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Scott TW. Crozier's paradox and kin recognition: Insights from simplified models. J Theor Biol 2024; 581:111735. [PMID: 38246487 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2024.111735] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Revised: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Crozier's paradox suggests that genetic kin recognition will not be evolutionarily stable. The problem is that more common tags (markers) are more likely to be recognised and helped. This causes common tags to increase in frequency, eliminating the genetic variability that is required for genetic kin recognition. In recent years, theoretical models have resolved Crozier's paradox in different ways, but they are based on very complicated multi-locus population genetics. Consequently, it is hard to see exactly what is going on, and whether different theoretical resolutions of Crozier's paradox lead to different types of kin discrimination. I address this by making unrealistic simplifying assumptions to produce a more tractable and understandable model of Crozier's paradox. I use this to interpret a more complex multi-locus population genetic model where I have not made the same simplifying assumptions. I explain how Crozier's paradox can be resolved, and show that only one known theoretical resolution of Crozier's paradox - multiple social encounters - leads without restrictive assumptions to the type of highly cooperative and reliable form of kin discrimination that we observe in nature. More generally, I show how adopting a methodological approach where complex models are compared with simplified ones can lead to greater understanding and accessibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas W Scott
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, United Kingdom.
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2
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Flatrès A, Wild G. Evolution of delayed dispersal with group size effect and population dynamics. Theor Popul Biol 2024; 157:1-13. [PMID: 38417560 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2024.02.007] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/01/2024]
Abstract
Individuals delay natal dispersal for many reasons. There may be no place to disperse to; immediate dispersal or reproduction may be too costly; immediate dispersal may mean that the individual and their relatives miss the benefits of group living. Understanding the factors that lead to the evolution of delayed dispersal is important because delayed dispersal sets the stage for complex social groups and social behavior. Here, we study the evolution of delayed dispersal when the quality of the local environment is improved by greater numbers of individuals (e.g., safety in numbers). We assume that individuals who delay natal dispersal also expect to delay personal reproduction. In addition, we assume that improved environmental quality benefits manifest as changes to fecundity and survival. We are interested in how do the changes in these life-history features affect delayed dispersal. We use a model that ties evolution to population dynamics. We also aim to understand the relationship between levels of delayed dispersal and the probability of establishing as an independent breeder (a population-level feature) in response to changes in life-history details. Our model emphasizes kin selection and considers a sexual organism, which allows us to study parent-offspring conflict over delayed dispersal. At evolutionary equilibrium, fecundity and survival benefits of group size or quality promote higher levels of delayed dispersal over a larger set of life histories with one exception. The exception is for benefits of increased group size or quality reaped by the individuals who delay dispersal. There, the increased benefit does not change the life histories supporting delay dispersal. Next, in contrast to previous predictions, we find that a low probability of establishing in a new location is not always associated with a higher incidence of delayed dispersal. Finally, we find that increased personal benefits of delayed dispersal exacerbate the conflict between parents and their offspring. We discuss our findings in relation to previous theoretical and empirical work, especially work related to cooperative breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan Flatrès
- Department of Mathematics, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada.
| | - Geoff Wild
- Department of Mathematics, Western University, 1151 Richmond Street, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada
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3
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Zhao L, Ji SN, Du XB, Liu JH, Zhang BL, Li PH, Yang YJ, Li BG, Guo YQ, Qi XG. Dynamic foraging strategy adaptation to heterogeneous environments contributes to social aggregation in snub-nosed monkeys. Zool Res 2024; 45:39-54. [PMID: 38114432 PMCID: PMC10839657 DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.047] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The dynamics of animal social structures are heavily influenced by environmental patterns of competition and cooperation. In folivorous colobine primates, prevailing theories suggest that larger group sizes should be favored in rainforests with a year-round abundance of food, thereby reducing feeding competition. Yet, paradoxically, larger groups are frequently found in high-altitude or high-latitude montane ecosystems characterized by a seasonal scarcity of leaves. This contradiction is posited to arise from cooperative benefits in heterogeneous environments. To investigate this hypothesis, we carried out a six-year field study on two neighboring groups of golden snub-nosed monkey ( Rhinopithecus roxellana), a species representing the northernmost distribution of colobine primates. Results showed that the groups adjusted their movement and habitat selection in response to fluctuating climates and spatiotemporal variability of resources, indicative of a dynamic foraging strategy. Notably, during the cold, resource-scarce conditions in winter, the large group occupied food-rich habitats but did not exhibit significantly longer daily travel distances than the smaller neighboring group. Subsequently, we compiled an eco-behavioral dataset of 52 colobine species to explore their evolutionary trajectories. Analysis of this dataset suggested that the increase in group size may have evolved via home range expansion in response to the cold and heterogeneous climates found at higher altitudes or latitudes. Hence, we developed a multi-benefits framework to interpret the formation of larger groups by integrating environmental heterogeneity. In cold and diverse environments, even smaller groups require larger home ranges to meet their dynamic survival needs. The spatiotemporal distribution of high-quality resources within these expanded home ranges facilitates more frequent interactions between groups, thereby encouraging social aggregation into larger groups. This process enhances the benefits of collaborative actions and reproductive opportunities, while simultaneously optimizing travel costs through a dynamic foraging strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lan Zhao
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
- Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China
| | - Sheng-Nan Ji
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
| | - Xiao-Bing Du
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
| | - Jia-Hui Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
| | - Bo-Lun Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
| | - Pei-Hua Li
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
| | - Yi-Jun Yang
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
| | - Bao-Guo Li
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
| | - Yan-Qing Guo
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China
| | - Xiao-Guang Qi
- College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710069, China. E-mail:
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4
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Gardner A. A geometric approach to the evolution of altruism. J Theor Biol 2024; 576:111653. [PMID: 37926425 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2023.111653] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023]
Abstract
Fisher's geometric model provides a powerful tool for making predictions about key properties of Darwinian adaptation. Here, I apply the geometric model to predict differences between the evolution of altruistic versus nonsocial phenotypes. I recover Kimura's prediction that probability of fixation is greater for mutations of intermediate size, but I find that the effect size that maximises probability of fixation is relatively small in the context of altruism and relatively large in the context of nonsocial phenotypes, and that the overall probability of fixation is lower for altruism and is higher for nonsocial phenotypes. Accordingly, the first selective substitution is expected to be smaller, and to take longer, in the context of the evolution of altruism. These results strengthen the justification for employing streamlined social evolutionary methodologies that assume adaptations are underpinned by many genes of small effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Gardner
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Dyers Brae, St Andrews KY16 9TH, United Kingdom.
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Gorneau JA, Rayor LS, Rheims CA, Moreau CS. Molecular, morphological, and life history data to support research of huntsman spiders (Araneae: Sparassidae). Data Brief 2023; 46:108885. [PMID: 36699733 PMCID: PMC9868322 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.108885] [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] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Revised: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This article on biodiversity and life history data in huntsman spiders (Araneae: Sparassidae) includes the following: molecular data deposited on GenBank for 72 individuals representing 27 species in seven subfamilies, life history and behavioral data on 40 huntsman species from over two decades of observations, and morphological data for 26 species in the subfamily Deleninae as well as an undescribed representative of the genus Damastes. Molecular data include the nuclear genes histone H3 (H3) and 28S ribosomal RNA (28S rRNA), mitochondrial genes cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) were sequenced via Sanger sequencing by J.A. Gorneau. Life history data were collected in the field and in the lab by L.S. Rayor and include data on age at sexual maturity, lifespan, social classification, egg sac shape, how the egg sac is attached or carried, retreat location, retreat modification, retreat size relative to adult female body size, approximate mean body mass, and mean cephalothorax width. Morphological data on Deleninae and one Damastes sp. were scored by C.A. Rheims and includes information on the following characters: prosoma (fovea, posterior eye row shape (PER), anterior median eye (AME) diameter, AME-AME and PME-PME interdistances), male palp (embolic sclerite (PS), conductor sclerotized base (SB), tegular apophysis (TA), flange (f)) and female epigyne and vulva (epigynal sclerite (ES), spermathecal sacs (SS)). These data were used to clarify relationships among the Australian endemic Deleninae, as well as global patterns in sparassid evolution. The data demonstrate phylogenetic patterns in life history, social evolution, and natural history among the sparassids. These data contribute to future comparative research on sparassid systematics, evolution, and behavior. This data article complements a research article published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution [1].
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob A. Gorneau
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States 14853
- Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA, United States 94118
- Corresponding author. @jacobgorneau
| | - Linda S. Rayor
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States 14853
| | - Cristina A. Rheims
- Laboratório de Coleções Zoológicas, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brasil, 1500, 05503-900 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Corrie S. Moreau
- Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States 14853
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States 14853
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de Groot C, Wijnhorst RE, Ratz T, Murray M, Araya-Ajoy YG, Wright J, Dingemanse NJ. The importance of distinguishing individual differences in 'social impact' versus 'social responsiveness' when quantifying indirect genetic effects on the evolution of social plasticity. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 144:104996. [PMID: 36526032 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104996] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Revised: 12/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Social evolution and the dynamics of social interactions have previously been studied under the frameworks of quantitative genetics and behavioural ecology. In quantitative genetics, indirect genetic effects of social partners on the socially plastic phenotypes of focal individuals typically lack crucial detail already included in treatments of social plasticity in behavioural ecology. Specifically, whilst focal individuals (e.g. receivers) may show variation in their 'responsiveness' to the social environment, individual social partners (e.g. signallers) may have a differential 'impact' on focal phenotypes. Here we propose an integrative framework, that highlights the distinction between responsiveness versus impact in indirect genetic effects for a range of behavioural traits. We describe impact and responsiveness using a reaction norm approach and provide statistical models for the assessment of these effects of focal and social partner identity in different types of social interactions. By providing such a framework, we hope to stimulate future quantitative research investigating the causes and consequences of social interactions on phenotypic evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corné de Groot
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), 82152 Planegg, Martinsried, Germany.
| | - Rori E Wijnhorst
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), 82152 Planegg, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Tom Ratz
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), 82152 Planegg, Martinsried, Germany
| | - Myranda Murray
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Yimen G Araya-Ajoy
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Jonathan Wright
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich (LMU), 82152 Planegg, Martinsried, Germany
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Lehmann L. Hamilton's rule, the evolution of behavior rules and the wizardry of control theory. J Theor Biol 2022; 555:111282. [PMID: 36179799 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2022.111282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Revised: 09/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
This paper formalizes selection on a quantitative trait affecting the evolution of behavior (or development) rules through which individuals act and react with their surroundings. Combining Hamilton's marginal rule for selection on scalar traits and concepts from optimal control theory, a necessary first-order condition for the evolutionary stability of the trait in a group-structured population is derived. The model, which is of intermediate level of complexity, fills a gap between the formalization of selection on evolving traits that are directly conceived as actions (no phenotypic plasticity) and selection on evolving traits that are conceived as strategies or function valued actions (complete phenotypic plasticity). By conceptualizing individuals as open deterministic dynamical systems expressing incomplete phenotypic plasticity, the model captures selection on a large class of phenotypic expression mechanisms, including developmental pathways and learning under life-history trade-offs. As an illustration of the results, a first-order condition for the evolutionary stability of behavior response rules from the social evolution literature is re-derived, strengthened, and generalized. All results of the paper also generalize directly to selection on multidimensional quantitative traits affecting behavior rule evolution, thereby covering neural and gene network evolution.
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Schaal KA, Yu YTN, Vasse M, Velicer GJ. Allopatric divergence of cooperators confers cheating resistance and limits effects of a defector mutation. BMC Ecol Evol 2022; 22:141. [PMID: 36510120 PMCID: PMC9746145 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02094-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Social defectors may meet diverse cooperators. Genotype-by-genotype interactions may constrain the ranges of cooperators upon which particular defectors can cheat, limiting cheater spread. Upon starvation, the soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus cooperatively develops into spore-bearing fruiting bodies, using a complex regulatory network and several intercellular signals. Some strains (cheaters) are unable to sporulate effectively in pure culture due to mutations that reduce signal production but can exploit and outcompete cooperators within mixed groups. RESULTS In this study, interactions between a cheater disrupted at the signaling gene csgA and allopatrically diversified cooperators reveal a very small cheating range. Expectedly, the cheater failed to cheat on all natural-isolate cooperators owing to non-cheater-specific antagonisms. Surprisingly, some lab-evolved cooperators had already exited the csgA mutant's cheating range after accumulating fewer than 20 mutations and without experiencing cheating during evolution. Cooperators might also diversify in the potential for a mutation to reduce expression of a cooperative trait or generate a cheating phenotype. A new csgA mutation constructed in several highly diverged cooperators generated diverse sporulation phenotypes, ranging from a complete defect to no defect, indicating that genetic backgrounds can limit the set of genomes in which a mutation creates a defector. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that natural populations may feature geographic mosaics of cooperators that have diversified in their susceptibility to particular cheaters, limiting defectors' cheating ranges and preventing them from spreading. This diversification may also lead to variation in the phenotypes generated by any given cooperation-gene mutation, further decreasing the chance of a cheater emerging which threatens the persistence of cooperation in the system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlin A. Schaal
- grid.5801.c0000 0001 2156 2780Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Yuen-Tsu Nicco Yu
- grid.5801.c0000 0001 2156 2780Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marie Vasse
- grid.5801.c0000 0001 2156 2780Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland ,grid.121334.60000 0001 2097 0141Institute MIVEGEC (UMR 5290 CNRS, IRD, UM), 34394 Montpellier, France
| | - Gregory J. Velicer
- grid.5801.c0000 0001 2156 2780Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Vacanti JP. Our Better Angels and the Invention of Hope. J Pediatr Surg 2022; 57:9-11. [PMID: 34716014 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2021.09.025] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
This 2020 Presidential Address was given at the American Pediatric Surgical Association 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting, May 20-22, 2021.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph P Vacanti
- Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Warren 11, Boston, MA 02114 United States.
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10
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Coca JR, Soto A, Mesquita C, Lopes RP, Cordero-Rivera A. Biosociological ethodiversity in the social system. Biosystems 2021; 210:104552. [PMID: 34563624 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2021.104552] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
A comprehensive understanding of human sociality needs to embrace the coevolution of genes and culture. Recent advances in biological research about niche construction by organisms, and the development of the concepts of social niche and ethodiversity, can be integrated into a common approach to understand this coevolution, which implies the interaction between sociology and ecology in an integrative framework of knowledge. In this paper the authors propose such inclusive biosociological and heuristic framework to improve the understanding of the evolution of social niche construction. In addition, it allows a better understanding of the concept of sociotype in non-human organisms and explains some aspects of the social or presocial behavior through the concept of ethodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan R Coca
- University of Valladolid, Faculty of Education of Soria, Campus Universitario s/n, 42004, Soria, Spain.
| | - Alberto Soto
- University of Valladolid, Faculty of Education of Soria, Campus Universitario s/n, 42004, Soria, Spain.
| | - Cristina Mesquita
- Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Research Center in Basic Education, Portugal.
| | - Rui Pedro Lopes
- Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Research Center in Digitalization and Intelligent Robotics, Portugal.
| | - Adolfo Cordero-Rivera
- Universidade de Vigo, ECOEVO Lab, Escola de Enxeñaría Forestal, Campus Universitario, 36005, Pontevedra, Spain.
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Waiker P, de Abreu FCP, Luna-Lucena D, Freitas FCP, Simões ZLP, Rueppell O. Recombination mapping of the Brazilian stingless bee Frieseomelitta varia confirms high recombination rates in social hymenoptera. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:673. [PMID: 34536998 PMCID: PMC8449902 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07987-3] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Meiotic recombination is a fundamental genetic process that shuffles allele combinations and promotes accurate segregation of chromosomes. Analyses of the ubiquitous variation of recombination rates within and across species suggest that recombination is evolving adaptively. All studied insects with advanced eusociality have shown exceptionally high recombination rates, which may represent a prominent case of adaptive evolution of recombination. However, our understanding of the relationship between social evolution and recombination rates is incomplete, partly due to lacking empirical data. Here, we present a linkage map of the monandrous, advanced eusocial Brazilian stingless bee, Frieseomelitta varia, providing the first recombination analysis in the diverse Meliponini (Hymenoptera, Apidae). Results Our linkage map includes 1417 markers in 19 linkage groups. This map spans approximately 2580 centimorgans, and comparisons to the physical genome assembly indicate that it covers more than 75 % of the 275 Megabasepairs (Mbp) F. varia genome. Thus, our study results in a genome-wide recombination rate estimate of 9.3–12.5 centimorgan per Mbp. This value is higher than estimates from nonsocial insects and comparable to other highly social species, although it does not support our prediction that monandry and strong queen-worker caste divergence of F. varia lead to even higher recombination rates than other advanced eusocial species. Conclusions Our study expands the association between elevated recombination and sociality in the order Hymenoptera and strengthens the support for the hypothesis that advanced social evolution in hymenopteran insects invariably selects for high genomic recombination rates. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-021-07987-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant Waiker
- Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver St, Greensboro, NC, 27412, USA.
| | - Fabiano Carlos Pinto de Abreu
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Danielle Luna-Lucena
- Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil
| | - Flávia Cristina Paula Freitas
- Departamento de Genética, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.,Departamento de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal de Alfenas, Alfenas, MG, Brazil
| | - Zilá Luz Paulino Simões
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Olav Rueppell
- Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver St, Greensboro, NC, 27412, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, AB, T6G 2E9, Edmonton, Canada
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Abstract
BACKGROUND The reproductive division of labor of eusocial insects, whereby one or several queens monopolize reproduction, evolved in a context of high genetic relatedness. However, many extant eusocial species have developed strategies that decrease genetic relatedness in their colonies, suggesting some benefits of the increased diversity. Multiple studies support this hypothesis by showing positive correlations between genetic diversity and colony fitness, as well as finding effects of experimental manipulations of diversity on colony performance. However, alternative explanations could account for most of these reports, and the benefits of diversity on performance in eusocial insects still await validation. In this study, we experimentally increased worker diversity in small colonies of the ant Lasius niger while controlling for typical confounding factors. RESULTS We found that experimental colonies composed of workers coming from three different source colonies produced more larvae and showed more variation in size compared to groups of workers coming from a single colony. CONCLUSIONS We propose that the benefits of increased diversity stemmed from an improved division of labor. Our study confirms that worker diversity enhances colony performance, thus providing a possible explanation for the evolution of multiply mated queens and multiple-queen colonies in many species of eusocial insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina N. Psalti
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Dustin Gohlke
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Romain Libbrecht
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch-Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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13
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Laidre ME. Social conquest of land: Sea-to-land changes in shell architecture and body morphology, with consequences for social evolution. Arthropod Struct Dev 2021; 63:101064. [PMID: 34098322 DOI: 10.1016/j.asd.2021.101064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [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: 12/31/2020] [Revised: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Architecture, like nests, burrows, and other types of fortresses, may have played an important role in the evolution of social life on land. However, few studies have examined architecture in organisms that transitioned from sea to land to test how and why architectural and morphological changes might have jointly impacted social evolution. Here I contrasted the shell architecture and body morphology of two of the phylogenetically most closely-related land versus sea species of hermit crab (the terrestrial hermit crab, Coenobita compressus, and the marine hermit crab, Calcinus obscurus), as well as the original builder of their shells (the gastropod, Nerita scabricosta). In contrast to the shells of gastropods and marine hermit crabs, only the shells of terrestrial hermit crabs were architecturally remodeled, with no columella inside for the occupants to grip upon to resist eviction. The bodies of terrestrial hermit crabs were also significantly more exposed outside the enlarged openings of their remodeled shells, whereas the substantially smaller-bodied marine hermit crabs were safeguarded deep within the recesses of their unremodeled shells. Ultimately, these changes in shell architecture and body morphology likely had consequences for social evolution on land, making conspecifics not only more dependent upon one another for homes, but also potentially easier to evict. Further changes in claw shape on land (with the claws of terrestrial hermit crabs becoming shorter, wider, and thicker) may have evolved to help offset their heightened danger of social eviction, acting as a more effective door against conspecifics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark E Laidre
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
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Márquez-Zacarías P, Conlin PL, Tong K, Pentz JT, Ratcliff WC. Why have aggregative multicellular organisms stayed simple? Curr Genet 2021. [PMID: 34114051 DOI: 10.1007/s00294-021-01193-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Multicellularity has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. One of the most fundamental distinctions among multicellular organisms is their developmental mode: whether they stay together during growth and develop clonally, or form a group through the aggregation of free-living cells. The five eukaryotic lineages to independently evolve complex multicellularity (animals, plants, red algae, brown algae, and fungi) all develop clonally. This fact has largely been explained through social evolutionary theory's lens of cooperation and conflict, where cheating within non-clonal groups has the potential to undermine multicellular adaptation. Multicellular organisms that form groups via aggregation could mitigate the costs of cheating by evolving kin recognition systems that prevent the formation of chimeric groups. However, recent work suggests that selection for the ability to aggregate quickly may constrain the evolution of highly specific kin recognition, sowing the seeds for persistent evolutionary conflict. Importantly, other features of aggregative multicellular life cycles may independently act to constrain the evolution of complex multicellularity. All known aggregative multicellular organisms are facultatively multicellular (as opposed to obligately multicellular), allowing unicellular-level adaptation to environmental selection. Because they primarily exist in a unicellular state, it may be difficult for aggregative multicellular organisms to evolve multicellular traits that carry pleiotropic cell-level fitness costs. Thus, even in the absence of social conflict, aggregative multicellular organisms may have limited potential for the evolution of complex multicellularity.
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15
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Mullon C, Wakano JY, Ohtsuki H. Coevolutionary dynamics of genetic traits and their long-term extended effects under non-random interactions. J Theor Biol 2021; 525:110750. [PMID: 33957155 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110750] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 04/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Organisms continuously modify their living conditions via extended genetic effects on their environment, microbiome, and in some species culture. These effects can impact the fitness of current but also future conspecifics due to non-genetic transmission via ecological or cultural inheritance. In this case, selection on a gene with extended effects depends on the degree to which current and future genetic relatives are exposed to modified conditions. Here, we detail the selection gradient on a quantitative trait with extended effects in a patch-structured population, when gene flow between patches is limited and ecological inheritance within patches can be biased towards offspring. Such a situation is relevant to understand evolutionary driven changes in individual condition that can be preferentially transmitted from parent to offspring, such as cellular state, micro-environments (e.g., nests), pathogens, microbiome, or culture. Our analysis quantifies how the interaction between limited gene flow and biased ecological inheritance influences the joint evolutionary dynamics of traits together with the conditions they modify, helping understand adaptation via non-genetic modifications. As an illustration, we apply our analysis to a gene-culture coevolution scenario in which genetically-determined learning strategies coevolve with adaptive knowledge. In particular, we show that when social learning is synergistic, selection can favour strategies that generate remarkable levels of knowledge under intermediate levels of both vertical cultural transmission and limited dispersal. More broadly, our theory yields insights into the interplay between genetic and non-genetic inheritance, with implications for how organisms evolve to transform their environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Mullon
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan.
| | - Joe Yuichiro Wakano
- Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8525, Japan
| | - Hisashi Ohtsuki
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan
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16
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Shpigler HY, Herb B, Drnevich J, Band M, Robinson GE, Bloch G. Juvenile hormone regulates brain-reproduction tradeoff in bumble bees but not in honey bees. Horm Behav 2020; 126:104844. [PMID: 32860832 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Gonadotropic hormones coordinate processes in diverse tissues regulating animal reproductive physiology and behavior. Juvenile hormone (JH) is the ancient and most common gonadotropin in insects, but not in advanced eusocial honey bees and some ants. To start probing the evolutionary basis of this change, we combined endocrine manipulations, transcriptomics, and behavioral analyses to study JH regulated processes in a bumble bee showing a relatively simple level of eusociality. We found that in worker fat body, more JH-regulated genes were up- rather than down-regulated, and enriched for metabolic and biosynthetic pathways. This transcriptomic pattern is consistent with earlier evidence that JH is the major gonadotropin in bumble bees. In the brain, more JH-regulated genes were down- rather than up-regulated and enriched for protein turnover pathways. Brain ribosomal protein gene expression shows a similar trend of downregulation in dominant workers, which naturally have high JH titers. In other species, similar downregulation of protein turnover is found in aging brains or under stress, associated with compromised long-term memory and health. These findings suggest a previously unknown gonadotropin-mediated tradeoff. Analysis of published data reveals no such downregulation of protein turnover pathways in the brain of honey bee workers, which exhibit more complex eusociality and in which JH is not a gonadotropin but rather regulates division of labor. These results suggest that the evolution of complex eusociality in honey bees was associated with modifications in hormonal signalling supporting extended and extremely high fertility while reducing the ancient costs of high gonadotropin titers to the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hagai Y Shpigler
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel; Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Brian Herb
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Jenny Drnevich
- High-Performance Biological Computing Group, Roy J Carver Biotechnology Center, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
| | - Mark Band
- Roy J Carver Biotechnology Center, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel
| | - Gene E Robinson
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Entomology Department, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; Neuroscience Program, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
| | - Guy Bloch
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
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Betti MI, Lee I. The effects of diploid male production on honey bee colony evolution and survival. Theor Popul Biol 2020; 135:49-55. [PMID: 32888942 DOI: 10.1016/j.tpb.2020.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [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: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 08/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The order Hymenoptera includes most of the eusocial species on the planet. Correlated is the fact that many of the social species within the order are haplodiploid and use complementary sex determination (CSD) to determine the sex of offspring. CSD is the mechanism by why single sex alleles within an organism result in male development (haploid) and mismatched sex alleles develop into females (diploids). Related to this is the production of diploid males: fertilized eggs with matched sex alleles which develop as male instead of female. Honey bees are no exception to this, and as their numbers continue to suffer globally and their genetic diversity lowers, the effects of diploid male production (DMP) may pose an increased risk to the survival of bee colonies. In the present study, we develop a model for diploid male production in a honey bee colony and show that with ample resources, this phenomena has little effect on a colony's health, but there is a limit to the sustainability of a colony suffering from diploid male production. We use our model to show that there were likely no great evolutionary pressures against CSD and DMP in wild honey bees as its effects on colony health in the wild would have been negligible but increased environmental hazards such as pesticides and monoculture crops increase the effects of DMP on colony health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew I Betti
- Mathematics and Computer Science, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
| | - Isaac Lee
- Mathematics and Computer Science, Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada
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18
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Fischer
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany; Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany; Department for Primate Cognition, Georg-August-University, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Dietmar Zinner
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany; Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany; Department for Primate Cognition, Georg-August-University, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
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19
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Konashev M. Soviet genetics and the communist party: was it all bad and wrong, or none at all? Hist Philos Life Sci 2020; 42:27. [PMID: 32548727 DOI: 10.1007/s40656-020-00323-0] [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: 02/22/2019] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The history of genetics and the evolutionary theory in the USSR is multidimensional. Only in the 1920s after the October Revolution, and due in large part to that Revolution, the science of genetics arose in Soviet Russia. Genetics was limited, but not obliterated in the second half of the 1950s, and was restored in the late 1960s, after the resignation of Nikita S. Khrushchev. In the subsequent period, Soviet genetics experienced a resurgence, though one not as successful as geneticists would have liked. The Communist party bodies interfered constantly, but with different consequences for the development of genetics than when the earlier periods. The main troubles for Soviet genetics occurred during the unique, well-known, most contradictory, and tragic Stalinist period. The start date for the defeat of genetics is also known-August, 1948. In the social history of science and especially in the history of evolutionary biology (including genetics) it is natural, necessary, and even expected to adopt an evolutionary approach. In particular, historians of science need to consider and explain the evolution and dependence of Soviet science in regards to the evolution of Soviet society, the Soviet state, and the Communist party. This evolutionary perspective reflects the standards of evolutionary biology, evolutionary macrosociology, and also the history of science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikhail Konashev
- St. Petersburg Branch of the Institute of the History of Science and Technology Named After S.I. Vavilov, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
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20
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Grinsted L, Schou MF, Settepani V, Holm C, Bird TL, Bilde T. Prey to predator body size ratio in the evolution of cooperative hunting-a social spider test case. Dev Genes Evol 2019; 230:173-184. [PMID: 31768622 DOI: 10.1007/s00427-019-00640-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 07/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
One of the benefits of cooperative hunting may be that predators can subdue larger prey. In spiders, cooperative, social species can capture prey many times larger than an individual predator. However, we propose that cooperative prey capture does not have to be associated with larger caught prey per se, but with an increase in the ratio of prey to predator body size. This can be achieved either by catching larger prey while keeping predator body size constant, or by evolving a smaller predator body size while maintaining capture of large prey. We show that within a genus of relatively large spiders, Stegodyphus, subsocial spiders representing the ancestral state of social species are capable of catching the largest prey available in the environment. Hence, within this genus, the evolution of cooperation would not provide access to otherwise inaccessible, large prey. Instead, we show that social Stegodyphus spiders are smaller than their subsocial counterparts, while catching similar sized prey, leading to the predicted increase in prey-predator size ratio with sociality. We further show that in a genus of small spiders, Anelosimus, the level of sociality is associated with an increased size of prey caught while predator size is unaffected by sociality, leading to a similar, predicted increase in prey-predator size ratio. In summary, we find support for our proposed 'prey to predator size ratio hypothesis' and discuss how relaxed selection on large body size in the evolution of social, cooperative living may provide adaptive benefits for ancestrally relatively large predators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Grinsted
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Mads F Schou
- Department of Biology, Lund University, 22362, Lund, Sweden
| | - Virginia Settepani
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114-116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Christina Holm
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114-116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Tharina L Bird
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), Plot, 10071, Palapye, Botswana
| | - Trine Bilde
- Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114-116, 8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
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21
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Lovegrove MR, Dearden PK, Duncan EJ. Ancestral hymenopteran queen pheromones do not share the broad phylogenetic repressive effects of honeybee queen mandibular pheromone. J Insect Physiol 2019; 119:103968. [PMID: 31669583 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2019.103968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [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: 06/13/2019] [Revised: 10/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Queen pheromones effect the reproductive division of labour, a defining feature of eusociality. Reproductive division of labour ensures that one, or a small number of, females are responsible for the majority of reproduction within a colony. Much work on the evolution and function of these pheromones has focussed on Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP) which is produced by the Western or European honeybee (Apis mellifera). QMP has phylogenetically broad effects, repressing reproduction in a variety of arthropods, including those distantly related to the honeybee such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. QMP is highly derived and has little chemical similarity to the majority of hymenopteran queen pheromones which are derived from cuticular hydrocarbons. This raises the question of whether the phylogenetically widespread repression of reproduction by QMP also occurs with more basal saturated hydrocarbon-based queen-pheromones. Using D. melanogaster we show that saturated hydrocarbons are incapable of repressing reproduction, unlike QMP. We also show no interaction between the four saturated hydrocarbons tested or between the saturated hydrocarbons and QMP, implying that there is no conservation in the mechanism of detection or action between these compounds. We propose that the phylogenetically broad reproductive repression seen in response to QMP is not a feature of all queen pheromones, but unique to QMP itself, which has implications for our understanding of how queen pheromones act and evolve.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mackenzie R Lovegrove
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, Aotearoa, New Zealand; School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Peter K Dearden
- Genomics Aotearoa and Biochemistry Department, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, Aotearoa, New Zealand
| | - Elizabeth J Duncan
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
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22
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Das A. Network Connections and Salivary Testosterone Among Older U.S. Women: Social Modulation or Hormonal Causation? J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2019; 74:1283-1293. [PMID: 28958006 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbx111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [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: 04/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/19/2017] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study examined potentially bidirectional connections of older U.S. women's salivary testosterone with their social network connections. METHODS Data were from the 2005-2006 and 2010-2011 waves of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), a national probability sample of older U.S. adults. Autoregressive cross-lagged panel models tested linkages of women's testosterone with their social networks. RESULTS Consistent with recent biological theory suggesting social modulation of hormones, a higher kin proportion in one's egocentric (person-centered) network, arguably a stable compositional feature, negatively predicted women's testosterone levels. In contrast, findings for tie strength were consistent with hormonal regulation of women's sociality-with both perceived support from friends and family, and closeness to network members, negatively influenced by testosterone. DISCUSSION Rather than being a static and exogenous biological factor, older women's testosterone levels seem partly an outcome of their social context. Implications for sexual health and hormone therapy are discussed. However, this androgen also influences dimensions of their intimate networks critical to successful aging. Findings suggest the need for social scientists to engage with the neuroendocrine literature, which offers suggestions on linkages of hormones with specific network patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aniruddha Das
- Department of Sociology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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23
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Kacsoh BZ, Bozler J, Hodge S, Bosco G. Neural circuitry of social learning in Drosophila requires multiple inputs to facilitate inter-species communication. Commun Biol 2019; 2:309. [PMID: 31428697 PMCID: PMC6692349 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-019-0557-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [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: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Drosophila species communicate the threat of parasitoid wasps to naïve individuals. Communication of the threat between closely related species is efficient, while more distantly related species exhibit a dampened, partial communication. Partial communication between D. melanogaster and D. ananassae about wasp presence is enhanced following a period of cohabitation, suggesting that species-specific natural variations in communication 'dialects' can be learned through socialization. In this study, we identify six regions of the Drosophila brain essential for dialect training. We pinpoint subgroups of neurons in these regions, including motion detecting neurons in the optic lobe, layer 5 of the fan-shaped body, the D glomerulus in the antennal lobe, and the odorant receptor Or69a, where activation of each component is necessary for dialect learning. These results reveal functional neural circuits that underlie complex Drosophila social behaviors, and these circuits are required for integration several cue inputs involving multiple regions of the Drosophila brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Balint Z. Kacsoh
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755 USA
| | - Julianna Bozler
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755 USA
| | - Sassan Hodge
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755 USA
| | - Giovanni Bosco
- Department of Molecular and Systems Biology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH 03755 USA
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24
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Verma P, Nandi AK, Sengupta S. Bribery games on interdependent complex networks. J Theor Biol 2018; 450:43-52. [PMID: 29704488 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.04.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [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: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 04/18/2018] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Bribe demands present a social conflict scenario where decisions have wide-ranging economic and ethical consequences. Nevertheless, such incidents occur daily in many countries across the globe. Harassment bribery constitute a significant sub-set of such bribery incidents where a government official demands a bribe for providing a service to a citizen legally entitled to it. We employ an evolutionary game-theoretic framework to analyse the evolution of corrupt and honest strategies in structured populations characterized by an interdependent complex network. The effects of changing network topology, average number of links and asymmetry in size of the citizen and officer population on the proliferation of incidents of bribery are explored. A complex network topology is found to be beneficial for the dominance of corrupt strategies over a larger region of phase space when compared with the outcome for a regular network, for equal citizen and officer population sizes. However, the extent of the advantage depends critically on the network degree and topology. A different trend is observed when there is a difference between the citizen and officer population sizes. Under those circumstances, increasing randomness of the underlying citizen network can be beneficial to the fixation of honest officers up to a certain value of the network degree. Our analysis reveals how the interplay between network topology, connectivity and strategy update rules can affect population level outcomes in such asymmetric games.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prateek Verma
- Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India
| | - Anjan K Nandi
- Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India
| | - Supratim Sengupta
- Department of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Mohanpur, 741246, India.
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Abstract
Rules regulating social behavior raise challenging questions about cultural evolution in part because they frequently confer group-level benefits. Current multilevel selection theories contend that between-group processes interact with within-group processes to produce norms and institutions, but within-group processes have remained underspecified, leading to a recent emphasis on cultural group selection as the primary driver of cultural design. Here we present the self-interested enforcement (SIE) hypothesis, which proposes that the design of rules importantly reflects the relative enforcement capacities of competing parties. We show that, in addition to explaining patterns in cultural change and stability, SIE can account for the emergence of much group-functional culture. We outline how this process can stifle or accelerate cultural group selection, depending on various social conditions. Self-interested enforcement has important bearings on the emergence, stability, and change of rules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manvir Singh
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
| | - Richard Wrangham
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Luke Glowacki
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
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26
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Grinsted L, Field J. Predictors of nest growth: diminishing returns for subordinates in the paper wasp Polistes dominula. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018; 72:88. [PMID: 29773925 PMCID: PMC5945790 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2502-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2018] [Revised: 04/18/2018] [Accepted: 04/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT In cooperative breeders, subordinates that have alternative reproductive options are expected to stay and help dominant breeders only as long as they contribute to group productivity, if their fitness is linked with colony success. Female Polistes dominula paper wasps live as cooperative breeders in small groups of typically fewer than 10 females. Subordinates tend to have high-quality outside options, and so could choose alternative breeding tactics if their work efforts increased productivity negligibly. In the founding stage before workers emerge, we tested the effect of various predictors on nest growth, as a proxy for group productivity, and explored the shape of the relationship between group size and nest growth. We found group size to be the only significant predictor of nest growth: variation among body sizes within the group showed no effect, suggesting a lack of size-dependent task specialization in this species. Average body size and average genetic relatedness between group members similarly showed no effects on nest growth. Group size had a non-linear effect so that per-capita benefits to nest growth decreased in larger groups, and groups of 10 or more would benefit negligibly from additional group members. Hence, females might be better off pursuing other options than joining a large group. This finding helps to explain why P. dominula groups are usually relatively small in our study population. Further studies may illuminate the mechanisms behind the smaller per-capita nest growth that we found in larger groups. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Identifying which factors influence the productivity of animal groups is key to understanding why different species breed cooperatively in groups of varying sizes. In the paper wasp Polistes dominula, we investigated the growth rate of nests as a measure of group productivity. We found that average body size, the variation in body sizes within the group, and average genetic relatedness between group members did not affect nest growth, while group size had a strong, positive effect: nests grew faster with more group members, but the per-capita benefit decreased in larger groups. The addition of extra group members in groups of 10 or more had negligible effects on nest growth. Hence, wasps may be better off pursuing other options than joining large groups. This finding helps to explain why groups normally consist of fewer than 10 wasps in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Grinsted
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG UK
- Present Address: School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX UK
| | - Jeremy Field
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QG UK
- Present Address: Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ UK
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27
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Wild G, Korb J. Evolution of delayed dispersal and subsequent emergence of helping, with implications for cooperative breeding. J Theor Biol 2017; 427:53-64. [PMID: 28596113 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.05.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Revised: 04/07/2017] [Accepted: 05/31/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Cooperative breeding occurs when individuals help raise the offspring of others. It is widely accepted that help displayed by cooperative breeders emerged only after individuals' tendency to delay dispersal had become established. We use this idea as a basis for two inclusive-fitness models: one for the evolution of delayed dispersal, and a second for the subsequent emergence of helpful behavior exhibited by non-breeding individuals. We focus on a territorial species in a saturated environment, and allow territories to be inherited by non-breeding individuals who have delayed dispersal. Our first model predicts that increased survivorship and increased fecundity both provide an incentive to non-breeding individuals to delay dispersal, and stay near their natal territory for some period of time. Predictions from the first model can be well understood by ignoring complications arising from competition among relatives. Our second model shows that effects on relatives play a primary role in the advantage of helping. In addition, the second model predicts that increased survivorship and fecundity promote the emergence of help. Together, our models lead us to conclude that the emergence of cooperative-breeding systems is made easier by life-history features associated with high survivorship and fecundity. We discuss the implications of our conclusions for life-history-based hypotheses of cooperative breeding and social evolution.
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28
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Langberg K, Phillips M, Rueppell O. Testing the effect of paraquat exposure on genomic recombination rates in queens of the western honey bee, Apis mellifera. Genetica 2018; 146:171-8. [PMID: 29397499 DOI: 10.1007/s10709-018-0009-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
The rate of genomic recombination displays evolutionary plasticity and can even vary in response to environmental factors. The western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) has an extremely high genomic recombination rate but the mechanistic basis for this genome-wide upregulation is not understood. Based on the hypothesis that meiotic recombination and DNA damage repair share common mechanisms in honey bees as in other organisms, we predicted that oxidative stress leads to an increase in recombination rate in honey bees. To test this prediction, we subjected honey bee queens to oxidative stress by paraquat injection and measured the rates of genomic recombination in select genome intervals of offspring produced before and after injection. The evaluation of 26 genome intervals in a total of over 1750 offspring of 11 queens by microsatellite genotyping revealed several significant effects but no overall evidence for a mechanistic link between oxidative stress and increased recombination was found. The results weaken the notion that DNA repair enzymes have a regulatory function in the high rate of meiotic recombination of honey bees, but they do not provide evidence against functional overlap between meiotic recombination and DNA damage repair in honey bees and more mechanistic studies are needed.
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Lawson SP, Helmreich SL, Rehan SM. Effects of nutritional deprivation on development and behavior in the subsocial bee Ceratina calcarata (Hymenoptera: Xylocopinae). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2017; 220:4456-4462. [PMID: 28970348 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.160531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [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: 04/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
By manipulating resources or dispersal opportunities, mothers can force offspring to remain at the nest to help raise siblings, creating a division of labor. In the subsocial bee Ceratina calcarata, mothers manipulate the quantity and quality of pollen provided to the first female offspring, producing a dwarf eldest daughter that is physically smaller and behaviorally subordinate. This daughter forages for her siblings and forgoes her own reproduction. To understand how the mother's manipulation of pollen affects the physiology and behavior of her offspring, we manipulated the amount of pollen provided to offspring and measured the effects of pollen quantity on offspring development, adult body size and behavior. We found that by experimentally manipulating pollen quantities we could recreate the dwarf eldest daughter phenotype, demonstrating how nutrient deficiency alone can lead to the development of a worker-like daughter. Specifically, by reducing the pollen and nutrition to offspring, we significantly reduced adult body size and lipid stores, creating significantly less aggressive, subordinate individuals. Worker behavior in an otherwise solitary bee begins to explain how maternal manipulation of resources could lead to the development of social organization and reproductive hierarchies, a major step in the transition to highly social behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah P Lawson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | | | - Sandra M Rehan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
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Jaeggi AV. Nothing but Mammals? Review of Tim Clutton-Brock's Mammal Societies : (Wiley, 2016). Hum Nat 2017; 28:355-360. [PMID: 28497400 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-017-9288-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Adrian V Jaeggi
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
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Willems EP, van Schaik CP. The social organization of Homo ergaster: Inferences from anti-predator responses in extant primates. J Hum Evol 2017; 109:11-21. [PMID: 28688456 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2016] [Revised: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 05/04/2017] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Patterns of primate socioecology have been used to suggest that the first truly savanna-dwelling hominin, Homo ergaster, lived in sizeable groups. Here, we revisit these estimates and infer additional features of the social organization of these early hominins based on anti-predator responses observed across the primate taxon. We first show that the effect of habitat on primate group size, composition, and sexual dimorphism is negligible after controlling for substrate use and phylogeny: terrestrial species live in larger groups with more and bigger males than arboreal taxa. We next hypothesize that groups can only survive in open habitats if males are able to engage in joint counter-attacks against the large carnivorans typical of such environments. To test this, we analyze reports on primate counter-attacks against known predators and find these are indeed disproportionately frequent in terrestrial taxa living in open habitats, sometimes even involving the use of tentative weapons. If we subsequently only examine the taxa that are particularly adept at this (chimpanzees and baboons), we find an effect of habitat type on group size: groups on the savanna are larger than those in the forest. We thus infer that H. ergaster lived in very large groups with many males that jointly defended the group against carnivorans, and argue that these counter-attacks will readily have turned into confrontational scavenging and cooperative hunting, allowing Homo to move into the niche of social carnivore. These two features (life in very large multi-male groups and a switch to persistent carnivory) shaped the evolution of our lineage to such an extent that the social organization of H. ergaster may already have contained many key elements characterizing modern day foragers: male bonding, incipient male-female friendships with food sharing, a tendency toward endogamy, and the presence of large communities that eventually turned into the ethno-linguistic units we can still recognize today.
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Abstract
Increasing evidence indicates that viruses do not simply propagate as independent virions among cells, organs, and hosts. Instead, viral spread is often mediated by structures that simultaneously transport groups of viral genomes, such as polyploid virions, aggregates of virions, virion-containing proteinaceous structures, secreted lipid vesicles, and virus-induced cell-cell contacts. These structures increase the multiplicity of infection, independently of viral population density and transmission bottlenecks. Collective infectious units may contribute to the maintenance of viral genetic diversity, and could have implications for the evolution of social-like virus-virus interactions. These may include various forms of cooperation such as immunity evasion, genetic complementation, division of labor, and relaxation of fitness trade-offs, but also noncooperative interactions such as negative dominance and interference, potentially leading to conflict.
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Rueppell O, Yousefi B, Collazo J, Smith D. Early life stress affects mortality rate more than social behavior, gene expression or oxidative damage in honey bee workers. Exp Gerontol 2017; 90:19-25. [PMID: 28122251 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2017.01.015] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2016] [Revised: 01/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Early life stressors can affect aging and life expectancy in positive or negative ways. Individuals can adjust their behavior and molecular physiology based on early life experiences but relatively few studies have connected such mechanisms to demographic patterns in social organisms. Sociality buffers individuals from environmental influences and it is unclear how much early life stress affects later life history. Workers of the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) were exposed to two stressors, Varroa parasitism and Paraquat exposure, early in life. Consequences were measured at the molecular, behavioral, and demographic level. While treatments did not significantly affect levels of oxidative damage, expression of select genes, and titers of the common deformed wing virus, most of these measures were affected by age. Some of the age effects, such as declining levels of deformed wing virus and oxidative damage, were opposite to our predictions but may be explained by demographic selection. Further analyses suggested some influences of worker behavior on mortality and indicated weak treatment effects on behavior. The latter effects were inconsistent among the two experiments. However, mortality rate was consistently reduced by Varroa mite stress during development. Thus, mortality was more responsive to early life stress than our other response variables. The lack of treatment effects on these measures may be due to the social organization of honey bees that buffers the individual from the impact of stressful developmental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olav Rueppell
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA.
| | - Babak Yousefi
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Juan Collazo
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Daniel Smith
- Department of of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
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Abstract
How do animal social skills influence evolution? Complex animal social behaviors require many cognitive skills including individual recognition and observational learning. For social systems to evolve, these abilities need to be transmitted genetically or culturally and supported by the evolution of underlying neural systems. Because animal skill sets are so varied, it seems best to describe animal cognitive behaviors as being a social calculus that can change with experience, which has evolved to match and facilitate the complexity of the social system where it arose. That is, acquiring and using social information in response to a rapidly changing complex world leads to social competence enabling success in essential behavioral interactions. Here, we describe the remarkable suite of social skills discovered in the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, including an attention hierarchy, male deception, transitive inference, the mechanistic bases of social dominance, female mate choice and the neural control of female reproductive behavior. The social calculus of this species is presented as an example of a potential causal factor in the evolution of sophisticated social behavior necessary for the evolutionary success of their social system.
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Shpigler HY, Siegel AJ, Huang ZY, Bloch G. No effect of juvenile hormone on task performance in a bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) supports an evolutionary link between endocrine signaling and social complexity. Horm Behav 2016; 85:67-75. [PMID: 27503109 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Revised: 08/03/2016] [Accepted: 08/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
A hallmark of insect societies is a division of labor among workers specializing in different tasks. In bumblebees the division of labor is related to body size; relatively small workers are more likely to stay inside the nest and tend ("nurse") brood, whereas their larger sisters are more likely to forage. Despite their ecological and economic importance, very little is known about the endocrine regulation of division of labor in bumblebees. We studied the influence of juvenile hormone (JH) on task performance in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. We first used a radioimmunoassay to measure circulating JH titers in workers specializing in nursing and foraging activities. Next, we developed new protocols for manipulating JH titers by combining a size-adjusted topical treatment with the allatotoxin Precocene-I and replacement therapy with JH-III. Finally, we used this protocol to test the influence of JH on task performance. JH levels were either similar for nurses and foragers (three colonies), or higher in nurses (two colonies). Nurses had better developed ovaries and JH levels were typically positively correlated with ovarian state. Manipulation of JH titers influenced ovarian development and wax secretion, consistent with earlier allatectomy studies. These manipulations however, did not affect nursing or foraging activity, or the likelihood to specialize in nursing or foraging activity. These findings contrast with honeybees in which JH influences age-related division of labor but not adult female fertility. Thus, the evolution of complex societies in bees was associated with modifications in the way JH influences social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hagai Y Shpigler
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Adam J Siegel
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Zachary Y Huang
- Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Guy Bloch
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
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O'Connor CM, Marsh-Rollo SE, Aubin-Horth N, Balshine S. Species-specific patterns of nonapeptide brain gene expression relative to pair-bonding behavior in grouping and non-grouping cichlids. Horm Behav 2016; 80:30-38. [PMID: 26519858 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2015] [Revised: 10/18/2015] [Accepted: 10/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Comparative studies have revealed that vasopressin-oxytocin pathways are associated with both pair bonding and grouping behavior. However, the relationship between pair bonding and grouping behavior remains unclear. In this study, our aim was to identify whether two species that differ in grouping behavior display a corresponding difference in their pair bonds, and in the underlying vasopressin-oxytocin hormonal pathways. Using two species of cichlid fishes, the highly social Neolamprologus pulcher and the non-social Telmatochromis temporalis, we measured proximity of pairs during pair bond formation, and then measured social behaviors (proximity, aggression, submission, affiliation) and brain gene expression of isotocin and arginine vasotocin (the teleost homologues of oxytocin and vasopressin, respectively), as well as their receptors, after a temporary separation and subsequent reunion of the bonded pairs. Pairs of the social species spent more time in close proximity relative to the non-social species. Rates of aggression increased in both species following the separation and reunion treatment, relative to controls that were not separated. Overall, whole brain expression of isotocin was higher in the social species relative to the non-social species, and correlated with proximity, submission, and affiliation, but only in the social species. Our results suggest that both a social and a non-social cichlid species have similar behavioral responses to a temporary separation from a mate, and we found no difference in the brain gene expression of measured hormones and receptors based on our separation-reunion treatment. However, our results highlight the importance of isotocin in mediating submissive and affiliative behaviors in cichlid fishes, and demonstrate that isotocin has species-specific correlations with socially relevant behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Constance M O'Connor
- Aquatic Behavioural Ecology Lab, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada.
| | - Susan E Marsh-Rollo
- Aquatic Behavioural Ecology Lab, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Nadia Aubin-Horth
- Département de Biologie and Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes, Université Laval, Québec, Québec G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Sigal Balshine
- Aquatic Behavioural Ecology Lab, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada
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Duarte A, Cotter SC, Reavey CE, Ward RJS, De Gasperin O, Kilner RM. Social immunity of the family: parental contributions to a public good modulated by brood size. Evol Ecol 2015; 30:123-135. [PMID: 26900202 PMCID: PMC4750363 DOI: 10.1007/s10682-015-9806-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [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: 04/23/2015] [Accepted: 10/23/2015] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Social immunity refers to any immune defence that benefits others, besides the individual that mounts the response. Since contributions to social immunity are known to be personally costly, they are contributions to a public good. However, individuals vary in their contributions to this public good and it is unclear why. Here we investigate whether they are responding to contributions made by others with experiments on burying beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides) families. In this species, females, males and larvae each contribute to social immunity through the application of antimicrobial exudates upon the carrion breeding resource. We show experimentally that mothers reduce their contributions to social immunity when raising large broods, and test two contrasting hypotheses to explain why. Either mothers are treating social immunity as a public good, investing less in social immunity when their offspring collectively contribute more, or mothers are trading off investment in social immunity with investment in parental care. Overall, our experiments yield no evidence to support the existence of a trade-off between social immunity and other parental care traits: we found no evidence of a trade-off in terms of time allocated to each activity, nor did the relationship between social immunity and brood size change with female condition. Instead, and consistent with predictions from models of public goods games, we found that higher quality mothers contributed more to social immunity. Therefore our results suggest that mothers are playing a public goods game with their offspring to determine their personal contribution to the defence of the carrion breeding resource.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Duarte
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ UK
| | - Sheena C Cotter
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, MBC, 97 Lisburn Rd, Belfast, BT9 7BL UK ; School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 7TS UK
| | - Catherine E Reavey
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, MBC, 97 Lisburn Rd, Belfast, BT9 7BL UK
| | - Richard J S Ward
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ UK
| | - Ornela De Gasperin
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ UK
| | - Rebecca M Kilner
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ UK
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Thompson E, Everett J, Rowell JT, Rychtář J, Rueppell O. The Evolution of Cooperation is Affected by the Persistence of Fitness Effects, the Neighborhood Size and their Interaction. Lett Biomath 2015; 2:67-78. [PMID: 27004259 PMCID: PMC4798257 DOI: 10.1080/23737867.2015.1090890] [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] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Evolutionary Game Theory and the Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) Game in particular have been used to study the evolution of cooperation. We consider a population of asexually reproducing, age-structured individuals in a two-dimensional square lattice structure. The individuals employ fixed cooperative or defecting strategies towards their neighbors in repeating interactions to accumulate reproductive fitness. We focus on the effects of the persistence of past interactions and interactive neighborhood size on the evolution of cooperation. We show that larger neighborhood sizes are generally detrimental to cooperation and that the persistence of fitness effects decreases the likelihood of the evolution of cooperation in small neighborhoods. However, for larger neighborhood sizes the persistence effect is reversed. Thus, our study corroborates earlier studies that population structure increases the evolutionary potential for cooperative behavior in a PD paradigm. This finding may explain the heterogeneity of previous results on the effect of neighborhood size and cautions that the persistence of fitness outcomes needs to be considered in analyses of the evolution of cooperative behavior. The persistence of fitness outcomes of pairwise interactions may vary dramatically in biological and social systems and could have profound effects on the evolution of cooperation in various contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eli Thompson
- Department of Mathematics, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
| | - Jasmine Everett
- Department of Mathematics, Bennett College, Greensboro, NC 27401, USA
| | - Jonathan T. Rowell
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Jan Rychtář
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Olav Rueppell
- Department of Biology, 312 Eberhart Building, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
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Koykka C, Wild G. The evolution of group dispersal with leaders and followers. J Theor Biol 2015; 371:117-26. [PMID: 25698231 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [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: 09/11/2014] [Revised: 12/13/2014] [Accepted: 02/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
In many species, individuals disperse in groups. While there are empirical studies that explore the proximate incentives for group dispersal, theoretical research has primarily examined the consequences rather than the evolution of this phenomenon. We design a simple model to study the origin and evolution of group dispersal. We assume that like many other group activities associated with collective movement, group dispersal in our model is initiated by leaders. We use the theory of inclusive fitness to examine the incentives for leading and following in this context. High relatedness, significant reductions in the cost of dispersal due to dispersing in groups, and reproductive skew in favour of followers facilitates the emergence of group dispersal. In contrast to some previous theoretical work, which has either concluded that leadership is uniformly altruistic or that it is uniformly selfish, we find that at evolutionary equilibrium the incentives for leading can be either selfish or altruistic. The nature of result (selfish or altruistic) depends on ecological and social conditions such as the cost of dispersal and the relatedness between leaders and followers. Our model demonstrates that kin selection is sufficient and that individual differences in condition and ability are not necessary to promote the emergence and maintenance of leader-follower relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody Koykka
- Department of Applied Mathematics, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON Canada N6A 5B7
| | - Geoff Wild
- Department of Applied Mathematics, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON Canada N6A 5B7.
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DeFelice D, Ross C, Simone-Finstrom M, Warrit N, Smith D, Burgett M, Sukumalanand P, Rueppell O. Geographic variation in polyandry of the Eastern Honey Bee, Apis cerana, in Thailand. Insectes Soc 2015; 62:37-42. [PMID: 25667562 PMCID: PMC4319665 DOI: 10.1007/s00040-014-0371-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The repeated evolution of extreme polyandry in advanced social insects is exceptional and its explanation has attracted significant attention. However, most reported estimates of the number of matings are derived from limited sampling. Temporal and geographic variation in mating behavior of social insects has not been sufficiently studied. Worker offspring of 18 Eastern Honey Bee (Apis cerana Fabr.) queens from three populations across Thailand were genotyped at five microsatellite markers to test for population differences of mating behavior across three different ecosystems. The number of matings decreased from a northern, more seasonal environment to a southern tropical population and was lowest in a tropical island population. Our study confirms earlier findings that social insect mating behavior shows biogeographic variation and highlights that data from several populations are needed for reliable species-specific estimates of the number of matings. Detailed studies of populations that show significant differentiation in the number of matings may be able to discriminate effectively among the different hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the evolution of polyandry in honey bees and other advanced social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- D.S. DeFelice
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 312 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC, USA
| | - C. Ross
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 312 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC, USA
| | - M. Simone-Finstrom
- Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, 100 Derieux Place, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - N. Warrit
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, 10330 Bangkok, Thailand
| | - D.R. Smith
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
| | - M. Burgett
- Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - P. Sukumalanand
- Department of Entomology, Chiang Mai University, 239 Huaykaew Road, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | - O. Rueppell
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 312 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC, USA
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Ross C, Rychtář J, Rueppell O. A structured population model suggests that long life and post-reproductive lifespan promote the evolution of cooperation. J Theor Biol 2015; 369:85-94. [PMID: 25637763 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2014] [Revised: 01/14/2015] [Accepted: 01/17/2015] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Social organization correlates with longevity across animal taxa. This correlation has been explained by selection for longevity by social evolution. The reverse causality is also conceivable but has not been sufficiently considered. We constructed a simple, spatially structured population model of asexually reproducing individuals to study the effect of temporal life history structuring on the evolution of cooperation. Individuals employed fixed strategies of cooperation or defection towards all neighbours in a basic Prisoner's Dilemma paradigm. Individuals aged and transitioned through different life history stages asynchronously without migration. An individual's death triggered a reproductive event by one immediate neighbour. The specific neighbour was chosen probabilistically according to the cumulative payoff from all local interactions. Varying the duration of pre-reproductive, reproductive, and post-reproductive life history stages, long-term simulations allowed a systematic evaluation of the influence of the duration of these specific life history stages. Our results revealed complex interactions among the effects of the three basic life history stages and the benefit to defect. Overall, a long post-reproductive stage promoted the evolution of cooperation, while a prolonged pre-reproductive stage has a negative effect. In general, the total length of life also increased the probability of the evolution of cooperation. Thus, our specific model suggests that the timing of life history transitions and total duration of life history stages may affect the evolution of cooperative behaviour. We conclude that the causation of the empirically observed association of life expectancy and sociality may be more complex than previously realized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin Ross
- Department of Computer Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Jan Rychtář
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA
| | - Olav Rueppell
- Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 312 Eberhart Building, 321 McIver Street, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA.
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van Veelen M, Luo S, Simon B. A simple model of group selection that cannot be analyzed with inclusive fitness. J Theor Biol 2014; 360:279-289. [PMID: 25034338 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2014.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [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: 04/02/2014] [Revised: 06/16/2014] [Accepted: 07/03/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
A widespread claim in evolutionary theory is that every group selection model can be recast in terms of inclusive fitness. Although there are interesting classes of group selection models for which this is possible, we show that it is not true in general. With a simple set of group selection models, we show two distinct limitations that prevent recasting in terms of inclusive fitness. The first is a limitation across models. We show that if inclusive fitness is to always give the correct prediction, the definition of relatedness needs to change, continuously, along with changes in the parameters of the model. This results in infinitely many different definitions of relatedness - one for every parameter value - which strips relatedness of its meaning. The second limitation is across time. We show that one can find the trajectory for the group selection model by solving a partial differential equation, and that it is mathematically impossible to do this using inclusive fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthijs van Veelen
- Department of Economics and Business, University of Amsterdam, Roeters straat 11, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University, 1 Brattle Square, Suite 6, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
| | - Shishi Luo
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics (T-6) and Center for Nonlinear Studies, MS B258, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
| | - Burton Simon
- Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO 80202, USA.
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Chen ICK, Griesenauer B, Yu YTN, Velicer GJ. A recent evolutionary origin of a bacterial small RNA that controls multicellular fruiting body development. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2014; 73:1-9. [PMID: 24418530 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2014.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [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: 08/26/2013] [Revised: 12/30/2013] [Accepted: 01/02/2014] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
In animals and plants, non-coding small RNAs regulate the expression of many genes at the post-transcriptional level. Recently, many non-coding small RNAs (sRNAs) have also been found to regulate a variety of important biological processes in bacteria, including social traits, but little is known about the phylogenetic or mechanistic origins of such bacterial sRNAs. Here we propose a phylogenetic origin of the myxobacterial sRNA Pxr, which negatively regulates the initiation of fruiting body development in Myxococcus xanthus as a function of nutrient level, and also examine its diversification within the Myxococcocales order. Homologs of pxr were found throughout the Cystobacterineae suborder (with a few possible losses) but not outside this clade, suggesting a single origin of the Pxr regulatory system in the basal Cystobacterineae lineage. Rates of pxr sequence evolution varied greatly across Cystobacterineae sub-clades in a manner not predicted by overall genome divergence. A single copy of pxr was found in most species with 17% of nucleotide positions being polymorphic among them. However three tandem paralogs were present within the genus Cystobacter and these alleles together exhibited an elevated rate of divergence. There appears to have been strong selection for maintenance of a predicted stem-loop structure, as polymorphisms accumulated preferentially at loop or bulge regions or as complementary substitutions within predicted stems. All detected pxr homologs are located in the intergenic region between the σ(54)-dependent response regulator nla19 and a predicted NADH dehydrogenase gene, but other neighboring gene content has diversified.
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Affiliation(s)
- I-Chen Kimberly Chen
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zurich, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Brad Griesenauer
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
| | - Yuen-Tsu Nicco Yu
- Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zurich, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gregory J Velicer
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zurich, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
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Bono JM, Crespi BJ. Cofoundress relatedness and group productivity in colonies of social Dunatothrips (Insecta: Thysanoptera) on Australian Acacia. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2008; 62:1489-1498. [PMID: 26279604 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-008-0578-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Facultative joint colony founding by social insects provides opportunities to analyze the roles of genetic and ecological factors in the evolution of cooperation. Although cooperative nesting is observed in range of social insect taxa, the most detailed studies of this behavior have been conducted with Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps). Here, we show that foundress associations in the haplodiploid social thrips Dunatothrips aneurae (Insecta: Thysanoptera) are most often comprised of close relatives (sisters), though groups with unrelated foundresses are also found. Associations among relatives appear to be facilitated by limited female dispersal, which results in viscous population structure. In addition, we found that per capita productivity declined with increasing group size, sex ratios were female-biased, and some female offspring apparently remained in their natal domicile for some time following eclosion. D. aneurae thus exhibits a suite of similarities with eusocial Hymenoptera, providing evidence for the convergent evolution of associated social and life-history traits in Hymenoptera and Thysanoptera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy M Bono
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Biosciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Bernard J Crespi
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Biosciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada
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