Abstract
The adaptive role of amphibian oocyte melanic pigmentation and its molecular control are still elusive. Here we present evidence of a polymorphism in egg pigmentation in the emerald glass frog Espadarana prosoblepon. In Ecuadorian natural populations of this species, females can lay dark brown or pale eggs that develop into normal pigmented tadpoles and adults. This trait is a sex-limited phenotype which is inherited like a recessive allele that we called pale eggs like (pel). The pel phenotype is exclusive of oocyte cortical melanic pigmentation, which is reduced in comparison to wild type (wt) dark pigmented oocytes. Consequently, pel early embryos are paler in appearance, with reduced melanic pigmentation distributed to early blastomeres and embryonic ectoderm. However, these embryos form normal melanocyte derived pigmentation. Finally, we discuss the origin of this polymorphism and propose the use of E. prosoblepon as a model to study the adaptive role of egg pigmentation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 333-344 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | International Journal of Developmental Biology |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue number | 5-6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 20 Aug 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 UPV/EHU Press Printed in Spain.
Funding
Acknowledgements Field and laboratory work in Ecuador were funded by Secretaría Nacio-nal de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador SENESCYT (Arca de Noé initiative; SRR and Omar Torres, principal investigators) and grants from PUCE to SRR and AR-C. We would like to thank José DeCoux and Reserva los Cedros personnel for their support during our visits. Los Cedros is an endangered natural area because of mining pressure. Please consider supporting this private conservancy effort (http://reservaloscedros.org/). Pol Pintanel, Karem López, Franco Poma, Leonardo Negrete and Claudia Terán provided important assistance in Field and laboratory work in Ecuador were funded by Secretar?a Nacional de Educaci?n Superior, Ciencia, Tecnolog?a e Innovaci?n del Ecuador SENESCYT (Arca de No? initiative; SRR and Omar Torres, principal investigators) and grants from PUCE to SRR and AR-C. We would like to thank Jos? DeCoux and Reserva los Cedros personnel for their support during our visits. Los Cedros is an endangered natural area because of mining pressure. Please consider supporting this private conservancy effort (http://reservaloscedros.org/). Pol Pintanel, Karem L?pez, Franco Poma, Leonardo Negrete and Claudia Ter?n provided important assistance in field trips, DNA extractions and PCRs. We also thank Justin Yeager for critical reading of the manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Secretar?a Nacional de Educaci?n Superior, Ciencia, Tecnolog?a e Innovaci?n del Ecuador SENESCYT | |
| Secretaría Nacio-nal de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación del Ecuador SENESCYT | |
| Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador |
Keywords
- Centrolenidae
- Embryo
- Glass frog
- Melanin
- Oocyte
- Pigment