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Kunze VP, Angueyra JM, Ball JM, Thomsen MB, Li X, Sabnis A, Nadal-Nicolás FM, Li W. Neurexin 3 is Essential for the Specific Wiring of a Color Pathway in the Mammalian Retina. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.02.13.527055. [PMID: 36909547 PMCID: PMC10002642 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.13.527055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Precise wiring within sensory systems is critical for the accurate transmission of information. In the visual system, S-cone photoreceptors specialize in detecting short-wavelength light, crucial to color perception and environmental cue detection. S-cones form specific synapses with S-cone bipolar cells (SCBCs), a connection that is remarkably consistent across species. Yet, the molecular mechanisms guiding this specificity remain unexplored. To address this, we used the cone-dominant ground squirrel for deep-sequencing of cone subtype transcriptomes and identified Nrxn3 as an essential molecule for the S-cone to SCBC synapse. Using transgenic mouse models, we further examined the role of Nrxn3 in S-cones and discovered a significant reduction of SCBC connections in the absence of Nrxn3. This finding extends the known functions of neurexins, typically associated with synapse regulation, by highlighting their essential role in a specific synaptic connection for the first time. Moreover, the differentially expressed genes identified here pave the way for further investigations into the unique functions of cone subtypes.
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Overs E, Stump S, Severino I, Blumstein DT. A test of the species confidence hypothesis in dusky damselfish. Curr Zool 2024; 70:79-86. [PMID: 38476140 PMCID: PMC10926255 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoac099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Visual cues are important in both interspecific and intraspecific communication. The species confidence hypothesis proposes that animals are more attracted to conspecific colors and repelled by colors, not on their bodies. Studies on terrestrial lizards and birds have tested the species confidence hypothesis and shown that conspecific colors elicit reduced antipredator behavior. To date, the species confidence hypothesis has not been tested in the marine environment, specifically on coral reefs where color communication is of vital importance. We addressed this knowledge gap by measuring flight initiation distance (the distance an individual moves away from an approaching threat) in dusky damselfish (Stegastes nigricans) in response to an approaching disc of 1 of 4 different color treatments: conspecific, blue, yellow, and black. If the species confidence hypothesis explained variation in damselfish flight initiation distance, then we expected individuals to tolerate closer approaches when approached by a conspecific color. In addition, we calculated the color difference between each stimulus and its corresponding background as a potential alternative explanation for flight responses. Damselfish tolerated the closest approach from the conspecific color stimulus; there were no significant differences between other colors and there was no support for the alternative color difference hypothesis. As with similar terrestrial studies, these results are relevant to ecotourists' choice of swimsuit and wetsuit colors because color choice may modify natural antipredator behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elle Overs
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Sydney Stump
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Isabel Severino
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
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Liu GM, Pan Q, Du J, Zhu PF, Liu WQ, Li ZH, Wang L, Hu CY, Dai YC, Zhang XX, Zhang Z, Yu Y, Li M, Wang PC, Wang X, Li M, Zhou XM. Improved mammalian family phylogeny using gap-rare multiple sequence alignment: A timetree of extant placentals and marsupials. Zool Res 2023; 44:1064-1079. [PMID: 37914522 PMCID: PMC10802097 DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The timing of mammalian diversification in relation to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (KPg) mass extinction continues to be a subject of substantial debate. Previous studies have either focused on limited taxonomic samples with available whole-genome data or relied on short sequence alignments coupled with extensive species samples. In the present study, we improved an existing dataset from the landmark study of Meredith et al. (2011) by filling in missing fragments and further generated another dataset containing 120 taxa and 98 exonic markers. Using these two datasets, we then constructed phylogenies for extant mammalian families, providing improved resolution of many conflicting relationships. Moreover, the timetrees generated, which were calibrated using appropriate molecular clock models and multiple fossil records, indicated that the interordinal diversification of placental mammals initiated before the Late Cretaceous period. Additionally, intraordinal diversification of both extant placental and marsupial lineages accelerated after the KPg boundary, supporting the hypothesis that the availability of numerous vacant ecological niches subsequent to the mass extinction event facilitated rapid diversification. Thus, our results support a scenario of placental radiation characterized by both basal cladogenesis and active interordinal divergences spanning from the Late Cretaceous into the Paleogene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gao-Ming Liu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Qi Pan
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Juan Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ping-Fen Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Wei-Qiang Liu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zi-Hao Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Ling Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Chun-Yan Hu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yi-Chen Dai
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiao-Xiao Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Zhan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Yang Yu
- School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
| | - Meng Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Peng-Cheng Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | - Xiao Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Ming Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xu-Ming Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. E-mail:
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4
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Foley NM, Mason VC, Harris AJ, Bredemeyer KR, Damas J, Lewin HA, Eizirik E, Gatesy J, Karlsson EK, Lindblad-Toh K, Springer MS, Murphy WJ, Andrews G, Armstrong JC, Bianchi M, Birren BW, Bredemeyer KR, Breit AM, Christmas MJ, Clawson H, Damas J, Di Palma F, Diekhans M, Dong MX, Eizirik E, Fan K, Fanter C, Foley NM, Forsberg-Nilsson K, Garcia CJ, Gatesy J, Gazal S, Genereux DP, Goodman L, Grimshaw J, Halsey MK, Harris AJ, Hickey G, Hiller M, Hindle AG, Hubley RM, Hughes GM, Johnson J, Juan D, Kaplow IM, Karlsson EK, Keough KC, Kirilenko B, Koepfli KP, Korstian JM, Kowalczyk A, Kozyrev SV, Lawler AJ, Lawless C, Lehmann T, Levesque DL, Lewin HA, Li X, Lind A, Lindblad-Toh K, Mackay-Smith A, Marinescu VD, Marques-Bonet T, Mason VC, Meadows JRS, Meyer WK, Moore JE, Moreira LR, Moreno-Santillan DD, Morrill KM, Muntané G, Murphy WJ, Navarro A, Nweeia M, Ortmann S, Osmanski A, Paten B, Paulat NS, Pfenning AR, Phan BN, Pollard KS, Pratt HE, Ray DA, Reilly SK, Rosen JR, Ruf I, Ryan L, Ryder OA, Sabeti PC, Schäffer DE, Serres A, Shapiro B, Smit AFA, Springer M, Srinivasan C, Steiner C, Storer JM, Sullivan KAM, Sullivan PF, Sundström E, Supple MA, Swofford R, Talbot JE, Teeling E, Turner-Maier J, Valenzuela A, Wagner F, Wallerman O, Wang C, Wang J, Weng Z, Wilder AP, Wirthlin ME, Xue JR, Zhang X. A genomic timescale for placental mammal evolution. Science 2023; 380:eabl8189. [PMID: 37104581 DOI: 10.1126/science.abl8189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
The precise pattern and timing of speciation events that gave rise to all living placental mammals remain controversial. We provide a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of genetic variation across an alignment of 241 placental mammal genome assemblies, addressing prior concerns regarding limited genomic sampling across species. We compared neutral genome-wide phylogenomic signals using concatenation and coalescent-based approaches, interrogated phylogenetic variation across chromosomes, and analyzed extensive catalogs of structural variants. Interordinal relationships exhibit relatively low rates of phylogenomic conflict across diverse datasets and analytical methods. Conversely, X-chromosome versus autosome conflicts characterize multiple independent clades that radiated during the Cenozoic. Genomic time trees reveal an accumulation of cladogenic events before and immediately after the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, implying important roles for Cretaceous continental vicariance and the K-Pg extinction in the placental radiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole M Foley
- Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Victor C Mason
- Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Andrew J Harris
- Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Kevin R Bredemeyer
- Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Joana Damas
- The Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Harris A Lewin
- The Genome Center, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Eduardo Eizirik
- School of Health and Life Sciences, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Elinor K Karlsson
- Program in Bioinformatics and Integrative Biology, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachussetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Kerstin Lindblad-Toh
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, 751 32 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mark S Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - William J Murphy
- Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
- Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics and Genomics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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Guo J, Chi H, Zhang L, Song S, Rossiter SJ, Liu Y. Convergent evolutionary shifts in rhodopsin retinal release explain shared opsin repertoires in monotremes and crocodilians. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230530. [PMID: 37040807 PMCID: PMC10089720 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The visual ecology of early mammals remains poorly resolved. Studies of ancestral photopigments suggest an ancient transition from nocturnal to more crepuscular conditions. By contrast, the phenotypic shifts following the split of monotremes and therians-which lost their SWS1 and SWS2 opsins, respectively-are less clear. To address this, we obtained new phenotypic data on the photopigments of extant and ancestral monotremes. We then generated functional data for another vertebrate group that shares the same photopigment repertoire as monotremes: the crocodilians. By characterizing resurrected ancient pigments, we show that the ancestral monotreme underwent a dramatic acceleration in its rhodopsin retinal release rate. Moreover, this change was likely mediated by three residue replacements, two of which also arose on the ancestral branch of crocodilians, which exhibit similarly accelerated retinal release. Despite this parallelism in retinal release, we detected minimal to moderate changes in the spectral tuning of cone visual pigments in these groups. Our results imply that ancestral forms of monotremes and crocodilians independently underwent niche expansion to encompass quickly changing light conditions. This scenario-which accords with reported crepuscular activity in extant monotremes-may help account for their loss of the ultraviolet-sensitive SWS1 pigment but retention of the blue-sensitive SWS2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinqu Guo
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, People's Republic of China
| | - Hai Chi
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, People's Republic of China
| | - Linghan Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, People's Republic of China
| | - Shengjing Song
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, People's Republic of China
| | - Stephen J Rossiter
- School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Yang Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, People's Republic of China
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Tian R, Guo H, Jin Z, Zhang F, Zhao J, Seim I. Molecular evolution of vision-related genes may contribute to marsupial photic niche adaptations. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.982073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Vision plays an essential role in the life of many animals. While most mammals are night-active (nocturnal), many have adapted to novel light environments. This includes diurnal (day-active) and crepuscular (twilight-active) species. Here, we used integrative approaches to investigate the molecular evolution of 112 vision-related genes across 19 genomes representing most marsupial orders. We found that four genes (GUCA1B, GUCY2F, RGR, and SWS2) involved in retinal phototransduction likely became functionally redundant in the ancestor of marsupials, a group of largely obligate nocturnal mammals. We also show evidence of rapid evolution and positive selection of bright-light vision genes in the common ancestor of Macropus (kangaroos, wallaroos, and wallabies). Macropus-specific amino acid substitutions in opsin genes (LWS and SWS1), in particular, may be an adaptation for crepuscular vision in this genus via opsin spectral sensitivity tuning. Our study set the stage for functional genetics studies and provides a stepping stone to future research efforts that fully capture the visual repertoire of marsupials.
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Doronina L, Hughes GM, Moreno-Santillan D, Lawless C, Lonergan T, Ryan L, Jebb D, Kirilenko BM, Korstian JM, Dávalos LM, Vernes SC, Myers EW, Teeling EC, Hiller M, Jermiin LS, Schmitz J, Springer MS, Ray DA. Contradictory Phylogenetic Signals in the Laurasiatheria Anomaly Zone. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:766. [PMID: 35627151 PMCID: PMC9141728 DOI: 10.3390/genes13050766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Relationships among laurasiatherian clades represent one of the most highly disputed topics in mammalian phylogeny. In this study, we attempt to disentangle laurasiatherian interordinal relationships using two independent genome-level approaches: (1) quantifying retrotransposon presence/absence patterns, and (2) comparisons of exon datasets at the levels of nucleotides and amino acids. The two approaches revealed contradictory phylogenetic signals, possibly due to a high level of ancestral incomplete lineage sorting. The positions of Eulipotyphla and Chiroptera as the first and second earliest divergences were consistent across the approaches. However, the phylogenetic relationships of Perissodactyla, Cetartiodactyla, and Ferae, were contradictory. While retrotransposon insertion analyses suggest a clade with Cetartiodactyla and Ferae, the exon dataset favoured Cetartiodactyla and Perissodactyla. Future analyses of hitherto unsampled laurasiatherian lineages and synergistic analyses of retrotransposon insertions, exon and conserved intron/intergenic sequences might unravel the conflicting patterns of relationships in this major mammalian clade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liliya Doronina
- Institute of Experimental Pathology, ZMBE, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany;
| | - Graham M. Hughes
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland; (C.L.); (T.L.); (L.R.); (E.C.T.); (L.S.J.)
| | - Diana Moreno-Santillan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA; (D.M.-S.); (J.M.K.)
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 92697, USA
| | - Colleen Lawless
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland; (C.L.); (T.L.); (L.R.); (E.C.T.); (L.S.J.)
| | - Tadhg Lonergan
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland; (C.L.); (T.L.); (L.R.); (E.C.T.); (L.S.J.)
| | - Louise Ryan
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland; (C.L.); (T.L.); (L.R.); (E.C.T.); (L.S.J.)
| | - David Jebb
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (D.J.); (E.W.M.)
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, 01187 Dresden, Germany
- Center for Systems Biology Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Bogdan M. Kirilenko
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany; (B.M.K.); (M.H.)
- Senckenberg Research Institute, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Goethe-University, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jennifer M. Korstian
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA; (D.M.-S.); (J.M.K.)
| | - Liliana M. Dávalos
- Department of Ecology and Evolution and Consortium for Inter—Disciplinary Environmental Research, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA;
| | - Sonja C. Vernes
- School of Biology, The University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9ST, UK;
- Neurogenetics of Vocal Communication Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 6525 Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Eugene W. Myers
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, 01307 Dresden, Germany; (D.J.); (E.W.M.)
- Faculty of Computer Science, Technical University Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | - Emma C. Teeling
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland; (C.L.); (T.L.); (L.R.); (E.C.T.); (L.S.J.)
| | - Michael Hiller
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany; (B.M.K.); (M.H.)
- Senckenberg Research Institute, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany
- Faculty of Biosciences, Goethe-University, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Lars S. Jermiin
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland; (C.L.); (T.L.); (L.R.); (E.C.T.); (L.S.J.)
- Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- Earth Institute, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
| | - Jürgen Schmitz
- Institute of Experimental Pathology, ZMBE, University of Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany;
| | - Mark S. Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA;
| | - David A. Ray
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA; (D.M.-S.); (J.M.K.)
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Hu W, Mu Y, Lin F, Li X, Zhang J. New Insight Into Visual Adaptation in the Mudskipper Cornea: From Morphology to the Cornea-Related COL8A2 Gene. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.871370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Much research has focused on visual system evolution in bony fishes. The capacity of visual systems to perceive and respond to external signals is integral to evolutionary success. However, integrated research on the mechanisms of adaptive evolution based on corneal structure and related genes remains limited. In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to assess the microstructure and adaptation of corneal epithelial cells. Then, the evolution of the cornea-related COL8A2 gene was investigated. We found various projections (microridges, microplicae, microholes, and microvilli) on the corneal epithelial cells of amphibious mudskippers. Compared with those of fully aquatic fishes, these microstructures were considered adaptations to the variable environments experienced by amphibious mudskippers, as they can resist dryness in terrestrial environments and infection in aquatic environments. Moreover, strong purifying selection was detected for COL8A2. In addition, some specific amino acid substitution sites were also identified in the COL8A2 sequence in mudskippers. Interestingly, the evolutionary rate of the COL8A2 gene was significantly and positively correlated with maximum diving depth in our dataset. Specifically, with increasing diving depth, the evolutionary rate of the COL8A2 gene seemed to gradually accelerate. The results indicated that the cornea of bony fishes has evolved through adaptation to cope with the different diving depths encountered during the evolutionary process, with the corneal evolution of the amphibious mudskipper group showing a unique pattern.
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Emerling CA, Springer MS, Gatesy J, Jones Z, Hamilton D, Xia-Zhu D, Collin M, Delsuc F. Genomic evidence for the parallel regression of melatonin synthesis and signaling pathways in placental mammals. OPEN RESEARCH EUROPE 2021; 1:75. [PMID: 35967080 PMCID: PMC7613276 DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.13795.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Background: The study of regressive evolution has yielded a wealth of examples where the underlying genes bear molecular signatures of trait degradation, such as pseudogenization or deletion. Typically, it appears that such disrupted genes are limited to the function of the regressed trait, whereas pleiotropic genes tend to be maintained by natural selection to support their myriad purposes. One such set of pleiotropic genes is involved in the synthesis ( AANAT, ASMT) and signaling ( MTNR1A, MTNR1B) of melatonin, a hormone secreted by the vertebrate pineal gland. Melatonin provides a signal of environmental darkness, thereby influencing the circadian and circannual rhythmicity of numerous physiological traits. Therefore, the complete loss of a pineal gland and the underlying melatonin pathway genes seems likely to be maladaptive, unless compensated by extrapineal sources of melatonin. Methods: We examined AANAT, ASMT, MTNR1A and MTNR1B in 123 vertebrate species, including pineal-less placental mammals and crocodylians. We searched for inactivating mutations and modelled selective pressures (dN/dS) to test whether the genes remain functionally intact. Results: We report that crocodylians retain intact melatonin genes and express AANAT and ASMT in their eyes, whereas all four genes have been repeatedly inactivated in the pineal-less xenarthrans, pangolins, sirenians, and whales. Furthermore, colugos have lost these genes, and several lineages of subterranean mammals have partial melatonin pathway dysfunction. These results are supported by the presence of shared inactivating mutations across clades and analyses of selection pressure based on the ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous substitutions (dN/dS), suggesting extended periods of relaxed selection on these genes. Conclusions: The losses of melatonin synthesis and signaling date to tens of millions of years ago in several lineages of placental mammals, raising questions about the evolutionary resilience of pleiotropic genes, and the causes and consequences of losing melatonin pathways in these species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A. Emerling
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
- Biology Department, Reedley College, Reedley, CA, 93654, USA
| | - Mark S. Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA
| | - Zachary Jones
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Deana Hamilton
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - David Xia-Zhu
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Matt Collin
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Frédéric Delsuc
- Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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10
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Xia Y, Cui Y, Wang A, Liu F, Chi H, Potter JHT, Williamson J, Chen X, Rossiter SJ, Liu Y. Convergent Phenotypic Evolution of Rhodopsin for Dim-Light Sensing across Deep-Diving Vertebrates. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:5726-5734. [PMID: 34463769 PMCID: PMC8662592 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhodopsin comprises an opsin attached to a retinal chromophore and is the only visual pigment conferring dim-light vision in vertebrates. On activation by photons, the retinal group becomes detached from the opsin, which is then inactive until it is recharged. Of all vertebrate species, those that dive face unique visual challenges, experiencing rapid decreases in light level and hunting in near darkness. Here, we combine sequence analyses with functional assays to show that the rhodopsin pigments of four divergent lineages of deep-diving vertebrates have undergone convergent increases in their retinal release rate. We compare gene sequences and detect parallel amino acids between penguins and diving mammals and perform mutagenesis to show that a single critical residue fully explains the observed increases in retinal release rate in both the emperor penguin and beaked whale. At the same time, we find that other shared sites have no significant effect on retinal release, implying that convergence does not always signify adaptive significance. We propose that accelerated retinal release confers rapid rhodopsin recharging, enabling the visual systems of diving species to adjust quickly to changing light levels as they descend through the water column. This contrasts with nocturnal species, where adaptation to darkness has been attributed to slower retinal release rates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Xia
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China.,College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Yimeng Cui
- College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | | | - Fangnan Liu
- College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Hai Chi
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Joshua H T Potter
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Joseph Williamson
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Stephen J Rossiter
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Yang Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China.,Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Liaoning Province, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
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11
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Brady PL, Springer MS. The effects of fossil taxa, hypothetical predicted ancestors, and a molecular scaffold on pseudoextinction analyses of extant placental orders. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257338. [PMID: 34534236 PMCID: PMC8448315 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Pseudoextinction analyses, which simulate extinction in extant taxa, use molecular phylogenetics to assess the accuracy of morphological phylogenetics. Previous pseudoextinction analyses have shown a failure of morphological phylogenetics to place some individual placental orders in the correct superordinal clade. Recent work suggests that the inclusion of hypothetical ancestors of extant placental clades, estimated by ancestral state reconstructions of morphological characters, may increase the accuracy of morphological phylogenetic analyses. However, these studies reconstructed direct hypothetical ancestors for each extant taxon based on a well-corroborated molecular phylogeny, which is not possible for extinct taxa that lack molecular data. It remains to be determined if pseudoextinct taxa, and by proxy extinct taxa, can be accurately placed when their immediate hypothetical ancestors are unknown. To investigate this, we employed molecular scaffolds with the largest available morphological data set for placental mammals. Each placental order was sequentially treated as pseudoextinct by exempting it from the molecular scaffold and recoding soft morphological characters as missing for all its constituent species. For each pseudoextinct data set, we omitted the pseudoextinct taxon and performed a parsimony ancestral state reconstruction to obtain hypothetical predicted ancestors. Each pseudoextinct order was then evaluated in seven parsimony analyses that employed combinations of fossil taxa, hypothetical predicted ancestors, and a molecular scaffold. In treatments that included fossils, hypothetical predicted ancestors, and a molecular scaffold, only 8 of 19 pseudoextinct placental orders (42%) retained the same interordinal placement as on the molecular scaffold. In treatments that included hypothetical predicted ancestors but not fossils or a scaffold, only four placental orders (21%) were recovered in positions that are congruent with the scaffold. These results indicate that hypothetical predicted ancestors do not increase the accuracy of pseudoextinct taxon placement when the immediate hypothetical ancestor of the taxon is unknown. Hypothetical predicted ancestors are not a panacea for morphological phylogenetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peggy L. Brady
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States of America
| | - Mark S. Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States of America
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12
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Tedore C, Nilsson DE. Ultraviolet vision aids the detection of nutrient-dense non-signaling plant foods. Vision Res 2021; 183:16-29. [PMID: 33639304 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2021.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
To expand our understanding of what tasks are particularly helped by UV vision and may justify the costs of focusing high-energy light onto the retina, we used an avian-vision multispectral camera to image diverse vegetated habitats in search of UV contrasts that differ markedly from visible-light contrasts. One UV contrast that stood out as very different from visible-light contrasts was that of nutrient-dense non-signaling plant foods (such as young leaves and immature fruits) against their natural backgrounds. From our images, we calculated color contrasts between 62+ species of such foods and mature foliage for the two predominant color vision systems of birds, UVS and VS. We also computationally generated images of what a generalized tetrachromat, unfiltered by oil droplets, would see, by developing a new methodology that uses constrained linear least squares to solve for optimal weighted combinations of avian camera filters to mimic new spectral sensitivities. In all visual systems, we found that nutrient-dense non-signaling plant foods presented a lower, often negative figure-ground contrast in the UV channels, and a higher, often positive figure-ground contrast in the visible channels. Although a zero contrast may sound unhelpful, it can actually enhance color contrast when compared in a color opponent system to other channels with nonzero contrasts. Here, low or negative UV contrasts markedly enhanced color contrasts. We propose that plants may struggle to evolve better UV crypsis since UV reflectance from vegetation is largely specular and thus highly dependent on object orientation, shape, and texture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cynthia Tedore
- Lund Vision Group, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 223 62 Lund, Sweden.
| | - Dan-Eric Nilsson
- Lund Vision Group, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
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13
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Mantovani V, Hauzman E, Corredor VH, Goulart PRK, Galvão O, Talebi M, Pessoa DMA, Soares JGM, Fiorani M, Gattass R, Fix Ventura D, Bonci DMO. Genetic variability of the sws1 cone opsin gene among New World monkeys. Am J Primatol 2020; 82:e23199. [PMID: 32990997 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Revised: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Vision is a major sense for Primates and the ability to perceive colors has great importance for the species ecology and behavior. Visual processing begins with the activation of the visual opsins in the retina, and the spectral absorption peaks are highly variable among species. In most Primates, LWS/MWS opsins are responsible for sensitivity to long/middle wavelengths within the visible light spectrum, and SWS1 opsins provide sensitivity to short wavelengths, in the violet region of the spectrum. In this study, we aimed to investigate the genetic variation on the sws1 opsin gene of New World monkeys (NWM) and search for amino acid substitutions that might be associated with the different color vision phenotypes described for a few species. We sequenced the exon 1 of the sws1 opsin gene of seven species from the families Callitrichidae, Cebidae, and Atelidae, and searched for variation at the spectral tuning sites 46, 49, 52, 86, 90, 93, 114, 116, and 118. Among the known spectral tuning sites, only residue 114 was variable. To investigate whether other residues have a functional role in the SWS1 absorption peak, we performed computational modeling of wild-type SWS1 and mutants A50I and A50V, found naturally among the species investigated. Although in silico analysis did not show any visible effect caused by these substitutions, it is possible that interactions of residue 50 with other sites might have some effect in the spectral shifts in the order of ~14 nm, found among the NWM. We also performed phylogenetic reconstruction of the sws1 gene, which partially recovered the species phylogeny. Further studies will be important to uncover the mutations responsible for the phenotypic variability of the SWS1 of NWM, and how spectral tuning may be associated with specific ecological features such as preferred food items and habitat use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viviani Mantovani
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Einat Hauzman
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Vitor H Corredor
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Paulo R K Goulart
- Núcleo de Teoria de Pesquisa do Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Olavo Galvão
- Núcleo de Teoria de Pesquisa do Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Mauricio Talebi
- Departamento de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Diadema, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Daniel M A Pessoa
- Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
| | - Juliana G M Soares
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Mario Fiorani
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ricardo Gattass
- Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Dora Fix Ventura
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Daniela M O Bonci
- Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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14
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Baldwin MW, Ko MC. Functional evolution of vertebrate sensory receptors. Horm Behav 2020; 124:104771. [PMID: 32437717 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104771] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Sensory receptors enable animals to perceive their external world, and functional properties of receptors evolve to detect the specific cues relevant for an organism's survival. Changes in sensory receptor function or tuning can directly impact an organism's behavior. Functional tests of receptors from multiple species and the generation of chimeric receptors between orthologs with different properties allow for the dissection of the molecular basis of receptor function and identification of the key residues that impart functional changes in different species. Knowledge of these functionally important sites facilitates investigation into questions regarding the role of epistasis and the extent of convergence, as well as the timing of sensory shifts relative to other phenotypic changes. However, as receptors can also play roles in non-sensory tissues, and receptor responses can be modulated by numerous other factors including varying expression levels, alternative splicing, and morphological features of the sensory cell, behavioral validation can be instrumental in confirming that responses observed in heterologous systems play a sensory role. Expression profiling of sensory cells and comparative genomics approaches can shed light on cell-type specific modifications and identify other proteins that may affect receptor function and can provide insight into the correlated evolution of complex suites of traits. Here we review the evolutionary history and diversity of functional responses of the major classes of sensory receptors in vertebrates, including opsins, chemosensory receptors, and ion channels involved in temperature-sensing, mechanosensation and electroreception.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Meng-Ching Ko
- Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
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15
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Allen AE, Mouland JW, Rodgers J, Baño-Otálora B, Douglas RH, Jeffery G, Vugler AA, Brown TM, Lucas RJ. Spectral sensitivity of cone vision in the diurnal murid Rhabdomys pumilio. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb215368. [PMID: 32371443 PMCID: PMC7272338 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.215368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
An animal's temporal niche - the time of day at which it is active - is known to drive a variety of adaptations in the visual system. These include variations in the topography, spectral sensitivity and density of retinal photoreceptors, and changes in the eye's gross anatomy and spectral transmission characteristics. We have characterised visual spectral sensitivity in the murid rodent Rhabdomys pumilio (the four-striped grass mouse), which is in the same family as (nocturnal) mice and rats but exhibits a strong diurnal niche. As is common in diurnal species, the R. pumilio lens acts as a long-pass spectral filter, providing limited transmission of light <400 nm. Conversely, we found strong sequence homologies with the R. pumilio SWS and MWS opsins and those of related nocturnal species (mice and rats) whose SWS opsins are maximally sensitive in the near-UV. We continued to assess in vivo spectral sensitivity of cone vision using electroretinography and multi-channel recordings from the visual thalamus. These revealed that responses across the human visible range could be adequately described by those of a single pigment (assumed to be MWS opsin) maximally sensitive at ∼500 nm, but that sensitivity in the near-UV required inclusion of a second pigment whose peak sensitivity lay well into the UV range (λmax<400 nm, probably ∼360 nm). We therefore conclude that, despite the UV-filtering effects of the lens, R. pumilio retains an SWS pigment with a UV-A λmax In effect, this somewhat paradoxical combination of long-pass lens and UV-A λmax results in narrow-band sensitivity for SWS cone pathways in the UV-A range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annette E Allen
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Joshua W Mouland
- Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Jessica Rodgers
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Beatriz Baño-Otálora
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Ronald H Douglas
- Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City, University of London, London, EC1V 0HB, UK
| | - Glen Jeffery
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, EC1V 9EL, UK
| | - Anthony A Vugler
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, EC1V 9EL, UK
| | - Timothy M Brown
- Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Robert J Lucas
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
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16
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Convergent spectral shifts to blue-green vision in mammals extends the known sensitivity of vertebrate M/LWS pigments. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:8303-8305. [PMID: 32241894 PMCID: PMC7165416 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2002235117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Daylight vision in most mammals is mediated predominantly by a middle/long wavelength-sensitive (M/LWS) pigment. Although spectral sensitivity and associated shifts in M/LWS are mainly determined by five critical sites, predicted phenotypic variation is rarely validated, and its ecological significance is unclear. We experimentally determine spectral tuning of M/LWS pigments and show that two highly divergent taxa, the gerbil and the elephant-shrew, have undergone independent dramatic blue-green shifts to 490 nm. By generating mutant proteins, we identify additional critical sites contributing to these shifts. Our results, which extend the known range of spectral tuning of vertebrate M/LWS, provide a compelling case of functional convergence, likely related to parallel adaptive shifts from nocturnal to brighter light conditions in similar habitats.
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17
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Jiao H, Zhang L, Xie HW, Simmons NB, Liu H, Zhao H. Trehalase Gene as a Molecular Signature of Dietary Diversification in Mammals. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 36:2171-2183. [PMID: 31311032 PMCID: PMC6759077 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Diet is a key factor in determining and structuring animal diversity and adaptive radiations. The mammalian fossil record preserves phenotypic evidence of many dietary shifts, whereas genetic changes followed by dietary diversification in mammals remain largely unknown. To test whether living mammals preserve molecular evidence of dietary shifts, we examined the trehalase gene (Treh), which encodes an enzyme capable of digesting trehalose from insect blood, in bats and other mammals with diverse diets. Bats represent the largest dietary radiation among all mammalian orders, with independent origins of frugivory, nectarivory, carnivory, omnivory, and even sanguivory in an otherwise insectivorous clade. We found that Treh has been inactivated in unrelated bat lineages that independently radiated into noninsectivorous niches. Consistently, purifying selection has been markedly relaxed in noninsectivorous bats compared with their insectivorous relatives. Enzymatic assays of intestinal trehalase in bats suggest that trehalase activity tends to be lost or markedly reduced in noninsectivorous bats compared with their insectivorous relatives. Furthermore, our survey of Treh in 119 mammal species, which represent a deeper evolutionary timeframe, additionally identified a number of other independent losses of Treh in noninsectivorous species, recapitulating the evolutionary pattern that we found in bats. These results document a molecular record of dietary diversification in mammals, and suggest that such molecular signatures of dietary shifts would help us understand both historical and modern changes of animal diets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hengwu Jiao
- Department of Ecology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
| | - Libiao Zhang
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Guangdong Institute of Applied Biological Resources, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huan-Wang Xie
- Department of Ecology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Guangdong Institute of Applied Biological Resources, Guangzhou, China
| | - Nancy B Simmons
- Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
| | - Hui Liu
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Guangdong Institute of Applied Biological Resources, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huabin Zhao
- Department of Ecology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
- Corresponding author: E-mail:
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18
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Springer MS, Molloy EK, Sloan DB, Simmons MP, Gatesy J. ILS-Aware Analysis of Low-Homoplasy Retroelement Insertions: Inference of Species Trees and Introgression Using Quartets. J Hered 2019; 111:147-168. [DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esz076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2019] [Accepted: 12/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
DNA sequence alignments have provided the majority of data for inferring phylogenetic relationships with both concatenation and coalescent methods. However, DNA sequences are susceptible to extensive homoplasy, especially for deep divergences in the Tree of Life. Retroelement insertions have emerged as a powerful alternative to sequences for deciphering evolutionary relationships because these data are nearly homoplasy-free. In addition, retroelement insertions satisfy the “no intralocus-recombination” assumption of summary coalescent methods because they are singular events and better approximate neutrality relative to DNA loci commonly sampled in phylogenomic studies. Retroelements have traditionally been analyzed with parsimony, distance, and network methods. Here, we analyze retroelement data sets for vertebrate clades (Placentalia, Laurasiatheria, Balaenopteroidea, Palaeognathae) with 2 ILS-aware methods that operate by extracting, weighting, and then assembling unrooted quartets into a species tree. The first approach constructs a species tree from retroelement bipartitions with ASTRAL, and the second method is based on split-decomposition with parsimony. We also develop a Quartet-Asymmetry test to detect hybridization using retroelements. Both ILS-aware methods recovered the same species-tree topology for each data set. The ASTRAL species trees for Laurasiatheria have consecutive short branch lengths in the anomaly zone whereas Palaeognathae is outside of this zone. For the Balaenopteroidea data set, which includes rorquals (Balaenopteridae) and gray whale (Eschrichtiidae), both ILS-aware methods resolved balaeonopterids as paraphyletic. Application of the Quartet-Asymmetry test to this data set detected 19 different quartets of species for which historical introgression may be inferred. Evidence for introgression was not detected in the other data sets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA
| | - Erin K Molloy
- Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
| | - Daniel B Sloan
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
| | - Mark P Simmons
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
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19
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Springer MS, Foley NM, Brady PL, Gatesy J, Murphy WJ. Evolutionary Models for the Diversification of Placental Mammals Across the KPg Boundary. Front Genet 2019; 10:1241. [PMID: 31850081 PMCID: PMC6896846 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2019.01241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Deciphering the timing of the placental mammal radiation is a longstanding problem in evolutionary biology, but consensus on the tempo and mode of placental diversification remains elusive. Nevertheless, an accurate timetree is essential for understanding the role of important events in Earth history (e.g., Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, KPg mass extinction) in promoting the taxonomic and ecomorphological diversification of Placentalia. Archibald and Deutschman described three competing models for the diversification of placental mammals, which are the Explosive, Long Fuse, and Short Fuse Models. More recently, the Soft Explosive Model and Trans-KPg Model have emerged as additional hypotheses for the placental radiation. Here, we review molecular and paleontological evidence for each of these five models including the identification of general problems that can negatively impact divergence time estimates. The Long Fuse Model has received more support from relaxed clock studies than any of the other models, but this model is not supported by morphological cladistic studies that position Cretaceous eutherians outside of crown Placentalia. At the same time, morphological cladistics has a poor track record of reconstructing higher-level relationships among the orders of placental mammals including the results of new pseudoextinction analyses that we performed on the largest available morphological data set for mammals (4,541 characters). We also examine the strengths and weaknesses of different timetree methods (node dating, tip dating, and fossilized birth-death dating) that may now be applied to estimate the timing of the placental radiation. While new methods such as tip dating are promising, they also have problems that must be addressed if these methods are to effectively discriminate among competing hypotheses for placental diversification. Finally, we discuss the complexities of timetree estimation when the signal of speciation times is impacted by incomplete lineage sorting (ILS) and hybridization. Not accounting for ILS results in dates that are older than speciation events. Hybridization, in turn, can result in dates than are younger or older than speciation dates. Disregarding this potential variation in "gene" history across the genome can distort phylogenetic branch lengths and divergence estimates when multiple unlinked genomic loci are combined together in a timetree analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S. Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - Nicole M. Foley
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
| | - Peggy L. Brady
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, United States
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, United States
| | - William J. Murphy
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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20
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Gutierrez EDA, Schott RK, Preston MW, Loureiro LO, Lim BK, Chang BSW. The role of ecological factors in shaping bat cone opsin evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2835. [PMID: 29618549 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Bats represent one of the largest and most striking nocturnal mammalian radiations, exhibiting many visual system specializations for performance in light-limited environments. Despite representing the greatest ecological diversity and species richness in Chiroptera, Neotropical lineages have been undersampled in molecular studies, limiting the potential for identifying signatures of selection on visual genes associated with differences in bat ecology. Here, we investigated how diverse ecological pressures mediate long-term shifts in selection upon long-wavelength (Lws) and short-wavelength (Sws1) opsins, photosensitive cone pigments that form the basis of colour vision in most mammals, including bats. We used codon-based likelihood clade models to test whether ecological variables associated with reliance on visual information (e.g. echolocation ability and diet) or exposure to varying light environments (e.g. roosting behaviour and foraging habitat) mediated shifts in evolutionary rates in bat cone opsin genes. Using additional cone opsin sequences from newly sequenced eye transcriptomes of six Neotropical bat species, we found significant evidence for different ecological pressures influencing the evolution of the cone opsins. While Lws is evolving under significantly lower constraint in highly specialized high-duty cycle echolocating lineages, which have enhanced sonar ability to detect and track targets, variation in Sws1 constraint was significantly associated with foraging habitat, exhibiting elevated rates of evolution in species that forage among vegetation. This suggests that increased reliance on echolocation as well as the spectral environment experienced by foraging bats may differentially influence the evolution of different cone opsins. Our study demonstrates that different ecological variables may underlie contrasting evolutionary patterns in bat visual opsins, and highlights the suitability of clade models for testing ecological hypotheses of visual evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo de A Gutierrez
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
| | - Ryan K Schott
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
| | - Matthew W Preston
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
| | - Lívia O Loureiro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
| | - Burton K Lim
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C6
| | - Belinda S W Chang
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2 .,Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2.,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G5
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21
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Liu Y, Chi H, Li L, Rossiter SJ, Zhang S. Molecular Data Support an Early Shift to an Intermediate-Light Niche in the Evolution of Mammals. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 35:1130-1134. [PMID: 29462332 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The visual ability and associated photic niche of early mammals is debated. The theory that ancestral mammals were nocturnal is supported by diverse adaptations. However, others argue that photopigment repertoires of early mammals are more consistent with a crepuscular niche, and support for this also comes from inferred spectral tuning of middle/long wavelength-sensitive (M/LWS) opsin sequences. Functional studies have suggested that the M/LWS pigment in the ancestor of Mammalia was either red- or green-sensitive; however, these were based on outdated phylogenies with key lineages omitted. By performing the most detailed study to date of middle/long-wave mammalian color vision, we provide the first experimental evidence that the M/LWS pigment of amniotes underwent a 9-nm spectral shift towards shorter wavelengths in the Mammalia ancestor, exceeding predictions from known critical sites. Our results suggest early mammals were yellow-sensitive, possibly representing an adaptive trade-off for both crepuscular (twilight) and nocturnal (moonlight) niches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Liu
- Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Liaoning Province, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Hai Chi
- Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Liaoning Province, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Longfei Li
- Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Liaoning Province, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Stephen J Rossiter
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Shuyi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Liaoning Province, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
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22
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Emerling CA. Regressed but Not Gone: Patterns of Vision Gene Loss and Retention in Subterranean Mammals. Integr Comp Biol 2019; 58:441-451. [PMID: 29697812 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icy004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Regressive evolution involves the degradation of formerly useful traits as organisms invade novel ecological niches. In animals, committing to a strict subterranean habit can lead to regression of the eyes, likely due to a limited exposure to light. Several lineages of subterranean mammals show evidence of such degeneration, which can include decreased organization of the retina, malformation of the lens, and subcutaneous positioning of the eye. Advances in DNA sequencing have revealed that this regression co-occurs with a degradation of genomic loci encoding visual functions, including protein-coding genes. Other dim light-adapted vertebrates with normal ocular anatomy, such as nocturnal and aquatic species, also demonstrate evidence of visual gene loss, but the absence of comparative studies has led to the untested assumption that subterranean mammals are special in the degree of this genomic regression. Additionally, previous studies have shown that not all vision genes have been lost in subterranean mammals, but it is unclear whether they are under relaxed selection and will ultimately be lost, are maintained due to pleiotropy or if natural selection is favoring the retention of the eye and certain critical underlying loci. Here I report that vision gene loss in subterranean mammals tends to be more extensive in quantity and differs in distribution from other dim light-adapted mammals, although some committed subterranean mammals demonstrate significant overlap with nocturnal microphthalmic species. In addition, blind subterranean mammals retain functional orthologs of non-pleiotropic visual genes that are evolving at rates consistent with purifying selection. Together, these results suggest that although living underground tends to lead to major losses of visual functions, natural selection is maintaining genes that support the eye, perhaps as an organ for circadian and/or circannual entrainment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Emerling
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, 34090 Montpellier, France
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23
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Springer MS, Emerling CA, Gatesy J, Randall J, Collin MA, Hecker N, Hiller M, Delsuc F. Odontogenic ameloblast-associated (ODAM) is inactivated in toothless/enamelless placental mammals and toothed whales. BMC Evol Biol 2019; 19:31. [PMID: 30674270 PMCID: PMC6343362 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-019-1359-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The gene for odontogenic ameloblast-associated (ODAM) is a member of the secretory calcium-binding phosphoprotein gene family. ODAM is primarily expressed in dental tissues including the enamel organ and the junctional epithelium, and may also have pleiotropic functions that are unrelated to teeth. Here, we leverage the power of natural selection to test competing hypotheses that ODAM is tooth-specific versus pleiotropic. Specifically, we compiled and screened complete protein-coding sequences, plus sequences for flanking intronic regions, for ODAM in 165 placental mammals to determine if this gene contains inactivating mutations in lineages that either lack teeth (baleen whales, pangolins, anteaters) or lack enamel on their teeth (aardvarks, sloths, armadillos), as would be expected if the only essential functions of ODAM are related to tooth development and the adhesion of the gingival junctional epithelium to the enamel tooth surface. Results We discovered inactivating mutations in all species of placental mammals that either lack teeth or lack enamel on their teeth. A surprising result is that ODAM is also inactivated in a few additional lineages including all toothed whales that were examined. We hypothesize that ODAM inactivation is related to the simplified outer enamel surface of toothed whales. An alternate hypothesis is that ODAM inactivation in toothed whales may be related to altered antimicrobial functions of the junctional epithelium in aquatic habitats. Selection analyses on ODAM sequences revealed that the composite dN/dS value for pseudogenic branches is close to 1.0 as expected for a neutrally evolving pseudogene. DN/dS values on transitional branches were used to estimate ODAM inactivation times. In the case of pangolins, ODAM was inactivated ~ 65 million years ago, which is older than the oldest pangolin fossil (Eomanis, 47 Ma) and suggests an even more ancient loss or simplification of teeth in this lineage. Conclusion Our results validate the hypothesis that the only essential functions of ODAM that are maintained by natural selection are related to tooth development and/or the maintenance of a healthy junctional epithelium that attaches to the enamel surface of teeth. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12862-019-1359-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
| | - Christopher A Emerling
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISEM), CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.,Department of Biology, Whittier College, Whittier, CA, 90602, USA
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA
| | - Jason Randall
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Matthew A Collin
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA
| | - Nikolai Hecker
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany.,Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael Hiller
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden, Germany.,Center for Systems Biology Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Frédéric Delsuc
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISEM), CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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24
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Tedore C, Nilsson DE. Avian UV vision enhances leaf surface contrasts in forest environments. Nat Commun 2019; 10:238. [PMID: 30670700 PMCID: PMC6342963 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08142-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
UV vision is prevalent, but we know little about its utility in common general tasks, as in resolving habitat structure. Here we visualize vegetated habitats using a multispectral camera with channels mimicking bird photoreceptor sensitivities across the UV-visible spectrum. We find that the contrast between upper and lower leaf surfaces is higher in a UV channel than in any visible channel, and that this makes leaf position and orientation stand out clearly. This was unexpected since both leaf surfaces reflect similarly small proportions (1–2%) of incident UV light. The strong UV-contrast can be explained by downwelling light being brighter than upwelling, and leaves transmitting < 0.06% of incident UV light. We also find that mirror-like specular reflections of the sky and overlying canopy, from the waxy leaf cuticle, often dwarf diffuse reflections. Specular reflections shift leaf color, such that maximum leaf-contrast is seen at short UV wavelengths under open canopies, and at long UV wavelengths under closed canopies. The utility of UV vision for visualizing habitat structure is poorly known. Here, the authors use optical models and multispectral imaging to show that UV vision reveals sharp visual contrasts between leaf surfaces, potentially an advantage in navigating forest environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cynthia Tedore
- Lund Vision Group, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, Lund, 223 62, Sweden. .,Zoological Institute, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, Hamburg, 20146, Germany.
| | - Dan-Eric Nilsson
- Lund Vision Group, Lund University, Sölvegatan 35, Lund, 223 62, Sweden
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25
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Simões BF, Foley NM, Hughes GM, Zhao H, Zhang S, Rossiter SJ, Teeling EC. As Blind as a Bat? Opsin Phylogenetics Illuminates the Evolution of Color Vision in Bats. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 36:54-68. [PMID: 30476197 PMCID: PMC6340466 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Through their unique use of sophisticated laryngeal echolocation bats are considered sensory specialists amongst mammals and represent an excellent model in which to explore sensory perception. Although several studies have shown that the evolution of vision is linked to ecological niche adaptation in other mammalian lineages, this has not yet been fully explored in bats. Recent molecular analysis of the opsin genes, which encode the photosensitive pigments underpinning color vision, have implicated high-duty cycle (HDC) echolocation and the adoption of cave roosting habits in the degeneration of color vision in bats. However, insufficient sampling of relevant taxa has hindered definitive testing of these hypotheses. To address this, novel sequence data was generated for the SWS1 and MWS/LWS opsin genes and combined with existing data to comprehensively sample species representing diverse echolocation types and niches (SWS1 n = 115; MWS/LWS n = 45). A combination of phylogenetic analysis, ancestral state reconstruction, and selective pressure analyses were used to reconstruct the evolution of these visual pigments in bats and revealed that although both genes are evolving under purifying selection in bats, MWS/LWS is highly conserved but SWS1 is highly variable. Spectral tuning analyses revealed that MWS/LWS opsin is tuned to a long wavelength, 555-560 nm in the bat ancestor and the majority of extant taxa. The presence of UV vision in bats is supported by our spectral tuning analysis, but phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that the SWS1 opsin gene has undergone pseudogenization in several lineages. We do not find support for a link between the evolution of HDC echolocation and the pseudogenization of the SWS1 gene in bats, instead we show the SWS1 opsin is functional in the HDC echolocator, Pteronotus parnellii. Pseudogenization of the SWS1 is correlated with cave roosting habits in the majority of pteropodid species. Together these results demonstrate that the loss of UV vision in bats is more widespread than was previously considered and further elucidate the role of ecological niche specialization in the evolution of vision in bats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno F Simões
- UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
- School of Earth Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- School of Biological Science, The University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Nicole M Foley
- UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Graham M Hughes
- UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
| | - Huabin Zhao
- Department of Ecology and Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Shuyi Zhang
- College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Stephen J Rossiter
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emma C Teeling
- UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
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26
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Sadier A, Davies KT, Yohe LR, Yun K, Donat P, Hedrick BP, Dumont ER, Dávalos LM, Rossiter SJ, Sears KE. Multifactorial processes underlie parallel opsin loss in neotropical bats. eLife 2018; 7:37412. [PMID: 30560780 PMCID: PMC6333445 DOI: 10.7554/elife.37412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2018] [Accepted: 12/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The loss of previously adaptive traits is typically linked to relaxation in selection, yet the molecular steps leading to such repeated losses are rarely known. Molecular studies of loss have tended to focus on gene sequences alone, but overlooking other aspects of protein expression might underestimate phenotypic diversity. Insights based almost solely on opsin gene evolution, for instance, have made mammalian color vision a textbook example of phenotypic loss. We address this gap by investigating retention and loss of opsin genes, transcripts, and proteins across ecologically diverse noctilionoid bats. We find multiple, independent losses of short-wave-sensitive opsins. Mismatches between putatively functional DNA sequences, mRNA transcripts, and proteins implicate transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes in the ongoing loss of S-opsins in some noctilionoid bats. Our results provide a snapshot of evolution in progress during phenotypic trait loss, and suggest vertebrate visual phenotypes cannot always be predicted from genotypes alone. Bats are famous for using their hearing to explore their environments, yet fewer people are aware that these flying mammals have both good night and daylight vision. Some bats can even see in color thanks to two light-sensitive proteins at the back of their eyes: S-opsin which detects blue and ultraviolet light and L-opsin which detects green and red light. Many species of bat, however, are missing one of these proteins and cannot distinguish any colors; in other words, they are completely color-blind. Some bat species found in Central and South America have independently lost their ability to see blue-ultraviolet light and have thus also lost their color vision. These bats have diverse diets – ranging from insects to fruits and even blood – and being able to distinguish color may offer an advantage in many of their activities, including hunting or foraging. The vision genes in these bats, therefore, give scientists an opportunity to explore how a seemingly important trait can be lost at the molecular level. Sadier, Davies et al. now report that S-opsin has been lost more than a dozen times during the evolutionary history of these Central and South American bats. The analysis used samples from 55 species, including animals caught from the wild and specimens from museums. As with other proteins, the instructions encoded in the gene sequence for S opsin need to be copied into a molecule of RNA before they can be translated into protein. As expected, S-opsin was lost several times because of changes in the gene sequence that disrupted the formation of the protein. However, at several points in these bats’ evolutionary history, additional changes have taken place that affected the production of the RNA or the protein, without an obvious change to the gene itself. This finding suggests that other studies that rely purely on DNA to understand evolution may underestimate how often traits may be lost. By capturing ‘evolution in action’, these results also provide a more complete picture of the molecular targets of evolution in a diverse set of bats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexa Sadier
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
| | - Kalina Tj Davies
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Laurel R Yohe
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, New York, United States.,Geology & Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, United States
| | - Kun Yun
- Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, United States
| | - Paul Donat
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, New York, United States
| | - Brandon P Hedrick
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
| | - Elizabeth R Dumont
- School of Natural Sciences, University of California, Merced, United States
| | - Liliana M Dávalos
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, New York, United States.,Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, New York, United States
| | - Stephen J Rossiter
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Karen E Sears
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
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27
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Retention and losses of ultraviolet-sensitive visual pigments in bats. Sci Rep 2018; 8:11933. [PMID: 30093712 PMCID: PMC6085362 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29646-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Ultraviolet (UV)-sensitive visual pigment and its corresponding ability for UV vision was retained in early mammals from their common ancestry with sauropsids. Subsequently, UV-sensitive pigments, encoded by the short wavelength-sensitive 1 (SWS1) opsin gene, were converted to violet sensitivity or have lost function in multiple lineages during the diversification of mammals. However, many mammalian species, including most bats, are suggested to retain a UV-sensitive pigment. Notably, some cave-dwelling fruit bats and high duty cycle echolocating bats have lost their SWS1 genes, which are proposed to be due to their roosting ecology and as a sensory trade-off between vision and echolocation, respectively. Here, we sequenced SWS1 genes from ecologically diverse bats and found that this gene is also non-functional in both common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) and white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi). Apart from species with pesudogenes, our evolutionary and functional studies demonstrate that the SWS1 pigment of bats are UV-sensitive and well-conserved since their common ancestor, suggesting an important role across major ecological types. Given the constrained function of SWS1 pigments in these bats, why some other species, such as vampire bats, have lost this gene is even more interesting and needs further investigation.
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28
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Phillips MJ, Fruciano C. The soft explosive model of placental mammal evolution. BMC Evol Biol 2018; 18:104. [PMID: 29969980 PMCID: PMC6029115 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-018-1218-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2017] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent molecular dating estimates for placental mammals echo fossil inferences for an explosive interordinal diversification, but typically place this event some 10-20 million years earlier than the Paleocene fossils, among apparently more "primitive" mammal faunas. RESULTS However, current models of molecular evolution do not adequately account for parallel rate changes, and result in dramatic divergence underestimates for large, long-lived mammals such as whales and hominids. Calibrating among these taxa shifts the rate model errors deeper in the tree, inflating interordinal divergence estimates. We employ simulations based on empirical rate variation, which show that this "error-shift inflation" can explain previous molecular dating overestimates relative to fossil inferences. Molecular dating accuracy is substantially improved in the simulations by focusing on calibrations for taxa that retain plesiomorphic life-history characteristics. Applying this strategy to the empirical data favours the soft explosive model of placental evolution, in line with traditional palaeontological interpretations - a few Cretaceous placental lineages give rise to a rapid interordinal diversification following the 66 Ma Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary mass extinction. CONCLUSIONS Our soft explosive model for the diversification of placental mammals brings into agreement previously incongruous molecular, fossil, and ancestral life history estimates, and closely aligns with a growing consensus for a similar model for bird evolution. We show that recent criticism of the soft explosive model relies on ignoring both experimental controls and statistical confidence, as well as misrepresentation, and inconsistent interpretations of morphological phylogeny. More generally, we suggest that the evolutionary properties of adaptive radiations may leave current molecular dating methods susceptible to overestimating the timing of major diversification events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Phillips
- School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Carmelo Fruciano
- School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
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29
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Emerling CA, Delsuc F, Nachman MW. Chitinase genes ( CHIAs) provide genomic footprints of a post-Cretaceous dietary radiation in placental mammals. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaar6478. [PMID: 29774238 PMCID: PMC5955627 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aar6478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2017] [Accepted: 03/30/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The end-Cretaceous extinction led to a massive faunal turnover, with placental mammals radiating in the wake of nonavian dinosaurs. Fossils indicate that Cretaceous stem placentals were generally insectivorous, whereas their earliest Cenozoic descendants occupied a variety of dietary niches. It is hypothesized that this dietary radiation resulted from the opening of niche space, following the extinction of dinosaurian carnivores and herbivores. We provide the first genomic evidence for the occurrence and timing of this dietary radiation in placental mammals. By comparing the genomes of 107 placental mammals, we robustly infer that chitinase genes (CHIAs), encoding enzymes capable of digesting insect exoskeletal chitin, were present as five functional copies in the ancestor of all placental mammals, and the number of functional CHIAs in the genomes of extant species positively correlates with the percentage of invertebrates in their diets. The diverse repertoire of CHIAs in early placental mammals corroborates fossil evidence of insectivory in Cretaceous eutherians, with descendant lineages repeatedly losing CHIAs beginning at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary as they radiated into noninsectivorous niches. Furthermore, the timing of gene loss suggests that interordinal diversification of placental mammals in the Cretaceous predates the dietary radiation in the early Cenozoic, helping to reconcile a long-standing debate between molecular timetrees and the fossil record. Our results demonstrate that placental mammal genomes, including humans, retain a molecular record of the post-K/Pg placental adaptive radiation in the form of numerous chitinase pseudogenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A. Emerling
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
- Corresponding author.
| | - Frédéric Delsuc
- Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Michael W. Nachman
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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30
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Borges R, Johnson WE, O'Brien SJ, Gomes C, Heesy CP, Antunes A. Adaptive genomic evolution of opsins reveals that early mammals flourished in nocturnal environments. BMC Genomics 2018; 19:121. [PMID: 29402215 PMCID: PMC5800076 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-017-4417-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Based on evolutionary patterns of the vertebrate eye, Walls (1942) hypothesized that early placental mammals evolved primarily in nocturnal habitats. However, not only Eutheria, but all mammals show photic characteristics (i.e. dichromatic vision, rod-dominated retina) suggestive of a scotopic eye design. RESULTS Here, we used integrative comparative genomic and phylogenetic methodologies employing the photoreceptive opsin gene family in 154 mammals to test the likelihood of a nocturnal period in the emergence of all mammals. We showed that mammals possess genomic patterns concordant with a nocturnal ancestry. The loss of the RH2, VA, PARA, PARIE and OPN4x opsins in all mammals led us to advance a probable and most-parsimonious hypothesis of a global nocturnal bottleneck that explains the loss of these genes in the emerging lineage (> > 215.5 million years ago). In addition, ancestral character reconstruction analyses provided strong evidence that ancestral mammals possessed a nocturnal lifestyle, ultra-violet-sensitive vision, low visual acuity and low orbit convergence (i.e. panoramic vision). CONCLUSIONS Overall, this study provides insight into the evolutionary history of the mammalian eye while discussing important ecological aspects of the photic paleo-environments ancestral mammals have occupied.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Borges
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos, s/n, 4450-208, Porto, Portugal
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal
| | - Warren E Johnson
- Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA
| | - Stephen J O'Brien
- Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia, 199004
- Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, 8000, North Ocean Drive, Ft Lauderdale, 33004, Florida, USA
| | - Cidália Gomes
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos, s/n, 4450-208, Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS, Institute of the Biomedical Sciences of Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313, Porto, Portugal
| | - Christopher P Heesy
- Department of Anatomy, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N. 59th avenue, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Agostinho Antunes
- CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos, s/n, 4450-208, Porto, Portugal.
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.
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31
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Springer MS, Murphy WJ, Roca AL. Appropriate fossil calibrations and tree constraints uphold the Mesozoic divergence of solenodons from other extant mammals. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2018; 121:158-165. [PMID: 29331683 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2017] [Revised: 12/27/2017] [Accepted: 01/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The mammalian order Eulipotyphla includes four extant families of insectivorans: Solenodontidae (solenodons); Talpidae (moles); Soricidae (shrews); and Erinaceidae (hedgehogs). Of these, Solenodontidae includes only two extant species, which are endemic to the largest islands of the Greater Antilles: Cuba and Hispaniola. Most molecular studies suggest that eulipotyphlan families diverged from each other across several million years, with the basal split between Solenodontidae and other families occurring in the Late Cretaceous. By contrast, Sato et al. (2016) suggest that eulipotyphlan families diverged from each other in a polytomy ∼58.6 million years ago (Mya). This more recent divergence estimate for Solenodontidae versus other extant eulipotyphlans suggests that solenodons must have arrived in the Greater Antilles via overwater dispersal rather than vicariance. Here, we show that the young timetree estimates for eulipotyphlan families and the polytomy are due to an inverted ingroup-outgroup arrangement of the tree, the result of using Tracer rather than TreeAnnotator to compile interfamilial divergence times, and of not enforcing the monophly of well-established clades such as Laurasiatheria and Eulipotyphla. Finally, Sato et al.'s (2016) timetree includes several zombie lineages where estimated divergence times are much younger than minimum ages that are implied by the fossil record. We reanalyzed Sato et al.'s (2016) original data with enforced monophyly for well-established clades and updated fossil calibrations that eliminate the inference of zombie lineages. Our resulting timetrees, which were compiled with TreeAnnotator rather than Tracer, produce dates that are in good agreement with other recent studies and place the basal split between Solenodontidae and other eulipotyphlans in the Late Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
| | - William J Murphy
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Alfred L Roca
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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Springer MS, Gatesy J. Evolution of the MC5R gene in placental mammals with evidence for its inactivation in multiple lineages that lack sebaceous glands. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2017; 120:364-374. [PMID: 29277542 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2017] [Accepted: 12/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
MC5R is one of five melanocortin receptor genes found in placental mammals. MC5R plays an important role in energy homeostasis and is also expressed in the terminal differentiation of sebaceous glands. Among placental mammals there are multiple lineages that either lack or have degenerative sebaceous glands including Cetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), Hippopotamidae (hippopotamuses), Sirenia (manatees and dugongs), Proboscidea (elephants), Rhinocerotidae (rhinos), and Heterocephalus glaber (naked mole rat). Given the loss or diminution of sebaceous glands in these taxa, we procured MC5R sequences from publicly available genomes and transcriptomes, supplemented by a newly generated sequence for Choeropsis liberiensis (pygmy hippopotamus), to determine if this gene remains intact or is inactivated in association with loss/reduction of sebaceous glands. Our data set includes complete MC5R sequences for 114 placental mammal species including two individuals of Mammuthus primigenius (woolly mammoth) from Oimyakon and Wrangel Island. Complete loss or inactivation of the MC5R gene occurs in multiple placental lineages that have lost sebaceous glands (Cetacea, West Indian manatee, African elephant, white rhinoceros) or are characterized by unusual skin (pangolins, aardvarks). Both M. primigenius individuals share inactivating mutations with the African elephant even though sebaceous glands have been reported in the former. MC5R remains intact in hippopotamuses and the naked mole rat, although slightly elevated dN/dS ratios in these lineages allow for the possibility that the accumulation of inactivating mutations in MC5R may lag behind the relaxation of purifying selection. For Cetacea and Hippopotamidae, the absence of shared inactivating mutations in two different skin genes (MC5R, PSORS1C2) is consistent with the hypothesis that semi-aquatic lifestyles were acquired independently in these clades following divergence from a common ancestor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA.
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Hauser FE, Ilves KL, Schott RK, Castiglione GM, López-Fernández H, Chang BSW. Accelerated Evolution and Functional Divergence of the Dim Light Visual Pigment Accompanies Cichlid Colonization of Central America. Mol Biol Evol 2017; 34:2650-2664. [PMID: 28957507 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msx192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Cichlids encompass one of the most diverse groups of fishes in South and Central America, and show extensive variation in life history, morphology, and colouration. While studies of visual system evolution in cichlids have focussed largely on the African rift lake species flocks, Neotropical cichlids offer a unique opportunity to investigate visual system evolution at broader temporal and geographic scales. South American cichlid colonization of Central America has likely promoted accelerated rates of morphological evolution in Central American lineages as they encountered reduced competition, renewed ecological opportunity, and novel aquatic habitats. To investigate whether such transitions have influenced molecular evolution of vision in Central American cichlids, we sequenced the dim-light rhodopsin gene in 101 Neotropical cichlid species, spanning the diversity of the clade. We find strong evidence for increased rates of evolution in Central American cichlid rhodopsin relative to South American lineages, and identify several sites under positive selection in rhodopsin that likely contribute to adaptation to different photic environments. We expressed a Neotropical cichlid rhodopsin protein invitro for the first time, and found that while its spectral tuning properties were characteristic of typical vertebrate rhodopsin pigments, the rate of decay of its active signalling form was much slower, consistent with dim light adaptation in other vertebrate rhodopsins. Using site-directed mutagenesis combined with spectroscopic assays, we found that a key amino acid substitution present in some Central American cichlids accelerates the rate of decay of active rhodopsin, which may mediate adaptation to clear water habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances E Hauser
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Katriina L Ilves
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Biology, Pace University, New York, NY
| | - Ryan K Schott
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Gianni M Castiglione
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Hernán López-Fernández
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Belinda S W Chang
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Centre for the Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Temporal niche expansion in mammals from a nocturnal ancestor after dinosaur extinction. Nat Ecol Evol 2017; 1:1889-1895. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0366-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Insights into visual pigment adaptation and diversity from model ecological and evolutionary systems. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2017; 47:110-120. [PMID: 29102895 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2017.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2017] [Revised: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 09/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Sensory systems provide valuable insight into the evolution of molecular mechanisms underlying organismal anatomy, physiology, and behaviour. Visual pigments, which mediate the first step in visual transduction, offer a unique window into the relationship between molecular variation and visual performance, and enhance our understanding of how ecology, life history, and physiology may shape genetic variation across a variety of organisms. Here we review recent work investigating vertebrate visual pigments from a number of perspectives. Opsin gene duplication, loss, differential expression, structural variation, and the physiological context in which they operate, have profoundly shaped the visual capabilities of vertebrates adapting to novel environments. We note the importance of conceptual frameworks in investigating visual pigment diversity in vertebrates, highlighting key examples including evolutionary transitions between different photic environments, major shifts in life history evolution and ecology, evolutionary innovations in visual system anatomy and physiology, as well as shifts in visually mediated behaviours and behavioural ecology. We emphasize the utility of studying visual pigment evolution in the context of these different perspectives, and demonstrate how the integrative approaches discussed in this review contribute to a better understanding of the underlying molecular processes mediating adaptation in sensory systems, and the contexts in which they occur.
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Springer MS, Gatesy J. Pinniped Diphyly and Bat Triphyly: More Homology Errors Drive Conflicts in the Mammalian Tree. J Hered 2017; 109:297-307. [DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esx089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 10/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
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Hanna ZR, Henderson JB, Wall JD, Emerling CA, Fuchs J, Runckel C, Mindell DP, Bowie RCK, DeRisi JL, Dumbacher JP. Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) Genome: Divergence with the Barred Owl (Strix varia) and Characterization of Light-Associated Genes. Genome Biol Evol 2017; 9:2522-2545. [PMID: 28992302 PMCID: PMC5629816 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We report here the assembly of a northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) genome. We generated Illumina paired-end sequence data at 90× coverage using nine libraries with insert lengths ranging from ∼250 to 9,600 nt and read lengths from 100 to 375 nt. The genome assembly is comprised of 8,108 scaffolds totaling 1.26 × 109 nt in length with an N50 length of 3.98 × 106 nt. We calculated the genome-wide fixation index (FST) of S. o. caurina with the closely related barred owl (Strix varia) as 0.819. We examined 19 genes that encode proteins with light-dependent functions in our genome assembly as well as in that of the barn owl (Tyto alba). We present genomic evidence for loss of three of these in S. o. caurina and four in T. alba. We suggest that most light-associated gene functions have been maintained in owls and their loss has not proceeded to the same extent as in other dim-light-adapted vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary R. Hanna
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
- Department of Ornithology & Mammalogy, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
- Center for Comparative Genomics, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - James B. Henderson
- Department of Ornithology & Mammalogy, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
- Center for Comparative Genomics, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Jeffrey D. Wall
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
- Department of Ornithology & Mammalogy, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
- Center for Comparative Genomics, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Christopher A. Emerling
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Jérôme Fuchs
- Department of Ornithology & Mammalogy, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
- UMR 7205 Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Charles Runckel
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Runckel & Associates, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - David P. Mindell
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Rauri C. K. Bowie
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Joseph L. DeRisi
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - John P. Dumbacher
- Department of Ornithology & Mammalogy, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
- Center for Comparative Genomics, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California, USA
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Genomic evidence reveals a radiation of placental mammals uninterrupted by the KPg boundary. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E7282-E7290. [PMID: 28808022 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1616744114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The timing of the diversification of placental mammals relative to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (KPg) boundary mass extinction remains highly controversial. In particular, there have been seemingly irreconcilable differences in the dating of the early placental radiation not only between fossil-based and molecular datasets but also among molecular datasets. To help resolve this discrepancy, we performed genome-scale analyses using 4,388 loci from 90 taxa, including representatives of all extant placental orders and transcriptome data from flying lemurs (Dermoptera) and pangolins (Pholidota). Depending on the gene partitioning scheme, molecular clock model, and genic deviation from molecular clock assumptions, extensive sensitivity analyses recovered widely varying diversification scenarios for placental mammals from a given gene set, ranging from a deep Cretaceous origin and diversification to a scenario spanning the KPg boundary, suggesting that the use of suboptimal molecular clock markers and methodologies is a major cause of controversies regarding placental diversification timing. We demonstrate that reconciliation between molecular and paleontological estimates of placental divergence times can be achieved using the appropriate clock model and gene partitioning scheme while accounting for the degree to which individual genes violate molecular clock assumptions. A birth-death-shift analysis suggests that placental mammals underwent a continuous radiation across the KPg boundary without apparent interruption by the mass extinction, paralleling a genus-level radiation of multituberculates and ecomorphological diversification of both multituberculates and therians. These findings suggest that the KPg catastrophe evidently played a limited role in placental diversification, which, instead, was likely a delayed response to the slightly earlier radiation of angiosperms.
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Peichl L, Kaiser A, Rakotondraparany F, Dubielzig RR, Goodman SM, Kappeler PM. Diversity of photoreceptor arrangements in nocturnal, cathemeral and diurnal Malagasy lemurs. J Comp Neurol 2017; 527:13-37. [DOI: 10.1002/cne.24167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Revised: 12/29/2016] [Accepted: 12/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leo Peichl
- Max Planck Institute for Brain Research; Max-von-Laue-Straße 4, 60438 Frankfurt am Main Germany
- Ernst Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience; Deutschordenstraße 46, 60528 Frankfurt am Main Germany
- Institute of Cellular and Molecular Anatomy, Dr. Senckenbergische Anatomie, Goethe University Frankfurt; Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main Germany
| | - Alexander Kaiser
- Department Biology II; Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich; Großhaderner Straße 2-4, 82152 Martinsried-Planegg Germany
- Institute of Zoology; University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover; Bünteweg 17, 30559 Hannover Germany
| | - Felix Rakotondraparany
- Département de Zoologie et Biodiversité Animale; Université d’Antananarivo; BP 906, Antananarivo 101 Madagascar
| | - Richard R. Dubielzig
- School of Veterinary Medicine; University of Wisconsin; 2015 Linden Drive Madison Wisconsin 53706
| | - Steven M. Goodman
- The Field Museum of Natural History; 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago Illinois 60605
- Association Vahatra; BP 3972, Antananarivo 101 Madagascar
| | - Peter M. Kappeler
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center; Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen Germany
- Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute of Zoology and Anthropology; University Göttingen; Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen Germany
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Springer MS, Gatesy J. Inactivation of the olfactory marker protein (OMP) gene in river dolphins and other odontocete cetaceans. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2017; 109:375-387. [PMID: 28193458 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2016] [Revised: 01/25/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Various toothed whales (Odontoceti) are unique among mammals in lacking olfactory bulbs as adults and are thought to be anosmic (lacking the olfactory sense). At the molecular level, toothed whales have high percentages of pseudogenic olfactory receptor genes, but species that have been investigated to date retain an intact copy of the olfactory marker protein gene (OMP), which is highly expressed in olfactory receptor neurons and may regulate the temporal resolution of olfactory responses. One hypothesis for the retention of intact OMP in diverse odontocete lineages is that this gene is pleiotropic with additional functions that are unrelated to olfaction. Recent expression studies provide some support for this hypothesis. Here, we report OMP sequences for representatives of all extant cetacean families and provide the first molecular evidence for inactivation of this gene in vertebrates. Specifically, OMP exhibits independent inactivating mutations in six different odontocete lineages: four river dolphin genera (Platanista, Lipotes, Pontoporia, Inia), sperm whale (Physeter), and harbor porpoise (Phocoena). These results suggest that the only essential role of OMP that is maintained by natural selection is in olfaction, although a non-olfactory role for OMP cannot be ruled out for lineages that retain an intact copy of this gene. Available genome sequences from cetaceans and close outgroups provide evidence of inactivating mutations in two additional genes (CNGA2, CNGA4), which imply further pseudogenization events in the olfactory cascade of odontocetes. Selection analyses demonstrate that evolutionary constraints on all three genes (OMP, CNGA2, CNGA4) have been greatly reduced in Odontoceti, but retain a signature of purifying selection on the stem Cetacea branch and in Mysticeti (baleen whales). This pattern is compatible with the 'echolocation-priority' hypothesis for the evolution of OMP, which posits that negative selection was maintained in the common ancestor of Cetacea and was not relaxed significantly until the evolution of echolocation in Odontoceti.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
| | - John Gatesy
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA.
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Springer MS, Emerling CA, Meredith RW, Janečka JE, Eizirik E, Murphy WJ. Waking the undead: Implications of a soft explosive model for the timing of placental mammal diversification. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2016; 106:86-102. [PMID: 27659724 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.09.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2016] [Revised: 09/15/2016] [Accepted: 09/18/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The explosive, long fuse, and short fuse models represent competing hypotheses for the timing of placental mammal diversification. Support for the explosive model, which posits both interordinal and intraordinal diversification after the KPg mass extinction, derives from morphological cladistic studies that place Cretaceous eutherians outside of crown Placentalia. By contrast, most molecular studies favor the long fuse model wherein interordinal cladogenesis occurred in the Cretaceous followed by intraordinal cladogenesis after the KPg boundary. Phillips (2016) proposed a soft explosive model that allows for the emergence of a few lineages (Xenarthra, Afrotheria, Euarchontoglires, Laurasiatheria) in the Cretaceous, but otherwise agrees with the explosive model in positing the majority of interordinal diversification after the KPg mass extinction. Phillips (2016) argues that rate transference errors associated with large body size and long lifespan have inflated previous estimates of interordinal divergence times, and further suggests that most interordinal divergences are positioned after the KPg boundary when rate transference errors are avoided through the elimination of calibrations in large-bodied and/or long lifespan clades. Here, we show that rate transference errors can also occur in the opposite direction and drag forward estimated divergence dates when calibrations in large-bodied/long lifespan clades are omitted. This dragging forward effect results in the occurrence of more than half a billion years of 'zombie lineages' on Phillips' preferred timetree. By contrast with ghost lineages, which are a logical byproduct of an incomplete fossil record, zombie lineages occur when estimated divergence dates are younger than the minimum age of the oldest crown fossils. We also present the results of new timetree analyses that address the rate transference problem highlighted by Phillips (2016) by deleting taxa that exceed thresholds for body size and lifespan. These analyses recover all interordinal divergence times in the Cretaceous and are consistent with the long fuse model of placental diversification. Finally, we outline potential problems with morphological cladistic analyses of higher-level relationships among placental mammals that may account for the perceived discrepancies between molecular and paleontological estimates of placental divergence times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
| | | | - Robert W Meredith
- Department of Biology and Molecular Biology, Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ 07043, USA
| | - Jan E Janečka
- Department of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA
| | - Eduardo Eizirik
- Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS 90619-900, Brazil
| | - William J Murphy
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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Gatesy J, Meredith RW, Janecka JE, Simmons MP, Murphy WJ, Springer MS. Resolution of a concatenation/coalescence kerfuffle: partitioned coalescence support and a robust family‐level tree for Mammalia. Cladistics 2016; 33:295-332. [DOI: 10.1111/cla.12170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- John Gatesy
- Department of Biology University of California Riverside CA 92521 USA
| | - Robert W. Meredith
- Department of Biology and Molecular Biology Montclair State University Montclair NJ 07043 USA
| | - Jan E. Janecka
- Department of Biological Sciences Duquesne University Pittsburgh PA 15282 USA
| | - Mark P. Simmons
- Department of Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins CO 80523 USA
| | - William J. Murphy
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences Texas A&M University College Station TX 77843 USA
| | - Mark S. Springer
- Department of Biology University of California Riverside CA 92521 USA
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Mason VC, Li G, Minx P, Schmitz J, Churakov G, Doronina L, Melin AD, Dominy NJ, Lim NTL, Springer MS, Wilson RK, Warren WC, Helgen KM, Murphy WJ. Genomic analysis reveals hidden biodiversity within colugos, the sister group to primates. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2016; 2:e1600633. [PMID: 27532052 PMCID: PMC4980104 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1600633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2016] [Accepted: 07/13/2016] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Colugos are among the most poorly studied mammals despite their centrality to resolving supraordinal primate relationships. Two described species of these gliding mammals are the sole living members of the order Dermoptera, distributed throughout Southeast Asia. We generated a draft genome sequence for a Sunda colugo and a Philippine colugo reference alignment, and used these to identify colugo-specific genetic changes that were enriched in sensory and musculoskeletal-related genes that likely underlie their nocturnal and gliding adaptations. Phylogenomic analysis and catalogs of rare genomic changes overwhelmingly support the contested hypothesis that colugos are the sister group to primates (Primatomorpha), to the exclusion of treeshrews. We captured ~140 kb of orthologous sequence data from colugo museum specimens sampled across their range and identified large genetic differences between many geographically isolated populations that may result in a >300% increase in the number of recognized colugo species. Our results identify conservation units to mitigate future losses of this enigmatic mammalian order.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor C. Mason
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Gang Li
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Patrick Minx
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA
| | - Jürgen Schmitz
- Institute of Experimental Pathology (ZMBE), University of Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Gennady Churakov
- Institute of Experimental Pathology (ZMBE), University of Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany
- Institute of Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Liliya Doronina
- Institute of Experimental Pathology (ZMBE), University of Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany
| | | | - Nathaniel J. Dominy
- Departments of Anthropology and Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Norman T-L. Lim
- Natural Sciences and Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637616, Singapore
- Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117377 , Singapore
| | - Mark S. Springer
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
| | - Richard K. Wilson
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA
| | - Wesley C. Warren
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108, USA
| | - Kristofer M. Helgen
- Division of Mammals, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - William J. Murphy
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Interdisciplinary Program in Genetics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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Springer MS, Emerling CA, Fugate N, Patel R, Starrett J, Morin PA, Hayashi C, Gatesy J. Inactivation of Cone-Specific Phototransduction Genes in Rod Monochromatic Cetaceans. Front Ecol Evol 2016. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2016.00061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
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Melin AD, Wells K, Moritz GL, Kistler L, Orkin JD, Timm RM, Bernard H, Lakim MB, Perry GH, Kawamura S, Dominy NJ. Euarchontan Opsin Variation Brings New Focus to Primate Origins. Mol Biol Evol 2016; 33:1029-41. [PMID: 26739880 PMCID: PMC4776711 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msv346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Debate on the adaptive origins of primates has long focused on the functional ecology of the primate visual system. For example, it is hypothesized that variable expression of short- (SWS1) and middle-to-long-wavelength sensitive (M/LWS) opsins, which confer color vision, can be used to infer ancestral activity patterns and therefore selective ecological pressures. A problem with this approach is that opsin gene variation is incompletely known in the grandorder Euarchonta, that is, the orders Scandentia (treeshrews), Dermoptera (colugos), and Primates. The ancestral state of primate color vision is therefore uncertain. Here, we report on the genes (OPN1SW and OPN1LW) that encode SWS1 and M/LWS opsins in seven species of treeshrew, including the sole nocturnal scandentian Ptilocercus lowii. In addition, we examined the opsin genes of the Central American woolly opossum (Caluromys derbianus), an enduring ecological analogue in the debate on primate origins. Our results indicate: 1) retention of ultraviolet (UV) visual sensitivity in C. derbianus and a shift from UV to blue spectral sensitivities at the base of Euarchonta; 2) ancient pseudogenization of OPN1SW in the ancestors of P. lowii, but a signature of purifying selection in those of C. derbianus; and, 3) the absence of OPN1LW polymorphism among diurnal treeshrews. These findings suggest functional variation in the color vision of nocturnal mammals and a distinctive visual ecology of early primates, perhaps one that demanded greater spatial resolution under light levels that could support cone-mediated color discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda D Melin
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB
| | - Konstans Wells
- Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Gillian L Moritz
- Department of Biological Sciences, Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University
| | - Logan Kistler
- Departments of Anthropology and Biology, Pennsylvania State University School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Joseph D Orkin
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis
| | - Robert M Timm
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence
| | - Henry Bernard
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
| | - Maklarin B Lakim
- Sabah Parks, Lot 45 & 46 KK Times Square Coastal Highway, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
| | - George H Perry
- Departments of Anthropology and Biology, Pennsylvania State University
| | - Shoji Kawamura
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
| | - Nathaniel J Dominy
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Department of Biological Sciences, Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
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