Pathogen-driven selection is believed to be important in the evolution and maintenance of the polymorphism of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes but have been tested for very few vertebrates. In this study, we first investigate by SSCP (single strand conformational polymorphism) the diversity found at the MHC class IIbeta gene in a population of brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis)...

Quantification of anatomical and physiological characteristics of the function of a musculoskeletal system may yield a detailed understanding of how the organizational levels of morphology, biomechanics, kinematics, and muscle activity patterns (MAPs) influence behavioral diversity. Using separate analyses of these organizational levels in representative study taxa, we sought patterns of congru...

Domestication has been practiced for centuries yet directed toward relatively few terrestrial crops and animals. While phenotypic and quantitative genetic changes associated with domestication have been amply documented, little is known about the molecular changes underlying the phenotypic evolution during the process. Here, we have investigated the brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) responses...

Abstract Salmonine fishes are generally thought not to exhibit male parental care, although brief post-spawning mate-guarding by males is known for a number of species, often populations where eggs subjected intense predation (egg cannibalism). Here, detailed in situ data on the spawning behaviour brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis , from naturally reproducing lake population used test whether ...