1
|
Young EA, Postma E. Low interspecific variation and no phylogenetic signal in additive genetic variance in wild bird and mammal populations. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10693. [PMID: 37933323 PMCID: PMC10625858 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary adaptation through genetic change requires genetic variation and is a key mechanism enabling species to persist in changing environments. Although a substantial body of work has focused on understanding how and why additive genetic variance (V A) differs among traits within species, we still know little about how they vary among species. Here we make a first attempt at testing for interspecific variation in two complementary measures of V A and the role of phylogeny in shaping this variation. To this end, we performed a phylogenetic comparative analysis using 1822 narrow-sense heritability (h 2) for 68 species of birds and mammals and 378 coefficients of additive genetic variance (CV A) estimates for 23 species. Controlling for within-species variation attributable to estimation method and trait type, we found some interspecific variation in h 2 (~15%) but not CV A. Although suggestive of interspecific variation in the importance of non-(additive) genetic sources of variance, sample sizes were insufficient to test this hypothesis directly. Additionally, although power was low, no phylogenetic signal was detected for either measure. Hence, while this suggests interspecific variation in V A is probably small, our understanding of interspecific variation in the adaptive potential of wild vertebrate populations is currently hampered by data limitations, a scarcity of CV A estimates and a measure of their uncertainty in particular.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Euan A. Young
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life SciencesUniversity of GroningenGroningenThe Netherlands
- Centre for Ecology and ConservationUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK
| | - Erik Postma
- Centre for Ecology and ConservationUniversity of ExeterPenrynUK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Fraimout A, Li Z, Sillanpää MJ, Merilä J. Age-dependent genetic architecture across ontogeny of body size in sticklebacks. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20220352. [PMID: 35582807 PMCID: PMC9118060 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.0352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Heritable variation in traits under natural selection is a prerequisite for evolutionary response. While it is recognized that trait heritability may vary spatially and temporally depending on which environmental conditions traits are expressed under, less is known about the possibility that genetic variance contributing to the expected selection response in a given trait may vary at different stages of ontogeny. Specifically, whether different loci underlie the expression of a trait throughout development and thus providing an additional source of variation for selection to act on in the wild, is unclear. Here we show that body size, an important life-history trait, is heritable throughout ontogeny in the nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius). Nevertheless, both analyses of quantitative trait loci and genetic correlations across ages show that different chromosomes/loci contribute to this heritability in different ontogenic time-points. This suggests that body size can respond to selection at different stages of ontogeny but that this response is determined by different loci at different points of development. Hence, our study provides important results regarding our understanding of the genetics of ontogeny and opens an interesting avenue of research for studying age-specific genetic architecture as a source of non-parallel evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Fraimout
- Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
| | - Zitong Li
- Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.,CSIRO Agriculture and Food, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Mikko J Sillanpää
- Research Unit of Mathematical Sciences, University of Oulu, FI-90014, Finland
| | - Juha Merilä
- Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Programme, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.,Area of Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
|
4
|
Cayuela H, Lemaître J, Bonnaire E, Pichenot J, Schmidt BR. Population position along the fast–slow life‐history continuum predicts intraspecific variation in actuarial senescence. J Anim Ecol 2020; 89:1069-1079. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 11/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Cayuela
- Département de Biologie Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS) Université LavalPavillon Charles‐Eugène‐Marchand Québec QC Canada
| | - Jean‐François Lemaître
- Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive UMR 5558 CNRSUniversité Lyon 1 Villeurbanne France
| | - Eric Bonnaire
- Office National des ForêtsAgence de Verdun Verdun France
| | - Julian Pichenot
- URCACERFECentre de Recherche et Formation en Eco‐éthologie Boult‐aux‐Bois France
| | - Benedikt R. Schmidt
- Institut für Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften Universität Zürich Zürich Switzerland
- Info Fauna KarchUniMail, Bâtiment G Neuchâtel Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Dingemanse NJ, Moiron M, Araya-Ajoy YG, Mouchet A, Abbey-Lee RN. Individual variation in age-dependent reproduction: Fast explorers live fast but senesce young? J Anim Ecol 2019; 89:601-613. [PMID: 31618450 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 09/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Adaptive integration of life history and behaviour is expected to result in variation in the pace-of-life. Previous work focused on whether 'risky' phenotypes live fast but die young, but reported conflicting support. We posit that individuals exhibiting risky phenotypes may alternatively invest heavily in early-life reproduction but consequently suffer greater reproductive senescence. We used a 7-year longitudinal dataset with >1,200 breeding records of >800 female great tits assayed annually for exploratory behaviour to test whether within-individual age dependency of reproduction varied with exploratory behaviour. We controlled for biasing effects of selective (dis)appearance and within-individual behavioural plasticity. Slower and faster explorers produced moderate-sized clutches when young; faster explorers subsequently showed an increase in clutch size that diminished with age (with moderate support for declines when old), whereas slower explorers produced moderate-sized clutches throughout their lives. There was some evidence that the same pattern characterized annual fledgling success, if so, unpredictable environmental effects diluted personality-related differences in this downstream reproductive trait. Support for age-related selective appearance was apparent, but only when failing to appreciate within-individual plasticity in reproduction and behaviour. Our study identifies within-individual age-dependent reproduction, and reproductive senescence, as key components of life-history strategies that vary between individuals differing in risky behaviour. Future research should thus incorporate age-dependent reproduction in pace-of-life studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Niels J Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany
| | - Maria Moiron
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175 Campus CNRS, Montpellier, France
| | - Yimen G Araya-Ajoy
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,Center for Biodiversity Dynamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Alexia Mouchet
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.,Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - Robin N Abbey-Lee
- Research Group Evolutionary Ecology of Variation, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,IFM Biology, AVIAN Behavioural Genomics and Physiology Group, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Zajitschek F, Zajitschek S, Bonduriansky R. Senescence in wild insects: Key questions and challenges. Funct Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Felix Zajitschek
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Susanne Zajitschek
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Russell Bonduriansky
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Zamora-Camacho FJ, Comas M. Early swelling response to phytohemagglutinin is lower in older toads. PeerJ 2018; 6:e6104. [PMID: 30595980 PMCID: PMC6304268 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.6104] [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: 09/11/2018] [Accepted: 11/13/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The effects of age on performance of life-history traits are diverse, but a common outcome is senescence, an irreversible deterioration of physical and physiological capabilities of older individuals. Immune response is potentially bound to senescence. However, little is known about immune response ageing in amphibians. In this work, we test the hypothesis that amphibian early immune response is reduced in older individuals. To this end, we captured adult natterjack toads (Epidalea calamita) and inoculated them with phytohemagglutinin, an innocuous protein that triggers a skin-swelling immune response whose magnitude is directly proportional to the ability of the individual to mount an immune response. We measured early swelling immune response (corresponding to an innate-response stage) hourly, for six hours, and we calculated the area under the curve (AUC) for each individual's time series, as a measure of immune response magnitude incorporating time. We estimated toad age by means of phalanx skeletochronology. Swelling and AUC decreased with age. Therefore, in accordance with our predictions, early immune response seems subject to senescence in these toads. Reduced ability to get over infections due to senescence of immune respose might be-together with a worse functioning of other organs and systems-among the causes of lower survival of older specimens.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Javier Zamora-Camacho
- Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States of America
- Department of Biogeography and Global Change, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Mar Comas
- Department of Integrative Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Sevilla, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Wiebe KL. Age-related improvements in fecundity are driven by the male in a bird with partially reversed sex roles in parental care. Oecologia 2018; 188:1095-1104. [PMID: 30368615 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-018-4286-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/22/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Age-related improvement in reproductive performance is widespread in vertebrates and constraints at young ages are a common cause. The sex that invests energetically more in reproduction, typically the female, is predicted to show stronger age-related performance but the effect of the male's age on reproduction has often been ignored. I studied age-related reproduction of both sexes in northern flickers, in which males invest more parental care than females, predicting that the effect of age would be stronger in males than in females. Longitudinal data on individuals collected during an 18-year field study confirmed this prediction. Laying dates for females improved only between the first 2 years of her life and no other reproductive parameter changed over her lifetime when the male's age was statistically controlled. In contrast, males improved up to age five for laying date, clutch size, hatching success and fledging success. Partner familiarity (fidelity) was further associated with earlier laying, larger clutches, improved fledging success and more fledglings. There was significant assortative pairing by age but there is apparently little benefit for males to choose older females, but a benefit to females with older males. Females appear to strategically lay larger clutches when paired to old males which invest more in paternal care than younger males. This is the first example of clutch size being influenced by only male age and not female age in any bird and suggests that sex roles in parental care are important determinants of aging patterns in vertebrates with diverse life histories.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen L Wiebe
- Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E2, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Unravelling the relationships between life history, behaviour and condition under the pace-of-life syndromes hypothesis using long-term data from a wild bird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2461-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
|
10
|
Hayward AD, Pemberton JM, Berenos C, Wilson AJ, Pilkington JG, Kruuk LEB. Evidence for Selection-by-Environment but Not Genotype-by-Environment Interactions for Fitness-Related Traits in a Wild Mammal Population. Genetics 2018; 208:349-364. [PMID: 29127262 PMCID: PMC5753868 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.117.300498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2017] [Accepted: 11/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
How do environmental conditions influence selection and genetic variation in wild populations? There is widespread evidence for selection-by-environment interactions (S*E), but we reviewed studies of natural populations estimating the extent of genotype-by-environment interactions (G*E) in response to natural variation in environmental conditions and found that evidence for G*E appears to be rare within single populations in the wild. Studies estimating the simultaneous impact of environmental variation on both selection and genetic variation are especially scarce. Here, we used 24 years of data collected from a wild Soay sheep population to quantify how an important environmental variable, population density, impacts upon (1) selection through annual contribution to fitness and (2) expression of genetic variation, in six morphological and life history traits: body weight, hind leg length, parasite burden, horn length, horn growth, and testicular circumference. Our results supported the existence of S*E: selection was stronger in years of higher population density for all traits apart from horn growth, with directional selection being stronger under more adverse conditions. Quantitative genetic models revealed significant additive genetic variance for body weight, leg length, parasite burden, horn length, and testes size, but not for horn growth or our measure of annual fitness. However, random regression models found variation between individuals in their responses to the environment in only three traits, and did not support the presence of G*E for any trait. Our analyses of St Kilda Soay sheep data thus concurs with our cross-study review that, while natural environmental variation within a population can profoundly alter the strength of selection on phenotypic traits, there is less evidence for its effect on the expression of genetic variance in the wild.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam D Hayward
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Josephine M Pemberton
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Camillo Berenos
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Alastair J Wilson
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Jill G Pilkington
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
| | - Loeske E B Kruuk
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FL, UK
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Gilpin W, Feldman MW. A phase transition induces chaos in a predator-prey ecosystem with a dynamic fitness landscape. PLoS Comput Biol 2017; 13:e1005644. [PMID: 28678792 PMCID: PMC5517034 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2017] [Revised: 07/19/2017] [Accepted: 06/23/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
In many ecosystems, natural selection can occur quickly enough to influence the population dynamics and thus future selection. This suggests the importance of extending classical population dynamics models to include such eco-evolutionary processes. Here, we describe a predator-prey model in which the prey population growth depends on a prey density-dependent fitness landscape. We show that this two-species ecosystem is capable of exhibiting chaos even in the absence of external environmental variation or noise, and that the onset of chaotic dynamics is the result of the fitness landscape reversibly alternating between epochs of stabilizing and disruptive selection. We draw an analogy between the fitness function and the free energy in statistical mechanics, allowing us to use the physical theory of first-order phase transitions to understand the onset of rapid cycling in the chaotic predator-prey dynamics. We use quantitative techniques to study the relevance of our model to observational studies of complex ecosystems, finding that the evolution-driven chaotic dynamics confer community stability at the "edge of chaos" while creating a wide distribution of opportunities for speciation during epochs of disruptive selection-a potential observable signature of chaotic eco-evolutionary dynamics in experimental studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William Gilpin
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Marcus W. Feldman
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Lemaître JF, Berger V, Bonenfant C, Douhard M, Gamelon M, Plard F, Gaillard JM. Early-late life trade-offs and the evolution of ageing in the wild. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:20150209. [PMID: 25833848 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 224] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Empirical evidence for declines in fitness components (survival and reproductive performance) with age has recently accumulated in wild populations, highlighting that the process of senescence is nearly ubiquitous in the living world. Senescence patterns are highly variable among species and current evolutionary theories of ageing propose that such variation can be accounted for by differences in allocation to growth and reproduction during early life. Here, we compiled 26 studies of free-ranging vertebrate populations that explicitly tested for a trade-off between performance in early and late life. Our review brings overall support for the presence of early-late life trade-offs, suggesting that the limitation of available resources leads individuals to trade somatic maintenance later in life for high allocation to reproduction early in life. We discuss our results in the light of two closely related theories of ageing-the disposable soma and the antagonistic pleiotropy theories-and propose that the principle of energy allocation roots the ageing process in the evolution of life-history strategies. Finally, we outline research topics that should be investigated in future studies, including the importance of natal environmental conditions in the study of trade-offs between early- and late-life performance and the evolution of sex-differences in ageing patterns.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jean-François Lemaître
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Vérane Berger
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Christophe Bonenfant
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Mathieu Douhard
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Marlène Gamelon
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Floriane Plard
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Jean-Michel Gaillard
- Université de Lyon, F-69000, Lyon; Université Lyon 1; CNRS, UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Acker P, Grégoire A, Rat M, Spottiswoode CN, van Dijk RE, Paquet M, Kaden JC, Pradel R, Hatchwell BJ, Covas R, Doutrelant C. Disruptive viability selection on a black plumage trait associated with dominance. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:2027-41. [PMID: 26249359 PMCID: PMC4949555 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12717] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2015] [Revised: 07/26/2015] [Accepted: 08/01/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Traits used in communication, such as colour signals, are expected to have positive consequences for reproductive success, but their associations with survival are little understood. Previous studies have mainly investigated linear relationships between signals and survival, but both hump-shaped and U-shaped relationships can also be predicted, depending on the main costs involved in trait expression. Furthermore, few studies have taken the plasticity of signals into account in viability selection analyses. The relationship between signal expression and survival is of particular interest in melanin-based traits, because their main costs are still debated. Here, we first determined the main factors explaining variability in a melanin-based trait linked to dominance: the bib size of a colonial bird, the sociable weaver Philetairus socius. We then used these analyses to obtain a measure representative of the individual mean expression of bib size. Finally, we used capture-recapture models to study how survival varied in relation to bib size. Variation in bib size was strongly affected by year and moderately affected by age, body condition and colony size. In addition, individuals bearing small and large bibs had higher survival than those with intermediate bibs, and this U-shaped relationship between survival and bib size appeared to be more pronounced in some years than others. These results constitute a rare example of disruptive viability selection, and point towards the potential importance of social costs incurred by the dominance signalling function of badges of status.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- P Acker
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, Montpellier Cedex 05, France.,Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique (UMR 5174 EDB), Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier - CNRS - ENFA, Toulouse, France
| | - A Grégoire
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, Montpellier Cedex 05, France
| | - M Rat
- Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - C N Spottiswoode
- Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa.,Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - R E van Dijk
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - M Paquet
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, Montpellier Cedex 05, France.,Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - J C Kaden
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.,The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Edinburgh Zoo, Edinburgh, UK
| | - R Pradel
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, Montpellier Cedex 05, France
| | - B J Hatchwell
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - R Covas
- Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa.,CIBIO, University of Porto, Vairão, Portugal.,Biology Department, Science Faculty, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - C Doutrelant
- CEFE UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE, Montpellier Cedex 05, France.,Percy FitzPatrick Institute, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Chantepie S, Robert A, Sorci G, Hingrat Y, Charmantier A, Leveque G, Lacroix F, Teplitsky C. Quantitative Genetics of the Aging of Reproductive Traits in the Houbara Bustard. PLoS One 2015. [PMID: 26218735 PMCID: PMC4517785 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0133140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Do all traits within an organism age for the same reason? Evolutionary theories of aging share a common assumption: the strength of natural selection declines with age. A corollary is that additive genetic variance should increase with age. However, not all senescent traits display such increases suggesting that other mechanisms may be at play. Using longitudinal data collected from more than 5400 houbara bustards (Chlamydotis undulata) with an exhaustive recorded pedigree, we investigated the genetics of aging in one female reproductive trait (egg production) and three male reproductive traits (courtship display rate, ejaculate size and sperm viability), that display senescence at the phenotypic level. Animal models revealed an increase in additive genetic variance with age for courtship display rate and egg production but an unexpected absence of increased additive genetic variance for ejaculate size and no additive genetic variance for sperm viability. Our results suggest that the mechanisms behind the senescence of some traits are linked with a change in genetic expression, whereas for some other traits, aging may result from the constraints associated with physiological wear and tear on the organism throughout the life of the individual.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Chantepie
- UMR 7204 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
- * E-mail:
| | - Alexandre Robert
- UMR 7204 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Gabriele Sorci
- UMR CNRS/uB 6282 Biogéosciences, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France
| | - Yves Hingrat
- Reneco for Wildlife Preservation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Anne Charmantier
- UMR 5175 CEFE-CNRS Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Frédéric Lacroix
- Reneco for Wildlife Preservation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Céline Teplitsky
- UMR 7204 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la Conservation, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Pujol B. Genes and quantitative genetic variation involved with senescence in cells, organs, and the whole plant. Front Genet 2015; 6:57. [PMID: 25755664 PMCID: PMC4337380 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2014] [Accepted: 02/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Senescence, the deterioration of morphological, physiological, and reproductive functions with age that ends with the death of the organism, was widely studied in plants. Genes were identified that are linked to the deterioration of cells, organs and the whole plant. It is, however, unclear whether those genes are the source of age dependent deterioration or get activated to regulate such deterioration. Furthermore, it is also unclear whether such genes are active as a direct consequence of age or because they are specifically involved in some developmental stages. At the individual level, it is the relationship between quantitative genetic variation, and age that can be used to detect the genetic signature of senescence. Surprisingly, the latter approach was only scarcely applied to plants. This may be the consequence of the demanding requirements for such approaches and/or the fact that most research interest was directed toward plants that avoid senescence. Here, I review those aspects in turn and call for an integrative genetic theory of senescence in plants. Such conceptual development would have implications for the management of plant genetic resources and generate progress on fundamental questions raised by aging research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benoit Pujol
- CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier, ENFA, UMR5174 EDB (Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique) Toulouse, France ; Université Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier, CNRS, UMR5174 EDB Toulouse, France
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Zhang H, Rebke M, Becker PH, Bouwhuis S. Fitness prospects: effects of age, sex and recruitment age on reproductive value in a long-lived seabird. J Anim Ecol 2014; 84:199-207. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2013] [Accepted: 06/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- He Zhang
- Institute of Avian Research ‘Vogelwarte Helgoland’; An der Vogelwarte 21 D-26386 Wilhelmshaven Germany
| | - Maren Rebke
- Avitec Research GbR; Sachsenring 11 D-27711 Osterholz-Scharmbeck Germany
| | - Peter H. Becker
- Institute of Avian Research ‘Vogelwarte Helgoland’; An der Vogelwarte 21 D-26386 Wilhelmshaven Germany
| | - Sandra Bouwhuis
- Institute of Avian Research ‘Vogelwarte Helgoland’; An der Vogelwarte 21 D-26386 Wilhelmshaven Germany
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Hayward AD, Mar KU, Lahdenperä M, Lummaa V. Early reproductive investment, senescence and lifetime reproductive success in female Asian elephants. J Evol Biol 2014; 27:772-83. [PMID: 24580655 PMCID: PMC4237172 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2013] [Revised: 01/20/2014] [Accepted: 01/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The evolutionary theory of senescence posits that as the probability of extrinsic mortality increases with age, selection should favour early-life over late-life reproduction. Studies on natural vertebrate populations show early reproduction may impair later-life performance, but the consequences for lifetime fitness have rarely been determined, and little is known of whether similar patterns apply to mammals which typically live for several decades. We used a longitudinal dataset on Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to investigate associations between early-life reproduction and female age-specific survival, fecundity and offspring survival to independence, as well as lifetime breeding success (lifetime number of calves produced). Females showed low fecundity following sexual maturity, followed by a rapid increase to a peak at age 19 and a subsequent decline. High early life reproductive output (before the peak of performance) was positively associated with subsequent age-specific fecundity and offspring survival, but significantly impaired a female's own later-life survival. Despite the negative effects of early reproduction on late-life survival, early reproduction is under positive selection through a positive association with lifetime breeding success. Our results suggest a trade-off between early reproduction and later survival which is maintained by strong selection for high early fecundity, and thus support the prediction from life history theory that high investment in reproductive success in early life is favoured by selection through lifetime fitness despite costs to later-life survival. That maternal survival in elephants depends on previous reproductive investment also has implications for the success of (semi-)captive breeding programmes of this endangered species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A D Hayward
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
18
|
Courtiol A, Rickard I, Lummaa V, Prentice A, Fulford A, Stearns S. The demographic transition influences variance in fitness and selection on height and BMI in rural Gambia. Curr Biol 2013; 23:884-9. [PMID: 23623548 PMCID: PMC3668323 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2012] [Revised: 02/04/2013] [Accepted: 04/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Recent human history is marked by demographic transitions characterized by declines in mortality and fertility. By influencing the variance in those fitness components, demographic transitions can affect selection on other traits. Parallel to changes in selection triggered by demography per se, relationships between fitness and anthropometric traits are also expected to change due to modification of the environment. Here we explore for the first time these two main evolutionary consequences of demographic transitions using a unique data set containing survival, fertility, and anthropometric data for thousands of women in rural Gambia from 1956-2010. We show how the demographic transition influenced directional selection on height and body mass index (BMI). We observed a change in selection for both traits mediated by variation in fertility: selection initially favored short females with high BMI values but shifted across the demographic transition to favor tall females with low BMI values. We demonstrate that these differences resulted both from changes in fitness variance that shape the strength of selection and from shifts in selective pressures triggered by environmental changes. These results suggest that demographic and environmental trends encountered by current human populations worldwide are likely to modify, but not stop, natural selection in humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Courtiol
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, 10315 Berlin, Germany
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 14193 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ian J. Rickard
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 14193 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
- Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - Virpi Lummaa
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 14193 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - Andrew M. Prentice
- MRC Keneba, The Gambia
- MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Anthony J.C. Fulford
- MRC Keneba, The Gambia
- MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Stephen C. Stearns
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, 14193 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, CT 06520-8102, USA
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Multivariate heredity of melanin-based coloration, body mass and immunity. Heredity (Edinb) 2013; 111:139-46. [PMID: 23591519 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2013.29] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2012] [Revised: 02/27/2013] [Accepted: 03/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The genetic covariation among different traits may cause the appearance of correlated response to selection on multivariate phenotypes. Genes responsible for the expression of melanin-based color traits are also involved in other important physiological functions such as immunity and metabolism by pleiotropy, suggesting the possibility of multivariate evolution. However, little is known about the relationship between melanin coloration and these functions at the additive genetic level in wild vertebrates. From a multivariate perspective, we simultaneously explored inheritance and selection of melanin coloration, body mass and phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-mediated immune response by using long-term data over an 18-year period collected in a wild population of the common kestrel Falco tinnunculus. Pedigree-based quantitative genetic analyses showed negative genetic covariance between melanin-based coloration and body mass in male adults and positive genetic covariance between body mass and PHA-mediated immune response in fledglings as predicted by pleiotropic effects of melanocortin receptor activity. Multiple selection analyses showed an increased fitness in male adults with intermediate phenotypic values for melanin color and body mass. In male fledglings, there was evidence for a disruptive selection on rump gray color, but a stabilizing selection on PHA-mediated immune response. Our results provide an insight into the evolution of multivariate traits genetically related with melanin-based coloration. The differences in multivariate inheritance and selection between male and female kestrels might have resulted in sexual dimorphism in size and color. When pleiotropic effects are present, coloration can evolve through a complex pathway involving correlated response to selection on multivariate traits.
Collapse
|
20
|
Auld JR, Perrins CM, Charmantier A. Who wears the pants in a mute swan pair? Deciphering the effects of male and female age and identity on breeding success. J Anim Ecol 2013; 82:826-35. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2012] [Accepted: 11/29/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Josh R. Auld
- Department of Biology; West Chester University; 750 S. Church St.; West Chester; PA; USA
| | - Christopher M. Perrins
- Department of Zoology; Edward Grey Institute; University of Oxford; South Parks Road; Oxford; OX1 3PS; UK
| | - Anne Charmantier
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive - UMR 5175; Campus CNRS; 1919 Route de Mende; Montpellier Cedex 5; 34293; France
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Nussey DH, Froy H, Lemaitre JF, Gaillard JM, Austad SN. Senescence in natural populations of animals: widespread evidence and its implications for bio-gerontology. Ageing Res Rev 2013; 12:214-25. [PMID: 22884974 PMCID: PMC4246505 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2012.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 404] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2012] [Revised: 07/24/2012] [Accepted: 07/30/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
That senescence is rarely, if ever, observed in natural populations is an oft-quoted fallacy within bio-gerontology. We identify the roots of this fallacy in the otherwise seminal works of Medawar and Comfort, and explain that under antagonistic pleiotropy or disposable soma explanations for the evolution of senescence there is no reason why senescence cannot evolve to be manifest within the life expectancies of wild organisms. The recent emergence of long-term field studies presents irrefutable evidence that senescence is commonly detected in nature. We found such evidence in 175 different animal species from 340 separate studies. Although the bulk of this evidence comes from birds and mammals, we also found evidence for senescence in other vertebrates and insects. We describe how high-quality longitudinal field data allow us to test evolutionary explanations for differences in senescence between the sexes and among traits and individuals. Recent studies indicate that genes, prior environment and investment in growth and reproduction influence aging rates in the wild. We argue that - with the fallacy that wild animals do not senesce finally dead and buried - collaborations between bio-gerontologists and field biologists can begin to test the ecological generality of purportedly 'public' mechanisms regulating aging in laboratory models.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H Nussey
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Evans SR, Sheldon BC. Pigments versus structure: examining the mechanism of age-dependent change in a carotenoid-based colour. J Anim Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Simon R. Evans
- Edward Grey Institute; Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford; UK
| | - Ben C. Sheldon
- Edward Grey Institute; Department of Zoology; University of Oxford; Oxford; UK
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Balbontín J, Møller AP, Hermosell IG, Marzal A, Reviriego M, de Lope F. Geographical variation in reproductive ageing patterns and life-history strategy of a short-lived passerine bird. J Evol Biol 2012; 25:2298-309. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02606.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2011] [Revised: 08/01/2012] [Accepted: 08/02/2012] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J. Balbontín
- Departamento de Zoología; Facultad de Biología, Avda. Reina Mercedes s/n, Edificio Verde; Sevilla; E-41012 Spain
| | - A. P. Møller
- Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution; CNRS UMR 8079; Université Paris-Sud; Orsay Cedex; France
| | - I. G. Hermosell
- Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología; Universidad de Extremadura; Avda. Elvas s/n, Badajoz; E-06071 Spain
| | - A. Marzal
- Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología; Universidad de Extremadura; Avda. Elvas s/n, Badajoz; E-06071 Spain
| | - M. Reviriego
- Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología; Universidad de Extremadura; Avda. Elvas s/n, Badajoz; E-06071 Spain
| | - F. de Lope
- Departamento de Anatomía, Biología Celular y Zoología; Universidad de Extremadura; Avda. Elvas s/n, Badajoz; E-06071 Spain
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Stinchcombe JR, Kirkpatrick M. Genetics and evolution of function-valued traits: understanding environmentally responsive phenotypes. Trends Ecol Evol 2012; 27:637-47. [PMID: 22898151 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2012.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2012] [Revised: 06/28/2012] [Accepted: 07/05/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Many central questions in ecology and evolutionary biology require characterizing phenotypes that change with time and environmental conditions. Such traits are inherently functions, and new 'function-valued' methods use the order, spacing, and functional nature of the data typically ignored by traditional univariate and multivariate analyses. These rapidly developing methods account for the continuous change in traits of interest in response to other variables, and are superior to traditional summary-based analyses for growth trajectories, morphological shapes, and environmentally sensitive phenotypes. Here, we explain how function-valued methods make flexible use of data and lead to new biological insights. These approaches frequently offer enhanced statistical power, a natural basis of interpretation, and are applicable to many existing data sets. We also illustrate applications of function-valued methods to address ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral hypotheses, and highlight future directions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- John R Stinchcombe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S3B2, Canada.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
25
|
Lewis S, Nussey DH, Wood AG, Croxall JP, Phillips RA. Intrinsic determinants of a population trend in timing of breeding in the wandering albatross. OIKOS 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.20293.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
|
26
|
Tarof SA, Kramer PM, Tautin J, Stutchbury BJM. Effects of known age on male paternity in a migratory songbird. Behav Ecol 2011. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arr188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
|
27
|
DUGDALE HANNAHL, POPE LISAC, NEWMAN CHRIS, MACDONALD DAVIDW, BURKE TERRY. Age-specific breeding success in a wild mammalian population: selection, constraint, restraint and senescence. Mol Ecol 2011; 20:3261-74. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294x.2011.05167.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
28
|
HAYWARD AD, WILSON AJ, PILKINGTON JG, CLUTTON-BROCK TH, PEMBERTON JM, KRUUK LEB. Natural selection on a measure of parasite resistance varies across ages and environmental conditions in a wild mammal. J Evol Biol 2011; 24:1664-76. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2011.02300.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
|
29
|
Bouwhuis S, Charmantier A, Verhulst S, Sheldon BC. Individual variation in rates of senescence: natal origin effects and disposable soma in a wild bird population. J Anim Ecol 2011; 79:1251-61. [PMID: 20646122 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01730.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
1. Longitudinal studies of various vertebrate populations have recently demonstrated senescent declines in reproductive performance and/or survival probability with age to be almost ubiquitous in nature. Little is known, however, about the extent to which rates of senescence vary between individuals, and about causes or consequences of such variation. Quantifying these links in natural populations is important for understanding the constraints and adaptive processes underlying the evolution of senescence. 2. Here, we analyse breeding data from 1029 female great tits Parus major to quantify the effect of natal conditions and early life reproduction on rates of reproductive senescence, reproductive life span and lifetime reproductive success. 3. Although for locally born females we find no evidence that natal conditions influence rates of reproductive senescence, we show that immigrant females suffer from faster rates of senescence than locally born females, and that this difference contributes to immigrants having a lower lifetime reproductive success. 4. Additionally, and independently, we find rates of reproductive senescence to increase with rates of early life reproduction, as predicted by the disposable soma hypothesis. Despite accelerated senescence late in life, high early life reproduction is, however, positively associated with lifetime reproductive success across individuals. 5. Female immigrant status and early life reproduction do not relate to reproductive life span. 6. We thus show that both immigration into our population, and high levels of early life reproduction, are associated with reduced late life reproductive performance in female great tits, but that fitness can be increased by high levels of early life reproduction at the expense of accelerated reproductive senescence. These results suggest disposable soma to be a likely mechanism underlying senescence in these birds, and encourage further study of the genetic basis (i.e. antagonistic pleiotropy) of such an early vs. late life trade-off.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Bouwhuis
- Behavioural Biology Group, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 14, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
30
|
Auld JR, Charmantier A. Life history of breeding partners alters age-related changes of reproductive traits in a natural population of blue tits. OIKOS 2011. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.19161.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
31
|
KIM SY, DRUMMOND H, TORRES R, VELANDO A. Evolvability of an avian life history trait declines with father’s age. J Evol Biol 2010; 24:295-302. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02165.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
|
32
|
Individuals and populations: the role of long-term, individual-based studies of animals in ecology and evolutionary biology. Trends Ecol Evol 2010; 25:562-73. [PMID: 20828863 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2010.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 514] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2010] [Revised: 08/01/2010] [Accepted: 08/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Many important questions in ecology and evolutionary biology can only be answered with data that extend over several decades and answering a substantial proportion of questions requires records of the life histories of recognisable individuals. We identify six advantages that long-term, individual based studies afford in ecology and evolution: (i) analysis of age structure; (ii) linkage between life history stages; (iii) quantification of social structure; (iv) derivation of lifetime fitness measures; (v) replication of estimates of selection; (vi) linkage between generations, and we review their impact on studies in six key areas of evolution and ecology. Our review emphasises the unusual opportunities and productivity of long-term, individual-based studies and documents the important role that they play in research on ecology and evolutionary biology as well as the difficulties they face.
Collapse
|
33
|
BOUWHUIS S, CHARMANTIER A, VERHULST S, SHELDON BC. Trans-generational effects on ageing in a wild bird population. J Evol Biol 2010; 23:636-42. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01929.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
|
34
|
|
35
|
Engen S, Lande R, Sæther B, Dobson F. Reproductive Value and the Stochastic Demography of Age‐Structured Populations. Am Nat 2009; 174:795-804. [DOI: 10.1086/647930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
36
|
Brommer JE, Rattiste K, Wilson A. The rate of ageing in a long-lived bird is not heritable. Heredity (Edinb) 2009; 104:363-70. [PMID: 19773809 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2009.125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
A senescent decline in performance occurs in late age in many organisms, and is thought to be partly due to additive genetic effects. Here annual fitness, estimated as the age-specific sum of survival and reproduction, was used to test for genetic variance in ageing in a population of common gulls, Larus canus. Data on 3986 individuals collected over a 34-year period indicate a dramatic senescent decline in late life. We also find that annual fitness is heritable and that individuals vary in their rates of ageing. However, counter to theoretical expectations, we find no support for a heritable component to the variance in rates of senescence. Increases in the among-individual (permanent environment) and residual variance components initiate an increase in the total phenotypic variance for annual fitness with age. This finding suggests that older birds are more sensitive to environmental effects, and that old age causes an overall pattern of declining h(2) of annual fitness. Our findings suggest that individual-specific factors do have a role in determining the rate of senescence in this population, but that additive genetic variance for the rate of senescence is either absent or small.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J E Brommer
- Bird Ecology Unit, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, FIN-00014 Viikinkaari 1, Finland.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
37
|
|
38
|
Hayward AD, Wilson AJ, Pilkington JG, Pemberton JM, Kruuk LEB. Ageing in a variable habitat: environmental stress affects senescence in parasite resistance in St Kilda Soay sheep. Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:3477-85. [PMID: 19586947 PMCID: PMC2817194 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite widespread empirical evidence for a general deterioration in the majority of traits with advancing age, it is unclear whether the progress of senescence is chronologically determined, or whether factors such as environmental conditions experienced over the lifespan are more important. We explored the relative importance of ‘chronological’ and ‘environmental’ measures of age to changes in parasite resistance across the lifespan of free-living Soay sheep. Our results show that individuals experience an increase in parasite burden, as indicated by gastrointestinal helminth faecal egg count (FEC) with chronological age. However, chronological age fails to fully explain changes in FEC because a measure of environmental age, cumulative environmental stress, predicts an additional increase in FEC once chronological age has been accounted for. Additionally, we show that in females age-specific changes are dependent upon the environmental conditions experienced across individuals' life histories: increases in FEC with age were greatest among individuals that had experienced the highest degree of stress. Our results illustrate that chronological age alone may not always correspond to biological age, particularly in variable environments. In these circumstances, measures of age that capture the cumulative stresses experienced by an individual may be useful for understanding the process of senescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam D Hayward
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
39
|
Bouwhuis S, Sheldon BC, Verhulst S, Charmantier A. Great tits growing old: selective disappearance and the partitioning of senescence to stages within the breeding cycle. Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:2769-77. [PMID: 19403537 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 150] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Deterioration of reproductive traits with age is observed in an increasing number of species. Although such deterioration is often attributed to reproductive senescence, a within-individual decline in reproductive success with age, few studies on wild animals have focused on direct fitness measures while accounting for selective disappearance and terminal effects, and to our knowledge none have determined how senescence effects arise from underlying reproductive traits. We show for female great tits that such an approach helps understanding of the onset, impact and architecture of senescence. Cross-sectional analysis of 49 years of breeding data shows annual recruit production to decline from 3.5 years of age, this decline affecting 9 per cent of females each year. Longitudinal analyses, however, show that selective disappearance of poor-quality breeders partly masks senescence, which in fact starts at 2.8 years and affects 21 per cent of females each year. There is no evidence for abrupt terminal effects. Analyses of underlying traits show no deterioration in clutch size, but significant declines in brood size and fledgling number. Furthermore, these traits contribute -9, 12 and 39 per cent to the senescent decline in recruit production, respectively. Besides providing detailed knowledge of the patterns and architecture of senescence in a natural population, these results illustrate the importance of modelling individual variation, and facilitate study of the underlying mechanisms of senescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- S Bouwhuis
- Behavioural Biology Group, University of Groningen, Kerklaan 30, 9751 NN Haren, The Netherlands.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
40
|
Moorad JA, Promislow DEL. What can genetic variation tell us about the evolution of senescence? Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:2271-8. [PMID: 19324735 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Quantitative genetic approaches have been developed that allow researchers to determine which of two mechanisms, mutation accumulation (MA) or antagonistic pleiotropy (AP), best explain observed variation in patterns of senescence using classical quantitative genetic techniques. These include the creation of mutation accumulation lines, artificial selection experiments and the partitioning of genetic variances across age classes. This last strategy has received the lion's share of empirical attention. Models predict that inbreeding depression (ID), dominance variance and the variance among inbred line means will all increase with age under MA but not under those forms of AP that generate marginal overdominance. Here, we show that these measures are not, in fact, diagnostic of MA versus AP. In particular, the assumptions about the value of genetic parameters in existing AP models may be rather narrow, and often violated in reality. We argue that whenever ageing-related AP loci contribute to segregating genetic variation, polymorphism at these loci will be enhanced by genetic effects that will also cause ID and dominance variance to increase with age, effects also expected under the MA model of senescence. We suggest that the tests that seek to identify the relative contributions of AP and MA to the evolution of ageing by partitioning genetic variance components are likely to be too conservative to be of general value.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jacob A Moorad
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
41
|
Wilson AJ, Pemberton JM, Pilkington JG, Clutton-Brock TH, Kruuk LEB. Trading offspring size for number in a variable environment: selection on reproductive investment in female Soay sheep. J Anim Ecol 2009; 78:354-64. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01489.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
42
|
McCleery RH, Perrins CM, Sheldon BC, Charmantier A. Age-specific reproduction in a long-lived species: the combined effects of senescence and individual quality. Proc Biol Sci 2008; 275:963-70. [PMID: 18230597 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Apparent changes in breeding performance with age measured at the population level can be due to changes in individual capacity at different ages, or to the differential survival of individuals with different capabilities. Estimating the relative importance of the two is important for understanding ageing patterns in natural populations, but there are few studies of such populations in which these effects have been disentangled. We analysed laying date and clutch size as measures of individual performance in a population of mute swans (Cygnus olor) studied over 25 years at Abbotsbury, UK. On both measures of breeding performance, individuals tended to improve up to the age of 6 or 7, and to decline after about the age of 12. Individuals with longer lifespans performed better at all ages (earlier laying, larger clutches) than animals that ceased breeding earlier. We conclude that the apparent mean increase in performance with age in mute swans is due to both individual improvement and differential survival of individuals who perform well, while the decline in older age groups is due to individual loss of function. Our results underline the need to take individual differences into account when testing hypotheses about life histories in wild populations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- R H McCleery
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
43
|
Pettay JE, Charmantier A, Wilson AJ, Lummaa V. AGE-SPECIFIC GENETIC AND MATERNAL EFFECTS IN FECUNDITY OF PREINDUSTRIAL FINNISH WOMEN. Evolution 2008; 62:2297-304. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2008.00452.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
|
44
|
Nussey DH, Coulson T, Festa-Bianchet M, Gaillard JM. Measuring senescence in wild animal populations: towards a longitudinal approach. Funct Ecol 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01408.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 308] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
45
|
Escobar JS, Jarne P, Charmantier A, David P. Outbreeding Alleviates Senescence in Hermaphroditic Snails as Expected from the Mutation-Accumulation Theory. Curr Biol 2008; 18:906-10. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2008.04.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2008] [Revised: 03/21/2008] [Accepted: 04/21/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
|
46
|
Wilson AJ, Charmantier A, Hadfield JD. Evolutionary genetics of ageing in the wild: empirical patterns and future perspectives. Funct Ecol 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01412.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
|
47
|
Wilson AJ, Nussey DH, Pemberton JM, Pilkington JG, Morris A, Pelletier F, Clutton-Brock TH, Kruuk LEB. Evidence for a genetic basis of aging in two wild vertebrate populations. Curr Biol 2008; 17:2136-42. [PMID: 18083516 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.11.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2007] [Revised: 10/25/2007] [Accepted: 11/07/2007] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Aging, or senescence, defined as a decline in physiological function with age, has long been a focus of research interest for evolutionary biologists. How has natural selection failed to remove genetic effects responsible for such reduced fitness among older individuals? Current evolutionary theory explains this phenomenon by showing that, as a result of the risk of death from environmental causes that individuals experience, the force of selection inevitably weakens with age. This in turn means that genetic mutations having detrimental effects that are only felt late in life might persist in a population. Although widely accepted, this theory rests on the assumption that there is genetic variation for aging in natural systems, or (equivalently), that genotype-by-age interactions (GxA) occur for fitness. To date, empirical support for this assumption has come almost entirely from laboratory studies on invertebrate systems, most notably Drosophila and C. elegans, whereas tests of genetic variation for aging are largely lacking from natural populations. By using data from two wild mammal populations, we perform quantitative genetic analyses of fitness and provide the first evidence for a genetic basis of senescence to come from a study in the natural environment. We find evidence that genetic differences among individuals cause variation in their rates of aging and that additive genetic variance for fitness increases with age, as predicted by the evolutionary theory of senescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alastair J Wilson
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, United Kingdom.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|