52.9,180 -58.2,180 -63.5,180 -68.8,180 -74.1,180 -79.4,180 -84.69999999999999,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -84.7,-180 -79.4,-180 -74.1,-180 -68.8,-180 -63.5,-180 -58.2,-180 -52.9,-180 -47.6,-180 -42.300000000000004,-180 -37)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | |
Evolution of hemoglobin genes in notothenioid fishes
|
2232891 1543383 1947040 |
2023-05-03 | Desvignes, Thomas; Postlethwait, John | Antarctic notothenioid fishes, also known as cryonotothenioids, inhabit the icy and highly oxygenated waters surrounding the Antarctic continent after diverging from notothenioids inhabiting more temperate waters. Notothenioid hemoglobin and blood parameters are known to have evolved along with the establishment of stable polar conditions, and among Antarctic notothenioids, icefishes are evolutionary oddities living without hemoglobin following the deletion of all functional hemoglobin genes from their genomes. In this project, we investigate the evolution of hemoglobin genes and gene clusters across the notothenioid radiation until their loss in the icefish ancestor after its divergence from the dragonfish lineage to understand the forces, mechanisms, and potential causes for hemoglobin gene loss in the icefish ancestor. | POLYGON((-180 -37,-144 -37,-108 -37,-72 -37,-36 -37,0 -37,36 -37,72 -37,108 -37,144 -37,180 -37,180 -42.3,180 -47.6,180 -52.9,180 -58.2,180 -63.5,180 -68.8,180 -74.1,180 -79.4,180 -84.69999999999999,180 -90,144 -90,108 -90,72 -90,36 -90,0 -90,-36 -90,-72 -90,-108 -90,-144 -90,-180 -90,-180 -84.7,-180 -79.4,-180 -74.1,-180 -68.8,-180 -63.5,-180 -58.2,-180 -52.9,-180 -47.6,-180 -42.300000000000004,-180 -37)) | POINT(0 -89.999) | false | false | ||
Evolutionary Genomic Responses in Antarctic Notothenioid Fishes
|
1645087 |
2022-10-10 | Catchen, Julian; Cheng, Chi-Hing | As plate tectonics pushed Antarctica into a polar position, by ~34 million years ago, the continent and its surrounding Southern Ocean (SO) became geographically and thermally isolated by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Terrestrial and marine glaciation followed, resulting in extinctions as well as the survival and radiation of unique flora and fauna. The notothenioid fish survived and arose from a common ancestral stock into tax with 120 species that dominates today's SO fish fauna. The Notothenioids evolved adaptive traits including novel antifreeze proteins for survival in extreme cold, but also suffered seemingly adverse trait loss including red blood cells in the icefish family, and the ability to mount cellular responses to mitigate heat stress ? otherwise ubiquitous across all life. This project aims to understand how the notothenoid genomes have changed and contributed to their evolution in the cold. The project will sequence, analyze and compare the genomes of two strategic pairs of notothenioid fishes representing both red-blooded and white-blooded species. Each pair will consist of one Antarctic species and one that has readapted to the temperate waters of S. America or New Zealand. The project will also compare the Antarctic species genomes to a genome of the closet non-Antarctic relative representing the temperate notothenioid ancestor. The work aims to uncover the mechanisms that enabled the adaptive evolution of this ecologically vital group of fish in the freezing Southern Ocean, and shed light on their adaptability to a warming world. The finished genomes will be made available to promote and advance Antarctic research and the project will host a symposium of Polar researchers to discuss the cutting edge developments regarding of genomic adaptations in the polar region.<br/>Despite subzero, icy conditions that are perilous to teleost fish, the fish fauna of the isolated Southern Ocean (SO) surrounding Antarctica is remarkably bountiful. A single teleost group - the notothenioid fishes - dominate the fauna, comprising over 120 species that arose from a common ancestor. When Antarctica became isolated and SO temperatures began to plunge in early Oligocene, the prior temperate fishes became extinct. The ancestor of Antarctic notothenioids overcame forbidding polar conditions and, absent niche competition, it diversified and filled the SO. How did notothenioids adapt to freezing environmental selection pressures and achieve such extraordinary success? And having specialized to life in chronic cold for 30 myr, can they evolve in pace with today's warming climate to stay viable? Past studies of Antarctic notothenioid evolutionary adaptation have discovered various remarkable traits including the key, life-saving antifreeze proteins. But life specialized to cold also led to paradoxical trait changes such as the loss of the otherwise universal heat shock response, and of the O2-transporting hemoglobin and red blood cells in the icefish family. A few species interestingly regained abilities to live in temperate waters following the escape of their ancestor out of the freezing SO. <br/>This proposed project is the first major effort to advance the field from single trait studies to understanding the full spectrum of genomic and genetic responses to climatic and environmental change during notothenioid evolution, and to evaluate their adaptability to continuing climate change. To this end, the project will sequence the genomes of four key species that embody genomic responses to different thermal selection regimes during notothenioids' evolutionary history, and by comparative analyses of genomic structure, architecture and content, deduce the responding changes. Specifically, the project will (i) obtain whole genome assemblies of the red-blooded T. borchgrevinki and the S. American icefish C. esox; (ii) using the finished genomes from (i) as template, obtain assemblies of the New Zealand notothenioid N. angustata, and the white-blooded icefish C. gunnari, representing a long (11 myr) and recent (1 myr) secondarily temperate evolutionary history respectively. Genes that are under selection in the temperate environment but not in the Antarctic environment can be inferred to be directly necessary for that environment and the reverse is also true for genes under selection in the Antarctic but not in the temperate environment. Further, genes important for survival in temperate waters will show parallel selection between N. angustata and C. esox despite the fact that the two fish left the Antarctic at far separated time points. Finally, gene families that expanded due to strong selection within the cold Antarctic should show a degradation of duplicates in the temperate environment. The project will test these hypotheses using a number of techniques to compare the content and form of genes, the structure of the chromosomes containing those genes, and through the identification of key characters, such as selfish genetic elements, introns, and structural variants. | None | None | false | false |