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De Almeida SD, Richter GM, de Coo A, Jepsen S, Kapferer-Seebacher I, Dommisch H, Berger K, Laudes M, Lieb W, Loos BG, van der Velde N, van Schoor N, de Groot L, Blanco J, Carracedo A, Cruz R, Schaefer AS. A genome-wide association study meta-analysis in a European sample of stage III/IV grade C periodontitis patients ≤35 years of age identifies new risk loci. J Clin Periodontol 2024; 51:431-440. [PMID: 38140892 DOI: 10.1111/jcpe.13922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
AIM Few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been conducted for severe forms of periodontitis (stage III/IV grade C), and the number of known risk genes is scarce. To identify further genetic risk variants to improve the understanding of the disease aetiology, a GWAS meta-analysis in cases with a diagnosis at ≤35 years of age was performed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Genotypes from German, Dutch and Spanish GWAS studies of III/IV-C periodontitis diagnosed at age ≤35 years were imputed using TopMed. After quality control, a meta-analysis was conducted on 8,666,460 variants in 1306 cases and 7817 controls with METAL. Variants were prioritized using FUMA for gene-based tests, functional annotation and a transcriptome-wide association study integrating eQTL data. RESULTS The study identified a novel genome-wide significant association in the FCER1G gene (p = 1.0 × 10-9 ), which was previously suggestively associated with III/IV-C periodontitis. Six additional genes showed suggestive association with p < 10-5 , including the known risk gene SIGLEC5. HMCN2 showed the second strongest association in this study (p = 6.1 × 10-8 ). CONCLUSIONS This study expands the set of known genetic loci for severe periodontitis with an age of onset ≤35 years. The putative functions ascribed to the associated genes highlight the significance of oral barrier tissue stability, wound healing and tissue regeneration in the aetiology of these periodontitis forms and suggest the importance of tissue regeneration in maintaining oral health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Diz De Almeida
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Gesa M Richter
- Department of Periodontology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alicia de Coo
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Søren Jepsen
- Department of Periodontology, Operative and Preventive Dentistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Ines Kapferer-Seebacher
- Department of Dental and Oral Medicine and Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, University Hospital for Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Henrik Dommisch
- Department of Periodontology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Klaus Berger
- Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Matthias Laudes
- Institute of Diabetes and Clinical Metabolic Research, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Lieb
- Institute of Epidemiology, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Bruno G Loos
- Department of Periodontology and Oral Biochemistry, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nathalie van der Velde
- Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Internal Medicine Section of Geriatrics, Amsterdam Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Natasja van Schoor
- Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Lisette de Groot
- Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Juan Blanco
- Research Group of Medical-Surgery Dentistry (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Angel Carracedo
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica, Sistema Galego de Saúde (SERGAS) Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Genetics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Raquel Cruz
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Arne S Schaefer
- Department of Periodontology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Fernández M, de Coo A, Quintela I, García E, Diniz-Freitas M, Limeres J, Diz P, Blanco J, Carracedo Á, Cruz R. Genetic Susceptibility to Periodontal Disease in Down Syndrome: A Case-Control Study. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22126274. [PMID: 34200970 PMCID: PMC8230717 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22126274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Revised: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Severe periodontitis is prevalent in Down syndrome (DS). This study aimed to identify genetic variations associated with periodontitis in individuals with DS. The study group was distributed into DS patients with periodontitis (n = 50) and DS patients with healthy periodontium (n = 36). All samples were genotyped with the “Axiom Spanish Biobank” array, which contains 757,836 markers. An association analysis at the individual marker level using logistic regression, as well as at the gene level applying the sequence kernel association test (SKAT) was performed. The most significant genes were included in a pathway analysis using the free DAVID software. C12orf74 (rs4315121, p = 9.85 × 10−5, OR = 8.84), LOC101930064 (rs4814890, p = 9.61 × 10−5, OR = 0.13), KBTBD12 (rs1549874, p = 8.27 × 10−5, OR = 0.08), PIWIL1 (rs11060842, p = 7.82 × 10−5, OR = 9.05) and C16orf82 (rs62030877, p = 8.92 × 10−5, OR = 0.14) showed a higher probability in the individual analysis. The analysis at the gene level highlighted PIWIL, MIR9-2, LHCGR, TPR and BCR. At the signaling pathway level, PI3K-Akt, long-term depression and FoxO achieved nominal significance (p = 1.3 × 10−2, p = 5.1 × 10−3, p = 1.2 × 10−2, respectively). In summary, various metabolic pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis in DS, including PI3K-Akt, which regulates cell proliferation and inflammatory response.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Fernández
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (M.F.); (E.G.); (J.L.); (P.D.); (J.B.)
| | - Alicia de Coo
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (A.d.C.); (I.Q.); (Á.C.); (R.C.)
| | - Inés Quintela
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (A.d.C.); (I.Q.); (Á.C.); (R.C.)
- Centro Nacional de Genotipado, Plataforma de Recursos Biomoleculares, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CeGen-PRB3-ISCIII), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Eliane García
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (M.F.); (E.G.); (J.L.); (P.D.); (J.B.)
| | - Márcio Diniz-Freitas
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (M.F.); (E.G.); (J.L.); (P.D.); (J.B.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-981563100 (ext. 12344)
| | - Jacobo Limeres
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (M.F.); (E.G.); (J.L.); (P.D.); (J.B.)
| | - Pedro Diz
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (M.F.); (E.G.); (J.L.); (P.D.); (J.B.)
| | - Juan Blanco
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (M.F.); (E.G.); (J.L.); (P.D.); (J.B.)
| | - Ángel Carracedo
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (A.d.C.); (I.Q.); (Á.C.); (R.C.)
- Centro Nacional de Genotipado, Plataforma de Recursos Biomoleculares, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CeGen-PRB3-ISCIII), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), CIBERER-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica—SERGAS, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Raquel Cruz
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain; (A.d.C.); (I.Q.); (Á.C.); (R.C.)
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), CIBERER-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15706 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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de Coo A, Cruz R, Quintela I, Herrera D, Sanz M, Diz P, Rodríguez Grandío S, Vallcorba N, Ramos I, Oteo A, Serrano C, Esmatges A, Enrile F, Mateos L, García R, Álvarez-Novoa P, Noguerol B, Zabalegui I, Blanco-Moreno J, Alonso Á, Lorenzo R, Carracedo A, Blanco J. Genome-wide association study of stage III/IV grade C periodontitis (former aggressive periodontitis) in a Spanish population. J Clin Periodontol 2021; 48:896-906. [PMID: 33745150 DOI: 10.1111/jcpe.13460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
AIM To identify loci associated with stages III/IV, grade C periodontitis (PIII/IV-C) through a genome-wide association study (GWAS). MATERIALS AND METHODS 441 Caucasian Spanish PIII/IV-C cases from the SEPA Network of Research Clinics and 1141 controls from the Banco Nacional de ADN were genotyped with "Axiom Spain Biobank Array," which contains 757836 markers, including rare and low-frequency Spanish variants. The analysis of the individual association and subsequently the gene-level analysis with Sequence Kernel Association Test (SKAT) were carried out adjusting for age, sex and PC1 covariates. Pathway Analysis was additionally performed with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software on the top associated genes. RESULTS In the individual analyses, no genome-wide significant signals were detected. However, 8 SNPs of 8 loci reached suggestive evidence of association with PIII/IV-C, including FAT3 rs35709256, CSNK1G2 rs4807188, MYH13 rs2074872, CNTN2 rs116611488, ANTXR1 rs4854545, 8p23.2 rs78672540, ANGPT1 rs13439823 and PLEC rs11993287 (p < 5 × 10-6 ). SKAT analysis identified other interesting signals at CNTN2, FBXO44, AP1M2, RSPO4, KRI1, BPIFB1 and INMT, although their probability does not exceed the multiple-test correction. IPA indicated significant enrichment of pathways related to cAMP, IL-2, CD28, VDR/RXR and PI3K/Akt. CONCLUSIONS: GWAS found no SNPs significantly associated with PIII/IV-C.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia de Coo
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Raquel Cruz
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.,CIBERER-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Inés Quintela
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.,Centro Nacional de Genotipado - Plataforma de Recursos Biomoleculares - Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CeGen-PRB3-ISCIII), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - David Herrera
- ETEP (Etiology and Therapy of Periodontal and Peri-implant Diseases) Research Group, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.,SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Mariano Sanz
- ETEP (Etiology and Therapy of Periodontal and Peri-implant Diseases) Research Group, University Complutense of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pedro Diz
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Segundo Rodríguez Grandío
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Nuria Vallcorba
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Isabel Ramos
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Alfonso Oteo
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Serrano
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Alejandro Esmatges
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Francisco Enrile
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Leopoldo Mateos
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Roberto García
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Pablo Álvarez-Novoa
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Blas Noguerol
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Ion Zabalegui
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - José Blanco-Moreno
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Ángel Alonso
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Ramón Lorenzo
- SEPA Network of Research Clinics (Red de Clínicas de Investigación de la Sociedad Española de Periodoncia y Osteointegración, SEPA), Madrid, Spain
| | - Angel Carracedo
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.,CIBERER-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.,Centro Nacional de Genotipado - Plataforma de Recursos Biomoleculares - Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CeGen-PRB3-ISCIII), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.,Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica- SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Juan Blanco
- Grupo de Investigación en Odontología Médico-Quirúrgica (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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de Coo A, Quintela I, Blanco J, Diz P, Carracedo Á. Assessment of genotyping tools applied in genetic susceptibility studies of periodontal disease: A systematic review. Arch Oral Biol 2018; 92:38-50. [DOI: 10.1016/j.archoralbio.2018.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2018] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Rolán-Alvarez E, Carvajal-Rodríguez A, de Coo A, Cortés B, Estévez D, Ferreira M, González R, Briscoe AD. The scale-of-choice effect and how estimates of assortative mating in the wild can be biased due to heterogeneous samples. Evolution 2015; 69:1845-57. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2014] [Accepted: 05/13/2015] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Rolán-Alvarez
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Facultade de Bioloxía; Universidad de Vigo; 36310 Vigo Spain
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of California; Irvine California 92697
| | - Antonio Carvajal-Rodríguez
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Facultade de Bioloxía; Universidad de Vigo; 36310 Vigo Spain
| | - Alicia de Coo
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Facultade de Bioloxía; Universidad de Vigo; 36310 Vigo Spain
| | - Beatriz Cortés
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Facultade de Bioloxía; Universidad de Vigo; 36310 Vigo Spain
| | - Daniel Estévez
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Facultade de Bioloxía; Universidad de Vigo; 36310 Vigo Spain
| | - Mar Ferreira
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Facultade de Bioloxía; Universidad de Vigo; 36310 Vigo Spain
| | - Rubén González
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Facultade de Bioloxía; Universidad de Vigo; 36310 Vigo Spain
| | - Adriana D. Briscoe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of California; Irvine California 92697
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Rolán-Alvarez E, Saura M, Diz AP, José Rivas M, Alvarez M, Cortés B, Coo AD, Estévez D, Iglesias L. Can sexual selection and disassortative mating contribute to the maintenance of a shell color polymorphism in an intertidal marine snail? Curr Zool 2012. [DOI: 10.1093/czoolo/58.3.463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Littorina fabalis is an intertidal snail commonly living on the brown algae Fucus vesiculosus and showing frequent shell-color polymorphisms in the wild. The evolutionary mechanism underlying this polymorphism is currently unknown. Shell color variation was studied in mated and non-mated specimens of this species from different microareas in one locality from NW Spain, in order to estimate sexual selection and assortative mating that may (still) be operating in this population. The analyses across microareas allowed us to investigate frequency-dependent selection and assortative mating components, mechanisms that could maintain the polymorphism. The presence of shell scars caused by crab attacks, an environmental variable not related with sexual selection or assortative mating, was used as experimental control. This study provides new evidence of significant disas-sortative mating and some degree of sexual selection against some shell colors, supporting the results found 21 years ago in a similar study, i.e. in the same species and locality. The similarity of these estimates during the studied period suggests that this experimental approach is consistent and valid to be extended to other populations and organisms. In addition, sexual selection and assortative mating estimates did not change across microareas differing in shell color frequencies, suggesting than the polymorphism can not be maintained by a frequency-dependent (sexual selection-based) mechanism. Our main hypothesis is that negative assortative mating could contribute to the maintenance of the polymorphism, perhaps by males showing distinct female color preferences when searching for mates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Rolán-Alvarez
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - María Saura
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Angel P. Diz
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - María José Rivas
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Marga Alvarez
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Beatriz Cortés
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Alicia de Coo
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Daniel Estévez
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
| | - Laura Iglesias
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Campus de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
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