Geography of the circadian gene clock and photoperiodic response in western North American populations of the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus

Controlled laboratory experiments were used to show that Oregon and Alaskan three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, collected from locations differing by 18 degrees of latitude, exhibited no significant variation in length of the polyglutamine domain of the clock protein or in photoperiodic response within or between latitudes despite the fact that male and female G. aculeatus are photoperiodic at both latitudes. Hence, caution is urged when interpreting variation in the polyglutamine repeat (PolyQ) domain of the gene clock in the context of seasonal activities or in relationship to photoperiodism along geographical gradients.