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Balbuena MS, Latorre-Estivalis JM, Farina WM. Identification of chemosensory genes in the stingless bee Tetragonisca fiebrigi. G3 (Bethesda) 2024; 14:jkae060. [PMID: 38498593 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkae060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 03/02/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
Reception of chemical information from the environment is crucial for insects' survival and reproduction. The chemosensory reception mainly occurs by the antennae and mouth parts of the insect, when the stimulus contacts the chemoreceptors located within the sensilla. Chemosensory receptor genes have been well-studied in some social hymenopterans such as ants, honeybees, and wasps. However, although stingless bees are the most representative group of eusocial bees, little is known about their odorant, gustatory, and ionotropic receptor genes. Here, we analyze the transcriptome of the proboscis and antennae of the stingless bee Tetragonisca fiebrigi. We identified and annotated 9 gustatory and 15 ionotropic receptors. Regarding the odorant receptors, we identified 204, and we were able to annotate 161 of them. In addition, we compared the chemosensory receptor genes of T. fiebrigi with those annotated for other species of Hymenoptera. We found that T. fiebrigi showed the largest number of odorant receptors compared with other bees. Genetic expansions were identified in the subfamilies 9-exon, which was also expanded in ants and paper wasps; in G02A, including receptors potentially mediating social behavior; and in GUnC, which has been related to pollen and nectar scent detection. Our study provides the first report of chemosensory receptor genes in T. fiebrigi and represents a resource for future molecular and physiological research in this and other stingless bee species.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Sol Balbuena
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Jose M Latorre-Estivalis
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina
| | - Walter M Farina
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias (IFIBYNE), Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Insectos Sociales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CABA C1428EGA, Argentina
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2
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Vertacnik KL, Herrig DK, Godfrey RK, Hill T, Geib SM, Unckless RL, Nelson DR, Linnen CR. Evolution of five environmentally responsive gene families in a pine-feeding sawfly, Neodiprion lecontei (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae). Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10506. [PMID: 37791292 PMCID: PMC10542623 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2023] [Revised: 07/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
A central goal in evolutionary biology is to determine the predictability of adaptive genetic changes. Despite many documented cases of convergent evolution at individual loci, little is known about the repeatability of gene family expansions and contractions. To address this void, we examined gene family evolution in the redheaded pine sawfly Neodiprion lecontei, a noneusocial hymenopteran and exemplar of a pine-specialized lineage evolved from angiosperm-feeding ancestors. After assembling and annotating a draft genome, we manually annotated multiple gene families with chemosensory, detoxification, or immunity functions before characterizing their genomic distributions and molecular evolution. We find evidence of recent expansions of bitter gustatory receptor, clan 3 cytochrome P450, olfactory receptor, and antimicrobial peptide subfamilies, with strong evidence of positive selection among paralogs in a clade of gustatory receptors possibly involved in the detection of bitter compounds. In contrast, these gene families had little evidence of recent contraction via pseudogenization. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that in response to novel selection pressures, gene families that mediate ecological interactions may expand and contract predictably. Testing this hypothesis will require the comparative analysis of high-quality annotation data from phylogenetically and ecologically diverse insect species and functionally diverse gene families. To this end, increasing sampling in under-sampled hymenopteran lineages and environmentally responsive gene families and standardizing manual annotation methods should be prioritized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim L. Vertacnik
- Department of EntomologyUniversity of KentuckyLexingtonKentuckyUSA
| | | | - R. Keating Godfrey
- McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, University of FloridaGainesvilleFloridaUSA
| | - Tom Hill
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesBethesdaMarylandUSA
| | - Scott M. Geib
- Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research UnitUnited States Department of Agriculture: Agriculture Research Service Pacific Basin Agricultural Research CenterHiloHawaiiUSA
| | - Robert L. Unckless
- Department of Molecular BiosciencesUniversity of KansasLawrenceKansasUSA
| | - David R. Nelson
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and BiochemistryUniversity of Tennessee Health Science CenterMemphisTennesseeUSA
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Almeida EAB, Bossert S, Danforth BN, Porto DS, Freitas FV, Davis CC, Murray EA, Blaimer BB, Spasojevic T, Ströher PR, Orr MC, Packer L, Brady SG, Kuhlmann M, Branstetter MG, Pie MR. The evolutionary history of bees in time and space. Curr Biol 2023; 33:3409-3422.e6. [PMID: 37506702 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 07/04/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Bees are the most significant pollinators of flowering plants. This partnership began ca. 120 million years ago, but the uncertainty of how and when bees spread across the planet has greatly obscured investigations of this key mutualism. We present a novel analysis of bee biogeography using extensive new genomic and fossil data to demonstrate that bees originated in Western Gondwana (Africa and South America). Bees likely originated in the Early Cretaceous, shortly before the breakup of Western Gondwana, and the early evolution of any major bee lineage is associated with either the South American or African land masses. Subsequently, bees colonized northern continents via a complex history of vicariance and dispersal. The notable early absences from large landmasses, particularly in Australia and India, have important implications for understanding the assembly of local floras and diverse modes of pollination. How bees spread around the world from their hypothesized Southern Hemisphere origin parallels the histories of numerous flowering plant clades, providing an essential step to studying the evolution of angiosperm pollination syndromes in space and time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo A B Almeida
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo 14040-901, Brazil.
| | - Silas Bossert
- Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA; Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.
| | - Bryan N Danforth
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Diego S Porto
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo 14040-901, Brazil; Finnish Museum of Natural History - LUOMUS, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland
| | - Felipe V Freitas
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo 14040-901, Brazil; Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
| | - Charles C Davis
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Murray
- Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA; Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
| | - Bonnie B Blaimer
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA; Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery, Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - Tamara Spasojevic
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA; Life Sciences, Natural History Museum Basel, 4051 Basel, Switzerland; Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Patrícia R Ströher
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná 81531-990, Brazil; Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Michael C Orr
- Entomologie, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany; Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Laurence Packer
- Department of Biology, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - Seán G Brady
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
| | - Michael Kuhlmann
- Zoological Museum, University of Kiel, Hegewischstr. 3, 24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Michael G Branstetter
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Pollinating Insects Research Unit, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA
| | - Marcio R Pie
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná 81531-990, Brazil; Department of Biology, Edge Hill University, St Helens Rd, Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 4QP, UK
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Fernandez De Landa G, Alberoni D, Baffoni L, Fernandez De Landa M, Revainera PD, Porrini LP, Brasesco C, Quintana S, Zumpano F, Eguaras MJ, Maggi MD, Di Gioia D. The gut microbiome of solitary bees is mainly affected by pathogen assemblage and partially by land use. Environ Microbiome 2023; 18:38. [PMID: 37098635 PMCID: PMC10131457 DOI: 10.1186/s40793-023-00494-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Pollinators, including solitary bees, are drastically declining worldwide. Among the factors contributing to this decline, bee pathogens and different land uses are of relevance. The link between the gut microbiome composition and host health has been recently studied for social pollinators (e.g. honeybees), whereas the information related to solitary bees is sparse. This work aimed at the characterization of the gut microbiome of the solitary bees Xylocopa augusti, Eucera fervens and Lasioglossum and attempted to correlate the gut microbial composition with the presence and load of different pathogens and land uses. Solitary bees were sampled in different sites (i.e. a farm, a natural reserve, and an urban plant nursery) showing different land uses. DNA was extracted from the gut, 16S rRNA gene amplified and sequenced. Eight pathogens, known for spillover from managed bees to wild ones, were quantified with qPCR. The results showed that the core microbiome profile of the three solitary bees significantly varied in the different species. Pseudomonas was found as the major core taxa in all solitary bees analyzed, whereas Lactobacillus, Spiroplasma and Sodalis were the second most abundant taxa in X. augusti, E. fervens and Lasioglossum, respectively. The main pathogens detected with qPCR were Nosema ceranae, Nosema bombi and Crithidia bombi, although differently abundant in the different bee species and sampling sites. Most microbial taxa did not show any correlation with the land use, apart from Snodgrassella and Nocardioides, showing higher abundances on less anthropized sites. Conversely, the pathogens species and load strongly affected the gut microbial composition, with Bifidobacterium, Apibacter, Serratia, Snodgrassella and Sodalis abundance that positively or negatively correlated with the detected pathogens load. Therefore, pathogens presence and load appear to be the main factor shaping the gut microbiome of solitary bees in Argentina.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregorio Fernandez De Landa
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Daniele Alberoni
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127, Bologna, Italy.
| | - Loredana Baffoni
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127, Bologna, Italy
| | - Mateo Fernandez De Landa
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Pablo Damian Revainera
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Leonardo Pablo Porrini
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Constanza Brasesco
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Silvina Quintana
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Francisco Zumpano
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Funes 3350, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, 7600, Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Martìn Javier Eguaras
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Matias Daniel Maggi
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Asociación Simple CIC PBA, Instituto de Investigaciones en Producción Sanidad y Ambiente (IIPROSAM), Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Centro Científico Tecnológico Mar del Plata, CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, , Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Diana Di Gioia
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, 40127, Bologna, Italy
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Zhang D, Niu ZQ, Luo AR, Orr MC, Ferrari RR, Jin JF, Wu QT, Zhang F, Zhu CD. Testing the systematic status of Homalictus and Rostrohalictus with weakened cross-vein groups within Halictini (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) using low-coverage whole-genome sequencing. Insect Sci 2022; 29:1819-1833. [PMID: 35289982 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The halictid genus Lasioglossum, as one of the most species-rich bee groups with persistently contentious subgeneric boundaries, is one of the most challenging bee groups from a systematic standpoint. An enduring question is the relationship of Lasioglossum and Homalictus, whether all halictine bees with weakened distal wing venation comprise one or multiple genera. Here, we analyzed the phylogenetic relationships among the subgroups within Lasioglossum s.l. based on thousands of single-copy orthologs and ultraconserved elements, which were extracted from 23 newly sequenced low-coverage whole genomes alongside a published genome (22 ingroups plus 2 outgroups). Both marker sets provided consistent results across maximum likelihood and coalescent-based species tree approaches. The phylogenetic and topology test results show that the Lasioglossum and Hemihalictus series are reciprocally monophyletic and Homalictus and Rostrohalictus are valid subgenera of Lasioglossum. Consequently, we lower Homalictus to subgenus status within Lasioglossum again, and we also raise Rostrohalictus to subgenus status from its prior synonymy with subgenus Hemihalictus. Lasioglossum przewalskyi is also transferred to the subgenus Hemihalictus. Ultimately, we redefine Lasioglossum to include all halictine bees with weakened distal wing venation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Biological Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ze-Qing Niu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - A-Rong Luo
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- International College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Michael C Orr
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- International College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Rafael R Ferrari
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jian-Feng Jin
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Qing-Tao Wu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Zhang
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chao-Dong Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- College of Biological Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China
- State Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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6
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Zhao X, Liu Y. Current Knowledge on Bee Innate Immunity Based on Genomics and Transcriptomics. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232214278. [PMID: 36430757 PMCID: PMC9692672 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232214278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
As important pollinators, bees play a critical role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem and improving the yield and quality of crops. However, in recent years, the bee population has significantly declined due to various pathogens and environmental stressors including viruses, bacteria, parasites, and increased pesticide application. The above threats trigger or suppress the innate immunity of bees, their only immune defense system, which is essential to maintaining individual health and that of the colony. In addition, bees can be divided into solitary and eusocial bees based on their life traits, and eusocial bees possess special social immunities, such as grooming behavior, which cooperate with innate immunity to maintain the health of the colony. The omics approach gives us an opportunity to recognize the distinctive innate immunity of bees. In this regard, we summarize innate bee immunity from a genomic and transcriptomic perspective. The genetic characteristics of innate immunity were revealed by the multiple genomes of bees with different kinds of sociality, including honeybees, bumblebees, wasps, leaf-cutter bees, and so on. Further substantial transcriptomic data of different tissues from diverse bees directly present the activation or suppression of immune genes under the infestation of pathogens or toxicity of pesticides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaomeng Zhao
- College of Engineering, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, China
| | - Yanjie Liu
- Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
- Correspondence:
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Crone MK, Biddinger DJ, Grozinger CM. Wild Bee Nutritional Ecology: Integrative Strategies to Assess Foraging Preferences and Nutritional Requirements. Front Sustain Food Syst 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2022.847003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Bees depend on flowering plants for their nutrition, and reduced availability of floral resources is a major driver of declines in both managed and wild bee populations. Understanding the nutritional needs of different bee species, and how these needs are met by the varying nutritional resources provided by different flowering plant taxa, can greatly inform land management recommendations to support bee populations and their associated ecosystem services. However, most bee nutrition research has focused on the three most commonly managed and commercially reared bee taxa—honey bees, bumble bees, and mason bees—with fewer studies focused on wild bees and other managed species, such as leafcutting bees, stingless bees, and alkali bees. Thus, we have limited information about the nutritional requirements and foraging preferences of the vast majority of bee species. Here, we discuss the approaches traditionally used to understand bee nutritional ecology: identification of floral visitors of selected focal plant species, evaluation of the foraging preferences of adults in selected focal bee species, evaluation of the nutritional requirements of focal bee species (larvae or adults) in controlled settings, and examine how these methods may be adapted to study a wider range of bee species. We also highlight emerging technologies that have the potential to greatly facilitate studies of the nutritional ecology of wild bee species, as well as evaluate bee nutritional ecology at significantly larger spatio-temporal scales than were previously feasible. While the focus of this review is on bee species, many of these techniques can be applied to other pollinator taxa as well.
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Abstract
The birth-and-death model of multigene family evolution describes how gene families evolve and diversify through duplication and deletion. The cytochrome P450s are one of the most diverse and well-studied multigene families, involved in both physiological and xenobiotic functions. Extensive studies of insect P450 genes have demonstrated their role in insecticide resistance. Bees are thought to experience toxin exposure through their diet of nectar and pollen, as well as the resin-collecting behavior exhibited by some species. Here, we describe the repertoire of P450 genes in the orchid bee Euglossa dilemma. Male orchid bees form perfume bouquets used in courtship displays by collecting volatile compounds, resulting in exposure to compounds known to be toxic. In addition, we conducted phylogenetic and selection analyses across ten bee species encompassing three bee families. We find that social behavior and resin collection are not correlated with the repertoire of P450 present in a bee species. However, our analyses revealed that P450 clades can be classified as stable and unstable, and that genes involved in xenobiotic metabolism are more likely to belong to unstable clades. Furthermore, we find that unstable clades are under more dynamic evolutionary pressures and exhibit signals of adaptive evolution. This work highlights the complexity of multigene family evolution, revealing that multiple factors contribute to the diversification, stability, and dynamics of this gene family. Furthermore, we provide a resource for future detailed studies investigating the function of different P450s in economically important bee species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathy Darragh
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
| | - David R Nelson
- Department of Molecular Sciences, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
| | - Santiago R Ramírez
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, USA
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9
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Walsh AT, Triant DA, Le Tourneau JJ, Shamimuzzaman M, Elsik CG. Hymenoptera Genome Database: new genomes and annotation datasets for improved go enrichment and orthologue analyses. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 50:D1032-D1039. [PMID: 34747465 PMCID: PMC8728238 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab1018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Revised: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
We report an update of the Hymenoptera Genome Database (HGD; http://HymenopteraGenome.org), a genomic database of hymenopteran insect species. The number of species represented in HGD has nearly tripled, with fifty-eight hymenopteran species, including twenty bees, twenty-three ants, eleven wasps and four sawflies. With a reorganized website, HGD continues to provide the HymenopteraMine genomic data mining warehouse and JBrowse/Apollo genome browsers integrated with BLAST. We have computed Gene Ontology (GO) annotations for all species, greatly enhancing the GO annotation data gathered from UniProt with more than a ten-fold increase in the number of GO-annotated genes. We have also generated orthology datasets that encompass all HGD species and provide orthologue clusters for fourteen taxonomic groups. The new GO annotation and orthology data are available for searching in HymenopteraMine, and as bulk file downloads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy T Walsh
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Deborah A Triant
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | | | - Md Shamimuzzaman
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Christine G Elsik
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.,Division of Plant Science & Technology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.,MU Institute for Data Science & Informatics, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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10
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Oeyen JP, Baa-Puyoulet P, Benoit JB, Beukeboom LW, Bornberg-Bauer E, Buttstedt A, Calevro F, Cash EI, Chao H, Charles H, Chen MJM, Childers C, Cridge AG, Dearden P, Dinh H, Doddapaneni HV, Dolan A, Donath A, Dowling D, Dugan S, Duncan E, Elpidina EN, Friedrich M, Geuverink E, Gibson JD, Grath S, Grimmelikhuijzen CJP, Große-Wilde E, Gudobba C, Han Y, Hansson BS, Hauser F, Hughes DST, Ioannidis P, Jacquin-Joly E, Jennings EC, Jones JW, Klasberg S, Lee SL, Lesný P, Lovegrove M, Martin S, Martynov AG, Mayer C, Montagné N, Moris VC, Munoz-Torres M, Murali SC, Muzny DM, Oppert B, Parisot N, Pauli T, Peters RS, Petersen M, Pick C, Persyn E, Podsiadlowski L, Poelchau MF, Provataris P, Qu J, Reijnders MJMF, von Reumont BM, Rosendale AJ, Simao FA, Skelly J, Sotiropoulos AG, Stahl AL, Sumitani M, Szuter EM, Tidswell O, Tsitlakidis E, Vedder L, Waterhouse RM, Werren JH, Wilbrandt J, Worley KC, Yamamoto DS, van de Zande L, Zdobnov EM, Ziesmann T, Gibbs RA, Richards S, Hatakeyama M, Misof B, Niehuis O. Sawfly Genomes Reveal Evolutionary Acquisitions That Fostered the Mega-Radiation of Parasitoid and Eusocial Hymenoptera. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 12:1099-1188. [PMID: 32442304 PMCID: PMC7455281 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evaa106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The tremendous diversity of Hymenoptera is commonly attributed to the evolution of parasitoidism in the last common ancestor of parasitoid sawflies (Orussidae) and wasp-waisted Hymenoptera (Apocrita). However, Apocrita and Orussidae differ dramatically in their species richness, indicating that the diversification of Apocrita was promoted by additional traits. These traits have remained elusive due to a paucity of sawfly genome sequences, in particular those of parasitoid sawflies. Here, we present comparative analyses of draft genomes of the primarily phytophagous sawfly Athalia rosae and the parasitoid sawfly Orussus abietinus. Our analyses revealed that the ancestral hymenopteran genome exhibited traits that were previously considered unique to eusocial Apocrita (e.g., low transposable element content and activity) and a wider gene repertoire than previously thought (e.g., genes for CO2 detection). Moreover, we discovered that Apocrita evolved a significantly larger array of odorant receptors than sawflies, which could be relevant to the remarkable diversification of Apocrita by enabling efficient detection and reliable identification of hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Philip Oeyen
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany.,Lead Contact
| | | | | | - Leo W Beukeboom
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Anja Buttstedt
- B CUBE-Center for Molecular Bioengineering, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
| | - Federica Calevro
- INSA-Lyon, INRAE, BF2I, UMR0203, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Elizabeth I Cash
- School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University.,Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Hsu Chao
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Hubert Charles
- INSA-Lyon, INRAE, BF2I, UMR0203, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Mei-Ju May Chen
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | | | - Andrew G Cridge
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Peter Dearden
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Huyen Dinh
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Harsha Vardhan Doddapaneni
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | | | - Alexander Donath
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - Daniel Dowling
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Germany
| | - Shannon Dugan
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Elizabeth Duncan
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Elena N Elpidina
- A.N. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University, Russia
| | - Markus Friedrich
- Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit
| | - Elzemiek Geuverink
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Joshua D Gibson
- Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro.,Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette
| | - Sonja Grath
- Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | | | - Ewald Große-Wilde
- Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.,Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS), Praha 6-Suchdol, Czech Republic
| | - Cameron Gudobba
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago
| | - Yi Han
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Bill S Hansson
- Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Frank Hauser
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Daniel S T Hughes
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Panagiotis Ioannidis
- Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Geneva, Switzerland.,Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
| | - Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly
- INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Univ. P7, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, Sorbonne Université, Versailles, France
| | | | - Jeffery W Jones
- Department of Biological Sciences, Oakland University, Rochester
| | - Steffen Klasberg
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Germany
| | - Sandra L Lee
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Peter Lesný
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | - Mackenzie Lovegrove
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Sebastian Martin
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Christoph Mayer
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - Nicolas Montagné
- INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Univ. P7, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Victoria C Moris
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Institute of Biology I (Zoology), Albert Ludwig University Freiburg, Germany
| | - Monica Munoz-Torres
- Berkeley Bioinformatics Open-source Projects (BBOP), Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
| | - Shwetha Canchi Murali
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Donna M Muzny
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Brenda Oppert
- USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, Kansas
| | - Nicolas Parisot
- INSA-Lyon, INRAE, BF2I, UMR0203, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Thomas Pauli
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Institute of Biology I (Zoology), Albert Ludwig University Freiburg, Germany
| | - Ralph S Peters
- Arthropoda Department, Center for Taxonomy and Evolutionary Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - Malte Petersen
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany.,Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg, Germany
| | | | - Emma Persyn
- INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Univ. P7, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
| | - Lars Podsiadlowski
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | | | - Panagiotis Provataris
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - Jiaxin Qu
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Maarten J M F Reijnders
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Björn Marcus von Reumont
- Institute for Insect Biotechnology, University of Gießen, Germany.,Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Frankfurt, Germany
| | | | - Felipe A Simao
- Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - John Skelly
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Aaron L Stahl
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati.,Department of Neuroscience, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, Florida
| | - Megumi Sumitani
- Transgenic Silkworm Research Unit, Division of Biotechnology, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Owashi, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Elise M Szuter
- School of Life Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University
| | - Olivia Tidswell
- Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,Zoology Department, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Lucia Vedder
- Center for Bioinformatics Tübingen (ZBIT), University of Tübingen, Germany
| | - Robert M Waterhouse
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Jeanne Wilbrandt
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany.,Computational Biology Group, Leibniz Institute on Aging-Fritz Lipmann Institute, Jena, Germany
| | - Kim C Worley
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Daisuke S Yamamoto
- Division of Medical Zoology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University, Yakushiji, Shimotsuke, Japan
| | - Louis van de Zande
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Evgeny M Zdobnov
- Department of Genetic Medicine and Development, University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Tanja Ziesmann
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - Richard A Gibbs
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Stephen Richards
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Masatsugu Hatakeyama
- Insect Genome Research and Engineering Unit, Division of Applied Genetics, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, NARO, Owashi, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Bernhard Misof
- Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
| | - Oliver Niehuis
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Institute of Biology I (Zoology), Albert Ludwig University Freiburg, Germany
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11
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Bossert S, Murray EA, Pauly A, Chernyshov K, Brady SG, Danforth BN. Gene Tree Estimation Error with Ultraconserved Elements: An Empirical Study on Pseudapis Bees. Syst Biol 2020; 70:803-821. [PMID: 33367855 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syaa097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Summarizing individual gene trees to species phylogenies using two-step coalescent methods is now a standard strategy in the field of phylogenomics. However, practical implementations of summary methods suffer from gene tree estimation error, which is caused by various biological and analytical factors. Greatly understudied is the choice of gene tree inference method and downstream effects on species tree estimation for empirical data sets. To better understand the impact of this method choice on gene and species tree accuracy, we compare gene trees estimated through four widely used programs under different model-selection criteria: PhyloBayes, MrBayes, IQ-Tree, and RAxML. We study their performance in the phylogenomic framework of $>$800 ultraconserved elements from the bee subfamily Nomiinae (Halictidae). Our taxon sampling focuses on the genus Pseudapis, a distinct lineage with diverse morphological features, but contentious morphology-based taxonomic classifications and no molecular phylogenetic guidance. We approximate topological accuracy of gene trees by assessing their ability to recover two uncontroversial, monophyletic groups, and compare branch lengths of individual trees using the stemminess metric (the relative length of internal branches). We further examine different strategies of removing uninformative loci and the collapsing of weakly supported nodes into polytomies. We then summarize gene trees with ASTRAL and compare resulting species phylogenies, including comparisons to concatenation-based estimates. Gene trees obtained with the reversible jump model search in MrBayes were most concordant on average and all Bayesian methods yielded gene trees with better stemminess values. The only gene tree estimation approach whose ASTRAL summary trees consistently produced the most likely correct topology, however, was IQ-Tree with automated model designation (ModelFinder program). We discuss these findings and provide practical advice on gene tree estimation for summary methods. Lastly, we establish the first phylogeny-informed classification for Pseudapis s. l. and map the distribution of distinct morphological features of the group. [ASTRAL; Bees; concordance; gene tree estimation error; IQ-Tree; MrBayes, Nomiinae; PhyloBayes; RAxML; phylogenomics; stemminess].
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Affiliation(s)
- Silas Bossert
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.,Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.,Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Murray
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.,Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
| | - Alain Pauly
- O.D. Taxonomy and Phylogeny, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Kyrylo Chernyshov
- College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Seán G Brady
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
| | - Bryan N Danforth
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Comstock Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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12
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DeLory T, Funderburk K, Miller K, Smith WZ, McPherson S, Pirk CW, Costa C, Teixeira ÉW, Dahle B, Rueppell O. Local Variation in Recombination Rates of the Honey Bee ( Apis mellifera) Genome among Samples from Six Disparate Populations. Insectes Soc 2020; 67:127-138. [PMID: 33311731 PMCID: PMC7732154 DOI: 10.1007/s00040-019-00736-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Meiotic recombination is an essential component of eukaryotic sexual reproduction but its frequency varies within and between genomes. Although it is well-established that honey bees have a high recombination rate with about 20 cM/Mbp, the proximate and ultimate causes of this exceptional rate are poorly understood. Here, we describe six linkage maps of the Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera that were produced with consistent methodology from samples from distinct parts of the species' near global distribution. We compared the genome-wide rates and distribution of meiotic crossovers among the six maps and found considerable differences. Overall similarity of local recombination rates among our samples was unrelated to geographic or phylogenetic distance of the populations that our samples were derived from. However, the limited sampling constrains the interpretation of our results because it is unclear how representative these samples are. In contrast to previous studies, we found only in two datasets a significant relation between local recombination rate and GC content. Focusing on regions of particularly increased or decreased recombination in specific maps, we identified several enriched gene ontologies in these regions and speculate about their local adaptive relevance. These data are contributing to an increasing comparative effort to gain an understanding of the intra-specific variability of recombination rates and their evolutionary role in honey bees and other social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy DeLory
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA
- Current address: Department of Biology, Utah State University, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Karen Funderburk
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA
- Current address: Applied Mathematics for the Life & Social Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Katelyn Miller
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA
| | | | - Samantha McPherson
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA
- Current address: Current address: NCSU Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Campus Box 7613, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Christian W. Pirk
- Social Insects Research Group, Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Cecilia Costa
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricolturae l’Analisi dell’Economia Agraria, Via Po, 14 - 00198 Rome, Italy
| | - Érica Weinstein Teixeira
- Honey Bee Health Specialized Laboratory, Biological Institute, São Paulo State Agribusiness Technology Agency, Av. Prof. Manoel César Ribeiro, 1920, Pindamonhangaba, São Paulo 12411-010, Brazil
| | - Bjørn Dahle
- Norwegian Beekeepers Association, Kløfta, Norway
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Olav Rueppell
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA
- Corresponding author: 312 Eberhart Bldg, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro NC 27403, USA. Phone: (+1) 336-2562591,
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13
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Wang L, Meeus I, Rombouts C, Van Meulebroek L, Vanhaecke L, Smagghe G. Metabolomics-based biomarker discovery for bee health monitoring: A proof of concept study concerning nutritional stress in Bombus terrestris. Sci Rep 2019; 9:11423. [PMID: 31388077 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47896-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Bee pollinators are exposed to multiple natural and anthropogenic stressors. Understanding the effects of a single stressor in the complex environmental context of antagonistic/synergistic interactions is critical to pollinator monitoring and may serve as early warning system before a pollination crisis. This study aimed to methodically improve the diagnosis of bee stressors using a simultaneous untargeted and targeted metabolomics-based approach. Analysis of 84 Bombus terrestris hemolymph samples found 8 metabolites retained as potential biomarkers that showed excellent discrimination for nutritional stress. In parallel, 8 significantly altered metabolites, as revealed by targeted profiling, were also assigned as candidate biomarkers. Furthermore, machine learning algorithms were applied to the above-described two biomarker sets, whereby the untargeted eight components showed the best classification performance with sensitivity and specificity up to 99% and 100%, respectively. Based on pathway and biochemistry analysis, we propose that gluconeogenesis contributed significantly to blood sugar stability in bumblebees maintained on a low carbohydrate diet. Taken together, this study demonstrates that metabolomics-based biomarker discovery holds promising potential for improving bee health monitoring and to identify stressor related to energy intake and other environmental stressors.
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14
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Li Y, Pinto-Tomás AA, Rong X, Cheng K, Liu M, Huang Y. Population Genomics Insights into Adaptive Evolution and Ecological Differentiation in Streptomycetes. Appl Environ Microbiol 2019; 85:e02555-18. [PMID: 30658977 DOI: 10.1128/AEM.02555-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Deciphering the genomic variation that represents microevolutionary processes toward species divergence is key to understanding microbial speciation, which has long been under debate. Streptomycetes are filamentous bacteria that are ubiquitous in nature and the richest source of antibiotics; however, their speciation processes remain unknown. To tackle this issue, we performed a comprehensive population genomics analysis on Streptomyces albidoflavus residing in different habitats and with a worldwide distribution and identified and characterized the foundational changes within the species. We detected three well-defined phylogenomic clades, of which clades I and III mainly contained free-living (soil/marine) and insect-associated strains, respectively, and clade II had a mixed origin. By performing genome-wide association studies (GWAS), we identified a number of genetic variants associated with free-living or entomic (denoting or relating to insects) habitats in both the accessory and core genomes. These variants contributed collectively to the population structure and had annotated or confirmed functions that likely facilitate differential adaptation of the species. In addition, we detected higher levels of homologous recombination within each clade and in the free-living group than within the whole species and in the entomic group. A subset of the insect-associated strains (clade III) showed a relatively independent evolutionary trajectory with more symbiosis-favorable genes but little genetic interchange with the other lineages. Our results demonstrate that ecological adaptation promotes genetic differentiation in S. albidoflavus, suggesting a model of ecological speciation with gene flow in streptomycetes.IMPORTANCE Species are the fundamental units of ecology and evolution, and speciation leads to the astounding diversity of life on Earth. Studying speciation is thus of great significance to understand, protect, and exploit biodiversity, but it is a challenge in the microbial world. In this study, using population genomics, we placed Streptomyces albidoflavus strains in a spectrum of speciation and showed that the genetic differences between phylogenomic clusters evolved mainly by environmental selection and gene-specific sweeps. These findings highlight the role of ecology in structuring recombining bacterial species, making a step toward a deeper understanding of microbial speciation. Our results also raise concerns of an underrated microbial diversity at the intraspecies level, which can be utilized for mining of ecologically relevant natural products.
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15
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Kapheim KM, Pan H, Li C, Blatti C 3rd, Harpur BA, Ioannidis P, Jones BM, Kent CF, Ruzzante L, Sloofman L, Stolle E, Waterhouse RM, Zayed A, Zhang G, Wcislo WT. Draft Genome Assembly and Population Genetics of an Agricultural Pollinator, the Solitary Alkali Bee (Halictidae: Nomia melanderi). G3 (Bethesda) 2019; 9:625-34. [PMID: 30642875 DOI: 10.1534/g3.118.200865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Alkali bees (Nomia melanderi) are solitary relatives of the halictine bees, which have become an important model for the evolution of social behavior, but for which few solitary comparisons exist. These ground-nesting bees defend their developing offspring against pathogens and predators, and thus exhibit some of the key traits that preceded insect sociality. Alkali bees are also efficient native pollinators of alfalfa seed, which is a crop of major economic value in the United States. We sequenced, assembled, and annotated a high-quality draft genome of 299.6 Mbp for this species. Repetitive content makes up more than one-third of this genome, and previously uncharacterized transposable elements are the most abundant type of repetitive DNA. We predicted 10,847 protein coding genes, and identify 479 of these undergoing positive directional selection with the use of population genetic analysis based on low-coverage whole genome sequencing of 19 individuals. We found evidence of recent population bottlenecks, but no significant evidence of population structure. We also identify 45 genes enriched for protein translation and folding, transcriptional regulation, and triglyceride metabolism evolving slower in alkali bees compared to other halictid bees. These resources will be useful for future studies of bee comparative genomics and pollinator health research.
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16
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Jia H, Jia H, Cai Q, Wang Y, Zhao H, Yang W, Wang G, Li Y, Zhan D, Shen Y, Niu Q, Chang L, Qiu J, Zhao L, Xie H, Fu W, Jin J, Li X, Jiao Y, Zhou C, Tu T, Chai C, Gao J, Fan L, van de Weg E, Wang J, Gao Z. The red bayberry genome and genetic basis of sex determination. Plant Biotechnol J 2019; 17:397-409. [PMID: 29992702 PMCID: PMC6335074 DOI: 10.1111/pbi.12985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2018] [Revised: 07/01/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Morella rubra, red bayberry, is an economically important fruit tree in south China. Here, we assembled the first high-quality genome for both a female and a male individual of red bayberry. The genome size was 313-Mb, and 90% sequences were assembled into eight pseudo chromosome molecules, with 32 493 predicted genes. By whole-genome comparison between the female and male and association analysis with sequences of bulked and individual DNA samples from female and male, a 59-Kb region determining female was identified and located on distal end of pseudochromosome 8, which contains abundant transposable element and seven putative genes, four of them are related to sex floral development. This 59-Kb female-specific region was likely to be derived from duplication and rearrangement of paralogous genes and retained non-recombinant in the female-specific region. Sex-specific molecular markers developed from candidate genes co-segregated with sex in a genetically diverse female and male germplasm. We propose sex determination follow the ZW model of female heterogamety. The genome sequence of red bayberry provides a valuable resource for plant sex chromosome evolution and also provides important insights for molecular biology, genetics and modern breeding in Myricaceae family.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui‐Min Jia
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Hui‐Juan Jia
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | | | - Yan Wang
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Hai‐Bo Zhao
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Wei‐Fei Yang
- Hangzhou 1 Gene LtdHangzhouChina
- Forestry Technology Extension CenterYuyaoNingboChina
- Present address:
Annoroad Gene Tech. Co., LtdBeijingChina
| | - Guo‐Yun Wang
- Forestry Technology Extension CenterYuyaoNingboChina
| | - Ying‐Hui Li
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)Institute of Crop ScienceChinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesBeijingChina
| | | | - Yu‐Tong Shen
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Qing‐Feng Niu
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
- Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, and National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular GeneticsCenter of Excellence in Molecular Plant SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesShanghaiChina
| | - Le Chang
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Jie Qiu
- Institute of Crop Science & Institute of BioinformaticsCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Lan Zhao
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Han‐Bing Xie
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Wan‐Yi Fu
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Jing Jin
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Xiong‐Wei Li
- Forest & Fruit Tree InstituteShanghai Academy of Agricultural SciencesShanghaiChina
| | - Yun Jiao
- Institute of ForestryNingbo Academy of Agricultural ScienceNingboChina
| | | | - Ting Tu
- Shunmei Breeding and Propagation Centre for Chinese BayberryYuyaoChina
| | | | | | - Long‐Jiang Fan
- Institute of Crop Science & Institute of BioinformaticsCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
| | - Eric van de Weg
- Plant Breeding‐Wageningen University and ResearchWageningenThe Netherlands
| | | | - Zhong‐Shan Gao
- Institute of Fruit ScienceCollege of Agriculture and BiotechnologyZhejiang UniversityHangzhouChina
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17
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Abstract
For over a century, biologists have proposed a role for phenotypic plasticity in evolution, providing an avenue for adaptation in addition to 'mutation-first' models of evolutionary change. According to the various versions of this idea, the ability of organisms to respond adaptively to their environment through phenotypic plasticity may lead to novel phenotypes that can be screened by natural selection. If these initially environmentally induced phenotypes increase fitness, then genetic accommodation can lead to allele frequency change, influencing the expression of those phenotypes. Despite the long history of 'plasticity-first' models, the importance of genetic accommodation in shaping evolutionary change has remained controversial - it is neither fully embraced nor completely discarded by most evolutionary biologists. We suggest that the lack of acceptance of genetic accommodation in some cases is related to a lack of information on its molecular mechanisms. However, recent reports of epigenetic transgenerational inheritance now provide a plausible mechanism through which genetic accommodation may act, and we review this research here. We also discuss current evidence supporting a role for genetic accommodation in the evolution of eusociality in social insects, which have long been models for studying the influence of the environment on phenotypic variation, and may be particularly good models for testing hypotheses related to genetic accommodation. Finally, we introduce 'eusocial engineering', a method by which novel social phenotypes are first induced by environmental modification and then studied mechanistically to understand how environmentally induced plasticity may lead to heritable changes in social behavior. We believe the time is right to incorporate genetic accommodation into models of the evolution of complex traits, armed with new molecular tools and a better understanding of non-genetic heritable elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beryl M Jones
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Gene E Robinson
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Department of Entomology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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18
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Kocher SD, Mallarino R, Rubin BER, Yu DW, Hoekstra HE, Pierce NE. The genetic basis of a social polymorphism in halictid bees. Nat Commun 2018; 9:4338. [PMID: 30337532 PMCID: PMC6194137 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06824-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of eusociality represents a major evolutionary transition from solitary to group reproduction. The most commonly studied eusocial species, honey bees and ants, represent the behavioral extremes of social evolution but lack close relatives that are non-social. Unlike these species, the halictid bee Lasioglossum albipes produces both solitary and eusocial nests and this intraspecific variation has a genetic basis. Here, we identify genetic variants associated with this polymorphism, including one located in the intron of syntaxin 1a (syx1a), a gene that mediates synaptic vesicle release. We show that this variant can alter gene expression in a pattern consistent with differences between social and solitary bees. Surprisingly, syx1a and several other genes associated with sociality in L. albipes have also been implicated in autism spectrum disorder in humans. Thus, genes underlying behavioral variation in L. albipes may also shape social behaviors across a wide range of taxa, including humans. The halictid bee Lasioglossum albipes has both solitary and eusocial individuals, making it a model for social evolution. Here, Kocher et al. identify a genetic variation associated with this social polymorphism, including a variant that can regulate the expression of an autism-associated gene, syntaxin 1a.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah D Kocher
- Department of Ecology and Evoutionary Biology, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA. .,Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 28 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
| | - Ricardo Mallarino
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 28 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, 52 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 01238, USA.,Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Benjamin E R Rubin
- Department of Ecology and Evoutionary Biology, Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Douglas W Yu
- Kunming Institute for Zoology, 32 Jiaochang Donglu, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China.,Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 Jiaochang Donglu, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China.,School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Hopi E Hoekstra
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 28 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, 52 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 01238, USA
| | - Naomi E Pierce
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 28 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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19
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Kronauer DJ, Libbrecht R. Back to the roots: the importance of using simple insect societies to understand the molecular basis of complex social life. Curr Opin Insect Sci 2018; 28:33-39. [PMID: 30551765 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Revised: 03/29/2018] [Accepted: 03/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The evolutionary trajectories toward insect eusociality come in two broad forms. In species like wasps, bees, and ants, the first helpers remained at the nest primarily to help with brood care. In species like aphids and termites, on the other hand, nest defense was initially the primary ecological driving force. To better understand the molecular basis of these two alternative evolutionary trajectories, it is therefore important to study the mechanistic basis of brood care and nest defense behavior. So far, most studies have compared morphologically distinct castes in advanced eusocial species of ants, bees, wasps, and termites. However, the interpretation of such comparisons is limited by multiple confounding factors and the fact that castes are typically fixed and cannot be manipulated at the adult stage. In this review, we argue that conducting molecular studies of brood care and nest defense in simpler, more flexible insect societies may complement studies of advanced eusocial insects and provide avenues toward more functional analyses. We review the available literature and propose candidate study systems for future molecular investigations of brood care and nest defense in social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Jc Kronauer
- Laboratory of Social Evolution and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA
| | - Romain Libbrecht
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
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20
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Privman E, Cohen P, Cohanim AB, Riba-Grognuz O, Shoemaker D, Keller L. Positive selection on sociobiological traits in invasive fire ants. Mol Ecol 2018; 27:3116-3130. [PMID: 29920818 DOI: 10.1111/mec.14767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2018] [Revised: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 05/09/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The fire ant Solenopsis invicta and its close relatives are highly invasive. Enhanced social cooperation may facilitate invasiveness in these and other invasive ant species. We investigated whether invasiveness in Solenopsis fire ants was accompanied by positive selection on sociobiological traits by applying a phylogenomics approach to infer ancient selection, and a population genomics approach to infer recent and ongoing selection in both native and introduced S. invicta populations. A combination of whole-genome sequencing of 40 haploid males and reduced-representation genomic sequencing of 112 diploid workers identified 1,758,116 and 169,682 polymorphic markers, respectively. The resulting high-resolution maps of genomic polymorphism provide high inference power to test for positive selection. Our analyses provide evidence of positive selection on putative ion channel genes, which are implicated in neurological functions, and on vitellogenin, which is a key regulator of development and caste determination. Furthermore, molecular functions implicated in pheromonal signalling have experienced recent positive selection. Genes with signatures of positive selection were significantly more often those overexpressed in workers compared with queens and males, suggesting that worker traits are under stronger selection than queen and male traits. These results provide insights into selection pressures and ongoing adaptation in an invasive social insect and support the hypothesis that sociobiological traits are under more positive selection than nonsocial traits in such invasive species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eyal Privman
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Pnina Cohen
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Amir B Cohanim
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Oksana Riba-Grognuz
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - DeWayne Shoemaker
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
| | - Laurent Keller
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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21
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Glastad KM, Arsenault SV, Vertacnik KL, Geib SM, Kay S, Danforth BN, Rehan SM, Linnen CR, Kocher SD, Hunt BG. Variation in DNA Methylation Is Not Consistently Reflected by Sociality in Hymenoptera. Genome Biol Evol 2018; 9:1687-1698. [PMID: 28854636 PMCID: PMC5522706 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Changes in gene regulation that underlie phenotypic evolution can be encoded directly in the DNA sequence or mediated by chromatin modifications such as DNA methylation. It has been hypothesized that the evolution of eusocial division of labor is associated with enhanced gene regulatory potential, which may include expansions in DNA methylation in the genomes of Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps, and sawflies). Recently, this hypothesis garnered support from analyses of a commonly used metric to estimate DNA methylation in silico, CpG content. Here, we test this hypothesis using direct, nucleotide-level measures of DNA methylation across nine species of Hymenoptera. In doing so, we generated new DNA methylomes for three species of interest, including one solitary and one facultatively eusocial halictid bee and a sawfly. We demonstrate that the strength of correlation between CpG content and DNA methylation varies widely among hymenopteran taxa, highlighting shortcomings in the utility of CpG content as a proxy for DNA methylation in comparative studies of taxa with sparse DNA methylomes. We observed strikingly high levels of DNA methylation in the sawfly relative to other investigated hymenopterans. Analyses of molecular evolution suggest the relatively distinct sawfly DNA methylome may be associated with positive selection on functional DNMT3 domains. Sawflies are an outgroup to all ants, bees, and wasps, and no sawfly species are eusocial. We find no evidence that either global expansions or variation within individual ortholog groups in DNA methylation are consistently associated with the evolution of social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl M Glastad
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania
| | | | | | - Scott M Geib
- U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, Hilo, Hawaii
| | - Sasha Kay
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia
| | | | - Sandra M Rehan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire
| | | | - Sarah D Kocher
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University
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22
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Bulla I, Aliaga B, Lacal V, Bulla J, Grunau C, Chaparro C. Notos - a galaxy tool to analyze CpN observed expected ratios for inferring DNA methylation types. BMC Bioinformatics 2018; 19:105. [PMID: 29587630 PMCID: PMC5870242 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-018-2115-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA methylation patterns store epigenetic information in the vast majority of eukaryotic species. The relatively high costs and technical challenges associated with the detection of DNA methylation however have created a bias in the number of methylation studies towards model organisms. Consequently, it remains challenging to infer kingdom-wide general rules about the functions and evolutionary conservation of DNA methylation. Methylated cytosine is often found in specific CpN dinucleotides, and the frequency distributions of, for instance, CpG observed/expected (CpG o/e) ratios have been used to infer DNA methylation types based on higher mutability of methylated CpG. RESULTS Predominantly model-based approaches essentially founded on mixtures of Gaussian distributions are currently used to investigate questions related to the number and position of modes of CpG o/e ratios. These approaches require the selection of an appropriate criterion for determining the best model and will fail if empirical distributions are complex or even merely moderately skewed. We use a kernel density estimation (KDE) based technique for robust and precise characterization of complex CpN o/e distributions without a priori assumptions about the underlying distributions. CONCLUSIONS We show that KDE delivers robust descriptions of CpN o/e distributions. For straightforward processing, we have developed a Galaxy tool, called Notos and available at the ToolShed, that calculates these ratios of input FASTA files and fits a density to their empirical distribution. Based on the estimated density the number and shape of modes of the distribution is determined, providing a rational for the prediction of the number and the types of different methylation classes. Notos is written in R and Perl.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingo Bulla
- Institut für Mathematik und Informatik, Universität Greifswald, Walther-Rathenau-Str. 47, Greifswald, 17487 Germany
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Group T-6, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, Los Alamos USA
| | - Benoît Aliaga
- Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, IHPE UMR 5244, CNRS, IFREMER, Univ. Montpellier, 58 Avenue Paul Alduy, Perpignan, 66860 France
| | - Virginia Lacal
- Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7803, Bergen, 5020 Norway
| | - Jan Bulla
- Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7803, Bergen, 5020 Norway
| | - Christoph Grunau
- Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, IHPE UMR 5244, CNRS, IFREMER, Univ. Montpellier, 58 Avenue Paul Alduy, Perpignan, 66860 France
| | - Cristian Chaparro
- Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, IHPE UMR 5244, CNRS, IFREMER, Univ. Montpellier, 58 Avenue Paul Alduy, Perpignan, 66860 France
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23
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Davison PJ, Field J. Limited social plasticity in the socially polymorphic sweat bee Lasioglossum calceatum. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018; 72:56. [PMID: 29568150 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2475-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 02/02/2018] [Accepted: 03/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract Eusociality is characterised by a reproductive division of labour, where some individuals forgo direct reproduction to instead help raise kin. Socially polymorphic sweat bees are ideal models for addressing the mechanisms underlying the transition from solitary living to eusociality, because different individuals in the same species can express either eusocial or solitary behaviour. A key question is whether alternative social phenotypes represent environmentally induced plasticity or predominantly genetic differentiation between populations. In this paper, we focus on the sweat bee Lasioglossum calceatum, in which northern or high-altitude populations are solitary, whereas more southern or low-altitude populations are typically eusocial. To test whether social phenotype responds to local environmental cues, we transplanted adult females from a solitary, northern population, to a southern site where native bees are typically eusocial. Nearly all native nests were eusocial, with foundresses producing small first brood (B1) females that became workers. In contrast, nine out of ten nests initiated by transplanted bees were solitary, producing female offspring that were the same size as the foundress and entered directly into hibernation. Only one of these ten nests became eusocial. Social phenotype was unlikely to be related to temperature experienced by nest foundresses when provisioning B1 offspring, or by B1 emergence time, both previously implicated in social plasticity seen in two other socially polymorphic sweat bees. Our results suggest that social polymorphism in L. calceatum predominantly reflects genetic differentiation between populations, and that plasticity is in the process of being lost by bees in northern populations. Significance statement Phenotypic plasticity is thought to play a key role in the early stages of the transition from solitary to eusocial behaviour, but may then be lost if environmental conditions become less variable. Socially polymorphic sweat bees exhibit either solitary or eusocial behaviour in different geographic populations, depending on the length of the nesting season. We tested for plasticity in the socially polymorphic sweat bee Lasioglossum calceatum by transplanting nest foundresses from a northern, non-eusocial population to a southern, eusocial population. Plasticity would be detected if transplanted bees exhibited eusocial behaviour. We found that while native bees were eusocial, 90% of transplanted bees and their offspring did not exhibit traits associated with eusociality. Environmental variables such as time of offspring emergence or temperatures experienced by foundresses during provisioning could not explain these differences. Our results suggest that the ability of transplanted bees to express eusociality is being lost, and that social polymorphism predominantly reflects genetic differences between populations. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00265-018-2475-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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24
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Branstetter MG, Childers AK, Cox-Foster D, Hopper KR, Kapheim KM, Toth AL, Worley KC. Genomes of the Hymenoptera. Curr Opin Insect Sci 2018; 25:65-75. [PMID: 29602364 PMCID: PMC5993429 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2017.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2017] [Accepted: 11/16/2017] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Hymenoptera is the second-most sequenced arthropod order, with 52 publically archived genomes (71 with ants, reviewed elsewhere), however these genomes do not capture the breadth of this very diverse order (Figure 1, Table 1). These sequenced genomes represent only 15 of the 97 extant families. Although at least 55 other genomes are in progress in an additional 11 families (see Table 2), stinging wasps represent 35 (67%) of the available and 42 (76%) of the in progress genomes. A more comprehensive catalog of hymenopteran genomes is needed for research into the evolutionary processes underlying the expansive diversity in terms of ecology, behavior, and physiological traits within this group. Additional sequencing is needed to generate an assembly for even 0.05% of the estimated 1 million hymenopteran species, and we recommend premier level assemblies for at least 0.1% of the >150,000 named species dispersed across the order. Given the haplodiploid sex determination in Hymenoptera, haploid male sequencing will help minimize genome assembly issues to enable higher quality genome assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael G Branstetter
- Pollinating Insect-biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Logan, UT 84322, United States
| | - Anna K Childers
- Bee Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705, United States
| | - Diana Cox-Foster
- Pollinating Insect-biology, Management, Systematics Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Logan, UT 84322, United States
| | - Keith R Hopper
- Beneficial Insects Introduction Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Newark, DE 19713, United States
| | - Karen M Kapheim
- Utah State University, Department of Biology, Logan, UT 84322, United States
| | - Amy L Toth
- Iowa State University, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology and Department of Entomology, Ames, IA 50011, United States
| | - Kim C Worley
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, and Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, United States
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25
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Pennell TM, Holman L, Morrow EH, Field J. Building a new research framework for social evolution: intralocus caste antagonism. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2018; 93:1251-1268. [PMID: 29341390 PMCID: PMC5896731 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Revised: 12/06/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
The breeding and non‐breeding ‘castes’ of eusocial insects provide a striking example of role‐specific selection, where each caste maximises fitness through different morphological, behavioural and physiological trait values. Typically, queens are long‐lived egg‐layers, while workers are short‐lived, largely sterile foragers. Remarkably, the two castes are nevertheless produced by the same genome. The existence of inter‐caste genetic correlations is a neglected consequence of this shared genome, potentially hindering the evolution of caste dimorphism: alleles that increase the productivity of queens may decrease the productivity of workers and vice versa, such that each caste is prevented from reaching optimal trait values. A likely consequence of this ‘intralocus caste antagonism’ should be the maintenance of genetic variation for fitness and maladaptation within castes (termed ‘caste load’), analogous to the result of intralocus sexual antagonism. The aim of this review is to create a research framework for understanding caste antagonism, drawing in part upon conceptual similarities with sexual antagonism. By reviewing both the social insect and sexual antagonism literature, we highlight the current empirical evidence for caste antagonism, discuss social systems of interest, how antagonism might be resolved, and challenges for future research. We also introduce the idea that sexual and caste antagonism could interact, creating a three‐way antagonism over gene expression. This includes unpacking the implications of haplodiploidy for the outcome of this complex interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanya M Pennell
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Luke Holman
- School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Edward H Morrow
- Evolution Behaviour and Environment Group, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, East Sussex, BN1 9QG, UK
| | - Jeremy Field
- College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK
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26
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Elsik CG, Tayal A, Unni DR, Burns GW, Hagen DE. Hymenoptera Genome Database: Using HymenopteraMine to Enhance Genomic Studies of Hymenopteran Insects. Methods Mol Biol 2018; 1757:513-556. [PMID: 29761469 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7737-6_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The Hymenoptera Genome Database (HGD; http://hymenopteragenome.org ) is a genome informatics resource for insects of the order Hymenoptera, which includes bees, ants and wasps. HGD provides genome browsers with manual annotation tools (JBrowse/Apollo), BLAST, bulk data download, and a data mining warehouse (HymenopteraMine). This chapter focuses on the use of HymenopteraMine to create annotation data sets that can be exported for use in downstream analyses. HymenopteraMine leverages the InterMine platform to combine genome assemblies and official gene sets with data from OrthoDB, RefSeq, FlyBase, Gene Ontology, UniProt, InterPro, KEGG, Reactome, dbSNP, PubMed, and BioGrid, as well as precomputed gene expression information based on publicly available RNAseq. Built-in template queries provide starting points for data exploration, while the QueryBuilder tool supports construction of complex custom queries. The List Analysis and Genomic Regions search tools execute queries based on uploaded lists of identifiers and genome coordinates, respectively. HymenopteraMine facilitates cross-species data mining based on orthology and supports meta-analyses by tracking identifiers across gene sets and genome assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine G Elsik
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
- MU Informatics Institute, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
| | - Aditi Tayal
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Deepak R Unni
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Gregory W Burns
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
| | - Darren E Hagen
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
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27
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Wu T, Dhami GK, Thompson GJ. Soldier‐biased gene expression in a subterranean termite implies functional specialization of the defensive caste. Evol Dev 2017; 20:3-16. [DOI: 10.1111/ede.12243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Tian Wu
- Biology DepartmentWestern UniversityLondonOntarioCanada
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28
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Dhaygude K, Trontti K, Paviala J, Morandin C, Wheat C, Sundström L, Helanterä H. Transcriptome sequencing reveals high isoform diversity in the ant Formica exsecta. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3998. [PMID: 29177112 PMCID: PMC5701548 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Transcriptome resources for social insects have the potential to provide new insight into polyphenism, i.e., how divergent phenotypes arise from the same genome. Here we present a transcriptome based on paired-end RNA sequencing data for the ant Formica exsecta (Formicidae, Hymenoptera). The RNA sequencing libraries were constructed from samples of several life stages of both sexes and female castes of queens and workers, in order to maximize representation of expressed genes. We first compare the performance of common assembly and scaffolding software (Trinity, Velvet-Oases, and SOAPdenovo-trans), in producing de novo assemblies. Second, we annotate the resulting expressed contigs to the currently published genomes of ants, and other insects, including the honeybee, to filter genes that have annotation evidence of being true genes. Our pipeline resulted in a final assembly of altogether 39,262 mRNA transcripts, with an average coverage of >300X, belonging to 17,496 unique genes with annotation in the related ant species. From these genes, 536 genes were unique to one caste or sex only, highlighting the importance of comprehensive sampling. Our final assembly also showed expression of several splice variants in 6,975 genes, and we show that accounting for splice variants affects the outcome of downstream analyses such as gene ontologies. Our transcriptome provides an outstanding resource for future genetic studies on F. exsecta and other ant species, and the presented transcriptome assembly can be adapted to any non-model species that has genomic resources available from a related taxon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kishor Dhaygude
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Kalevi Trontti
- Department of Biosciences, Neurogenomics Laboratory, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jenni Paviala
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Claire Morandin
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Christopher Wheat
- Department of Zoology Ecology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Liselotte Sundström
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
| | - Heikki Helanterä
- Centre of Excellence in Biological Interactions, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, Hanko, Finland
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Fischman BJ, Pitts-Singer TL, Robinson GE. Nutritional Regulation of Phenotypic Plasticity in a Solitary Bee (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae). Environ Entomol 2017; 46:1070-1079. [PMID: 28981639 PMCID: PMC5850749 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvx119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2017] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity involves adaptive responses to predictable environmental fluctuations and may promote evolutionary change. We studied the regulation of phenotypic plasticity in an important agricultural pollinator, the solitary alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata F.). Specifically, we investigated how larval nutrition affects M. rotundata diapause plasticity and how diapause plasticity affects adult female reproductive behavior. Field surveys and laboratory manipulations of aspects of larval diet demonstrated nutritional regulation of M. rotundata diapause plasticity. Manipulation of larval diet quality through the addition of royal jelly, the caste-determining substance of the honey bee Apis mellifera L., increased the probability of diapause in M. rotundata. We also found that larval nutrition and diapause status affected M. rotundata adult female reproductive behavior. Nutritional effects on larval diapause that also impact adult fitness have intriguing implications for the evolution of developmental plasticity in bees. In particular, as the solitary lifestyle of M. rotundata is considered to be the ancestral condition in bees, nutritionally regulated plasticity may have been an ancestral condition in all bees that facilitated the evolution of other forms of phenotypic plasticity, such as the castes of social bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brielle J Fischman
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 ()
- Current address: Department of Biology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY 14456
| | | | - Gene E Robinson
- Department of Entomology, Neuroscience Program, and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 ()
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30
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Brand P, Saleh N, Pan H, Li C, Kapheim KM, Ramírez SR. The Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genomes of the Facultatively Eusocial Orchid Bee Euglossa dilemma. G3 (Bethesda) 2017; 7:2891-8. [PMID: 28701376 DOI: 10.1534/g3.117.043687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Bees provide indispensable pollination services to both agricultural crops and wild plant populations, and several species of bees have become important models for the study of learning and memory, plant–insect interactions, and social behavior. Orchid bees (Apidae: Euglossini) are especially important to the fields of pollination ecology, evolution, and species conservation. Here we report the nuclear and mitochondrial genome sequences of the orchid bee Euglossa dilemma Bembé & Eltz. E. dilemma was selected because it is widely distributed, highly abundant, and it was recently naturalized in the southeastern United States. We provide a high-quality assembly of the 3.3 Gb genome, and an official gene set of 15,904 gene annotations. We find high conservation of gene synteny with the honey bee throughout 80 MY of divergence time. This genomic resource represents the first draft genome of the orchid bee genus Euglossa, and the first draft orchid bee mitochondrial genome, thus representing a valuable resource to the research community.
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31
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Wittwer B, Hefetz A, Simon T, Murphy LEK, Elgar MA, Pierce NE, Kocher SD. Solitary bees reduce investment in communication compared with their social relatives. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:6569-6574. [PMID: 28533385 PMCID: PMC5488929 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1620780114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Social animals must communicate to define group membership and coordinate social organization. For social insects, communication is predominantly mediated through chemical signals, and as social complexity increases, so does the requirement for a greater diversity of signals. This relationship is particularly true for advanced eusocial insects, including ants, bees, and wasps, whose chemical communication systems have been well-characterized. However, we know surprisingly little about how these communication systems evolve during the transition between solitary and group living. Here, we demonstrate that the sensory systems associated with signal perception are evolutionarily labile. In particular, we show that differences in signal production and perception are tightly associated with changes in social behavior in halictid bees. Our results suggest that social species require a greater investment in communication than their solitary counterparts and that species that have reverted from eusociality to solitary living have repeatedly reduced investment in these potentially costly sensory perception systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernadette Wittwer
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Abraham Hefetz
- Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Tovit Simon
- Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Li E K Murphy
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Mark A Elgar
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Naomi E Pierce
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Sarah D Kocher
- Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540
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32
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Bossert S, Murray EA, Blaimer BB, Danforth BN. The impact of GC bias on phylogenetic accuracy using targeted enrichment phylogenomic data. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2017; 111:149-157. [PMID: 28390323 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2017] [Revised: 03/06/2017] [Accepted: 03/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The field of sequence based phylogenetic analyses is currently being transformed by novel hybrid-based targeted enrichment methods, such as the use of ultraconserved elements (UCEs). Rather than analyzing relationships among organisms using a small number of genes, these methods now allow us to evaluate relationships with many hundreds to thousands of individual gene loci. However, the inclusion of thousands of loci does not necessarily overcome the long-standing challenge of incongruence among phylogenetic trees derived from different genes or gene regions. One factor that impacts the level of incongruence in phylogenomic data sets is the level of GC bias. GC rich gene regions are prone to higher recombination rates than AT rich regions, driven by a process referred to as "GC biased gene conversion". As a result, high GC content can be negatively associated with phylogenetic accuracy, but the extent to which this impacts incongruence among UCEs is currently unstudied. We investigated the impact of GC content on phylogeny reconstruction using in silico captured UCE data for the corbiculate bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). The phylogeny of this group has been the subject of extensive study, and incongruence among gene trees is thought to be a source of phylogenetic error. We conducted coalescent- and concatenation-based analyses of 810 individual gene loci from all 13 currently available bee genomes, including 8 corbiculate taxa. Both coalescent- and concatenation-based methods converged on a single topology for the corbiculate tribes. In contrast to concatenation, the coalescent-based methods revealed significant topological conflict at nodes involving the orchid bees (Euglossini) and honeybees (Apini). Partitioning the loci by GC content reveals decreasing support for the inferred topology with increasing GC bias. Based on the results of this study, we report the first evidence that GC biased gene conversion may contribute to topological incongruence in studies based on ultraconserved elements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silas Bossert
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
| | | | - Bonnie B Blaimer
- Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Bryan N Danforth
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
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33
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Abstract
DNA methylation contributes to gene and transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes, and therefore has been hypothesized to facilitate the evolution of plastic traits such as sociality in insects. However, DNA methylation is sparsely studied in insects. Therefore, we documented patterns of DNA methylation across a wide diversity of insects. We predicted that underlying enzymatic machinery is concordant with patterns of DNA methylation. Finally, given the suggestion that DNA methylation facilitated social evolution in Hymenoptera, we tested the hypothesis that the DNA methylation system will be associated with presence/absence of sociality among other insect orders. We found DNA methylation to be widespread, detected in all orders examined except Diptera (flies). Whole genome bisulfite sequencing showed that orders differed in levels of DNA methylation. Hymenopteran (ants, bees, wasps and sawflies) had some of the lowest levels, including several potential losses. Blattodea (cockroaches and termites) show all possible patterns, including a potential loss of DNA methylation in a eusocial species whereas solitary species had the highest levels. Species with DNA methylation do not always possess the typical enzymatic machinery. We identified a gene duplication event in the maintenance DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) that is shared by some Hymenoptera, and paralogs have experienced divergent, nonneutral evolution. This diversity and nonneutral evolution of underlying machinery suggests alternative DNA methylation pathways may exist. Phylogenetically corrected comparisons revealed no evidence that supports evolutionary association between sociality and DNA methylation. Future functional studies will be required to advance our understanding of DNA methylation in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J. Bewick
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Kevin J. Vogel
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Allen J. Moore
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
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34
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Trapp J, McAfee A, Foster LJ. Genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics: enabling insights into social evolution and disease challenges for managed and wild bees. Mol Ecol 2017; 26:718-739. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.13986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2016] [Revised: 10/26/2016] [Accepted: 10/27/2016] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Judith Trapp
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Michael Smith Laboratories; University of British Columbia; 2125 East Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Alison McAfee
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Michael Smith Laboratories; University of British Columbia; 2125 East Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Leonard J. Foster
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Michael Smith Laboratories; University of British Columbia; 2125 East Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
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35
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McKenzie SK, Fetter-Pruneda I, Ruta V, Kronauer DJ. Transcriptomics and neuroanatomy of the clonal raider ant implicate an expanded clade of odorant receptors in chemical communication. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:14091-6. [PMID: 27911792 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1610800113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
A major aim of sociogenomic research is to uncover common principles in the molecular evolution of sociality. This endeavor has been hampered by the small number of specific genes currently known to function in social behavior. Here we provide several lines of evidence suggesting that ants have evolved a large and novel clade of odorant receptor (OR) genes to perceive hydrocarbon-based pheromones, arguably the most important signals in ant communication. This genomic expansion is also mirrored in the ant brain via a corresponding expansion of a specific cluster of glomeruli in the antennal lobe. We show that in the clonal raider ant, hydrocarbon-sensitive basiconic sensilla are found only on the ventral surface of the female antennal club. Correspondingly, nearly all genes in a clade of 180 ORs within the 9-exon subfamily of ORs are expressed exclusively in females and are highly enriched in expression in the ventral half of the antennal club. Furthermore, we found that across species and sexes, the number of 9-exon ORs expressed in antennae is tightly correlated with the number of glomeruli in the antennal lobe region innervated by odorant receptor neurons from basiconic sensilla. Evolutionary analyses show that this clade underwent a striking gene expansion in the ancestors of all ants and slower but continued expansion in extant ant lineages. This evidence suggests that ants have evolved a large clade of genes to support pheromone perception and that gene duplications have played an important role in the molecular evolution of ant communication.
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36
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37
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Karpe SD, Jain R, Brockmann A, Sowdhamini R. Identification of Complete Repertoire of Apis florea Odorant Receptors Reveals Complex Orthologous Relationships with Apis mellifera. Genome Biol Evol 2016; 8:2879-2895. [PMID: 27540087 PMCID: PMC5630852 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evw202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
We developed a computational pipeline for homology based identification of the complete repertoire of olfactory receptor (OR) genes in the Asian honey bee species, Apis florea. Apis florea is phylogenetically the most basal honey bee species and also the most distant sister species to the Western honey bee Apis mellifera, for which all OR genes had been identified before. Using our pipeline, we identified 180 OR genes in A. florea, which is very similar to the number of ORs identified in A. mellifera (177 ORs). Many characteristics of the ORs including gene structure, synteny of tandemly repeated ORs and basic phylogenetic clustering are highly conserved. The composite phylogenetic tree of A. florea and A. mellifera ORs could be divided into 21 clades which are in harmony with the existing Hymenopteran tree. However, we found a few nonorthologous OR relationships between both species as well as independent pseudogenization of ORs suggesting separate evolutionary changes. Particularly, a subgroup of the OR gene clade XI, which had been hypothesized to code cuticular hydrocarbon receptors showed a high number of species-specific ORs. RNAseq analysis detected a total number of 145 OR transcripts in male and 162 in female antennae. Most of the OR genes were highly expressed on the female antennae. However, we detected five distinct male-biased OR genes, out of which three genes (AfOr11, AfOr18, AfOr170P) were shown to be male-biased in A. mellifera, too, thus corroborating a behavioral function in sex-pheromone communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Snehal D Karpe
- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, India
| | - Rikesh Jain
- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, India SASTRA University, Thanjavur, India
| | - Axel Brockmann
- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, India
| | - Ramanathan Sowdhamini
- National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, India
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38
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Korb J. Why do social insect queens live so long? Approaches to unravel the sociality-aging puzzle. Curr Opin Insect Sci 2016; 16:104-107. [PMID: 27720043 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2016.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2016] [Revised: 05/02/2016] [Accepted: 06/07/2016] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Social insects are characterized by an apparent reshaping of the fecundity/longevity trade-off with sociality. Currently, we have only sketchy information about the potential underlying causes and mechanisms of aging and senescence which in addition are restricted to few model insect organisms (mainly the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the honey bee Apis mellifera). How can we gain a more thorough understanding how sociality shapes senescence and the fecundity/longevity trade-off? By reviewing available literature, I propose a comparative approach that offers the opportunity to gain fundamental insights into uncovering the basis for this life history trade-off and its reshaping with sociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith Korb
- Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, University of Freiburg, Germany.
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39
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Séguret A, Bernadou A, Paxton RJ. Facultative social insects can provide insights into the reversal of the longevity/fecundity trade-off across the eusocial insects. Curr Opin Insect Sci 2016; 16:95-103. [PMID: 27720058 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2016.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2016] [Revised: 05/27/2016] [Accepted: 06/03/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
In eusocial insects, reversal of the fecundity/longevity trade-off and extreme differences in life histories between castes of the same species garner scientific and public interest. Facultative social species at the threshold of sociality, in which individuals are socially plastic, provide an excellent opportunity to understand the causes and mechanisms underlying this reversal in life history trade-off associated with eusociality. We briefly present the ultimate factors favoring sociality and the association between fecundity and longevity in facultative eusocial insects, including kin selection and disposable soma, as well as proximate mechanisms observed in such species, such as differences in hormone titers and functions. Potential genetic underpinnings of lifespan and fecundity differences between castes are discussed and future research directions are proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice Séguret
- Institute for Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 8, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Abel Bernadou
- Zoology/Evolutionary Biology, Universität Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Robert J Paxton
- Institute for Biology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Hoher Weg 8, 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany; iDiv, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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40
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Baa-Puyoulet P, Parisot N, Febvay G, Huerta-Cepas J, Vellozo AF, Gabaldón T, Calevro F, Charles H, Colella S. ArthropodaCyc: a CycADS powered collection of BioCyc databases to analyse and compare metabolism of arthropods. Database (Oxford) 2016; 2016:baw081. [PMID: 27242037 PMCID: PMC5630938 DOI: 10.1093/database/baw081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2015] [Accepted: 04/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Arthropods interact with humans at different levels with highly beneficial roles (e.g. as pollinators), as well as with a negative impact for example as vectors of human or animal diseases, or as agricultural pests. Several arthropod genomes are available at present and many others will be sequenced in the near future in the context of the i5K initiative, offering opportunities for reconstructing, modelling and comparing their metabolic networks. In-depth analysis of these genomic data through metabolism reconstruction is expected to contribute to a better understanding of the biology of arthropods, thereby allowing the development of new strategies to control harmful species. In this context, we present here ArthropodaCyc, a dedicated BioCyc collection of databases using the Cyc annotation database system (CycADS), allowing researchers to perform reliable metabolism comparisons of fully sequenced arthropods genomes. Since the annotation quality is a key factor when performing such global genome comparisons, all proteins from the genomes included in the ArthropodaCyc database were re-annotated using several annotation tools and orthology information. All functional/domain annotation results and their sources were integrated in the databases for user access. Currently, ArthropodaCyc offers a centralized repository of metabolic pathways, protein sequence domains, Gene Ontology annotations as well as evolutionary information for 28 arthropod species. Such database collection allows metabolism analysis both with integrated tools and through extraction of data in formats suitable for systems biology studies. Database URL:http://arthropodacyc.cycadsys.org/
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicolas Parisot
- Univ Lyon, INSA-Lyon, INRA, BF2I, UMR0203, F-69621, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Gérard Febvay
- Univ Lyon, INSA-Lyon, INRA, BF2I, UMR0203, F-69621, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Jaime Huerta-Cepas
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain
| | - Augusto F Vellozo
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon1, CNRS, LBBE, UMR5558, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Toni Gabaldón
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Aiguader 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona 08003, Spain Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona 08003, Spain
| | - Federica Calevro
- Univ Lyon, INSA-Lyon, INRA, BF2I, UMR0203, F-69621, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Hubert Charles
- Univ Lyon, INSA-Lyon, INRA, BF2I, UMR0203, F-69621, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Stefano Colella
- Univ Lyon, INSA-Lyon, INRA, BF2I, UMR0203, F-69621, Villeurbanne, France
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42
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Abstract
Understanding the evolution of animal societies, considered to be a major transition in evolution, is a key topic in evolutionary biology. Recently, new gateways for understanding social evolution have opened up due to advances in genomics, allowing for unprecedented opportunities in studying social behavior on a molecular level. In particular, highly eusocial insect species (caste-containing societies with nonreproductives that care for siblings) have taken center stage in studies of the molecular evolution of sociality. Despite advances in genomic studies of both solitary and eusocial insects, we still lack genomic resources for early insect societies. To study the genetic basis of social traits requires comparison of genomes from a diversity of organisms ranging from solitary to complex social forms. Here we present the genome of a subsocial bee, Ceratina calcarata This study begins to address the types of genomic changes associated with the earliest origins of simple sociality using the small carpenter bee. Genes associated with lipid transport and DNA recombination have undergone positive selection in C. calcarata relative to other bee lineages. Furthermore, we provide the first methylome of a noneusocial bee. Ceratina calcarata contains the complete enzymatic toolkit for DNA methylation. As in the honey bee and many other holometabolous insects, DNA methylation is targeted to exons. The addition of this genome allows for new lines of research into the genetic and epigenetic precursors to complex social behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra M Rehan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham
| | | | - Sarah P Lawson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham
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43
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Standage DS, Berens AJ, Glastad KM, Severin AJ, Brendel VP, Toth AL. Genome, transcriptome and methylome sequencing of a primitively eusocial wasp reveal a greatly reduced DNA methylation system in a social insect. Mol Ecol 2016; 25:1769-84. [PMID: 26859767 DOI: 10.1111/mec.13578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2015] [Revised: 01/07/2016] [Accepted: 01/18/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Comparative genomics of social insects has been intensely pursued in recent years with the goal of providing insights into the evolution of social behaviour and its underlying genomic and epigenomic basis. However, the comparative approach has been hampered by a paucity of data on some of the most informative social forms (e.g. incipiently and primitively social) and taxa (especially members of the wasp family Vespidae) for studying social evolution. Here, we provide a draft genome of the primitively eusocial model insect Polistes dominula, accompanied by analysis of caste-related transcriptome and methylome sequence data for adult queens and workers. Polistes dominula possesses a fairly typical hymenopteran genome, but shows very low genomewide GC content and some evidence of reduced genome size. We found numerous caste-related differences in gene expression, with evidence that both conserved and novel genes are related to caste differences. Most strikingly, these -omics data reveal a major reduction in one of the major epigenetic mechanisms that has been previously suggested to be important for caste differences in social insects: DNA methylation. Along with a conspicuous loss of a key gene associated with environmentally responsive DNA methylation (the de novo DNA methyltransferase Dnmt3), these wasps have greatly reduced genomewide methylation to almost zero. In addition to providing a valuable resource for comparative analysis of social insect evolution, our integrative -omics data for this important behavioural and evolutionary model system call into question the general importance of DNA methylation in caste differences and evolution in social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel S Standage
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Ali J Berens
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Karl M Glastad
- School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Andrew J Severin
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.,Office of Biotechnology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Volker P Brendel
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.,School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Amy L Toth
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.,Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
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44
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Kocher SD, Li C, Yang W, Tan H, Yi SV, Yang X, Hoekstra HE, Zhang G, Pierce NE, Yu DW. Erratum to: The draft genome of a socially polymorphic halictid bee, Lasioglossum albipes. Genome Biol 2015; 16:34. [PMID: 25723594 PMCID: PMC4326530 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-014-0574-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2014] [Accepted: 12/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
During the type-setting of the final version of the article [1] some of the additional files were swapped, and several were completely replaced. The correct files are republished in this Erratum.
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45
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Elsik CG, Tayal A, Diesh CM, Unni DR, Emery ML, Nguyen HN, Hagen DE. Hymenoptera Genome Database: integrating genome annotations in HymenopteraMine. Nucleic Acids Res 2015; 44:D793-800. [PMID: 26578564 PMCID: PMC4702858 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv1208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2015] [Accepted: 10/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
We report an update of the Hymenoptera Genome Database (HGD) (http://HymenopteraGenome.org), a model organism database for insect species of the order Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps). HGD maintains genomic data for 9 bee species, 10 ant species and 1 wasp, including the versions of genome and annotation data sets published by the genome sequencing consortiums and those provided by NCBI. A new data-mining warehouse, HymenopteraMine, based on the InterMine data warehousing system, integrates the genome data with data from external sources and facilitates cross-species analyses based on orthology. New genome browsers and annotation tools based on JBrowse/WebApollo provide easy genome navigation, and viewing of high throughput sequence data sets and can be used for collaborative genome annotation. All of the genomes and annotation data sets are combined into a single BLAST server that allows users to select and combine sequence data sets to search.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine G Elsik
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA MU Informatics Institute, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Aditi Tayal
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Colin M Diesh
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Deepak R Unni
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Marianne L Emery
- Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Hung N Nguyen
- MU Informatics Institute, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Darren E Hagen
- Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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Cunningham CB, Ji L, Wiberg RAW, Shelton J, McKinney EC, Parker DJ, Meagher RB, Benowitz KM, Roy-Zokan EM, Ritchie MG, Brown SJ, Schmitz RJ, Moore AJ. The Genome and Methylome of a Beetle with Complex Social Behavior, Nicrophorus vespilloides (Coleoptera: Silphidae). Genome Biol Evol 2015; 7:3383-96. [PMID: 26454014 PMCID: PMC4700941 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evv194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Testing for conserved and novel mechanisms underlying phenotypic evolution requires a diversity of genomes available for comparison spanning multiple independent lineages. For example, complex social behavior in insects has been investigated primarily with eusocial lineages, nearly all of which are Hymenoptera. If conserved genomic influences on sociality do exist, we need data from a wider range of taxa that also vary in their levels of sociality. Here, we present the assembled and annotated genome of the subsocial beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides, a species long used to investigate evolutionary questions of complex social behavior. We used this genome to address two questions. First, do aspects of life history, such as using a carcass to breed, predict overlap in gene models more strongly than phylogeny? We found that the overlap in gene models was similar between N. vespilloides and all other insect groups regardless of life history. Second, like other insects with highly developed social behavior but unlike other beetles, does N. vespilloides have DNA methylation? We found strong evidence for an active DNA methylation system. The distribution of methylation was similar to other insects with exons having the most methylated CpGs. Methylation status appears highly conserved; 85% of the methylated genes in N. vespilloides are also methylated in the hymentopteran Nasonia vitripennis. The addition of this genome adds a coleopteran resource to answer questions about the evolution and mechanistic basis of sociality and to address questions about the potential role of methylation in social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lexiang Ji
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia
| | - R Axel W Wiberg
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
| | - Jennifer Shelton
- Division of Biology & Bioinformatics Center & Arthropod Genomics Center, Kansas State University
| | | | - Darren J Parker
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | - Michael G Ritchie
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom
| | - Susan J Brown
- Division of Biology & Bioinformatics Center & Arthropod Genomics Center, Kansas State University
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Abstract
Transcriptomes provide excellent foundational resources for mechanistic and evolutionary analyses of complex traits. We present a developmental transcriptome for the facultatively eusocial bee Megalopta genalis, which represents a potential transition point in the evolution of eusociality. A de novo transcriptome assembly of Megalopta genalis was generated using paired-end Illumina sequencing and the Trinity assembler. Males and females of all life stages were aligned to this transcriptome for analysis of gene expression profiles throughout development. Gene Ontology analysis indicates that stage-specific genes are involved in ion transport, cell-cell signaling, and metabolism. A number of distinct biological processes are upregulated in each life stage, and transitions between life stages involve shifts in dominant functional processes, including shifts from transcriptional regulation in embryos to metabolism in larvae, and increased lipid metabolism in adults. We expect that this transcriptome will provide a useful resource for future analyses to better understand the molecular basis of the evolution of eusociality and, more generally, phenotypic plasticity.
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Zhou X, Rokas A, Berger SL, Liebig J, Ray A, Zwiebel LJ. Chemoreceptor Evolution in Hymenoptera and Its Implications for the Evolution of Eusociality. Genome Biol Evol 2015; 7:2407-16. [PMID: 26272716 PMCID: PMC4558866 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evv149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Eusocial insects, mostly Hymenoptera, have evolved unique colonial lifestyles that rely on the perception of social context mainly through pheromones, and chemoreceptors are hypothesized to have played important adaptive roles in the evolution of sociality. However, because chemoreceptor repertoires have been characterized in few social insects and their solitary relatives, a comprehensive examination of this hypothesis has not been possible. Here, we annotate ∼3,000 odorant and gustatory receptors in recently sequenced Hymenoptera genomes and systematically compare >4,000 chemoreceptors from 13 hymenopterans, representing one solitary lineage (wasps) and three independently evolved eusocial lineages (ants and two bees). We observe a strong general tendency for chemoreceptors to expand in Hymenoptera, whereas the specifics of gene gains/losses are highly diverse between lineages. We also find more frequent positive selection on chemoreceptors in a facultative eusocial bee and in the common ancestor of ants compared with solitary wasps. Our results suggest that the frequent expansions of chemoreceptors have facilitated the transition to eusociality. Divergent expression patterns of odorant receptors between honeybee and ants further indicate differential roles of chemoreceptors in parallel trajectories of social evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofan Zhou
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University
| | - Antonis Rokas
- Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University
| | - Shelley L Berger
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Jürgen Liebig
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe
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Smith SA, Moore MJ, Brown JW, Yang Y. Analysis of phylogenomic datasets reveals conflict, concordance, and gene duplications with examples from animals and plants. BMC Evol Biol 2015; 15:150. [PMID: 26239519 PMCID: PMC4524127 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-015-0423-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 225] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2015] [Accepted: 06/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The use of transcriptomic and genomic datasets for phylogenetic reconstruction has become increasingly common as researchers attempt to resolve recalcitrant nodes with increasing amounts of data. The large size and complexity of these datasets introduce significant phylogenetic noise and conflict into subsequent analyses. The sources of conflict may include hybridization, incomplete lineage sorting, or horizontal gene transfer, and may vary across the phylogeny. For phylogenetic analysis, this noise and conflict has been accommodated in one of several ways: by binning gene regions into subsets to isolate consistent phylogenetic signal; by using gene-tree methods for reconstruction, where conflict is presumed to be explained by incomplete lineage sorting (ILS); or through concatenation, where noise is presumed to be the dominant source of conflict. The results provided herein emphasize that analysis of individual homologous gene regions can greatly improve our understanding of the underlying conflict within these datasets. RESULTS Here we examined two published transcriptomic datasets, the angiosperm group Caryophyllales and the aculeate Hymenoptera, for the presence of conflict, concordance, and gene duplications in individual homologs across the phylogeny. We found significant conflict throughout the phylogeny in both datasets and in particular along the backbone. While some nodes in each phylogeny showed patterns of conflict similar to what might be expected with ILS alone, the backbone nodes also exhibited low levels of phylogenetic signal. In addition, certain nodes, especially in the Caryophyllales, had highly elevated levels of strongly supported conflict that cannot be explained by ILS alone. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that phylogenetic signal is highly variable in phylogenomic data sampled across related species and poses challenges when conducting species tree analyses on large genomic and transcriptomic datasets. Further insight into the conflict and processes underlying these complex datasets is necessary to improve and develop adequate models for sequence analysis and downstream applications. To aid this effort, we developed the open source software phyparts ( https://bitbucket.org/blackrim/phyparts ), which calculates unique, conflicting, and concordant bipartitions, maps gene duplications, and outputs summary statistics such as internode certainy (ICA) scores and node-specific counts of gene duplications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen A Smith
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, S State St, Ann Arbor, 48109, MI, USA.
| | - Michael J Moore
- Department of Biology, Oberlin College, W Lorain St, Oberlin, 44074, OH, USA.
| | - Joseph W Brown
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, S State St, Ann Arbor, 48109, MI, USA.
| | - Ya Yang
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, S State St, Ann Arbor, 48109, MI, USA.
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