Our null hypothesis was that fishing is not selective for specific physiological (i.e. plasma glucose, lactate, cortisol, osmolality, Na+, Cl−, and K+, and gill Na+/K+-ATPase) or energetic (i.e. gross somatic energy) traits in adult migrating sockeye salmon and is based on the premise that our initial collection techniques for tagging were themselves not selective (see Discussion).
To gain insight into the molecular basis of the observed genetic correlations, we tested whether there was significant overlap of common transcripts between modules for the energy metabolism traits and life-history traits.
They also highlight a need for studying energy metabolism traits within a broader organismal context, integrating information on variation in traits influencing energy metabolism with information on variation in life history and other energetically demanding traits.
This enabled us not only to identify candidate genes and transcriptional networks that might explain variation for energy metabolism traits, but also to investigate the genetic interrelationships among energy metabolism, behavioral, and life-history traits that have evolved in natural populations.
We also found that all traits exhibited significant sex-by-line interactions (Additional file 1: Quantitative genetic analyses of body weight and energy metabolism traits).
Although the relationships among BW and energy metabolism traits in this study are fairly weak, similar relationships have been found in other studies using Drosophila.
A very recent study leveraging the CC for the study of genetic factors underlying energy balance traits showcases its potential [ 219].
We identified 13 modules associated with GLYC, ranging from 2 to 101 probe sets (see Additional file 5: Analysis of modules of correlated transcripts associated with body weight and energy metabolism traits).
We identified 13 modules of correlated transcripts associated with BW, ranging from 2 to 97 probe sets (see Additional file 5: Modules of correlated transcripts associated with body weight and energy metabolism traits).
