近日，康奈尔大学Nina O. Therkildsen及其课题组的研究发现多个染色体倒位调控沿陡峭温度梯度的持续局部适应。相关论文于2026年3月5日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《科学》杂志上。

利用数量和群体遗传学、转录组学和人工选择实验，课题组研究人员展示了逆转录如何在广泛分布的海洋鱼类中实现沿陡峭环境梯度的临床适应性分化，尽管存在广泛的基因流动。该研究团队发现，三种倒置与多种适应性状相关，并且在基因组中具有最强烈的差异选择特征，这意味着一种关键的适应作用。这些倒转在不同纬度表现出截然不同的选择特征，表明它们控制着相同复杂性状的不同方面，并以模块化的方式促进适应不同的环境压力，尽管基因流动。

据了解，染色体倒位通常与不同生态型之间的分化有关，但它们在维持复杂性状的持续适应性分化中的作用仍然知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Multiple chromosomal inversions modulate continuous local adaptation along a steep thermal cline

Author: Maria Akopyan, Arne Jacobs, Jessica A. Rick, Aryn P. Wilder, Zofia A. Baumann, David Conover, Hannes Baumann, Nina O. Therkildsen

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-05

Abstract: Chromosomal inversions are often implicated in divergence between distinct ecotypes, but their role in maintaining continuous adaptive divergence in complex traits remains poorly understood. Using quantitative and population genetics, transcriptomics, and artificial selection experiments, we demonstrate how inversions enable clinal adaptive divergence along a steep environmental gradient despite extensive gene flow in a widely distributed marine fish. We show that three inversions are associated with multiple adaptive traits and harbor the strongest signatures of divergent selection in the genome, implying a crucial adaptive role. These inversions exhibit contrasting selection signatures across latitudes, suggesting that they control distinct aspects of the same complex traits and facilitate adaptation in a modular way to different environmental pressures despite gene flow.

DOI: ady6774

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady6774