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Mariette J, Carcaud J, Louis T, Lacassagne E, Servais I, Montagné N, Chertemps T, Jacquin-Joly E, Meslin C, Marion-Poll F, Sandoz JC. Evolution of queen pheromone receptor tuning in four honeybee species (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Apis). iScience 2024; 27:111243. [PMID: 39610706 PMCID: PMC11602622 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 10/22/2024] [Indexed: 11/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Honeybees (genus: Apis) use a plethora of pheromones for intraspecific communication. The primary compound produced by the queen's mandibular glands, 9-ODA, is involved in mating in all Apis species. It is the ligand of the most highly expressed olfactory receptor in males of Apis mellifera: AmelOR11. Putative orthologs are found in the genomes of other Apis species: Apis dorsata, Apis florea, and Apis cerana. Modeling of OR11 proteins shows high structure conservation except for AflorOR11. Using heterologous expression in Drosophila and calcium imaging, a broad odorant screening revealed that all OR11 respond predominantly to 9-ODA, but also to secondary ligands, except AflorOR11, which remains specific to 9-ODA. Secondary ligands were confirmed by optical imaging of male antennal lobes in A. mellifera. This work supports a conserved queen sex pheromone detection channel in honeybees, albeit with an extended response spectrum possibly playing a role in reproductive isolation among species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Mariette
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 12 Route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Julie Carcaud
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 12 Route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Thierry Louis
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 12 Route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Eleanor Lacassagne
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 12 Route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Ilana Servais
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 12 Route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Nicolas Montagné
- Sorbonne Université, INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Université de Paris, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES-Paris), Paris, France
| | - Thomas Chertemps
- Sorbonne Université, INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Université de Paris, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES-Paris), Paris, France
| | - Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly
- Sorbonne Université, INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Université de Paris, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES-Paris), Paris, France
| | - Camille Meslin
- Sorbonne Université, INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Université de Paris, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES-Paris), Paris, France
| | - Frédéric Marion-Poll
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 12 Route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jean-Christophe Sandoz
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, IRD, 12 Route 128, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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2
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Yusuf LH, Pascoal S, Moran PA, Bailey NW. Testing the genomic overlap between intraspecific mating traits and interspecific mating barriers. Evol Lett 2024; 8:902-915. [PMID: 39677567 PMCID: PMC11637687 DOI: 10.1093/evlett/qrae042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 06/19/2024] [Accepted: 07/18/2024] [Indexed: 12/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Differences in interspecific mating traits, such as male sexual signals and female preferences, often evolve quickly as initial barriers to gene flow between nascent lineages, and they may also strengthen such barriers during secondary contact via reinforcement. However, it is an open question whether loci contributing to intraspecific variation in sexual traits are co-opted during the formation and strengthening of mating barriers between species. To test this, we used a population genomics approach in natural populations of Australian cricket sister species that overlap in a contact zone: Teleogryllus oceanicus and Teleogryllus commodus. First, we identified loci associated with intraspecific variation in T. oceanicus mating signals: advertisement song and cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) pheromones. We then separately identified candidate interspecific barrier loci between the species. Genes showing elevated allelic divergence between species were enriched for neurological functions, indicating potential behavioral rewiring. Only two CHC-associated genes overlapped with these interspecific candidate barrier loci, and intraspecific CHC loci showed signatures of being under strong selective constraints between species. In contrast, 10 intraspecific song-associated genes showed high genetic differentiation between T. commodus and T. oceanicus, and 2 had signals of high genomic divergence. The overall lack of shared loci in intra vs. interspecific comparisons of mating trait and candidate barrier loci is consistent with limited co-option of the genetic architecture of interspecific mating signals during the establishment and maintenance of reproductive isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leeban H Yusuf
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
| | - Sonia Pascoal
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Peter A Moran
- A-LIFE, Section Ecology & Evolution, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nathan W Bailey
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
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3
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Friedel A, Soro A, Shafiey H, Tragust S, Boff S, Ballote Johannson VRE, Quezada-Euán JJG, Paxton RJ. Benefits of extended maternal care in a mass-provisioning bee at the cusp of sociality. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20241832. [PMID: 39657808 PMCID: PMC11631416 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.1832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2024] [Accepted: 10/11/2024] [Indexed: 12/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Many invertebrates exhibit parental care, posited as a precursor to sociality. For example, solitary foundresses of the facultative social orchid bee Euglossa viridissima guard their brood for 6+ weeks before offspring emerge, when the nest may become social. Guarding comes at the fitness cost of foregoing the production of additional offspring. Yet it is unclear whether guarding (extended maternal care) can enhance offspring survival such that it outweighs those fitness costs, or if it is a consequence of the selective benefits of sociality, including extended female longevity. Experimental removal of solitary foundresses from nests of E. viridissima revealed an immediate fitness loss: decreased offspring survival. A mathematical model exploring the trade-off between extended maternal care versus non-guarding revealed that extended maternal care is immediately advantageous to a solitary mother if nest establishment takes longer than a threshold 1.7-12.5 days. Below this threshold, our model suggests that social fitness gains (acquiring helper daughters) need to be invoked to explain the evolution of extended maternal care. Enhanced survival of offspring through guarding and nest inheritance may nevertheless ease conditions for the evolution of sociality by favouring extended adult longevity and brood care in incipient social species like E. viridissima.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Friedel
- General Zoology, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Antonella Soro
- General Zoology, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hassan Shafiey
- General Zoology, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simon Tragust
- General Zoology, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Samuel Boff
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
- Laboratório de Estudos sobre Abelhas, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, MaranhãoBrasil.
| | | | - José Javier G. Quezada-Euán
- Departamento de Apicultura, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Robert John Paxton
- General Zoology, Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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4
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Eltz T, Mende T, Ramírez SR. Evolution of Acquired Perfumes and Endogenous Lipid Secretions in Orchid Bees. J Chem Ecol 2024; 50:430-438. [PMID: 38958679 PMCID: PMC11493807 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-024-01514-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
Male orchid bees are unique in the animal kingdom for making perfumes that function as sex pheromone. Males collect volatile chemicals from the environment in the neotropical forests, including floral and non-floral sources, creating complex but species-specific blends. Male orchid bees exhibit several adaptations to facilitate perfume collection and storage. When collecting volatile compounds, males apply lipid substances that they secrete from cephalic labial glands onto the fragrant substrate. These lipids help dissolve and retain the volatiles, similar to the process of 'enfleurage' in the traditional perfume industry. We investigated how the chemical composition of acquired perfume and labial gland secretions varied across the phylogeny of orchid bees, including 65 species in five genera from Central and South America. Perfumes showed rapid evolution as revealed by low overall phylogenetic signal, in agreement with the idea that perfume compounds diverge rapidly and substantially among closely related species due to their role in species recognition. A possible exception were perfumes in the genus Eulaema, clustering closely in chemospace, partly mediated by high proportions of carvone and trans-carvone oxide. Labial gland secretions, in contrast, showed a strong phylogenetic signal at the genus level, with secretions of Eufriesea and Exaerete dominated by fatty acids and Eulaema dominated by saturated acetates of chain lengths 12 to 16 C-atoms. Secretions of the majority of Euglossa were heavily dominated by one unsaturated long chain diacetate, (9Z)-Eicosen-1,20-diyldiacetate. However, we also identified few highly divergent species of Euglossa in four subclades (11 species) that appear to have secondarily replaced the diacetate with other compounds. In comparison with environment-derived perfumes, the evolution of labial gland secretion is much slower, likely constrained by the underlying biochemical pathways, but perhaps influenced by perfume-solvent chemical interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Eltz
- Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801, Bochum, NRW, Germany.
| | - Tobias Mende
- Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 44801, Bochum, NRW, Germany
| | - Santiago R Ramírez
- Department of Evolution and Ecology and Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
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5
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Palmera-Castrillon K, Junqueira CN, Toci AT, Augusto SC. Complexity of the Male Perfume of Eulaema nigrita from Forest and Woody Physiognomies of the Brazilian Savanna: Is There a Relationship with Body Size and Wing Wear? NEOTROPICAL ENTOMOLOGY 2024; 53:330-341. [PMID: 38228817 DOI: 10.1007/s13744-023-01117-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
Male orchid bees collect volatile and semi-volatile compounds from the environment for storage and accumulation in specialized hind legs. Later, these compounds form a perfume blend used during courtship to lure conspecific females for mating. Male orchid bees perfume has been suggested to play an important role as a sexual signaling trait involved in pre-mating isolation of species, functioning as an indicator of male genetic quality. Eulaema nigrita Lepeletier (Apidae: Euglossini) is a common species in both forested and woody savanna (Cerrado stricto sensu) physiognomies of the Brazilian savanna biome. By identifying the chemical composition of male E. nigrita perfume, we tested for differences in the bouquet chemical profile in populations from remnants of seasonal semideciduous forest and woody savanna. In addition, we assessed the relation between perfume complexity and morphological traits associated with size and age of males. Our analysis showed a low effect of physiognomies on differences in the perfume chemical profile of sampled males. Nevertheless, we observed significant differences in the chemical profile of individuals from two seasonal semideciduous forest remnants, which suggests an environmental effect in individual bouquet. Wing wear measurements were positively related to perfume complexity, consistent with the premise that perfumes from older individuals are indicators of survival capacity in male orchid bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Palmera-Castrillon
- Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Depto de Biologia, Univ de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Aline Theodoro Toci
- Instituto Latino-Americano de Ciências da Vida E da Natureza, Univ Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, Foz Do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil
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6
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Rossi M, Hausmann AE, Alcami P, Moest M, Roussou R, Van Belleghem SM, Wright DS, Kuo CY, Lozano-Urrego D, Maulana A, Melo-Flórez L, Rueda-Muñoz G, McMahon S, Linares M, Osman C, McMillan WO, Pardo-Diaz C, Salazar C, Merrill RM. Adaptive introgression of a visual preference gene. Science 2024; 383:1368-1373. [PMID: 38513020 PMCID: PMC7616200 DOI: 10.1126/science.adj9201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Visual preferences are important drivers of mate choice and sexual selection, but little is known of how they evolve at the genetic level. In this study, we took advantage of the diversity of bright warning patterns displayed by Heliconius butterflies, which are also used during mate choice. Combining behavioral, population genomic, and expression analyses, we show that two Heliconius species have evolved the same preferences for red patterns by exchanging genetic material through hybridization. Neural expression of regucalcin1 correlates with visual preference across populations, and disruption of regucalcin1 with CRISPR-Cas9 impairs courtship toward conspecific females, providing a direct link between gene and behavior. Our results support a role for hybridization during behavioral evolution and show how visually guided behaviors contributing to adaptation and speciation are encoded within the genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Rossi
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
| | | | - Pepe Alcami
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
| | - Markus Moest
- Department of Ecology and Research Department for Limnology, Mondsee; University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Rodaria Roussou
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
| | | | | | - Chi-Yun Kuo
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Gamboa, Panama
| | - Daniela Lozano-Urrego
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario; Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Arif Maulana
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
| | - Lina Melo-Flórez
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario; Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Geraldine Rueda-Muñoz
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario; Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Saoirse McMahon
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
| | - Mauricio Linares
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario; Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Christof Osman
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
| | | | | | - Camilo Salazar
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario; Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Richard M. Merrill
- Faculty of Biology, Ludwig Maximilian University; Munich, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; Gamboa, Panama
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7
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Merrill RM, Arenas-Castro H, Feller AF, Harenčár J, Rossi M, Streisfeld MA, Kay KM. Genetics and the Evolution of Prezygotic Isolation. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2024; 16:a041439. [PMID: 37848246 PMCID: PMC10835618 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
The significance of prezygotic isolation for speciation has been recognized at least since the Modern Synthesis. However, fundamental questions remain. For example, how are genetic associations between traits that contribute to prezygotic isolation maintained? What is the source of genetic variation underlying the evolution of these traits? And how do prezygotic barriers affect patterns of gene flow? We address these questions by reviewing genetic features shared across plants and animals that influence prezygotic isolation. Emerging technologies increasingly enable the identification and functional characterization of the genes involved, allowing us to test established theoretical expectations. Embedding these genes in their developmental context will allow further predictions about what constrains the evolution of prezygotic isolation. Ongoing improvements in statistical and computational tools will reveal how pre- and postzygotic isolation may differ in how they influence gene flow across the genome. Finally, we highlight opportunities for progress by combining theory with appropriate data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard M Merrill
- Faculty of Biology, Division of Evolutionary Biology, LMU Munich, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Henry Arenas-Castro
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Anna F Feller
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
- Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02131, USA
| | - Julia Harenčár
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95060, USA
| | - Matteo Rossi
- Faculty of Biology, Division of Evolutionary Biology, LMU Munich, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Matthew A Streisfeld
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-5289, USA
| | - Kathleen M Kay
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California 95060, USA
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8
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Liu JW, Milet-Pinheiro P, Gerlach G, Ayasse M, Nunes CEP, Alves-Dos-Santos I, Ramírez SR. Macroevolution of floral scent chemistry across radiations of male euglossine bee-pollinated plantsMacroevolución de olores florales a través de radiaciones de plantas polinizadas por abejas euglosinas machosMacroevolução dos voláteis florais em radiações de plantas polinizadas por machos de abelhas Euglossini. Evolution 2024; 78:98-110. [PMID: 37897499 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
Floral volatiles play key roles as signaling agents that mediate interactions between plants and animals. Despite their importance, few studies have investigated broad patterns of volatile variation across groups of plants that share pollinators, particularly in a phylogenetic context. The "perfume flowers," Neotropical plant species exhibiting exclusive pollination by male euglossine bees in search of chemical rewards, present an intriguing system to investigate these patterns due to the unique function of their chemical phenotypes as both signaling agents and rewards. We leverage recently developed phylogenies and knowledge of biosynthesis, along with decades of chemical ecology research, to characterize axes of variation in the chemistry of perfume flowers, as well as understand their evolution at finer taxonomic scales. We detect pervasive chemical convergence, with many species across families exhibiting similar volatile phenotypes. Scent profiles of most species are dominated by compounds of either the phenylpropanoid or terpenoid biosynthesis pathways, while terpenoid compounds drive more subtle axes of variation. We find recapitulation of these patterns within two independent radiations of perfume flower orchids, in which we further detect evidence for the rapid evolution of divergent floral chemistries, consistent with the putative importance of scent in the process of adaptation and speciation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasen W Liu
- Center for Population Biology, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Paulo Milet-Pinheiro
- Laboratory of Ecological Interactions and Semiochemicals, Universidade de Pernambuco, Petrolina, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Günter Gerlach
- Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg, München, Germany
| | - Manfred Ayasse
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | | | | | - Santiago R Ramírez
- Center for Population Biology, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Jardín Botánico Lankester, Universidad de Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica
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9
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Cheatle Jarvela AM, Wexler JR. Advances in genome sequencing reveal changes in gene content that contribute to arthropod macroevolution. Dev Genes Evol 2023; 233:59-76. [PMID: 37982820 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-023-00712-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
Current sequencing technology allows for the relatively affordable generation of highly contiguous genomes. Technological advances have made it possible for researchers to investigate the consequences of diverse sorts of genomic variants, such as gene gain and loss. With the extraordinary number of high-quality genomes now available, we take stock of how these genomic variants impact phenotypic evolution. We take care to point out that the identification of genomic variants of interest is only the first step in understanding their impact. Painstaking lab or fieldwork is still required to establish causal relationships between genomic variants and phenotypic evolution. We focus mostly on arthropod research, as this phylum has an impressive degree of phenotypic diversity and is also the subject of much evolutionary genetics research. This article is intended to both highlight recent advances in the field and also to be a primer for learning about evolutionary genetics and genomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alys M Cheatle Jarvela
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
- HHMI Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, USA.
| | - Judith R Wexler
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
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10
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Mariette J, Noël A, Louis T, Montagné N, Chertemps T, Jacquin-Joly E, Marion-Poll F, Sandoz JC. Transcuticular calcium imaging as a tool for the functional study of insect odorant receptors. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1182361. [PMID: 37645702 PMCID: PMC10461100 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1182361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The primary actors in the detection of olfactory information in insects are odorant receptors (ORs), transmembrane proteins expressed at the dendrites of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). In order to decode the insect olfactome, many studies focus on the deorphanization of ORs (i.e., identification of their ligand), using various approaches involving heterologous expression coupled to neurophysiological recordings. The "empty neuron system" of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an appreciable host for insect ORs, because it conserves the cellular environment of an OSN. Neural activity is usually recorded using labor-intensive electrophysiological approaches (single sensillum recordings, SSR). In this study, we establish a simple method for OR deorphanization using transcuticular calcium imaging (TCI) at the level of the fly antenna. As a proof of concept, we used two previously deorphanized ORs from the cotton leafworm Spodoptera littoralis, a specialist pheromone receptor and a generalist plant odor receptor. We demonstrate that by co-expressing the GCaMP6s/m calcium probes with the OR of interest, it is possible to measure robust odorant-induced responses under conventional microscopy conditions. The tuning breadth and sensitivity of ORs as revealed using TCI were similar to those measured using single sensillum recordings (SSR). We test and discuss the practical advantages of this method in terms of recording duration and the simultaneous testing of several insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Mariette
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, IRD, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Amélie Noël
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, IRD, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Thierry Louis
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, IRD, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Nicolas Montagné
- Sorbonne Université, INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Université Paris Cité, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES-Paris), Paris, France
| | - Thomas Chertemps
- Sorbonne Université, INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Université Paris Cité, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES-Paris), Paris, France
| | - Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly
- Sorbonne Université, INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Université Paris Cité, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES-Paris), Paris, France
| | - Frédéric Marion-Poll
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, IRD, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jean-Christophe Sandoz
- Evolution, Genomes, Behaviour and Ecology, IDEEV, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, IRD, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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11
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Henske J, Saleh NW, Chouvenc T, Ramírez SR, Eltz T. Function of environment-derived male perfumes in orchid bees. Curr Biol 2023; 33:2075-2080.e3. [PMID: 37054713 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.03.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Perfume making in male orchid bees is a unique behavior that has given rise to an entire pollination syndrome in the neotropics.1,2 Male orchid bees concoct and store species-specific perfume mixtures in specialized hind-leg pockets3 using volatiles acquired from multiple environmental sources, including orchid flowers.4,5 However, the function and the ultimate causes of this behavior have remained elusive.2,6 Although previous observations suggested that male perfumes serve as chemical signals, the attractiveness for females has not be shown.7,8 Here, we demonstrate that the possession of perfume increases male mating success and paternity in Euglossa dilemma, a species of orchid bees recently naturalized in Florida. We supplemented males reared from trap-nests with perfume loads harvested from wild conspecifics. In dual-choice experiments, males supplemented with perfumes mated with more females, and sired more offspring, than untreated, equal-aged, control males. Although perfume supplementation had little effect on the intensity of male courtship display, it changed the dynamics of male-male interactions. Our results demonstrate that male-acquired perfumes are sexual signals that stimulate females for mating and suggest that sexual selection is key in shaping the evolution of perfume communication in orchid bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Henske
- Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, NRW 44801, Germany.
| | - Nicholas W Saleh
- Entomology and Nematology Department, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL 33314, USA
| | - Thomas Chouvenc
- Entomology and Nematology Department, Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center, University of Florida, Davie, FL 33314, USA
| | - Santiago R Ramírez
- Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Thomas Eltz
- Department of Animal Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, NRW 44801, Germany
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12
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Gomez Ramirez WC, Thomas NK, Muktar IJ, Riabinina O. The neuroecology of olfaction in bees. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 56:101018. [PMID: 36842606 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2023.101018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The focus of bee neuroscience has for a long time been on only a handful of social honeybee and bumblebee species, out of thousands of bees species that have been described. On the other hand, information about the chemical ecology of bees is much more abundant. Here we attempted to compile the scarce information about olfactory systems of bees across species. We also review the major categories of intra- and inter-specific olfactory behaviors of bees, with specific focus on recent literature. We finish by discussing the most promising avenues for bee olfactory research in the near future.
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13
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Darragh K, Linden TA, Ramírez SR. Seasonal stability and species specificity of environmentally acquired chemical mating signals in orchid bees. J Evol Biol 2023; 36:675-686. [PMID: 36820763 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.14165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Traits that mediate reproductive isolation between species, such as those involved in mate choice and/or recognition, are predicted to experience stabilizing selection towards the species mean. Male orchid bees collect chemical compounds from many sources, such as plants and fungi, which they use as a perfume signal (pheromone) during courtship display, and are suggested to contribute to reproductive isolation between species. Environmentally acquired signals are more prone to variation as source availability can vary through space and time. If orchid bee perfumes are important for reproductive isolation between species, we expect them to exhibit stable species-specific differences in time and space. Here, we describe phenotypic patterns of inter- and intraspecific variation in the male perfumes of three sympatric species of Euglossa orchid bees across an entire year, investigating both their seasonality and species specificity. Our analysis revealed considerable within-species variation in perfumes. However, species specificity was maintained consistently throughout the year, supporting the idea that these perfumes could play an important role in reproductive isolation and are experiencing stabilizing selection towards a species mean. Our analysis also identified strong correlations in the abundance of some compounds, possibly due to shared collection sources between species. Our study suggests that orchid bee perfumes are robust in the face of environmental changes in resource availability and thus can maintain reproductive isolation between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathy Darragh
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - Tess A Linden
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Santiago R Ramírez
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
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14
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Dornburg A, Mallik R, Wang Z, Bernal MA, Thompson B, Bruford EA, Nebert DW, Vasiliou V, Yohe LR, Yoder JA, Townsend JP. Placing human gene families into their evolutionary context. Hum Genomics 2022; 16:56. [PMID: 36369063 PMCID: PMC9652883 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-022-00429-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Following the draft sequence of the first human genome over 20 years ago, we have achieved unprecedented insights into the rules governing its evolution, often with direct translational relevance to specific diseases. However, staggering sequence complexity has also challenged the development of a more comprehensive understanding of human genome biology. In this context, interspecific genomic studies between humans and other animals have played a critical role in our efforts to decode human gene families. In this review, we focus on how the rapid surge of genome sequencing of both model and non-model organisms now provides a broader comparative framework poised to empower novel discoveries. We begin with a general overview of how comparative approaches are essential for understanding gene family evolution in the human genome, followed by a discussion of analyses of gene expression. We show how homology can provide insights into the genes and gene families associated with immune response, cancer biology, vision, chemosensation, and metabolism, by revealing similarity in processes among distant species. We then explain methodological tools that provide critical advances and show the limitations of common approaches. We conclude with a discussion of how these investigations position us to gain fundamental insights into the evolution of gene families among living organisms in general. We hope that our review catalyzes additional excitement and research on the emerging field of comparative genomics, while aiding the placement of the human genome into its existentially evolutionary context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex Dornburg
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, UNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA.
| | - Rittika Mallik
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, UNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Zheng Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Moisés A Bernal
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Brian Thompson
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Elspeth A Bruford
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, UK
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Daniel W Nebert
- Department of Environmental Health, Center for Environmental Genetics, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, OH, 45267, USA
- Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Developmental Biology, Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA
| | - Vasilis Vasiliou
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Laurel R Yohe
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, UNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Jeffrey A Yoder
- Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Jeffrey P Townsend
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, UNC-Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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15
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Analysis and Dynamic Monitoring of Indoor Air Quality Based on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy and Machine Learning. CHEMOSENSORS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/chemosensors10070259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The air quality of the living area influences human health to a certain extent. Therefore, it is particularly important to detect the quality of indoor air. However, traditional detection methods mainly depend on chemical analysis, which has long been criticized for its high time cost. In this research, a rapid air detection method for the indoor environment using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and machine learning was proposed. Four common scenes were simulated, including burning carbon, burning incense, spraying perfume and hot shower which often led to indoor air quality changes. Two steps of spectral measurements and algorithm analysis were used in the experiment. Moreover, the proposed method was found to be effective in distinguishing different kinds of aerosols and presenting sensitivity to the air compositions. In this paper, the signal was isolated by the forest, so the singular values were filtered out. Meanwhile, the spectra of different scenarios were analyzed via the principal component analysis (PCA), and the air environment was classified by K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) algorithm with an accuracy of 99.2%. Moreover, based on the establishment of a high-precision quantitative detection model, a back propagation (BP) neural network was introduced to improve the robustness and accuracy of indoor environment. The results show that by taking this method, the dynamic prediction of elements concentration can be realized, and its recognition accuracy is 96.5%.
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16
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Mier P, Fontaine JF, Stoldt M, Libbrecht R, Martelli C, Foitzik S, Andrade-Navarro MA. Annotation and Analysis of 3902 Odorant Receptor Protein Sequences from 21 Insect Species Provide Insights into the Evolution of Odorant Receptor Gene Families in Solitary and Social Insects. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13050919. [PMID: 35627304 PMCID: PMC9141868 DOI: 10.3390/genes13050919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The gene family of insect olfactory receptors (ORs) has expanded greatly over the course of evolution. ORs enable insects to detect volatile chemicals and therefore play an important role in social interactions, enemy and prey recognition, and foraging. The sequences of several thousand ORs are known, but their specific function or their ligands have only been identified for very few of them. To advance the functional characterization of ORs, we have assembled, curated, and aligned the sequences of 3902 ORs from 21 insect species, which we provide as an annotated online resource. Using functionally characterized proteins from the fly Drosophila melanogaster, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae and the ant Harpegnathos saltator, we identified amino acid positions that best predict response to ligands. We examined the conservation of these predicted relevant residues in all OR subfamilies; the results showed that the subfamilies that expanded strongly in social insects had a high degree of conservation in their binding sites. This suggests that the ORs of social insect families are typically finely tuned and exhibit sensitivity to very similar odorants. Our novel approach provides a powerful tool to exploit functional information from a limited number of genes to study the functional evolution of large gene families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Mier
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (J.-F.F.); (M.S.); (R.L.); (S.F.); (M.A.A.-N.)
- Correspondence:
| | - Jean-Fred Fontaine
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (J.-F.F.); (M.S.); (R.L.); (S.F.); (M.A.A.-N.)
| | - Marah Stoldt
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (J.-F.F.); (M.S.); (R.L.); (S.F.); (M.A.A.-N.)
| | - Romain Libbrecht
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (J.-F.F.); (M.S.); (R.L.); (S.F.); (M.A.A.-N.)
| | - Carlotta Martelli
- Institute of Developmental Biology and Neurobiology (iDN), Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany;
| | - Susanne Foitzik
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (J.-F.F.); (M.S.); (R.L.); (S.F.); (M.A.A.-N.)
| | - Miguel A. Andrade-Navarro
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany; (J.-F.F.); (M.S.); (R.L.); (S.F.); (M.A.A.-N.)
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17
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Labra A, Reyes‐Olivares C, Moreno‐Gómez FN, Velásquez NA, Penna M, Delano PH, Narins PM. Geographic variation in the matching between call characteristics and tympanic sensitivity in the Weeping lizard. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:18633-18650. [PMID: 35003698 PMCID: PMC8717325 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Effective communication requires a match among signal characteristics, environmental conditions, and receptor tuning and decoding. The degree of matching, however, can vary, among others due to different selective pressures affecting the communication components. For evolutionary novelties, strong selective pressures are likely to act upon the signal and receptor to promote a tight match among them. We test this prediction by exploring the coupling between the acoustic signals and auditory sensitivity in Liolaemus chiliensis, the Weeping lizard, the only one of more than 285 Liolaemus species that vocalizes. Individuals emit distress calls that convey information of predation risk to conspecifics, which may respond with antipredator behaviors upon hearing calls. Specifically, we explored the match between spectral characteristics of the distress calls and the tympanic sensitivities of two populations separated by more than 700 km, for which previous data suggested variation in their distress calls. We found that populations differed in signal and receptor characteristics and that this signal variation was explained by population differences in body size. No precise match occurred between the communication components studied, and populations differed in the degree of such correspondence. We suggest that this difference in matching between populations relates to evolutionary processes affecting the Weeping lizard distress calls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonieta Labra
- Department of BiosciencesCentre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES)University of OsloOsloNorway
| | - Claudio Reyes‐Olivares
- Programa de Fisiología y BiofísicaInstituto de Ciencias BiomédicasFacultad de MedicinaUniversidad de ChileSantiago de ChileChile
| | - Felipe N. Moreno‐Gómez
- Departamento de Biología y QuímicaFacultad de Ciencias BásicasUniversidad Católica del MauleTalcaChile
| | - Nelson A. Velásquez
- Departamento de Biología y QuímicaFacultad de Ciencias BásicasUniversidad Católica del MauleTalcaChile
| | - Mario Penna
- Programa de Fisiología y BiofísicaInstituto de Ciencias BiomédicasFacultad de MedicinaUniversidad de ChileSantiago de ChileChile
| | - Paul H. Delano
- Departamento de NeurocienciaFacultad de MedicinaUniversidad de ChileSantiagoChile
- Centro Avanzado de Ingeniería Eléctrica y ElectrónicaAC3EUniversidad Técnica Federico Santa MaríaValparaísoChile
| | - Peter M. Narins
- Department of Integrative Biology & PhysiologyUniversity of California Los AngelesLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
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18
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Saleh NW, Hodgson K, Pokorny T, Mullins A, Chouvenc T, Eltz T, Ramírez SR. Social Behavior, Ovary Size, and Population of Origin Influence Cuticular Hydrocarbons in the Orchid Bee Euglossa dilemma. Am Nat 2021; 198:E136-E151. [PMID: 34648396 DOI: 10.1086/716511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
AbstractCuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are waxy compounds on the surface of insects that prevent desiccation and frequently serve as chemical signals mediating social and mating behaviors. Although their function in eusocial species has been heavily investigated, little is known about the evolution of CHC-based communication in species with simpler forms of social organization lacking specialized castes. Here we investigate factors shaping CHC variation in the orchid bee Euglossa dilemma, which forms casteless social groups of two to three individuals. We first assess geographic variation, examining CHC profiles of males and females from three populations. We also consider CHC variation in the sister species, Euglossa viridissima, which occurs sympatrically with one population of E. dilemma. Next, we consider variation associated with female behavioral phases, to test the hypothesis that CHCs reflect ovary size and social dominance. We uncover a striking CHC polymorphism in E. dilemma spanning populations. In addition, we identify a separate set of CHCs that correlate with ovary size, social dominance, and expression of genes associated with social behavior, suggesting that CHCs convey reproductive and social information in E. dilemma. Together, our results reveal complex patterns of variation in which a subset of CHCs reflect the social and reproductive status of nestmates.
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19
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Brandt K, Dötterl S, Ramírez SR, Etl F, Machado IC, Navarro DMDAF, Dobler D, Reiser O, Ayasse M, Milet-Pinheiro P. Unraveling the Olfactory Biases of Male Euglossine Bees: Species-Specific Antennal Responses and Their Evolutionary Significance for Perfume Flowers. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.727471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Male euglossine bees exhibit unique adaptations for the acquisition and accumulation of chemical compounds from “perfume flowers” and other sources. During courtship display, male bees expose perfume mixtures, presumably to convey species-specific recognition and/or mate choice signals to females. Because olfaction regulates both signal production (in males) and signal detection (in females) in this communication system, strong selective pressures are expected to act on the olfactory system, which could lead to sensory specialization in favor of an increased sensitivity to specific chemical compounds. The floral scents of euglossine-pollinated plants are hypothesized to have evolved in response to the preexisting sensory biases of their male euglossine bee pollinators. However, this has never been investigated at the peripheral olfactory circuitry of distinct pollinating genera. Here, we present a comparative analysis using electroantennography (EAG) of males across the phylogeny of 29 euglossine bee species, among them Euglossa and Eulaema species. First, we tested whether antennal responses differ among different euglossine genera, subgenera and species. Secondly, we conducted a comparative phylogenetic analysis to investigate the macroevolutionary patterns of antennal responses across the euglossine bee phylogeny. We found that antennal response profiles are very unique on the species level and differ on the subgenus and the genus level. The differences can be explained by chemical compounds typically found in the floral scent bouquets of perfume flowers and specific compounds of species either pollinated by Euglossa (e.g., ipsdienol) or Eulaema bees (e.g., (−)-(E)-carvone epoxide). Also, we detected a phylogenetic signal in mean antennal responses and found that especially at the species level of our simulation the overall antennal responses exhibit greater disparity relative to a null model of pure Brownian-motion across the phylogeny. Altogether, our results suggest that (1) euglossine bee species exhibit species-specific antennal responses that differ among euglossine genera and subgenera, (2) antennal responses diverge early after speciation events, and (3) scent composition of perfume flowers evolved in response to pollinator-mediated selection imposed by preexisting sensory biases in euglossine bees.
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20
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Fouks B, Brand P, Nguyen HN, Herman J, Camara F, Ence D, Hagen DE, Hoff KJ, Nachweide S, Romoth L, Walden KKO, Guigo R, Stanke M, Narzisi G, Yandell M, Robertson HM, Koeniger N, Chantawannakul P, Schatz MC, Worley KC, Robinson GE, Elsik CG, Rueppell O. The genomic basis of evolutionary differentiation among honey bees. Genome Res 2021; 31:1203-1215. [PMID: 33947700 PMCID: PMC8256857 DOI: 10.1101/gr.272310.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
In contrast to the western honey bee, Apis mellifera, other honey bee species have been largely neglected despite their importance and diversity. The genetic basis of the evolutionary diversification of honey bees remains largely unknown. Here, we provide a genome-wide comparison of three honey bee species, each representing one of the three subgenera of honey bees, namely the dwarf (Apis florea), giant (A. dorsata), and cavity-nesting (A. mellifera) honey bees with bumblebees as an outgroup. Our analyses resolve the phylogeny of honey bees with the dwarf honey bees diverging first. We find that evolution of increased eusocial complexity in Apis proceeds via increases in the complexity of gene regulation, which is in agreement with previous studies. However, this process seems to be related to pathways other than transcriptional control. Positive selection patterns across Apis reveal a trade-off between maintaining genome stability and generating genetic diversity, with a rapidly evolving piRNA pathway leading to genomes depleted of transposable elements, and a rapidly evolving DNA repair pathway associated with high recombination rates in all Apis species. Diversification within Apis is accompanied by positive selection in several genes whose putative functions present candidate mechanisms for lineage-specific adaptations, such as migration, immunity, and nesting behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertrand Fouks
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27403, USA
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Molecular Evolution and Bioinformatics, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Philipp Brand
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95161, USA
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA
| | - Hung N Nguyen
- MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
| | - Jacob Herman
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27403, USA
| | - Francisco Camara
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daniel Ence
- School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
| | - Darren E Hagen
- Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA
| | - Katharina J Hoff
- University of Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Bioinformatics Group, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
- University of Greifswald, Center for Functional Genomics of Microbes, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Stefanie Nachweide
- University of Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Bioinformatics Group, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Lars Romoth
- University of Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Bioinformatics Group, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | - Kimberly K O Walden
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Roderic Guigo
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), 08002 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mario Stanke
- University of Greifswald, Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, Bioinformatics Group, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
- University of Greifswald, Center for Functional Genomics of Microbes, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Mark Yandell
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
- Utah Center for Genetic Discovery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
| | - Hugh M Robertson
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Nikolaus Koeniger
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II), University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Panuwan Chantawannakul
- Environmental Science Research Center (ESRC) and Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
| | - Michael C Schatz
- Departments of Computer Science and Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - Kim C Worley
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
| | - Gene E Robinson
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
| | - Christine G Elsik
- MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
| | - Olav Rueppell
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27403, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada
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21
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Séguret A, Stolle E, Fleites-Ayil FA, Quezada-Euán JJG, Hartfelder K, Meusemann K, Harrison MC, Soro A, Paxton RJ. Transcriptomic Signatures of Ageing Vary in Solitary and Social Forms of an Orchid Bee. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 13:6259147. [PMID: 33914875 PMCID: PMC8214409 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Eusocial insect queens are remarkable in their ability to maximize both fecundity and longevity, thus escaping the typical trade-off between these two traits. Several mechanisms have been proposed to underlie the remolding of the trade-off, such as reshaping of the juvenile hormone (JH) pathway, or caste-specific susceptibility to oxidative stress. However, it remains a challenge to disentangle the molecular mechanisms underlying the remolding of the trade-off in eusocial insects from caste-specific physiological attributes that have subsequently arisen. The socially polymorphic orchid bee Euglossa viridissima represents an excellent model to address the role of sociality per se in longevity as it allows direct comparisons of solitary and social individuals within a common genetic background. We investigated gene expression and JH levels in young and old bees from both solitary and social nests. We found 902 genes to be differentially expressed with age in solitary females, including genes involved in oxidative stress, versus only 100 genes in social dominant females, and 13 genes in subordinate females. A weighted gene coexpression network analysis further highlights pathways related to ageing in this species, including the target of rapamycin pathway. Eleven genes involved in translation, apoptosis, and DNA repair show concurrent age-related expression changes in solitary but not in social females, representing potential differences based on social status. JH titers did not vary with age or social status. Our results represent an important step in understanding the proximate mechanisms underlying the remodeling of the fecundity/longevity trade-off that accompanies the evolutionary transition from solitary life to eusociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Séguret
- Institute of Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.,Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfälische-Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany
| | - Eckart Stolle
- Institute of Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.,Leibniz Institute of Animal Biodiversity, Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig, Center of Molecular Biodiversity Research, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - José Javier G Quezada-Euán
- Department of Apiculture, Campus of Biological Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Autonomous University of Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
| | - Klaus Hartfelder
- Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Karen Meusemann
- Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg (i. Brsg.), Germany
| | - Mark C Harrison
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfälische-Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany
| | - Antonella Soro
- Institute of Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Robert J Paxton
- Institute of Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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22
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Hensley NM, Ellis EA, Leung NY, Coupart J, Mikhailovsky A, Taketa DA, Tessler M, Gruber DF, De Tomaso AW, Mitani Y, Rivers TJ, Gerrish GA, Torres E, Oakley TH. Selection, drift, and constraint in cypridinid luciferases and the diversification of bioluminescent signals in sea fireflies. Mol Ecol 2021; 30:1864-1879. [PMID: 33031624 PMCID: PMC11629831 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 09/09/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the genetic causes of evolutionary diversification is challenging because differences across species are complex, often involving many genes. However, cases where single or few genetic loci affect a trait that varies dramatically across a radiation of species provide tractable opportunities to understand the genetics of diversification. Here, we begin to explore how diversification of bioluminescent signals across species of cypridinid ostracods ("sea fireflies") was influenced by evolution of a single gene, cypridinid-luciferase. In addition to emission spectra ("colour") of bioluminescence from 21 cypridinid species, we report 13 new c-luciferase genes from de novo transcriptomes, including in vitro assays to confirm function of four of those genes. Our comparative analyses suggest some amino acid sites in c-luciferase evolved under episodic diversifying selection and may be associated with changes in both enzyme kinetics and colour, two enzymatic functions that directly impact the phenotype of bioluminescent signals. The analyses also suggest multiple other amino acid positions in c-luciferase evolved neutrally or under purifying selection, and may have impacted the variation of colour of bioluminescent signals across genera. Previous mutagenesis studies at candidate sites show epistatic interactions, which could constrain the evolution of c-luciferase function. This work provides important steps toward understanding the genetic basis of diversification of behavioural signals across multiple species, suggesting different evolutionary processes act at different times during a radiation of species. These results set the stage for additional mutagenesis studies that could explicitly link selection, drift, and constraint to the evolution of phenotypic diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholai M. Hensley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Emily A. Ellis
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Nicole Y. Leung
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - John Coupart
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Alexander Mikhailovsky
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Daryl A. Taketa
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Michael Tessler
- American Museum of Natural History and New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Biology, St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - David F. Gruber
- Department of Biology and Environmental Science, City University of New York Baruch College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anthony W. De Tomaso
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Yasuo Mitani
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Sapporo, Japan
| | - Trevor J. Rivers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Gretchen A. Gerrish
- Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA
| | - Elizabeth Torres
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Todd H. Oakley
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
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23
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Liénard MA, Bernard GD, Allen A, Lassance JM, Song S, Childers RR, Yu N, Ye D, Stephenson A, Valencia-Montoya WA, Salzman S, Whitaker MRL, Calonje M, Zhang F, Pierce NE. The evolution of red color vision is linked to coordinated rhodopsin tuning in lycaenid butterflies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2008986118. [PMID: 33547236 PMCID: PMC8017955 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2008986118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Color vision has evolved multiple times in both vertebrates and invertebrates and is largely determined by the number and variation in spectral sensitivities of distinct opsin subclasses. However, because of the difficulty of expressing long-wavelength (LW) invertebrate opsins in vitro, our understanding of the molecular basis of functional shifts in opsin spectral sensitivities has been biased toward research primarily in vertebrates. This has restricted our ability to address whether invertebrate Gq protein-coupled opsins function in a novel or convergent way compared to vertebrate Gt opsins. Here we develop a robust heterologous expression system to purify invertebrate rhodopsins, identify specific amino acid changes responsible for adaptive spectral tuning, and pinpoint how molecular variation in invertebrate opsins underlie wavelength sensitivity shifts that enhance visual perception. By combining functional and optophysiological approaches, we disentangle the relative contributions of lateral filtering pigments from red-shifted LW and blue short-wavelength opsins expressed in distinct photoreceptor cells of individual ommatidia. We use in situ hybridization to visualize six ommatidial classes in the compound eye of a lycaenid butterfly with a four-opsin visual system. We show experimentally that certain key tuning residues underlying green spectral shifts in blue opsin paralogs have evolved repeatedly among short-wavelength opsin lineages. Taken together, our results demonstrate the interplay between regulatory and adaptive evolution at multiple Gq opsin loci, as well as how coordinated spectral shifts in LW and blue opsins can act together to enhance insect spectral sensitivity at blue and red wavelengths for visual performance adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marjorie A Liénard
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142;
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Gary D Bernard
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Andrew Allen
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142
| | - Jean-Marc Lassance
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Siliang Song
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Richard Rabideau Childers
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Nanfang Yu
- Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027
| | - Dajia Ye
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Adriana Stephenson
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Wendy A Valencia-Montoya
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Shayla Salzman
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Melissa R L Whitaker
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | | | - Feng Zhang
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02142
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cambridge, MA 02139
| | - Naomi E Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
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24
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Tetsch L. Aphrodisiakum am Hinterbein. CHEM UNSERER ZEIT 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ciuz.202000084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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25
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de Medeiros BAS, Farrell BD. Evaluating insect-host interactions as a driver of species divergence in palm flower weevils. Commun Biol 2020; 3:749. [PMID: 33299067 PMCID: PMC7726107 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01482-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Plants and their specialized flower visitors provide valuable insights into the evolutionary consequences of species interactions. In particular, antagonistic interactions between insects and plants have often been invoked as a major driver of diversification. Here we use a tropical community of palms and their specialized insect flower visitors to test whether antagonisms lead to higher population divergence. Interactions between palms and the insects visiting their flowers range from brood pollination to florivory and commensalism, with the latter being species that feed on decaying-and presumably undefended-plant tissues. We test the role of insect-host interactions in the early stages of diversification of nine species of beetles sharing host plants and geographical ranges by first delimiting cryptic species and then using models of genetic isolation by environment. The degree to which insect populations are structured by the genetic divergence of plant populations varies. A hierarchical model reveals that this variation is largely uncorrelated with the kind of interaction, showing that antagonistic interactions are not associated with higher genetic differentiation. Other aspects of host use that affect plant-associated insects regardless of the outcomes of their interactions, such as sensory biases, are likely more general drivers of insect population divergence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno A S de Medeiros
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama.
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Brian D Farrell
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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26
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Rossi M, Hausmann AE, Thurman TJ, Montgomery SH, Papa R, Jiggins CD, McMillan WO, Merrill RM. Visual mate preference evolution during butterfly speciation is linked to neural processing genes. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4763. [PMID: 32958765 PMCID: PMC7506007 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18609-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Many animal species remain separate not because their individuals fail to produce viable hybrids but because they "choose" not to mate. However, we still know very little of the genetic mechanisms underlying changes in these mate preference behaviours. Heliconius butterflies display bright warning patterns, which they also use to recognize conspecifics. Here, we couple QTL for divergence in visual preference behaviours with population genomic and gene expression analyses of neural tissue (central brain, optic lobes and ommatidia) across development in two sympatric Heliconius species. Within a region containing 200 genes, we identify five genes that are strongly associated with divergent visual preferences. Three of these have previously been implicated in key components of neural signalling (specifically an ionotropic glutamate receptor and two regucalcins), and overall our candidates suggest shifts in behaviour involve changes in visual integration or processing. This would allow preference evolution without altering perception of the wider environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Rossi
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, LMU, Munich, Germany.
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama.
| | | | - Timothy J Thurman
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Montana, USA
| | | | - Riccardo Papa
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Molecular Sciences and Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | - Chris D Jiggins
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - W Owen McMillan
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Richard M Merrill
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, LMU, Munich, Germany.
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama.
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27
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Friedman DA, Johnson BR, Linksvayer TA. Distributed physiology and the molecular basis of social life in eusocial insects. Horm Behav 2020; 122:104757. [PMID: 32305342 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The traditional focus of physiological and functional genomic research is on molecular processes that play out within a single multicellular organism. In the colonial (eusocial) insects such as ants, bees, and termites, molecular and behavioral responses of interacting nestmates are tightly linked, and key physiological processes are regulated at the scale of the colony. Such colony-level physiological processes regulate nestmate physiology in a distributed fashion, through various social communication mechanisms. As a result of physiological decentralization over evolutionary time, organismal mechanisms, for example related to pheromone detection, hormone signaling, and neural signaling pathways, are deployed in novel contexts to influence nestmate and colony traits. Here we explore how functional genomic, physiological, and behavioral studies can benefit from considering the traits of eusocial insects in this light. We highlight functional genomic work exploring how nestmate-level and colony-level traits arise and are influenced by interactions among physiologically-specialized nestmates of various developmental stages. We also consider similarities and differences between nestmate-level (organismal) and colony-level (superorganismal) physiological processes, and make specific hypotheses regarding the physiology of eusocial taxa. Integrating theoretical models of distributed systems with empirical functional genomics approaches will be useful in addressing fundamental questions related to the evolution of eusociality and collective behavior in natural systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- D A Friedman
- University of California, Davis, Department of Entomology, Davis, CA 95616, United States of America.
| | - B R Johnson
- University of California, Davis, Department of Entomology, Davis, CA 95616, United States of America
| | - T A Linksvayer
- University of Pennsylvania, Department of Biology, Pennsylvania, PA 19104, United States of America
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28
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González-Rojas MF, Darragh K, Robles J, Linares M, Schulz S, McMillan WO, Jiggins CD, Pardo-Diaz C, Salazar C. Chemical signals act as the main reproductive barrier between sister and mimetic Heliconius butterflies. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20200587. [PMID: 32370676 PMCID: PMC7282924 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Colour pattern is the main trait that drives mate recognition between Heliconius species that are phylogenetically close. However, when this cue is compromised such as in cases of mimetic, sympatric and closely related species, alternative mating signals must evolve to ensure reproductive isolation and species integrity. The closely related species Heliconius melpomene malleti and H. timareta florencia occur in the same geographical region, and despite being co-mimics, they display strong reproductive isolation. In order to test which cues differ between species, and potentially contribute to reproductive isolation, we quantified differences in the wing phenotype and the male chemical profile. As expected, the wing colour pattern was indistinguishable between the two species, while the chemical profile of the androconial and genital males' extracts showed marked differences. We then conducted behavioural experiments to study the importance of these signals in mate recognition by females. In agreement with our previous results, we found that chemical blends and not wing colour pattern drive the preference of females for conspecific males. Also, experiments with hybrid males and females suggested an important genetic component for both chemical production and preference. Altogether, these results suggest that chemicals are the major reproductive barrier opposing gene flow between these two sister and co-mimic species.
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Affiliation(s)
- M F González-Rojas
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota 111221, Colombia
| | - K Darragh
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - J Robles
- Department of Chemistry, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia
| | - M Linares
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota 111221, Colombia
| | - S Schulz
- Institute of Organic Chemistry, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | | | - C D Jiggins
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - C Pardo-Diaz
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota 111221, Colombia
| | - C Salazar
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota 111221, Colombia
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