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Zhai D, Zhang LY, Li LZ, Xu ZG, Liu XL, Shang GD, Zhao B, Gao J, Wang FX, Wang JW. Reciprocal conversion between annual and polycarpic perennial flowering behavior in the Brassicaceae. Cell 2024; 187:3319-3337.e18. [PMID: 38810645 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.04.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
The development of perennial crops holds great promise for sustainable agriculture and food security. However, the evolution of the transition between perenniality and annuality is poorly understood. Here, using two Brassicaceae species, Crucihimalaya himalaica and Erysimum nevadense, as polycarpic perennial models, we reveal that the transition from polycarpic perennial to biennial and annual flowering behavior is a continuum determined by the dosage of three closely related MADS-box genes. Diversification of the expression patterns, functional strengths, and combinations of these genes endows species with the potential to adopt various life-history strategies. Remarkably, we find that a single gene among these three is sufficient to convert winter-annual or annual Brassicaceae plants into polycarpic perennial flowering plants. Our work delineates a genetic basis for the evolution of diverse life-history strategies in plants and lays the groundwork for the generation of diverse perennial Brassicaceae crops in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Zhai
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Lu-Yi Zhang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Ling-Zi Li
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Zhou-Geng Xu
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Xiao-Li Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Guan-Dong Shang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Bo Zhao
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jian Gao
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Fu-Xiang Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jia-Wei Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics (NKLPMG), CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China; School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; Key Laboratory of Plant Carbon Capture, CAS, Shanghai 200032, China; New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Shanghai 200032, China.
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2
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Stellatelli OA, Bonavita MI, Victorel C, Gómez Alés R, Moreno Azócar DL, Block C, Cruz FB. Thermo-physiological changes and reproductive investment in a liolaemid lizard at the extreme of the slow-fast continuum. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb247506. [PMID: 38826150 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.247506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Gravid female lizards often experience reduced thermal preferences and impaired locomotor performance. These changes have been attributed to the physical burden of the clutch, but some authors have suggested that they may be due to physiological adjustments. We compared the thermal biology and locomotor performance of the lizard Liolaemus wiegmannii 1 week before and 1 week after oviposition. We found that gravid females had a thermal preference 1°C lower than that of non-gravid females. This was accompanied by a change in the thermal dependence of maximum running speed. The thermal optimum for locomotor performance was 2.6°C lower before oviposition than after. At relatively low temperatures (22 and 26°C), running speeds of females before oviposition were up to 31% higher than for females after oviposition. However, at temperatures above 26°C, females achieved similar maximum running speeds (∼1.5 m s-1) regardless of reproductive stage. The magnitude of the changes in thermal parameters and locomotor performance of L. wiegmannii females was independent of relative clutch mass (clutches weighed up to 89% of post-oviposition body mass). This suggests that the changes are not simply due to the clutch mass, but are also due to physiological adjustments. Liolaemus wiegmannii females simultaneously adjusted their own physiology in a short period in order to improve locomotor performance and allocated energy for embryonic development during late gravid stage. Our findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying life histories of lizards on the fast extreme of the slow-fast continuum, where physiological exhaustion could play an important role.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar A Stellatelli
- Grupo Vertebrados, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, B7602AYJ Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mauro I Bonavita
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y ́ Técnicas - Universidad Nacional del Comahue, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Candela Victorel
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y ́ Técnicas - Universidad Nacional del Comahue, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Rodrigo Gómez Alés
- Gabinete Diversidad y Biología de Vertebrados del Árido (DIBIOVA), Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, J5402DCS San Juan, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET San Juan, J5400ARL San Juan, San Juan, Argentina
| | - Débora L Moreno Azócar
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y ́ Técnicas - Universidad Nacional del Comahue, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
| | - Carolina Block
- Grupo Vertebrados, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, B7602AYJ Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Félix B Cruz
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente (INIBIOMA), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y ́ Técnicas - Universidad Nacional del Comahue, 8400 San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina
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3
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Campeau W, Simons AM, Stevens B. Intermittent Search, Not Strict Lévy Flight, Evolves under Relaxed Foraging Distribution Constraints. Am Nat 2024; 203:513-527. [PMID: 38489781 DOI: 10.1086/729220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
AbstractThe survival of an animal depends on its success as a forager, and understanding the adaptations that result in successful foraging strategies is an enduring endeavour of behavioral ecology. Random walks are one of the primary mathematical descriptions of foraging behavior. Power law distributions are often used to model random walks, as they can characterize a wide range of behaviors, including Lévy walks. Empirical evidence indicates the prevalence and efficiency of Lévy walks as a foraging strategy, and theoretical work suggests an evolutionary origin. However, previous evolutionary models have assumed a priori that move lengths are drawn from a power law or other families of distributions. Here, we remove this restriction with a model that allows for the evolution of any distribution. Instead of Lévy walks, our model unfailingly results in the evolution of intermittent search, a random walk composed of two disjoint modes-frequent localized walks and infrequent extensive moves-that consistently outcompeted Lévy walks. We also demonstrate that foraging using intermittent search may resemble a Lévy walk because of interactions with the resources within an environment. These extrinsically generated Lévy-like walks belie an underlying behavior and may explain the prevalence of Lévy walks reported in the literature.
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4
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Zhao B, Wang JW. Perenniality: From model plants to applications in agriculture. MOLECULAR PLANT 2024; 17:141-157. [PMID: 38115580 DOI: 10.1016/j.molp.2023.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
To compensate for their sessile nature, plants have evolved sophisticated mechanisms enabling them to adapt to ever-changing environments. One such prominent feature is the evolution of diverse life history strategies, particularly such that annuals reproduce once followed by seasonal death, while perennials live longer by cycling growth seasonally. This intrinsic phenology is primarily genetic and can be altered by environmental factors. Although evolutionary transitions between annual and perennial life history strategies are common, perennials account for most species in nature because they survive well under year-round stresses. This proportion, however, is reversed in agriculture. Hence, perennial crops promise to likewise protect and enhance the resilience of agricultural ecosystems in response to climate change. Despite significant endeavors that have been made to generate perennial crops, progress is slow because of barriers in studying perennials, and many developed species await further improvement. Recent findings in model species have illustrated that simply rewiring existing genetic networks can lead to lifestyle variation. This implies that engineering plant life history strategy can be achieved by manipulating only a few key genes. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of genetic basis of perenniality and discuss major questions and challenges that remain to be addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo Zhao
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Jia-Wei Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CEMPS), Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (SIPPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai 200032, China; School of Life Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China; Key Laboratory of Plant Carbon Capture, CAS, Shanghai 200032, China; New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Shanghai 200032, China.
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5
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Wang ZY. Octopus death and dying. Integr Comp Biol 2023; 63:1209-1213. [PMID: 37437909 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Z Yan Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
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6
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Kern CC, Srivastava S, Ezcurra M, Hsiung KC, Hui N, Townsend S, Maczik D, Zhang B, Tse V, Konstantellos V, Bähler J, Gems D. C. elegans ageing is accelerated by a self-destructive reproductive programme. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4381. [PMID: 37474586 PMCID: PMC10359416 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40088-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023] Open
Abstract
In post-reproductive C. elegans, destructive somatic biomass repurposing supports production of yolk which, it was recently shown, is vented and can serve as a foodstuff for larval progeny. This is reminiscent of the suicidal reproductive effort (reproductive death) typical of semelparous organisms such as Pacific salmon. To explore the possibility that C. elegans exhibits reproductive death, we have compared sibling species pairs of the genera Caenorhabditis and Pristionchus with hermaphrodites and females. We report that yolk venting and constitutive, early pathology involving major anatomical changes occur only in hermaphrodites, which are also shorter lived. Moreover, only in hermaphrodites does germline removal suppress senescent pathology and markedly increase lifespan. This is consistent with the hypothesis that C. elegans exhibit reproductive death that is suppressed by germline ablation. If correct, this would imply a major difference in the ageing process between C. elegans and most higher organisms, and potentially explain the exceptional plasticity in C. elegans ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina C Kern
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Shivangi Srivastava
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Marina Ezcurra
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- School of Biosciences, Stacey Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NJ, UK
| | - Kuei Ching Hsiung
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nancy Hui
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - StJohn Townsend
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, NW1 1AT, UK
| | - Dominik Maczik
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Bruce Zhang
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Victoria Tse
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Viktoras Konstantellos
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Jürg Bähler
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - David Gems
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, and Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
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7
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Ontogenetic change in the effectiveness of camouflage: growth versus pattern matching in Fowler's toad. Anim Behav 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
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8
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Rodríguez-Caro RC, Graciá E, Blomberg SP, Cayuela H, Grace M, Carmona CP, Pérez-Mendoza HA, Giménez A, Salguero-Gómez R. Anthropogenic impacts on threatened species erode functional diversity in chelonians and crocodilians. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1542. [PMID: 36977697 PMCID: PMC10050202 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37089-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The Anthropocene is tightly associated with a drastic loss of species worldwide and the disappearance of their key ecosystem functions. The orders Testudines (turtles and tortoises) and Crocodilia (crocodiles, alligators, and gharials) contain numerous threatened, long-lived species for which the functional diversity and potential erosion by anthropogenic impacts remains unknown. Here, we examine 259 (69%) of the existing 375 species of Testudines and Crocodilia, quantifying their life history strategies (i.e., trade-offs in survival, development, and reproduction) from open-access data on demography, ancestry, and threats. We find that the loss of functional diversity in simulated extinction scenarios of threatened species is greater than expected by chance. Moreover, the effects of unsustainable local consumption, diseases, and pollution are associated with life history strategies. In contrast, climate change, habitat disturbance, and global trade affect species independent of their life history strategy. Importantly, the loss of functional diversity for threatened species by habitat degradation is twice that for all other threats. Our findings highlight the importance of conservation programmes focused on preserving the functional diversity of life history strategies jointly with the phylogenetic representativity of these highly threatened groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- R C Rodríguez-Caro
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
- Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, 03202, Alicante, Spain.
- Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Alicante, San Vicent del Raspeig, 03690, Alicante, Spain.
| | - E Graciá
- Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, 03202, Alicante, Spain
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03312, Orihuela, Spain
| | - S P Blomberg
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - H Cayuela
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5558, F-769622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - M Grace
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK
| | - C P Carmona
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, 50409, Tartu, Estonia
| | - H A Pérez-Mendoza
- Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Autónoma de México, 54090, Tlalnepantla, México
| | - A Giménez
- Departamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, 03202, Alicante, Spain
- Centro de Investigación e Innovación Agroalimentaria y Agroambiental (CIAGRO-UMH), Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03312, Orihuela, Spain
| | - R Salguero-Gómez
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, 11a Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
- Max Plank Institute for Demographic Research, Konrad-Zuße Straße 1, 18057, Rostock, Germany.
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9
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Gaschk JL, Del Simone K, Wilson RS, Clemente CJ. Resting disparity in quoll semelparity: examining the sex-linked behaviours of wild roaming northern quolls ( Dasyurus hallucatus) during breeding season. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:221180. [PMID: 36756058 PMCID: PMC9890097 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Semelparity is a breeding strategy whereby an individual invests large amounts of resources into a single breeding season, leading to the death of the individual. Male northern quolls (Dasyurus hallucatus) are the largest known mammal to experience a post-breeding die-off; however, the cause of their death is unknown, dissimilar from causes in other semelparous dasyurids. To identify potential differences between male northern quolls that breed once, and females that can breed for up to four seasons, the behaviours, activity budgets, speeds and distances travelled were examined. Northern quolls were captured on Groote Eylandt off the coast of the Northern Territory, Australia, and were fitted with accelerometers. A machine learning algorithm (Self-organizing Map) was trained on more than 76 h of recorded footage of quoll behaviours and used to predict behaviours in 42 days of data from wild roaming quolls (7M : 6F). Male northern quolls were more active (male 1.27 g, s.d. = 0.41; female 1.18 g, s.d. = 0.36), spent more time walking (13.09% male: 8.93% female) and engaged in less lying/resting behaviour than female northern quolls (7.67% male: 23.65% female). Reduced resting behaviour among males could explain the post-breeding death as the deterioration in appearance reflects that reported for sleep-deprived rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua L. Gaschk
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD 4556, Australia
| | - Kaylah Del Simone
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia
| | - Robbie S. Wilson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia
| | - Christofer J. Clemente
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD 4556, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia
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10
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Lidsky PV, Yuan J, Rulison JM, Andino-Pavlovsky R. Is Aging an Inevitable Characteristic of Organic Life or an Evolutionary Adaptation? BIOCHEMISTRY. BIOKHIMIIA 2022; 87:1413-1445. [PMID: 36717438 PMCID: PMC9839256 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297922120021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2022] [Revised: 09/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Aging is an evolutionary paradox. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain it, but none fully explains all the biochemical and ecologic data accumulated over decades of research. We suggest that senescence is a primitive immune strategy which acts to protect an individual's kin from chronic infections. Older organisms are exposed to pathogens for a longer period of time and have a higher likelihood of acquiring infectious diseases. Accordingly, the parasitic load in aged individuals is higher than in younger ones. Given that the probability of pathogen transmission is higher within the kin, the inclusive fitness cost of infection might exceed the benefit of living longer. In this case, programmed lifespan termination might be an evolutionarily stable strategy. Here, we discuss the classical evolutionary hypotheses of aging and compare them with the pathogen control hypothesis, discuss the consistency of these hypotheses with existing empirical data, and present a revised conceptual framework to understand the evolution of aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter V Lidsky
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Jing Yuan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Jacob M Rulison
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA
- University of California Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Raul Andino-Pavlovsky
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, CA, USA.
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11
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Could aging evolve as a pathogen control strategy? Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:1046-1057. [PMID: 36096982 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Aging is often attributed to the detrimental side effects of beneficial traits but not a programmed adaptive process. Alternatively, the pathogen control hypothesis posits that defense against infectious diseases may provide a strong selection force for restriction of lifespan. Aging might have evolved to remove older individuals who carry chronic diseases that may transmit to their younger kin. Thus, selection for shorter lifespans may benefit kin's fitness. The pathogen control hypothesis addresses arguments typically raised against adaptive aging concepts: it explains the benefit of shorter lifespan and the absence of mutant variants that do not age. We discuss the consistency and explanatory power of this hypothesis and compare it with classic hypotheses of aging.
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12
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Suvorov A. Modalities of aging in organisms with different strategies of resource allocation. Ageing Res Rev 2022; 82:101770. [PMID: 36330930 PMCID: PMC10435286 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2022.101770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Revised: 08/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Although the progress of aging research relies heavily on a theoretical framework, today there is no consensus on many critical questions in aging biology. I hypothesize that a systematic analysis of the intersection of different evolutionary mechanisms of aging with diverse resource allocation strategies in different organisms may reconcile aging hypotheses. The application of disposable soma, mutation accumulation, antagonistic pleiotropy, and life-history theory is considered across organisms with asexual reproduction, organisms with sexual reproduction and indeterminate growth in different conditions of extrinsic mortality, and organisms with determinate growth, with endotherms/homeotherms as a subgroup. This review demonstrates that different aging mechanisms are complementary to each other, and in organisms with different resource allocation strategies they form aging modalities ranging from immortality to suicidal programs. It also revamps the role of growth arrest in aging. Growth arrest evolved in many different groups of organisms as a result of resource reallocation from growth to reproduction (e.g., semelparous animals, holometabolic insects), or from growth to nutrient storage (endotherms/homeotherms). Growth arrest in different animal lineages has similar molecular mechanisms and similar consequences for longevity due to the conflict between growth-promoting and growth-suppressing programs and suppression of regenerative capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Suvorov
- Environmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 240B Goessmann, 686 Noth Pleasant Str., Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
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13
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Gould J, Clulow J, Herb F, Clulow S. An ephemerality paradox: Evidence of virtual semelparity in ephemeral pool‐breeding anurans. AUSTRAL ECOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/aec.13246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- John Gould
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle Callaghan New South Wales Australia
| | - John Clulow
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle Callaghan New South Wales Australia
| | - Frithjof Herb
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle Callaghan New South Wales Australia
| | - Simon Clulow
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle Callaghan New South Wales Australia
- Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia
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14
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Varas Enríquez PJ, Van Daalen S, Caswell H. Individual stochasticity in the life history strategies of animals and plants. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273407. [PMID: 36149850 PMCID: PMC9506618 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The life histories of organisms are expressed as rates of development, reproduction, and survival. However, individuals may experience differential outcomes for the same set of rates. Such individual stochasticity generates variance around familiar mean measures of life history traits, such as life expectancy and the reproductive number R0. By writing life cycles as Markov chains, we calculate variance and other indices of variability for longevity, lifetime reproductive output (LRO), age at offspring production, and age at maturity for 83 animal and 332 plant populations from the Comadre and Compadre matrix databases. We find that the magnitude within and variability between populations in variance indices in LRO, especially, are surprisingly high. We furthermore use principal components analysis to assess how the inclusion of variance indices of different demographic outcomes affects life history constraints. We find that these indices, to a similar or greater degree than the mean, explain the variation in life history strategies among plants and animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo José Varas Enríquez
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- BirthRites Independent Max Planck Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- * E-mail: (PJVE); (SVD)
| | - Silke Van Daalen
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (PJVE); (SVD)
| | - Hal Caswell
- Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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15
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Ben-Hamo O, Izhaki I, Ben-Shlomo R, Rinkevich B. Fission in a colonial marine invertebrate signifies unique life history strategies rather than being a demographic trait. Sci Rep 2022; 12:15117. [PMID: 36068259 PMCID: PMC9448763 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-18550-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Each of the few known life-history strategies (e.g., r/K and parity [semelparity and iteroparity]), is a composite stratagem, signified by co-evolved sets of trade-offs with stochastically distributed variations that do not form novel structured strategies. Tracking the demographic traits of 81 Botryllus schlosseri (a marine urochordate) colonies, from birth to death, we revealed three co-existing novel life-history strategies in this long-standing laboratory-bred population, all are bracketed through colonial fission (termed NF, FA and FB for no fission, fission after and fission before reaching maximal colony size, respectively) and derived from organisms maintained in a benign, highly invariable environment. This environment allows us to capture the strategists’ blueprints and their net performance through 13 traits, each branded by high within-strategy variation. Yet, six traits differed significantly among the strategies and, in two, the FB was notably different. These results frame fissions in colonial organisms not as demographic traits, but as pivotal agents for life-history strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oshrat Ben-Hamo
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 3498838, Haifa, Israel. .,National Institute of Oceanography, Tel Shikmona, P.O. Box 8030, 31080, Haifa, Israel.
| | - Ido Izhaki
- Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 3498838, Haifa, Israel
| | - Rachel Ben-Shlomo
- Department of Biology and Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa -Oranim, 36006, Tivon, Israel.
| | - Baruch Rinkevich
- National Institute of Oceanography, Tel Shikmona, P.O. Box 8030, 31080, Haifa, Israel.
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16
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Jiang S, Jaggi H, Zuo W, Oli MK, Coulson T, Gaillard JM, Tuljapurkar S. Reproductive dispersion and damping time scale with life-history speed. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1999-2008. [PMID: 35925997 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Iteroparous species may reproduce at many different ages, resulting in a reproductive dispersion that affects the damping of population perturbations, and varies among life histories. Since generation time ( T c $$ {T}_c $$ ) is known to capture aspects of life-history variation, such as life-history speed, does T c $$ {T}_c $$ also determine reproductive dispersion ( S $$ S $$ ) or damping time ( τ $$ \tau $$ )? Using phylogenetically corrected analyses on 633 species of animals and plants, we find, firstly, that reproductive dispersion S $$ S $$ scales isometrically with T c $$ {T}_c $$ . Secondly, and unexpectedly, we find that the damping time ( τ $$ \tau $$ ) does not scale isometrically with generation time, but instead changes only as T c b $$ {T}_c^b $$ with b < 1 $$ b<1 $$ (also, there is a similar scaling with S $$ S $$ ). This non-isometric scaling implies a novel demographic contrast: increasing generation times correspond to a proportional increase in reproductive dispersion, but only to a slower increase in the damping time. Thus, damping times are partly decoupled from the slow-fast continuum, and are determined by factors other than allometric constraints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sha Jiang
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Harman Jaggi
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Wenyun Zuo
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
| | - Madan K Oli
- Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Tim Coulson
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jean-Michel Gaillard
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5558, Villeurbanne, France
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17
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Kern CC, Gems D. Semelparous Death as one Element of Iteroparous Aging Gone Large. Front Genet 2022; 13:880343. [PMID: 35754809 PMCID: PMC9218716 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.880343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The aging process in semelparous and iteroparous species is different, but how different? Death in semelparous organisms (e.g., Pacific salmon) results from suicidal reproductive effort (reproductive death). Aging (senescence) in iteroparous organisms such as humans is often viewed as a quite different process. Recent findings suggest that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, widely used to study aging, undergoes reproductive death. In post-reproductive C. elegans hermaphrodites, intestinal biomass is repurposed to produce yolk which when vented serves as a milk to support larval growth. This apparent benefit of lactation comes at the cost of intestinal atrophy in the mother. Germline removal and inhibition of insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) suppress C. elegans reproductive pathology and greatly increase lifespan. Blocking sexual maturity, e.g., by gonadectomy, suppresses reproductive death thereby strongly increasing lifespan in semelparous organisms, but typically has little effect on lifespan in iteroparous ones. Similarly, reduced IIS causes relatively modest increases in lifespan in iteroparous organisms. We argue that the more regulated and plastic mechanisms of senescence in semelparous organisms, involving costly resource reallocation under endocrine control, exist as one extreme of an etiological continuum with mechanisms operative in iteroparous organisms. We suggest that reproductive death evolved by exaggeration of mechanisms operative in iteroparous species, where other mechanisms also promote senescence. Thus, knowledge of C. elegans senescence can guide understanding of mechanisms contributing to human aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina C Kern
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David Gems
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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18
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Jaimes-Nino LM, Heinze J, Oettler J. Late-life fitness gains and reproductive death in Cardiocondyla obscurior ants. eLife 2022; 11:74695. [PMID: 35384839 PMCID: PMC8986319 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A key hypothesis for the occurrence of senescence is the decrease in selection strength due to the decrease in the proportion of newborns from parents attaining an advanced age - the so-called selection shadow. Strikingly, queens of social insects have long lifespans and reproductive senescence seems to be negligible. By lifelong tracking of 99 Cardiocondyla obscurior (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) ant colonies, we find that queens shift to the production of sexuals in late life regardless of their absolute lifespan or the number of workers present. Furthermore, RNAseq analyses of old queens past their peak of reproductive performance showed the development of massive pathology while queens were still fertile, leading to rapid death. We conclude that the evolution of superorganismality is accompanied by 'continuusparity,' a life history strategy that is distinct from other iteroparous and semelparous strategies across the tree of life, in that it combines continuous reproduction with a fitness peak late in life.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jürgen Heinze
- Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jan Oettler
- Zoologie/Evolutionsbiologie, Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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19
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Athar F, Templeman NM. C. elegans as a model organism to study female reproductive health. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2022; 266:111152. [PMID: 35032657 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2022.111152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Revised: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Female reproductive health has been historically understudied and underfunded. Here, we present the advantages of using a free-living nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, as an animal system to study fundamental aspects of female reproductive health. C. elegans is a powerful high-throughput model organism that shares key genetic and physiological similarities with humans. In this review, we highlight areas of pressing medical and biological importance in the 21st century within the context of female reproductive health. These include the decline in female reproductive capacity with increasing chronological age, reproductive dysfunction arising from toxic environmental insults, and cancers of the reproductive system. C. elegans has been instrumental in uncovering mechanistic insights underlying these processes, and has been valuable for developing and testing therapeutics to combat them. Adopting a convenient model organism such as C. elegans for studying reproductive health will encourage further research into this field, and broaden opportunities for making advancements into evolutionarily conserved mechanisms that control reproductive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faria Athar
- Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada
| | - Nicole M Templeman
- Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada.
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20
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Lu M, Fradera-Soler M, Forest F, Barraclough TG, Grace OM. Evidence linking life-form to a major shift in diversification rate in Crassula. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2022; 109:272-290. [PMID: 34730230 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.1797] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE Plants have evolved different ecological strategies in response to environmental challenges, and a higher lability of such strategies is more common in plant groups that adapt to various niches. Crassula (Crassulaceae), occurring in varied mesic to xeric habitats, exhibits a remarkable diversity of life-forms. However, whether any particular life-form trait has shaped species diversification in Crassula has remained unexplored. This study aims to investigate diversification patterns within Crassula and identify potential links to its life-form evolution. METHODS A phylogenetic tree of 140 Crassula taxa was reconstructed using plastid and nuclear loci and dated based on the nuclear DNA information only. We reconstructed ancestral life-form characters to estimate the evolutionary trends of ecophysiological change, and subsequently estimated net diversification rates. Multiple diversification models were applied to examine the association between certain life-forms and net diversification rates. RESULTS Our findings confirm a radiation within Crassula in the last 10 million years. A configuration of net diversification rate shifts was detected, which coincides with the emergence of a speciose lineage during the late Miocene. The results of ancestral state reconstruction demonstrate a high lability of life-forms in Crassula, and the trait-dependent diversification analyses revealed that the increased diversification is strongly associated with a compact growth form. CONCLUSIONS Transitions between life-forms in Crassula seem to have driven adaptation and shaped diversification of this genus across various habitats. The diversification patterns we inferred are similar to those observed in other major succulent lineages, with the most-speciose clades originating in the late Miocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Lu
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire, UK
| | - Marc Fradera-Soler
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Félix Forest
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK
| | - Timothy G Barraclough
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire, UK
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
| | - Olwen M Grace
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK
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21
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Gulyas L, Powell JR. Cold shock induces a terminal investment reproductive response in C. elegans. Sci Rep 2022; 12:1338. [PMID: 35079060 PMCID: PMC8789813 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05340-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Challenges from environmental stressors have a profound impact on many life-history traits of an organism, including reproductive strategy. Examples across multiple taxa have demonstrated that maternal reproductive investment resulting from stress can improve offspring survival; a form of matricidal provisioning when death appears imminent is known as terminal investment. Here we report a reproductive response in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans upon exposure to acute cold shock at 2 °C, whereby vitellogenic lipid movement from the soma to the germline appears to be massively upregulated at the expense of parental survival. This response is dependent on functional TAX-2; TAX-4 cGMP-gated channels that are part of canonical thermosensory mechanisms in worms and can be prevented in the presence of activated SKN-1/Nrf2, the master stress regulator. Increased maternal provisioning promotes improved embryonic cold shock survival, which is notably suppressed in animals with impaired vitellogenesis. These findings suggest that cold shock in C. elegans triggers terminal investment to promote progeny fitness at the expense of parental survival and may serve as a tractable model for future studies of stress-induced progeny plasticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leah Gulyas
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, 17325, USA.,Plant and Microbial Biology Department, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94702, USA
| | - Jennifer R Powell
- Department of Biology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, 17325, USA.
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22
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Winterhalter PR, Simm A. How Justified is the Assumption of Programmed Aging in Reminiscence of Weismann's Theories? BIOCHEMISTRY. BIOKHIMIIA 2022; 87:35-53. [PMID: 35491022 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297922010047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Theories about the benefits of death and the resulting increased likelihood of programmed aging are controversial, advocated only by a minority. The extent to which their assumptions might be justified should be investigated. To this end, various approaches to the possible utility or origin were considered, particularly potential benefits of the faster generational change caused by possible evolutionary compound interest. Reference was made to the thinking of Weismann, the father of regulated aging theories, who advocated non-adaptive concepts at the end of his career. In a thought experiment, circadian rhythms are discussed as a possible molecular source of aging regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andreas Simm
- Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), 06120, Germany
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23
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Campeau W, Simons AM, Stevens B. The evolutionary maintenance of Lévy flight foraging. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1009490. [PMID: 35041659 PMCID: PMC8797186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Lévy flight is a type of random walk that characterizes the behaviour of many natural phenomena studied across a multiplicity of academic disciplines; within biology specifically, the behaviour of fish, birds, insects, mollusks, bacteria, plants, slime molds, t-cells, and human populations. The Lévy flight foraging hypothesis states that because Lévy flights can maximize an organism's search efficiency, natural selection should result in Lévy-like behaviour. Empirical and theoretical research has provided ample evidence of Lévy walks in both extinct and extant species, and its efficiency across models with a diversity of resource distributions. However, no model has addressed the maintenance of Lévy flight foraging through evolutionary processes, and existing models lack ecological breadth. We use numerical simulations, including lineage-based models of evolution with a distribution of move lengths as a variable and heritable trait, to test the Lévy flight foraging hypothesis. We include biological and ecological contexts such as population size, searching costs, lifespan, resource distribution, speed, and consider both energy accumulated at the end of a lifespan and averaged over a lifespan. We demonstrate that selection often results in Lévy-like behaviour, although conditional; smaller populations, longer searches, and low searching costs increase the fitness of Lévy-like behaviour relative to Brownian behaviour. Interestingly, our results also evidence a bet-hedging strategy; Lévy-like behaviour reduces fitness variance, thus maximizing geometric mean fitness over multiple generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Winston Campeau
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrew M. Simons
- Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Brett Stevens
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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24
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Jehan C, Sabarly C, Rigaud T, Moret Y. Age-specific fecundity under pathogenic threat in an insect: Terminal investment versus reproductive restraint. J Anim Ecol 2021; 91:101-111. [PMID: 34626485 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The terminal investment hypothesis predicts that as an organism's prospects for survival decrease, through age or when exposed to a pathogenic infection, it will invest more in reproduction, which should trade-off against somatic maintenance (including immunity) and therefore future survival. Attempts to test this hypothesis have produced mixed results, which, in addition, mainly rely on the assessment of changes in reproductive effort and often overlooking its impact on somatic defences and survival. Alternatively, animals may restrain current reproduction to sustain somatic protection, increasing the chance of surviving for additional reproductive opportunities. We tested both of these hypotheses in females of the yellow mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, an iteroparous insect with reproductive tactics similar to that of long-lived organisms. To achieve this, we mimicked pathogenic bacterial infections early or late in the life of breeding females by injecting them with a suspension of inactivated Bacillus cereus, a known natural pathogen of T. molitor, and measured female age-specific fecundity, survival, body mass and immunity. Inconsistent with a terminal investment, females given either an early or late-life immune challenge did not exhibit reduced survival or enhance their reproductive output. Female fecundity declined with age and was reduced by the early but not the late immune challenge. Both early and late-life fecundity correlated positively with life expectancy. Finally, young and old females exhibited similar antibacterial immune responses, suggesting that they both restrained reproduction to sustain immunity. Our results clearly demonstrate that age-specific reproduction of T. molitor females under pathogenic threat is inconsistent with a terminal investment. In contrast, our results instead suggest that females used a reproductive restraint strategy to sustain immunity and therefore subsequent reproductive opportunities. However, as infections were mimicked only, the fitness benefit of this reproductive restraint could not be shown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charly Jehan
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Camille Sabarly
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Thierry Rigaud
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Yannick Moret
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
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25
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Tian R, Han K, Geng Y, Yang C, Shi C, Thomas PB, Pearce C, Moffatt K, Ma S, Xu S, Yang G, Zhou X, Gladyshev VN, Liu X, Fisher DO, Chopin LK, Leiner NO, Baker AM, Fan G, Seim I. A chromosome-level genome of Antechinus flavipes provides a reference for an Australian marsupial genus with male death after mating. Mol Ecol Resour 2021; 22:740-754. [PMID: 34486812 PMCID: PMC9290055 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2021] [Revised: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The 15 species of small carnivorous marsupials that comprise the genus Antechinus exhibit semelparity, a rare life-history strategy in mammals where synchronized death occurs after one breeding season. Antechinus males, but not females, age rapidly (demonstrate organismal senescence) during the breeding season and show promise as new animal models of ageing. Some antechinus species are also threatened or endangered. Here, we report a chromosome-level genome of a male yellow-footed antechinus Antechinus flavipes. The genome assembly has a total length of 3.2 Gb with a contig N50 of 51.8 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 636.7 Mb. We anchored and oriented 99.7% of the assembly on seven pseudochromosomes and found that repetitive DNA sequences occupy 51.8% of the genome. Draft genome assemblies of three related species in the subfamily Phascogalinae, two additional antechinus species (Antechinus argentus and A. arktos) and the iteroparous sister species Murexia melanurus, were also generated. Preliminary demographic analysis supports the hypothesis that climate change during the Pleistocene isolated species in Phascogalinae and shaped their population size. A transcriptomic profile across the A. flavipes breeding season allowed us to identify genes associated with aspects of the male die-off. The chromosome-level A. flavipes genome provides a steppingstone to understanding an enigmatic life-history strategy and a resource to assist the conservation of antechinuses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Tian
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.,Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
| | - Kai Han
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, China
| | - Yuepan Geng
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
| | - Chen Yang
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
| | | | - Patrick B Thomas
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.,Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre-Queensland, Translational Research Institute - Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.,Queensland Bladder Cancer Initiative, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
| | - Coral Pearce
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Kate Moffatt
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Siming Ma
- Genome Institute of Singapore, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Shixia Xu
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
| | - Guang Yang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xuming Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Vadim N Gladyshev
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Xin Liu
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, China
| | - Diana O Fisher
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Lisa K Chopin
- Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.,Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre-Queensland, Translational Research Institute - Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Natália O Leiner
- Laboratório de Ecologia de Mamíferos, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Uberlândia, Brazil
| | - Andrew M Baker
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.,Natural Environments Program, Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Guangyi Fan
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, China.,State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.,State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
| | - Inge Seim
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.,Ghrelin Research Group, Translational Research Institute-Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.,Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre-Queensland, Translational Research Institute - Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.,School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
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26
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Gems D, Kern CC, Nour J, Ezcurra M. Reproductive Suicide: Similar Mechanisms of Aging in C. elegans and Pacific Salmon. Front Cell Dev Biol 2021; 9:688788. [PMID: 34513830 PMCID: PMC8430333 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.688788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
In some species of salmon, reproductive maturity triggers the development of massive pathology resulting from reproductive effort, leading to rapid post-reproductive death. Such reproductive death, which occurs in many semelparous organisms (with a single bout of reproduction), can be prevented by blocking reproductive maturation, and this can increase lifespan dramatically. Reproductive death is often viewed as distinct from senescence in iteroparous organisms (with multiple bouts of reproduction) such as humans. Here we review the evidence that reproductive death occurs in C. elegans and discuss what this means for its use as a model organism to study aging. Inhibiting insulin/IGF-1 signaling and germline removal suppresses reproductive death and greatly extends lifespan in C. elegans, but can also extend lifespan to a small extent in iteroparous organisms. We argue that mechanisms of senescence operative in reproductive death exist in a less catastrophic form in iteroparous organisms, particularly those that involve costly resource reallocation, and exhibit endocrine-regulated plasticity. Thus, mechanisms of senescence in semelparous organisms (including plants) and iteroparous ones form an etiological continuum. Therefore understanding mechanisms of reproductive death in C. elegans can teach us about some mechanisms of senescence that are operative in iteroparous organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Gems
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Carina C. Kern
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Joseph Nour
- Institute of Healthy Ageing, Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Marina Ezcurra
- School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
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Wötzel S, Andrello M, Albani MC, Koch MA, Coupland G, Gugerli F. Arabis alpina: A perennial model plant for ecological genomics and life-history evolution. Mol Ecol Resour 2021; 22:468-486. [PMID: 34415668 PMCID: PMC9293087 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Many model organisms were chosen and achieved prominence because of an advantageous combination of their life‐history characteristics, genetic properties and also practical considerations. Discoveries made in Arabidopsis thaliana, the most renowned noncrop plant model species, have markedly stimulated studies in other species with different biology. Within the family Brassicaceae, the arctic–alpine Arabis alpina has become a model complementary to Arabidopsis thaliana to study the evolution of life‐history traits, such as perenniality, and ecological genomics in harsh environments. In this review, we provide an overview of the properties that facilitated the rapid emergence of A. alpina as a plant model. We summarize the evolutionary history of A. alpina, including genomic aspects, the diversification of its mating system and demographic properties, and we discuss recent progress in the molecular dissection of developmental traits that are related to its perennial life history and environmental adaptation. From this published knowledge, we derive open questions that might inspire future research in A. alpina, other Brassicaceae species or more distantly related plant families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Wötzel
- Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity, Goethe University Frankfurt and Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Frankfurt (Main), Germany
| | - Marco Andrello
- Institute for the Study of Anthropic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, National Research Council, CNR-IAS, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria C Albani
- Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Marcus A Koch
- Biodiversity and Plant Systematics, Centre for Organismal Studies (COS), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - George Coupland
- Department of Plant Development Biology, MPI for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany
| | - Felix Gugerli
- WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
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28
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Caracalas HE, French SS, Hudson SB, Kluever BM, Webb AC, Eifler D, Lehmicke AJ, Aubry LM. Reproductive trade-offs in the colorado checkered whiptail lizard (Aspidoscelis neotesselatus): an examination of the relationship between clutch and follicle size. Evol Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-021-10131-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Cushing JM. A bifurcation theorem for Darwinian matrix models and an application to the evolution of reproductive life-history strategies. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS 2021; 15:S190-S213. [PMID: 33295254 DOI: 10.1080/17513758.2020.1858196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We prove bifurcation theorems for evolutionary game theoretic (Darwinian dynamic) versions of nonlinear matrix equations for structured population dynamics. These theorems generalize existing theorems concerning the bifurcation and stability of equilibrium solutions when an extinction equilibrium destabilizes by allowing for the general appearance of the bifurcation parameter. We apply the theorems to a Darwinian model designed to investigate the evolutionary selection of reproductive strategies that involve either low or high post-reproductive survival (semelparity or iteroparity). The model incorporates the phenotypic trait dependence of two features: population density effects on fertility and a trade-off between inherent fertility and post-reproductive survival. Our analysis of the model determines conditions under which evolution selects for low or for high reproductive survival. In some cases (notably an Allee component effect on newborn survival), the model predicts multiple attractor scenarios in which low or high reproductive survival is initial condition dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- J M Cushing
- Department of Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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30
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Farrell AP. How the concavity of reproduction/survival trade-offs impacts the evolution of life history strategies. JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DYNAMICS 2021; 15:S134-S167. [PMID: 33253063 DOI: 10.1080/17513758.2020.1853834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Previous works using different mathematical techniques, however, show that the concavity of the trade-off relationship can alter the expected life history strategies. Thus we developed a model and found that the concavity of the reproduction-survival curve can still have a large impact on life history strategies in an ecological model with Darwinian evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex P Farrell
- Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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31
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CUSHING JM, STEFANKO KATHRYN. A DARWINIAN DYNAMIC MODEL FOR THE EVOLUTION OF POST-REPRODUCTION SURVIVAL. J BIOL SYST 2021. [DOI: 10.1142/s0218339021400088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
We derive and study a Darwinian dynamic model based on a low-dimensional discrete- time population model focused on two features: density-dependent fertility and a trade-off between inherent (density free) fertility and post-reproduction survival. Both features are assumed to be dependent on a phenotypic trait subject to natural selection. The model tracks the dynamics of the population coupled with that of the population mean trait. We study the stability properties of equilibria by means of bifurcation theory. Whether post-reproduction survival at equilibrium is low or high is shown, in this model, to depend significantly on the nature of the trait dependence of the density effects. An Allee effect can also play a significant role.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. M. CUSHING
- Department of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary, Program in Applied Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - KATHRYN STEFANKO
- Department of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary, Program in Applied Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
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32
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Friedman J. The Evolution of Annual and Perennial Plant Life Histories: Ecological Correlates and Genetic Mechanisms. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY, EVOLUTION, AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110218-024638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Flowering plants exhibit two principal life-history strategies: annuality (living and reproducing in one year) and perenniality (living more than one year). The advantages of either strategy depend on the relative benefits of immediate reproduction balanced against survivorship and future reproduction. This trade-off means that life-history strategies are associated with particular environments, with annuals being found more often in unpredictable habitats. Annuality and perenniality are the outcome of developmental genetic programs responding to their environment, with perennials being distinguished by their delayed competence to flower and reversion to growth after flowering. Evolutionary transitions between these strategies are frequent and have consequences for mating systems and genome evolution, with perennials being more likely to outcross with higher inbreeding depression and lower rates of molecular evolution. Integrating expectations from life-history theory with knowledge of the developmental genetics of flowering and seasonality is required to understand the mechanisms involved in the evolution of annual and perennial life histories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jannice Friedman
- Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada
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33
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Jehan C, Sabarly C, Rigaud T, Moret Y. Late-life reproduction in an insect: Terminal investment, reproductive restraint or senescence. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:282-297. [PMID: 33051872 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The terminal investment, reproductive restraint or senescence theories may explain individual late-life patterns of reproduction. The terminal investment hypothesis predicts that individuals increase reproductive allocation late in life as prospects for future survival decrease. The other two hypotheses predict reduced reproduction late in life, but for different reasons. Under the Reproductive Restraint hypothesis, individuals restrain their reproductive effort to sustain future survival and gain more time for reproducing, whereas under the Senescence process, reproduction is constrained because of somatic deterioration. While these hypotheses imply that reproduction is costly, they should have contrasted implications in terms of survival after late reproduction and somatic maintenance. Testing these hypotheses requires proper consideration of the effects of age-dependent reproductive effort on post-reproduction survival and age-related somatic functions. We experimentally tested these three hypotheses in females of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, an iteroparous and income breeder insect. We manipulated their age-specific allocation into reproduction and observed the effects of this manipulation on their late-life fecundity, post-reproduction survival and immunocompetence as a measurement of somatic protection. We found that females exhibit age-related decline in fecundity and that this reproductive senescence is accelerated by a cost of early reproduction. The cost of reproduction had no significant effect on female longevity and their ability to survive a bacterial infection, despite that some immune cells were depleted by reproduction. We found that female post-infection survival deteriorated with age, which could be partly explained by a decline in some immune parameters. Importantly, females did not increase their reproductive effort late in life at the expense of their late-life post-reproduction survival. Late-life reproduction in T. molitor females is senescing and not consistent with a terminal investment strategy. Rather, our results suggest that females allocate resources according to a priority scheme favouring longevity at the expense of reproduction, which is in line with the reproductive restraint hypothesis. Such a priority scheme also shows that a relatively short-lived insect can evolve life-history strategies hitherto known only in long-lived animals. This puts in perspective the role of longevity in the evolution of life-history strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charly Jehan
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Camille Sabarly
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Thierry Rigaud
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
| | - Yannick Moret
- UMR CNRS 6282 BioGéoSciences, Équipe Écologie Évolutive, Université Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Dijon, France
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34
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Munné-Bosch S. Long-Lived Trees Are Not Immortal. TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2020; 25:846-849. [PMID: 32732116 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2020] [Revised: 06/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/12/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Separating out the different effects of ageing on long-lived trees remains challenging. Herein current approaches used to explore senescence in millennial trees are highlighted. Molecular and biochemical analyses of the vascular cambium provide novel insight into the extent to which millennial trees can withstand the wear and tear of ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergi Munné-Bosch
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; The Institute for Research on Biodiversity (IrBio), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; The Institute for Research on Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA), Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
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35
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Waples RS. An estimator of the Opportunity for Selection that is independent of mean fitness. Evolution 2020; 74:1942-1953. [PMID: 32705674 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Revised: 07/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Variation among individuals in number of offspring (fitness, k) sets an upper limit to the evolutionary response to selection. This constraint is quantified by Crow's Opportunity for Selection (I), which is the variance in relative fitness (I = σ2 k /(uk )2 ). Crow's I has been widely used but remains controversial because it depends on mean offspring number in a sample ( k ¯ ). Here, I used a generalized Wright-Fisher model that allows for unequal probabilities of producing offspring to evaluate behavior of Crow's I and related indices under a wide range of sampling scenarios. Analytical and numerical results are congruent and show that rescaling the sample variance (s2 k ) to its expected value at a fixed k ¯ 2 removes dependence of I on mean offspring number, but the result still depends on choice of k ¯ 2 . A new index is introduced, ΔI = Î - E(Îdrift ) = Î - 1/ k ¯ , which makes Î independent of sample k ¯ without the need for variance rescaling. ΔI has a straightforward interpretation as the component of variance in relative fitness that exceeds that expected under a null model of random reproductive success. ΔI can be used to directly compare estimates of the Opportunity for Selection for samples from different studies, different sexes, and different life stages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin S Waples
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington, 98112
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36
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Hughes PW. The means of reproduction: Book Review of Fusco, G. and A.Minelli. 2019. The Biology of Reproduction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. xviii + 472 pp. ISBN: 978‐1‐10‐8758970. $47 USD. Evolution 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.14053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- P. William Hughes
- Department of Ecology, Environment, and Plant Sciences Stockholm University Stockholm Sweden
- SciLifeLab Stockholm Sweden
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37
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Spatial distribution of oncocerid cephalopods on a Middle Devonian bedding plane suggests semelparous life cycle. Sci Rep 2020; 10:2847. [PMID: 32071346 PMCID: PMC7029046 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59507-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 01/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Reproductive strategies of extinct organisms can only be recognised indirectly and hence, they are exceedingly rarely reported and tend to be speculative. Here, we present a mass-occurrence with common preservation of pairs of late Givetian (Middle Devonian) oncocerid cephalopods from Hamar Laghdad in the Tafilalt (eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco). We analysed their spatial occurrences with spatial point pattern analysis techniques and Monte Carlo simulations; our results shows that the pairwise clustering is significant, while ammonoids on the same bedding plane reveal a more random distribution. It is possible that processes such as catastrophic mass mortality or post-mortem transport could have produced the pattern. However, we suggest that it is more likely that the oncocerids were semelparous and died shortly after mating. These findings shed new light on the variation and evolution of reproductive strategies in fossil cephalopods and emphasise that they cannot be based on comparisons with extant taxa without question.
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38
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Spady BL, Munday PL, Watson SA. Elevated seawater pCO 2 affects reproduction and embryonic development in the pygmy squid, Idiosepius pygmaeus. MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 153:104812. [PMID: 31610954 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2019] [Revised: 09/28/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The oceans are absorbing additional carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and projected future CO2 levels and ocean acidification could have negative implications for many marine organisms, especially during early life stages. Cephalopods are ecologically important in marine ecosystems, yet the potential effects of increased partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) in seawater on cephalopod reproduction and embryonic development are little studied. We allowed adult two-toned pygmy squid (Idiosepius pygmaeus) to breed in ambient control (~445 μatm; ~8.05 pHT) or elevated pCO2 conditions (~940 μatm; ~7.78 pHT) and compared reproductive traits in adults and developmental characteristics of their eggs, which remained in control or elevated pCO2 treatments until hatching. Breeding pairs at elevated pCO2 produced clutches with 40% fewer eggs, vitelli that were 14% smaller directly after spawning, embryos that were 5% smaller upon hatching, and eggs with an 8% increase in late-stage egg swelling compared with pairs at control conditions. Elevated pCO2 did not affect fertility, time to hatch, or hatching success. Eggs were laid 40% closer together in elevated pCO2 compared with control conditions, indicating a possible effect of elevated pCO2 on reproductive behaviour. These results show that elevated pCO2 can adversely affect reproduction and embryonic development of the two-toned pygmy squid. As the potential for adaptation is influenced by reproductive success, testing the capacity for squid to adapt to future ocean conditions should be a priority for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blake L Spady
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia; College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia.
| | - Philip L Munday
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia
| | - Sue-Ann Watson
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia; Biodiversity and Geosciences Program, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Queensland Museum, Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia
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39
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Suárez-Atilano M, Cuarón AD, Vázquez-Domínguez E. Deciphering Geographical Affinity and Reconstructing Invasion Scenarios of Boa imperator on the Caribbean Island of Cozumel. COPEIA 2019. [DOI: 10.1643/cg-18-102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marco Suárez-Atilano
- Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. Postal 70-275, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, 04510, México; (MSA) ; and (EVD)
| | - Alfredo D. Cuarón
- SACBÉ—Servicios Ambientales, Conservación Biológica y Educación A.C., Casa del General 1er piso, Rancho Chichihualco, km 4.5 Carretera Costera Zona Hotelera Norte, Cozumel, Quintana Roo 77613, México;
| | - Ella Vázquez-Domínguez
- Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. Postal 70-275, Ciudad Universitaria, Ciudad de México, 04510, México; (MSA) ; and (EVD)
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40
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Animal life history is shaped by the pace of life and the distribution of age-specific mortality and reproduction. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:1217-1224. [PMID: 31285573 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0938-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 06/03/2019] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Animals exhibit an extraordinary diversity of life history strategies. These realized combinations of survival, development and reproduction are predicted to be constrained by physiological limitations and by trade-offs in resource allocation. However, our understanding of these patterns is restricted to a few taxonomic groups. Using demographic data from 121 species, ranging from humans to sponges, we test whether such trade-offs universally shape animal life history strategies. We show that, after accounting for body mass and phylogenetic relatedness, 71% of the variation in animal life history strategies can be explained by life history traits associated with the fast-slow continuum (pace of life) and with a second axis defined by the distribution of age-specific mortality hazards and the spread of reproduction. While we found that life history strategies are associated with metabolic rate and ecological modes of life, surprisingly similar life history strategies can be found across the phylogenetic and physiological diversity of animals.
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41
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Hughes PW, Soppe WJJ, Albani MC. Seed traits are pleiotropically regulated by the flowering time gene PERPETUAL FLOWERING 1 (PEP1) in the perennial Arabis alpina. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:1183-1201. [PMID: 30712274 PMCID: PMC6850658 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Revised: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The life cycles of plants are characterized by two major life history transitions-germination and the initiation of flowering-the timing of which are important determinants of fitness. Unlike annuals, which make the transition from the vegetative to reproductive phase only once, perennials iterate reproduction in successive years. The floral repressor PERPETUAL FLOWERING 1 (PEP1), an ortholog of FLOWERING LOCUS C, in the alpine perennial Arabis alpina ensures the continuation of vegetative growth after flowering and thereby restricts the duration of the flowering episode. We performed greenhouse and garden experiments to compare flowering phenology, fecundity and seed traits between A. alpina accessions that have a functional PEP1 allele and flower seasonally and pep1 mutants and accessions that carry lesions in PEP1 and flower perpetually. In the garden, perpetual genotypes flower asynchronously and show higher winter mortality than seasonal ones. PEP1 also pleiotropically regulates seed dormancy and longevity in a way that is functionally divergent from FLC. Seeds from perpetual genotypes have shallow dormancy and reduced longevity regardless of whether they after-ripened in plants grown in the greenhouse or in the experimental garden. These results suggest that perpetual genotypes have higher mortality during winter but compensate by showing higher seedling establishment. Differences in seed traits between seasonal and perpetual genotypes are also coupled with differences in hormone sensitivity and expression of genes involved in hormonal pathways. Our study highlights the existence of pleiotropic regulation of seed traits by hub developmental regulators such as PEP1, suggesting that seed and flowering traits in perennial plants might be optimized in a coordinated fashion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick William Hughes
- Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCologneGermany
- Botanical InstituteUniversity of CologneCologneGermany
| | - Wim J. J. Soppe
- Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCologneGermany
- Institute of Molecular Physiology and Biotechnology of Plants (IMBIO)University of BonnBonnGermany
- Present address:
Rijk ZwaanDe LierThe Netherlands
| | - Maria C. Albani
- Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchCologneGermany
- Botanical InstituteUniversity of CologneCologneGermany
- Center of Excellence in Plant Sciences (CEPLAS)DüsseldorfGermany
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42
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Khudr MS, Purkiss SA, de Sampaio Kalkuhl A, Hager R. Novel resilience in response to revitalisation after exposure to lethal salinity causes differential reproductive success in an extremely plastic organism. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5277. [PMID: 30083443 PMCID: PMC6074775 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Accepted: 06/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity is central to an organism’s ability to adapt to variable environmental conditions. For aquatic organisms, exposure to elevated salt levels poses a challenge and organisms may fail to tolerate or survive much higher levels short-term. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, in a laboratory study of Daphnia magna that exposure to levels of salinity higher than those previously shown to lead to apparent death (paralysis) can be reversed following a transfer to optimal conditions. We established experimental populations from one clone of D. magna, each with five replicates, that were exposed to different short periods of three different lethal levels of salinity (12.27 PSU [45, 60, 90 and 120 min], 18.24 PSU [45, 60 and 90 min] and 24.22 PSU [45, 60 and 90 min]). In all populations, all individuals were paralysed at the end of their exposure, usually classified in the literature as dead. Subsequently, all individuals were transferred to optimal conditions. However, after the transfer, a proportion of the individuals not only came back from the verge of death (i.e. were revitalised), but also showed afterwards differential reproductive success over a period of 20 days, depending on the level and the length of exposure before revitalisation. Both exposure level and time had an overall negative effect on population size that differed across all treatments. Revitalisation occurred within an hour after the transfer to optimal conditions for 18.24 PSU but took 14–16 h for 12.27 PSU. There was no instantaneous revitalisation nor was there any revitalisation after 16 h no matter how long the paralysed Daphnia individuals were left in the optimal conditions. Our findings cast new light on resilience in cladocerans and suggest that abrupt environmental change can reveal novel plastic responses to extreme conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mouhammad Shadi Khudr
- Evolution and Genomic Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Samuel Alexander Purkiss
- Evolution and Genomic Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Alice de Sampaio Kalkuhl
- Evolution and Genomic Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Reinmar Hager
- Evolution and Genomic Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
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43
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Costa JT. The other insect societies: overview and new directions. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2018; 28:40-49. [PMID: 30551766 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2018] [Revised: 04/19/2018] [Accepted: 04/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The diversity of societies and forms of social interaction across the Arthropoda is commensurate with the great taxonomic diversity within this pylum. Social evolution research has, however, largely focused on a small subset of social forms; namely, those deemed to be 'eusocial'-groups exhibiting overlapping generations, cooperative brood care, and reproductive division of labor. Here I provide a brief overview of the 'other', non-eusocial, societies of insects and allies, defining the main social traits of interest and summarizing recent work. Four active and emerging fields of inquiry in the other insect societies are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- James T Costa
- Highlands Biological Station, 265 N. Sixth Street, Highlands, NC 28741, USA; Department of Biology, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723, USA.
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Salguero‐Gómez R, Violle C, Gimenez O, Childs D, Fox C. Delivering the promises of trait-based approaches to the needs of demographic approaches, and vice versa. Funct Ecol 2018; 32:1424-1435. [PMID: 30034074 PMCID: PMC6049886 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Few facets of biology vary more than functional traits and life-history traits. To explore this vast variation, functional ecologists and population ecologists have developed independent approaches that identify the mechanisms behind and consequences of trait variation.Collaborative research between researchers using trait-based and demographic approaches remains scarce. We argue that this is a missed opportunity, as the strengths of both approaches could help boost the research agendas of functional ecology and population ecology.This special feature, which spans three journals of the British Ecological Society due to its interdisciplinary nature, showcases state-of-the-art research applying trait-based and demographic approaches to examine relationships between organismal function, life history strategies and population performance across multiple kingdoms. Examples include the exploration of how functional trait × environment interactions affect vital rates and thus explain population trends and species occurrence; the coordination of seed traits and dispersal ability with the pace of life in plants; the incorporation of functional traits in dynamic energy budget models; or the discovery of linkages between microbial functional traits and the fast-slow continuum.Despite their historical isolation, collaborative work between functional ecologists and population ecologists could unlock novel research pathways. We call for an integrative research agenda to evaluate which and when traits are functional, as well as their ability to describe and predict life history strategies and population dynamics. We highlight promising, complementary research avenues to overcome current limitations. These include a more explicit linkage of selection gradients in the context of functional trait-vital rate relationships, and the implementation of standardised protocols to track changes in traits and vital rates over time at the same location and individuals, thus allowing for the explicit incorporation of trade-offs in analyses of covariation of functional traits and life-history traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Salguero‐Gómez
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- Evolutionary Biodemography LaboratoryMax Planck Institute for Demographic ResearchRostockGermany
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation ScienceUniversity of QueenslandSt LuciaQldAustralia
| | - Cyrille Violle
- CEFE, CNRSUniv MontpellierUniv Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, EPHE, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Olivier Gimenez
- CEFE, CNRSUniv MontpellierUniv Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, EPHE, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Dylan Childs
- Department of Animal & Plant SciencesThe University of SheffieldSheffieldUK
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Hughes PW. Between semelparity and iteroparity: Empirical evidence for a continuum of modes of parity. Ecol Evol 2017; 7:8232-8261. [PMID: 29075446 PMCID: PMC5648687 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2017] [Accepted: 07/24/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The number of times an organism reproduces (i.e., its mode of parity) is a fundamental life-history character, and evolutionary and ecological models that compare the relative fitnesses of different modes of parity are common in life-history theory and theoretical biology. Despite the success of mathematical models designed to compare intrinsic rates of increase (i.e., density-independent growth rates) between annual-semelparous and perennial-iteroparous reproductive schedules, there is widespread evidence that variation in reproductive allocation among semelparous and iteroparous organisms alike is continuous. This study reviews the ecological and molecular evidence for the continuity and plasticity of modes of parity-that is, the idea that annual-semelparous and perennial-iteroparous life histories are better understood as endpoints along a continuum of possible strategies. I conclude that parity should be understood as a continuum of different modes of parity, which differ by the degree to which they disperse or concentrate reproductive effort in time. I further argue that there are three main implications of this conclusion: (1) that seasonality should not be conflated with parity; (2) that mathematical models purporting to explain the general evolution of semelparous life histories from iteroparous ones (or vice versa) should not assume that organisms can only display either an annual-semelparous life history or a perennial-iteroparous one; and (3) that evolutionary ecologists should base explanations of how different life-history strategies evolve on the physiological or molecular basis of traits underlying different modes of parity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick William Hughes
- Department of Plant Breeding and GeneticsMax Planck Institute for Plant Breeding ResearchKölnGermany
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