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Gershman SN, Miller OG, Hamilton IM. Causes and consequences of variation in development time in a field cricket. J Evol Biol 2021; 35:299-310. [PMID: 34882888 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13971] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2021] [Revised: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Variation in development time can affect life-history traits that contribute to fitness. In Gryllus vocalis, a non-diapausing cricket with variable development time, we used a path analysis approach to determine the causative relationships between parental age, offspring development time and offspring life-history traits. Our best-supported path model included both the effects of parental age and offspring development time on offspring morphological traits. This result suggests that offspring traits are influenced by both variation in acquisition of resources and trade-offs between traits. We found that crickets with longer development times became larger adults with better phenoloxidase-based immunity. This is consistent with the hypothesis that crickets must make a trade-off between developing quickly to avoid predation before reproduction and attaining better immunity and a larger adult body size that provides advantages in male-male competition, mate choice and female fecundity. Slower-developing crickets were also more likely to be short-winged (unable to disperse by flight). Parental age has opposing direct and indirect effects on the body size of daughters, but when both the direct and indirect effects of parental age are taken into account, younger parents had smaller sons and daughters. This pattern may be attributable to a parental trade-off between the number and size of eggs produced with younger parents producing more eggs with fewer resources per egg. The relationships between variables in the life-history traits of sons and daughters were similar, suggesting that parental age and development time had similar causative effects on male and female life-history traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan N Gershman
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University at Marion, Marion, Ohio, USA
| | - Owen G Miller
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
| | - Ian M Hamilton
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.,Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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2
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Duxbury EML, Chapman T. Sex-Specific Responses of Life Span and Fitness to Variation in Developmental Versus Adult Diets in Drosophila melanogaster. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2021; 75:1431-1438. [PMID: 31362304 PMCID: PMC7357588 DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glz175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Nutritional variation across the lifetime can have significant and sex-specific impacts on fitness. Using Drosophila melanogaster, we measured these impacts by testing the effects on life span and reproductive success of high or low yeast content in developmental versus adult diets, separately for each sex. We tested two hypotheses: that dietary mismatches between development and adulthood are costly and that any such costs are sex-specific. Overall, the results revealed the rich and complex responses of each sex to dietary variation across the lifetime. Contrary to the first hypothesis, dietary mismatches between developmental and adult life stages were not universally costly. Where costs of nutritional variation across the life course did occur, they were sex-, context-, and trait-specific, consistent with hypothesis 2. We found effects of mismatches between developmental and adult diets on reproductive success in females but not males. Adult diet was the main determinant of survival, and life span was significantly longer on high yeast adult food, in comparison to low, in both sexes. Developing on a high yeast diet also benefited adult female life span and reproductive success, regardless of adult diet. In contrast, a high yeast developmental diet was only beneficial for male life span when it was followed by low yeast adult food. Adult diet affected mating frequency in opposing directions, with males having higher mating frequency on high and females on low, with no interaction with developmental diet for either sex. The results emphasize the importance of sex differences and of the directionality of dietary mismatches in the responses to nutritional variation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Tracey Chapman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, UK
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3
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Gutiérrez Y, Fresch M, Ott D, Brockmeyer J, Scherber C. Diet composition and social environment determine food consumption, phenotype and fecundity in an omnivorous insect. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:200100. [PMID: 32431901 PMCID: PMC7211883 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Nutrition is the single most important factor for individual's growth and reproduction. Consequently, the inability to reach the nutritional optimum imposes severe consequences for animal fitness. Yet, under natural conditions, organisms may face a mixture of stressors that can modulate the effects of nutritional asymmetry. For instance, stressful environments caused by intense interaction with conspecifics. Here, we subjected the house cricket Acheta domesticus to (i) either of two types of diet that have proved to affect cricket performance and (ii) simultaneously manipulated their social environment throughout their complete life cycle. We aimed to track sex-specific consequences for multiple traits during insect development throughout all life stages. Both factors affected critical life-history traits with potential population-level consequences: diet composition induced strong effects on insect development time, lifespan and fitness, while the social environment affected the number of nymphs that completed development, food consumption and whole-body lipid content. Additionally, both factors interactively determined female body mass. Our results highlight that insects may acquire and invest resources in a different manner when subjected to an intense interaction with conspecifics or when isolated. Furthermore, while only diet composition affected individual reproductive output, the social environment would determine the number of reproductive females, thus indirectly influencing population performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeisson Gutiérrez
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Marion Fresch
- Institute for Biochemistry and Technical Biochemistry, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - David Ott
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Jens Brockmeyer
- Institute for Biochemistry and Technical Biochemistry, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Christoph Scherber
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany
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4
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Wilson KM, Walker SE. Age at mating and male quality influence female patterns of reproductive investment and survival. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:5440-5449. [PMID: 31110692 PMCID: PMC6509372 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2018] [Revised: 02/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The trade-off between the allocation of resources toward somatic maintenance or reproduction is one of the fundamentals of life history theory and predicts that females invest in offspring at the expense of their longevity or vice versa. Mate quality may also affect life history trade-offs through mechanisms of sexual conflict; however, few studies have examined the interaction between mate quality and age at first mating in reproductive decisions. Using house crickets (Acheta domesticus), this study examines how survival and reproductive trade-offs change based on females' age at first reproduction and exposure to males of varying size. Females were exposed to either a large (presumably high-quality) or small male at an early (young), middle (intermediate), or advanced (old) age, and longevity and reproductive investment were subsequently tracked. Females mated at a young age had the largest number of eggs but the shortest total lifespans while females mated at older ages produced fewer eggs but had longer total lifespans. The trade-off between age at first mating and eggs laid appears to be mediated through higher egg-laying rates and shorter postmating lifespans in females mated later in life. Exposure to small males resulted in shorter lifespans and higher egg-laying rates for all females indicating that male manipulation of females, presumably through spermatophore contents, varies with male size in this species. Together, these data strongly support a trade-off between age at first reproduction and lifespan and support the role of sexual conflict in shaping patterns of reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerianne M. Wilson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaIrvineCalifornia
| | - Sean E. Walker
- Department of Biological SciencesCalifornia State UniversityFullertonCalifornia
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5
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Shephard AM, Aksenov V, Tran J, Nelson CJ, Boreham DR, Rollo CD. Hormetic Effects of Early Juvenile Radiation Exposure on Adult Reproduction and Offspring Performance in the Cricket ( Acheta domesticus). Dose Response 2018; 16:1559325818797499. [PMID: 30210269 PMCID: PMC6130088 DOI: 10.1177/1559325818797499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2018] [Revised: 08/02/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation can have positive impacts on biological performance—a concept known as hormesis. Although radiation hormesis is well-documented, the predominant focus has been medical. In comparison, little research has examined potential effects of early life radiation stress on organismal investment in life history traits that closely influence evolutionary fitness (eg, patterns of growth, survival, and reproduction). Evaluating the fitness consequences of radiation stress is important, given that low-level radiation pollution from anthropogenic sources is considered a major threat to natural ecosystems. Using the cricket (Acheta domesticus), we tested a wide range of doses to assess whether a single juvenile exposure to radiation could induce hormetic benefits on lifetime fitness measures. Consistent with hormesis, we found that low-dose juvenile radiation positively impacted female fecundity, offspring size, and offspring performance. Remarkably, even a single low dose of radiation in early juvenile development can elicit a range of positive fitness effects emerging over the life span and even into the next generation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander M Shephard
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.,Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, MN, USA
| | - Vadim Aksenov
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jonathan Tran
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Connor J Nelson
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Douglas R Boreham
- Division of Medical Sciences, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
| | - C David Rollo
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Bestion E, Cucherousset J, Teyssier A, Cote J. Non-consumptive effects of a top-predator decrease the strength of the trophic cascade in a four-level terrestrial food web. OIKOS 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.02196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elvire Bestion
- CNRS USR 2936, Station d'Ecologie Expérimentale de Moulis; FR-09200 Moulis France
- Univ. de Toulouse UPS; 118 Route de Narbonne Bât 4R1 FR-31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
| | - Julien Cucherousset
- CNRS UMR 5174, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique); Toulouse France
- Univ. de Toulouse UPS; 118 Route de Narbonne Bât 4R1 FR-31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
| | - Aimeric Teyssier
- CNRS UMR 5174, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique); Toulouse France
- Univ. de Toulouse UPS; 118 Route de Narbonne Bât 4R1 FR-31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University; Ghent Belgium
| | - Julien Cote
- CNRS UMR 5174, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique); Toulouse France
- Univ. de Toulouse UPS; 118 Route de Narbonne Bât 4R1 FR-31062 Toulouse Cedex 9 France
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Senior AM, Charleston MA, Lihoreau M, Buhl C, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ. Evolving nutritional strategies in the presence of competition: a geometric agent-based model. PLoS Comput Biol 2015; 11:e1004111. [PMID: 25815976 PMCID: PMC4376532 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2014] [Accepted: 01/05/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Access to nutrients is a key factor governing development, reproduction and ultimately fitness. Within social groups, contest-competition can fundamentally affect nutrient access, potentially leading to reproductive asymmetry among individuals. Previously, agent-based models have been combined with the Geometric Framework of nutrition to provide insight into how nutrition and social interactions affect one another. Here, we expand this modelling approach by incorporating evolutionary algorithms to explore how contest-competition over nutrient acquisition might affect the evolution of animal nutritional strategies. Specifically, we model tolerance of nutrient excesses and deficits when ingesting nutritionally imbalanced foods, which we term 'nutritional latitude'; a higher degree of nutritional latitude constitutes a higher tolerance of nutritional excess and deficit. Our results indicate that a transition between two alternative strategies occurs at moderate to high levels of competition. When competition is low, individuals display a low level of nutritional latitude and regularly switch foods in search of an optimum. When food is scarce and contest-competition is intense, high nutritional latitude appears optimal, and individuals continue to consume an imbalanced food for longer periods before attempting to switch to an alternative. However, the relative balance of nutrients within available foods also strongly influences at what levels of competition, if any, transitions between these two strategies occur. Our models imply that competition combined with reproductive skew in social groups can play a role in the evolution of diet breadth. We discuss how the integration of agent-based, nutritional and evolutionary modelling may be applied in future studies to further understand the evolution of nutritional strategies across social and ecological contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alistair M. Senior
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Michael A. Charleston
- School of Information Technologies, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Mathieu Lihoreau
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Toulouse, France
- Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale, Toulouse, France
| | - Camille Buhl
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide South Australia, Australia
| | - David Raubenheimer
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Stephen J. Simpson
- Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Hans H, Lone A, Aksenov V, Rollo CD. Impacts of metformin and aspirin on life history features and longevity of crickets: trade-offs versus cost-free life extension? AGE (DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS) 2015; 37:31. [PMID: 25833406 PMCID: PMC4382469 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-015-9769-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2014] [Accepted: 03/19/2015] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
We examined the impacts of aspirin and metformin on the life history of the cricket Acheta domesticus (growth rate, maturation time, mature body size, survivorship, and maximal longevity). Both drugs significantly increased survivorship and maximal life span. Maximal longevity was 136 days for controls, 188 days (138 % of controls) for metformin, and 194 days (143 % of controls) for aspirin. Metformin and aspirin in combination extended longevity to a lesser degree (163 days, 120 % of controls). Increases in general survivorship were even more pronounced, with low-dose aspirin yielding mean longevity 234 % of controls (i.e., health span). Metformin strongly reduced growth rates of both genders (<60 % of controls), whereas aspirin only slightly reduced the growth rate of females and slightly increased that of males. Both drugs delayed maturation age relative to controls, but metformin had a much greater impact (>140 % of controls) than aspirin (~118 % of controls). Crickets maturing on low aspirin showed no evidence of a trade-off between maturation mass and life extension. Remarkably, by 100 days of age, aspirin-treated females were significantly larger than controls (largely reflecting egg complement). Unlike the reigning dietary restriction paradigm, low aspirin conformed to a paradigm of "eat more, live longer." In contrast, metformin-treated females were only ~67 % of the mass of controls. Our results suggest that hormetic agents like metformin may derive significant trade-offs with life extension, whereas health and longevity benefits may be obtained with less cost by agents like aspirin that regulate geroprotective pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harvir Hans
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, 226 Life Science Building, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1 Canada
| | - Asad Lone
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, 226 Life Science Building, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1 Canada
| | - Vadim Aksenov
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, 226 Life Science Building, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1 Canada
| | - C. David Rollo
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, 226 Life Science Building, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1 Canada
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Kelly CD, Tawes BR. Sex-specific effect of juvenile diet on adult disease resistance in a field cricket. PLoS One 2013; 8:e61301. [PMID: 23637808 PMCID: PMC3630171 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2013] [Accepted: 03/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Food limitation is expected to reduce an individual’s body condition (body mass scaled to body size) and cause a trade-off between growth and other fitness-related traits, such as immunity. We tested the condition-dependence of growth and disease resistance in male and female Gryllus texensis field crickets by manipulating diet quality via nutrient content for their entire life and then subjecting individuals to a host resistance test using the live bacterium Serratia marcescens. As predicted, crickets on a high-quality diet eclosed more quickly, and at a larger body size and mass. Crickets on a high-quality diet were not in better condition at the time of eclosion, but they were in better condition 7–11 days after eclosion, with females also being in better condition than males. Despite being in better condition, however, females provided with a high-quality diet had significantly poorer disease resistance than females on a low-quality diet and in poor condition. Similarly, males on low- and high-quality diets did not differ in their disease resistance, despite differing in their body condition. A sex difference in disease resistance under diet-restriction suggests that females might allocate resources toward immunity during development if they expect harsh environmental conditions as an adult or it might suggest that females allocate resources toward other life history activities (i.e. reproduction) when food availability increases. We do not know what immune effectors were altered under diet-restriction to increase disease resistance, but our findings suggest that increased immune function might provide an explanation for the sexually-dimorphic increase in longevity generally observed in diet-restricted animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clint D Kelly
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, USA.
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