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Martinez-Rivera N, Serrano-Velez JL, Torres-Vazquez II, Langerhans RB, Rosa-Molinar E. Are superficial neuromasts proprioceptors underlying fast copulatory behavior? Front Neural Circuits 2022; 16:921568. [PMID: 36082109 PMCID: PMC9446510 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.921568] [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] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In male Poeciliid fishes, the modified anal fin (i.e., gonopodium) and its axial and appendicular support are repositioned within the axial skeleton, creating a novel sexually dimorphic ano-urogenital region. During copulation, the relative location of the gonopodium is crucial for successful insemination. Therefore, the repositioning of these structures and organ relied on the reorganization of the efferent circuitry that controls spinal motor neurons innervating appendicular muscles critical for the movement of the gonopodium, including the fast and synchronous torque-trust motion during insemination attempts. Copulation occurs when a male positions himself largely outside a female's field of view, circumducts his gonopodium, and performs a rapid, complex maneuver to properly contact the female urogenital sinus with the distal tip of the gonopodium and transfers sperm. Although understanding of the efferent circuitry has significantly increased in the last 24 years, nothing is known about the cutaneous receptors involved in gonopodium movement, or how the afferent signals are processed to determine the location of this organ during copulation. Using Western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, as our model, we attempt to fill this gap in knowledge. Preliminary data showed cutaneous nerves and sensory neurons innervating superficial neuromasts surrounding the base of adult male gonopodium; those cutaneous nerves projected ventrally from the spinal cord through the 14th dorsal root ganglion and its corresponding ventral root towards the base and fin rays of the gonopodium. We asked what role the cutaneous superficial neuromasts play in controlling the positioning and timing of the gonopodium's fast and synchronous movements for effective sperm transfer. First, we found a greater number of superficial neuromasts surrounding the base of the male's gonopodium compared to the base of the female's anal fin. Second, we systemically removed superficial neuromasts surrounding the gonopodium base and observed significant impairment of the positioning and timing of gonopodial movements. Our findings provide a first step to supporting the following hypothesis: during radical reorganization of the Poeciliid body plan, superficial neuromasts have been partially co-opted as proprioceptors that allow the gonopodium to control precise positioning and timing during copulatory attempts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noraida Martinez-Rivera
- Biological Imaging Group, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States
- Biology Department, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
| | | | - Irma I. Torres-Vazquez
- Biology Department, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Bi-campus Neuroscience Graduate Program, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States
| | - R. Brian Langerhans
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
| | - Eduardo Rosa-Molinar
- Biological Imaging Group, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States
- Biology Department, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience, Institute of Neurobiology, University of Puerto Rico-Medical Sciences, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Bi-campus Neuroscience Graduate Program, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States
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Torres-Dowdall J, Rometsch SJ, Velasco JR, Aguilera G, Kautt AF, Goyenola G, Petry AC, Deprá GC, da Graça WJ, Meyer A. Genetic assimilation and the evolution of direction of genital asymmetry in anablepid fishes. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220266. [PMID: 35538779 PMCID: PMC9091857 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0266] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Phylogenetic comparative studies suggest that the direction of deviation from bilateral symmetry (sidedness) might evolve through genetic assimilation; however, the changes in sidedness inheritance remain largely unknown. We investigated the evolution of genital asymmetry in fish of the family Anablepidae, in which males' intromittent organ (the gonopodium, a modified anal fin) bends asymmetrically to the left or the right. In most species, males show a 1 : 1 ratio of left-to-right-sided gonopodia. However, we found that in three species left-sided males are significantly more abundant than right-sided ones. We mapped sidedness onto a new molecular phylogeny, finding that this left-sided bias likely evolved independently three times. Our breeding experiment in a species with an excess of left-sided males showed that sires produced more left-sided offspring independently of their own sidedness. We propose that sidedness might be inherited as a threshold trait, with different thresholds across species. This resolves the apparent paradox that, while there is evidence for the evolution of sidedness, commonly there is a lack of support for its heritability and no response to artificial selection. Focusing on the heritability of the left : right ratio of offspring, rather than on individual sidedness, is key for understanding how the direction of asymmetry becomes genetically assimilated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julián Torres-Dowdall
- Department of Biology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Sina J. Rometsch
- Department of Biology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jacobo Reyes Velasco
- Department of Biology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Gastón Aguilera
- Unidad Ejecutora Lillo (CONICET), Fundación Miguel Lillo, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Andreas F. Kautt
- Department of Biology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Guillermo Goyenola
- Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario Regional del Este, Universidad de la República, Uruguay
| | - Ana C. Petry
- Instituto de Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macaé, Brazil
| | - Gabriel C. Deprá
- Departamento de Biologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Brazil
| | - Weferson J. da Graça
- Departamento de Biologia, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ambientes Aquáticos Continentais, Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Brazil
| | - Axel Meyer
- Department of Biology, Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
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Abstract
The evolution of male genital traits is usually ascribed to advantages that arise when there is sperm competition, cryptic female choice or sexual conflict. However, when male-female contact is brief and sperm production is costly, genital structures that ensure the appropriate timing of sperm release should also be under intense selection. Few studies have examined the role of individual structures in triggering ejaculation. We therefore conducted a series of anatomical manipulations of fine-scale features of the complex intromittent organ (gonopodium) of a freshwater fish with internal fertilization (Gambusia holbrooki) to determine their effects on sperm release. Mating in G. holbrooki is fleeting (less than 50 ms), so there should be strong selection for control over the timing of sperm release. We surgically removed three features at the tip of the gonopodium (claws, spines, awl-shape) to test for their potential role in triggering ejaculation. We show that the 'awl-shape' of the tip affects sperm release when a male makes contact with a female, but neither gonopodial claws nor spines had a detectable effect. We suggest that the claws and spines may instead function to increase the precision of sperm deposition (facilitating anchorage and contact time with the female's gonopore), rather than the initiation of ejaculation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng-Han Joseph Chung
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Rebecca J Fox
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Michael D Jennions
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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Rodriguez-Silva R, Weaver PF. A new livebearing fish of the genus Limia (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae) from Lake Miragoane, Haiti. J Fish Biol 2020; 96:1360-1369. [PMID: 32112652 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Revised: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Limia islai, a new species of livebearing fish, is described from Lake Miragoane in south-western Haiti on Hispaniola. The new species has a conspicuous barred pattern consisting of several (4-12) black bars along the body, ray 4p serrae of the gonopodium in males with 10 segments and origin of dorsal fin in females slightly behind the origin of the anal fin. Although the new species colour pattern is similar to that of the humpbacked limia Limia nigrofasciata Regan 1913, L. islai sp. nov. has exclusive morphological features, such as slender body, lack of hump anterior to dorsal fin in males and presence of specific features in the gonopodial suspensory, which allow an unambiguous diagnosis from L. nigrofasciata. L. islai further differs from L. nigrofasciata in reproductive behaviour since L. islai males rely on sneak copulations and gonopodial thrusting, whereas L. nigrofasciata display an elaborate courtship behaviour. The new species is also genetically distinct in both nuclear (Rh, Myh6) and mitochondrial (12S, ND2, D-loop, Cytb) genes from other species in the genus showing reciprocal monophyly. The description of this new Limia species from Lake Miragoane confirms this lake as an important centre of endemism for the genus, with a total of eight endemic species described so far.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pablo F Weaver
- Department of Biology, University of La Verne, La Verne, CA, USA
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Buechel SD, Booksmythe I, Kotrschal A, Jennions MD, Kolm N. Artificial selection on male genitalia length alters female brain size. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20161796. [PMID: 27881751 PMCID: PMC5136585 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.1796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2016] [Accepted: 10/17/2016] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Male harassment is a classic example of how sexual conflict over mating leads to sex-specific behavioural adaptations. Females often suffer significant costs from males attempting forced copulations, and the sexes can be in an arms race over male coercion. Yet, despite recent recognition that divergent sex-specific interests in reproduction can affect brain evolution, sexual conflict has not been addressed in this context. Here, we investigate whether artificial selection on a correlate of male success at coercion, genital length, affects brain anatomy in males and females. We analysed the brains of eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), which had been artificially selected for long or short gonopodium, thereby mimicking selection arising from differing levels of male harassment. By analogy to how prey species often have relatively larger brains than their predators, we found that female, but not male, brain size was greater following selection for a longer gonopodium. Brain subregion volumes remained unchanged. These results suggest that there is a positive genetic correlation between male gonopodium length and female brain size, which is possibly linked to increased female cognitive ability to avoid male coercion. We propose that sexual conflict is an important factor in the evolution of brain anatomy and cognitive ability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Séverine D Buechel
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Isobel Booksmythe
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Alexander Kotrschal
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Michael D Jennions
- Division of Evolution, Ecology and Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Niclas Kolm
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
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Kang JH, Manousaki T, Franchini P, Kneitz S, Schartl M, Meyer A. Transcriptomics of two evolutionary novelties: how to make a sperm-transfer organ out of an anal fin and a sexually selected "sword" out of a caudal fin. Ecol Evol 2015; 5:848-64. [PMID: 25750712 PMCID: PMC4338968 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1390] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2014] [Revised: 12/10/2014] [Accepted: 12/12/2014] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Swords are exaggerated male ornaments of swordtail fishes that have been of great interest to evolutionary biologists ever since Darwin described them in the Descent of Man (1871). They are a novel sexually selected trait derived from modified ventral caudal fin rays and are only found in the genus Xiphophorus. Another phylogenetically more widespread and older male trait is the gonopodium, an intromittent organ found in all poeciliid fishes, that is derived from a modified anal fin. Despite many evolutionary and behavioral studies on both traits, little is known so far about the molecular mechanisms underlying their development. By investigating transcriptomic changes (utilizing a RNA-Seq approach) in response to testosterone treatment in the swordtail fish, Xiphophorus hellerii, we aimed to better understand the architecture of the gene regulatory networks underpinning the development of these two evolutionary novelties. Large numbers of genes with tissue-specific expression patterns were identified. Among the "sword genes" those involved in embryonic organ development, sexual character development and coloration were highly expressed, while in the gonopodium rather more morphogenesis-related genes were found. Interestingly, many genes and genetic pathways are shared between both developing novel traits derived from median fins: the sword and the gonopodium. Our analyses show that a larger set of gene networks was co-opted during the development and evolution of the "older" gonopodium than in the "younger," and morphologically less complex trait, the sword. We provide a catalog of candidate genes for future efforts to dissect the development of those sexually selected exaggerated male traits in swordtails.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ji Hyoun Kang
- Lehrstuhl für Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Department of Biology, University of KonstanzUniversitätsstraβe 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
- Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany
| | - Tereza Manousaki
- Lehrstuhl für Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Department of Biology, University of KonstanzUniversitätsstraβe 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
- Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture, Hellenic Centre for Marine ResearchHeraklion, Greece
| | - Paolo Franchini
- Lehrstuhl für Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Department of Biology, University of KonstanzUniversitätsstraβe 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Susanne Kneitz
- Physiological Chemistry, Biozentrum, University of WürzburgAm Hubland, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Manfred Schartl
- Physiological Chemistry, Biozentrum, University of WürzburgAm Hubland, Würzburg, Germany
- Comprehensive Cancer Center, University Clinic WürzburgJosef Schneider Straβe 6, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Axel Meyer
- Lehrstuhl für Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Department of Biology, University of KonstanzUniversitätsstraβe 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany
- Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanz, Germany
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Heinen-Kay JL, Noel HG, Layman CA, Langerhans RB. Human-caused habitat fragmentation can drive rapid divergence of male genitalia. Evol Appl 2014; 7:1252-67. [PMID: 25558285 PMCID: PMC4275096 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2014] [Accepted: 08/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study rests on three premises: (i) humans are altering ecosystems worldwide, (ii) environmental variation often influences the strength and nature of sexual selection, and (iii) sexual selection is largely responsible for rapid and divergent evolution of male genitalia. While each of these assertions has strong empirical support, no study has yet investigated their logical conclusion that human impacts on the environment might commonly drive rapid diversification of male genital morphology. We tested whether anthropogenic habitat fragmentation has resulted in rapid changes in the size, allometry, shape, and meristics of male genitalia in three native species of livebearing fishes (genus: Gambusia) inhabiting tidal creeks across six Bahamian islands. We found that genital shape and allometry consistently and repeatedly diverged in fragmented systems across all species and islands. Using a model selection framework, we identified three ecological consequences of fragmentation that apparently underlie observed morphological patterns: decreased predatory fish density, increased conspecific density, and reduced salinity. Our results demonstrate that human modifications to the environment can drive rapid and predictable divergence in male genitalia. Given the ubiquity of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, future research should evaluate the generality of our findings and potential consequences for reproductive isolation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justa L Heinen-Kay
- Department of Biological Sciences and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Holly G Noel
- Department of Biological Sciences and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Craig A Layman
- Department of Applied Ecology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - R Brian Langerhans
- Department of Biological Sciences and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC, USA
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