@article {626,
	title = {Transcriptome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms related to electric organ discharge differentiation among African weakly electric fish species.},
	journal = {PLoS One},
	volume = {15},
	year = {2020},
	month = {2020},
	pages = {e0240812},
	abstract = {<p>African weakly electric fish of the mormyrid genus Campylomormyrus generate pulse-type electric organ discharges (EODs) for orientation and communication. Their pulse durations are species-specific and elongated EODs are a derived trait. So far, differential gene expression among tissue-specific transcriptomes across species with different pulses and point mutations in single ion channel genes indicate a relation of pulse duration and electrocyte geometry/excitability. However, a comprehensive assessment of expressed Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) throughout the entire transcriptome of African weakly electric fish, with the potential to identify further genes influencing EOD duration, is still lacking. This is of particular value, as discharge duration is likely based on multiple cellular mechanisms and various genes. Here we provide the first transcriptome-wide SNP analysis of African weakly electric fish species (genus Campylomormyrus) differing by EOD duration to identify candidate genes and cellular mechanisms potentially involved in the determination of an elongated discharge of C. tshokwe. Non-synonymous substitutions specific to C. tshokwe were found in 27 candidate genes with inferred positive selection among Campylomormyrus species. These candidate genes had mainly functions linked to transcriptional regulation, cell proliferation and cell differentiation. Further, by comparing gene annotations between C. compressirostris (ancestral short EOD) and C. tshokwe (derived elongated EOD), we identified 27 GO terms and 2 KEGG pathway categories for which C. tshokwe significantly more frequently exhibited a species-specific expressed substitution than C. compressirostris. The results indicate that transcriptional regulation as well cell proliferation and differentiation take part in the determination of elongated pulse durations in C. tshokwe. Those cellular processes are pivotal for tissue morphogenesis and might determine the shape of electric organs supporting the observed correlation between electrocyte geometry/tissue structure and discharge duration. The inferred expressed SNPs and their functional implications are a valuable resource for future investigations on EOD durations.</p>
},
	keywords = {Animals, electric fish, electric organ, Electricity, Gene Expression, Gene Expression Profiling, Gene Expression Regulation, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Species Specificity, transcriptome},
	issn = {1932-6203},
	doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0240812},
	author = {Canitz, Julia and Kirschbaum, Frank and Ralph Tiedemann}
}
@article {539,
	title = {Electric Fish Genomics: Progress, Prospects, and New Tools for Neuroethology},
	journal = {Journal of Physiology-Paris},
	year = {2016},
	month = {Jan-10-2016},
	abstract = {<p>Electric fish have served as a model system in biology since the 18th century, providing deep insight into the nature of bioelectrogenesis, the molecular structure of the synapse, and brain circuitry underlying complex behavior. Neuroethologists have collected extensive phenotypic data that span biological levels of analysis from molecules to ecosystems. This phenotypic data, together with genomic resources obtained over the past decades, have motivated new and exciting hypotheses that position the weakly electric fish model to address fundamental 21st century biological questions. This review article considers the molecular data collected for weakly electric fish over the past three decades, and the insights that data of this nature has motivated. For readers relatively new to molecular genetics techniques, we also provide a table of terminology aimed at clarifying the numerous acronyms and techniques that accompany this field. Next, we pose a research agenda for expanding genomic resources for electric fish research over the next 10 years. We conclude by considering some of the exciting research prospects for neuroethology that electric fish genomics may offer over the coming decades, if the electric fish community is successful in these endeavors.</p>
},
	keywords = {CRISPR, electric fish, genome editing, genomics, transcriptomics, transgenics},
	issn = {09284257},
	doi = {10.1016/j.jphysparis.2016.10.003},
	url = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0928425716300079},
	author = {Pitchers, William R. and Savvas J. Constantinou and Losilla, Mauricio and Jason R. Gallant}
}
