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Revely L, Eggleton P, Clement R, Zhou C, Bishop TR. The diversity of social complexity in termites. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232791. [PMID: 38835273 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2791] [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: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Sociality underpins major evolutionary transitions and significantly influences the structure and function of complex ecosystems. Social insects, seen as the pinnacle of sociality, have traits like obligate sterility that are considered 'master traits', used as single phenotypic measures of this complexity. However, evidence is mounting that completely aligning both phenotypic and evolutionary social complexity, and having obligate sterility central to both, is erroneous. We hypothesize that obligate and functional sterility are insufficient in explaining the diversity of phenotypic social complexity in social insects. To test this, we explore the relative importance of these sterility traits in an understudied but diverse taxon: the termites. We compile the largest termite social complexity dataset to date, using specimen and literature data. We find that although functional and obligate sterility explain a significant proportion of variance, neither trait is an adequate singular proxy for the phenotypic social complexity of termites. Further, we show both traits have only a weak association with the other social complexity traits within termites. These findings have ramifications for our general comprehension of the frameworks of phenotypic and evolutionary social complexity, and their relationship with sterility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis Revely
- Soil Biodiversity Group, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Paul Eggleton
- Soil Biodiversity Group, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Rebecca Clement
- Computational Biology Institute, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Chuanyu Zhou
- Soil Biodiversity Group, Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Tom R Bishop
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
- Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
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2
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Kagan F, Hejnol A. Comparative Analysis of Maternal Gene Expression Patterns Unravels Evolutionary Signatures Across Reproductive Modes. Mol Biol Evol 2024; 41:msae081. [PMID: 38679468 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msae081] [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: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 03/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Maternal genes have a pivotal role in regulating metazoan early development. As such their functions have been extensively studied since the dawn of developmental biology. The temporal and spatial dynamics of their transcripts have been thoroughly described in model organisms and their functions have been undergoing heavy investigations. Yet, less is known about the evolutionary changes shaping their presence within diverse oocytes. Due to their unique maternal inheritance pattern, a high degree is predicted to be present when it comes to their expression. Insofar only limited and conflicting results have emerged around it. Here, we set out to elucidate which evolutionary changes could be detected in the maternal gene expression patterns using phylogenetic comparative methods on RNAseq data from 43 species. Using normalized gene expression values and fold change information throughout early development we set out to find the best-fitting evolutionary model. Through modeling, we find evidence supporting both the high degree of divergence and constraint on gene expression values, together with their temporal dynamics. Furthermore, we find that maternal gene expression alone can be used to explain the reproductive modes of different species. Together, these results suggest a highly dynamic evolutionary landscape of maternal gene expression. We also propose a possible functional dichotomy of maternal genes which is influenced by the reproductive strategy undertaken by examined species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ferenc Kagan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Andreas Hejnol
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich Schiller University, Institute for Zoology and Evolutionary Research, Jena, Germany
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Church SH, Mah JL, Dunn CW. Integrating phylogenies into single-cell RNA sequencing analysis allows comparisons across species, genes, and cells. PLoS Biol 2024; 22:e3002633. [PMID: 38787797 PMCID: PMC11125556 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002633] [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: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Comparisons of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data across species can reveal links between cellular gene expression and the evolution of cell functions, features, and phenotypes. These comparisons evoke evolutionary histories, as depicted by phylogenetic trees, that define relationships between species, genes, and cells. This Essay considers each of these in turn, laying out challenges and solutions derived from a phylogenetic comparative approach and relating these solutions to previously proposed methods for the pairwise alignment of cellular dimensional maps. This Essay contends that species trees, gene trees, cell phylogenies, and cell lineages can all be reconciled as descriptions of the same concept-the tree of cellular life. By integrating phylogenetic approaches into scRNA-seq analyses, challenges for building informed comparisons across species can be overcome, and hypotheses about gene and cell evolution can be robustly tested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel H. Church
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Jasmine L. Mah
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
| | - Casey W. Dunn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
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Searle PC, Shiozawa DK, Evans RP, Hill JT, Suli A, Stark MR, Belk MC. Heterochronic shift in gene expression leads to ontogenetic morphological divergence between two closely related polyploid species. iScience 2024; 27:109566. [PMID: 38632992 PMCID: PMC11022054 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 11/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Heterochrony-alteration to the rate or timing of development-is an important mechanism of trait differentiation associated with speciation. Heterochrony may explain the morphological divergence between two polyploid species, June sucker (Chasmistes liorus) and Utah sucker (Catostomus ardens). The larvae of both species have terminal mouths; however, as adults, June sucker and Utah sucker develop subterminal and ventral mouths, respectively. We document a difference in the timing of shape development and a corresponding change in the timing of gene expression, suggesting the distinctive mouth morphology in June suckers may result from paedomorphosis. Specifically, adult June suckers exhibit an intermediate mouth morphology between the larval (terminal) and ancestral (ventral) states. Endemic and sympatric Chasmistes/Catostomus pairs in two other lakes also are morphologically divergent, but genetically similar. These species pairs could have resulted from the differential expression of genes and corresponding divergence in trait development. Paedomorphosis may lead to adaptive diversification in Catostomids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter C. Searle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
- Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
| | | | - R. Paul Evans
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
| | - Jonathon T. Hill
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
| | - Arminda Suli
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
| | - Michael R. Stark
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
| | - Mark C. Belk
- Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
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Ahuja N, Cao X, Schultz DT, Picciani N, Lord A, Shao S, Jia K, Burdick DR, Haddock SHD, Li Y, Dunn CW. Giants among Cnidaria: Large Nuclear Genomes and Rearranged Mitochondrial Genomes in Siphonophores. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae048. [PMID: 38502059 PMCID: PMC10980510 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae048] [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: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Siphonophores (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) are abundant predators found throughout the ocean and are important constituents of the global zooplankton community. They range in length from a few centimeters to tens of meters. They are gelatinous, fragile, and difficult to collect, so many aspects of the biology of these roughly 200 species remain poorly understood. To survey siphonophore genome diversity, we performed Illumina sequencing of 32 species sampled broadly across the phylogeny. Sequencing depth was sufficient to estimate nuclear genome size from k-mer spectra in six specimens, ranging from 0.7 to 2.3 Gb, with heterozygosity estimates between 0.69% and 2.32%. Incremental k-mer counting indicates k-mer peaks can be absent with nearly 20× read coverage, suggesting minimum genome sizes range from 1.4 to 5.6 Gb in the 25 samples without peaks in the k-mer spectra. This work confirms most siphonophore nuclear genomes are large relative to the genomes of other cnidarians, but also identifies several with reduced size that are tractable targets for future siphonophore nuclear genome assembly projects. We also assembled complete mitochondrial genomes for 33 specimens from these new data, indicating a conserved gene order shared among nonsiphonophore hydrozoans, Cystonectae, and some Physonectae, revealing the ancestral mitochondrial gene order of siphonophores. Our results also suggest extensive rearrangement of mitochondrial genomes within other Physonectae and in Calycophorae. Though siphonophores comprise a small fraction of cnidarian species, this survey greatly expands our understanding of cnidarian genome diversity. This study further illustrates both the importance of deep phylogenetic sampling and the utility of k-mer-based genome skimming in understanding the genomic diversity of a clade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Namrata Ahuja
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Xuwen Cao
- Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Darrin T Schultz
- Department of Neuroscience and Developmental Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
| | - Natasha Picciani
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Arianna Lord
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Shengyuan Shao
- Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Kejue Jia
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | | | - Yuanning Li
- Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Casey W Dunn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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Damian-Serrano A. Yellow tails in Iasis cylindrica (Salpida: Salpidae) chains suggest zooid-type subspecialization in salp colonies. Ecology 2024; 105:e4243. [PMID: 38246167 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Damian-Serrano
- Department of Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
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Mańko MK, Munro C, Leclère L. Establishing Bilateral Symmetry in Hydrozoan Planula Larvae, a Review of Siphonophore Early Development. Integr Comp Biol 2023; 63:975-989. [PMID: 37353930 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad081] [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] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Siphonophores are colonial hydrozoans, characterized by complex colony organization and unparalleled zooid functional specialization. Recent genomic studies have offered an evolutionary perspective on how this morphological complexity arose, but a molecular characterization of symmetry breaking in siphonophore embryonic development is still largely missing. Here, bringing together historical data on early development with new immunohistochemical data, we review the diversity of developmental trajectories that lead to the formation of bilaterally symmetric planula larvae in siphonophores. Embryonic development, up to the planula stage, is remarkably similar across siphonophore phylogeny. Then, with the appearance of the lateral endodermal thickening (= ventral endoderm), larval development diverges between taxa, differing in the location and patterning of the primary buds, chronology of budding, establishment of growth zones, and retention of larval zooids. Our work also uncovers a number of open questions in siphonophore development, including homology of different zooids, mechanisms underlying formation and maintenance of spatially restricted growth zone(s), and molecular factors establishing a secondary dorsal-ventral axis in planulae. By discussing siphonophore development and body axes within the broader cnidarian context, we then set the framework for future work on siphonophores, which is finally achievable with the advent of culturing methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciej K Mańko
- Laboratory of Plankton Biology, Department of Marine Biology and Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk, Gdynia, 81-378, Poland
| | - Catriona Munro
- Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology (CIRB), Collège de France, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, 75005, France
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV), Villefranche-sur-Mer, 06230, France
| | - Lucas Leclère
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie du Développement de Villefranche-sur-mer (LBDV), Villefranche-sur-Mer, 06230, France
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Biologie Intégrative des Organismes Marins (BIOM), Banyuls-sur-Mer, 66650, France
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Lewis ZR, Kerney R, Hanken J. Developmental basis of evolutionary lung loss in plethodontid salamanders. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabo6108. [PMID: 35977024 PMCID: PMC9385146 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo6108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
One or more members of four living amphibian clades have independently dispensed with pulmonary respiration and lack lungs, but little is known of the developmental basis of lung loss in any taxon. We use morphological, molecular, and experimental approaches to examine the Plethodontidae, a dominant family of salamanders, all of which are lungless as adults. We confirm an early anecdotal report that plethodontids complete early stages of lung morphogenesis: Transient embryonic lung primordia form but regress by apoptosis before hatching. Initiation of pulmonary development coincides with expression of the lung-specification gene Wnt2b in adjacent mesoderm, and the lung rudiment expresses pulmonary markers Nkx2.1 and Sox9. Lung developmental-genetic pathways are at least partially conserved despite the absence of functional adult lungs for at least 25 and possibly exceeding 60 million years. Adult lung loss appears associated with altered expression of signaling molecules that mediate later stages of tracheal and pulmonary development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary R. Lewis
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ryan Kerney
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, USA
| | - James Hanken
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Reduction, rearrangement, fusion, and hypertrophy: evolution of the muscular system in polymorphic zooids of cheilostome Bryozoa. ORG DIVERS EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-022-00562-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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10
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Mika K, Whittington CM, McAllan BM, Lynch VJ. Gene expression phylogenies and ancestral transcriptome reconstruction resolves major transitions in the origins of pregnancy. eLife 2022; 11:e74297. [PMID: 35770963 PMCID: PMC9275820 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Structural and physiological changes in the female reproductive system underlie the origins of pregnancy in multiple vertebrate lineages. In mammals, the glandular portion of the lower reproductive tract has transformed into a structure specialized for supporting fetal development. These specializations range from relatively simple maternal nutrient provisioning in egg-laying monotremes to an elaborate suite of traits that support intimate maternal-fetal interactions in Eutherians. Among these traits are the maternal decidua and fetal component of the placenta, but there is considerable uncertainty about how these structures evolved. Previously, we showed that changes in uterine gene expression contributes to several evolutionary innovations during the origins of pregnancy (Mika et al., 2021b). Here, we reconstruct the evolution of entire transcriptomes ('ancestral transcriptome reconstruction') and show that maternal gene expression profiles are correlated with degree of placental invasion. These results indicate that an epitheliochorial-like placenta evolved early in the mammalian stem-lineage and that the ancestor of Eutherians had a hemochorial placenta, and suggest maternal control of placental invasiveness. These data resolve major transitions in the evolution of pregnancy and indicate that ancestral transcriptome reconstruction can be used to study the function of ancestral cell, tissue, and organ systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katelyn Mika
- Department of Human Genetics, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of ChicagoChicagoUnited States
| | | | | | - Vincent J Lynch
- Department of Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkBuffalo,NewyorkUnited States
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