1
|
Olsen KM, Goad DM, Wright SJ, Dutta ML, Myers SR, Small LL, Li LF. Dual-species origin of an adaptive chemical defense polymorphism. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 232:1477-1487. [PMID: 34320221 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Allopolyploid speciation and chemical defense diversification are two of the most characteristic features of plant evolution; although the former has likely shaped the latter, this has rarely been documented. Here we document allopolyploidy-mediated chemical defense evolution in the origin of cyanogenesis (HCN release upon tissue damage) in white clover (Trifolium repens). We combined linkage mapping of the loci that control cyanogenesis (Ac, controlling production of cyanogenic glucosides; and Li, controlling production of their hydrolyzing enzyme linamarase) with genome sequence comparisons between white clover, a recently evolved allotetraploid, and its diploid progenitors (Trifolium pallescens, Trifolium occidentale). The Ac locus (a three-gene cluster comprising the cyanogenic glucoside pathway) is derived from T. occidentale; it maps to linkage group 2O (occidentale subgenome) and is orthologous to a highly similar cluster in the T. occidentale reference genome. By contrast, Li maps to linkage group 4P (pallescens subgenome), indicating an origin in the other progenitor species. These results indicate that cyanogenesis evolved in white clover as a product of the interspecific hybridization that created the species. This allopolyploidization-derived chemical defense, together with subsequent selection on intraspecific cyanogenesis variation, appears to have contributed to white clover's ecological success as a globally distributed weed species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth M Olsen
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr., St Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - David M Goad
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr., St Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Sara J Wright
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr., St Louis, MO, 63130, USA
- Biological Sciences Department, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA
| | - Maya L Dutta
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr., St Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Samantha R Myers
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr., St Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Linda L Small
- Department of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr., St Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Lin-Feng Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Santangelo JS, Thompson KA, Cohan B, Syed J, Ness RW, Johnson MTJ. Predicting the strength of urban-rural clines in a Mendelian polymorphism along a latitudinal gradient. Evol Lett 2020; 4:212-225. [PMID: 32547782 PMCID: PMC7293085 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Cities are emerging as models for addressing the fundamental question of whether populations evolve in parallel to similar environments. Here, we examine the environmental factors that drive the evolution of parallel urban‐rural clines in a Mendelian trait—the cyanogenic antiherbivore defense of white clover (Trifolium repens). Previous work suggested urban‐rural gradients in frost and snow depth could drive the evolution of reduced hydrogen cyanide (HCN) frequencies in urban populations. Here, we sampled over 700 urban and rural clover populations across 16 cities along a latitudinal transect in eastern North America. In each population, we quantified changes in the frequency of genotypes that produce HCN, and in a subset of the cities we estimated the frequency of the alleles at the two genes (CYP79D15 and Li) that epistatically interact to produce HCN. We then tested the hypothesis that cold climatic conditions are necessary for the evolution of cyanogenesis clines by comparing the strength of clines among cities located along a latitudinal gradient of winter temperature and frost exposure. Overall, half of the cities exhibited urban‐rural clines in the frequency of HCN, whereby urban populations evolved lower HCN frequencies. Clines did not evolve in cities with the lowest temperatures and greatest snowfall, supporting the hypothesis that snow buffers plants against winter frost and constrains the formation of clines. By contrast, the strongest clines occurred in the warmest cities where snow and frost are rare, suggesting that alternative selective agents are maintaining clines in warmer cities. Some clines were driven by evolution at only CYP79D15, consistent with stronger and more consistent selection on this locus than on Li. Together, our results demonstrate that urban environments often select for similar phenotypes, but different selective agents and targets underlie the evolutionary response in different cities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- James S Santangelo
- Department of Biology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada.,Centre for Urban Environments University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto ON M5S 3B2 Canada
| | - Ken A Thompson
- Department of Zoology and Biodiversity Research Centre University of British Columbia Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4 Canada
| | - Beata Cohan
- Department of Biology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada
| | - Jibran Syed
- Department of Biology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada
| | - Rob W Ness
- Department of Biology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada.,Centre for Urban Environments University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto ON M5S 3B2 Canada
| | - Marc T J Johnson
- Department of Biology University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada.,Centre for Urban Environments University of Toronto Mississauga Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Toronto Toronto ON M5S 3B2 Canada
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Olsen KM, Small LL. Micro- and macroevolutionary adaptation through repeated loss of a complete metabolic pathway. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2018; 219:757-766. [PMID: 29708583 DOI: 10.1111/nph.15184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
There is growing evidence for the convergent evolution of physically linked gene clusters encoding chemical defense pathways. Metabolic clusters are proposed to evolve because they ensure co-inheritance of all required genes where the defense is favored, and prevent inheritance of toxic partial pathways where it is not. This hypothesis rests on the assumption that clusters evolve in species where selection favors intraspecific polymorphism for the defense; however, they have not been examined in polymorphic species. We examined metabolic cluster evolution in relation to an adaptive polymorphism for cyanogenic glucoside (CNglc) production in clover. Using 163 accessions, we performed CNglc assays, BAC sequencing, Southern hybridizations and molecular evolutionary analyses. We find that the CNglc pathway forms a 138-kb cluster in white clover, and that the adaptive polymorphism occurs through presence/absence of the complete cluster. Component genes are orthologous to those in the distantly related legume Lotus japonicus. These findings provide empirical support for the co-inheritance hypothesis, and they indicate that adaptive CNglc variation in white clover evolves through recurrent deletions of the entire pathway. They further indicate that the shared ancestor of many important legume crops was likely cyanogenic and that this defense was lost repeatedly over the last 50 Myr.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth M Olsen
- Biology Department, Washington University, Campus Box 1137, St Louis, MO, 63130-4899, USA
| | - Linda L Small
- Biology Department, Washington University, Campus Box 1137, St Louis, MO, 63130-4899, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Zagrobelny M, de Castro ÉCP, Møller BL, Bak S. Cyanogenesis in Arthropods: From Chemical Warfare to Nuptial Gifts. INSECTS 2018; 9:E51. [PMID: 29751568 PMCID: PMC6023451 DOI: 10.3390/insects9020051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2018] [Revised: 04/23/2018] [Accepted: 04/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Chemical defences are key components in insect⁻plant interactions, as insects continuously learn to overcome plant defence systems by, e.g., detoxification, excretion or sequestration. Cyanogenic glucosides are natural products widespread in the plant kingdom, and also known to be present in arthropods. They are stabilised by a glucoside linkage, which is hydrolysed by the action of β-glucosidase enzymes, resulting in the release of toxic hydrogen cyanide and deterrent aldehydes or ketones. Such a binary system of components that are chemically inert when spatially separated provides an immediate defence against predators that cause tissue damage. Further roles in nitrogen metabolism and inter- and intraspecific communication has also been suggested for cyanogenic glucosides. In arthropods, cyanogenic glucosides are found in millipedes, centipedes, mites, beetles and bugs, and particularly within butterflies and moths. Cyanogenic glucosides may be even more widespread since many arthropod taxa have not yet been analysed for the presence of this class of natural products. In many instances, arthropods sequester cyanogenic glucosides or their precursors from food plants, thereby avoiding the demand for de novo biosynthesis and minimising the energy spent for defence. Nevertheless, several species of butterflies, moths and millipedes have been shown to biosynthesise cyanogenic glucosides de novo, and even more species have been hypothesised to do so. As for higher plant species, the specific steps in the pathway is catalysed by three enzymes, two cytochromes P450, a glycosyl transferase, and a general P450 oxidoreductase providing electrons to the P450s. The pathway for biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in arthropods has most likely been assembled by recruitment of enzymes, which could most easily be adapted to acquire the required catalytic properties for manufacturing these compounds. The scattered phylogenetic distribution of cyanogenic glucosides in arthropods indicates that the ability to biosynthesise this class of natural products has evolved independently several times. This is corroborated by the characterised enzymes from the pathway in moths and millipedes. Since the biosynthetic pathway is hypothesised to have evolved convergently in plants as well, this would suggest that there is only one universal series of unique intermediates by which amino acids are efficiently converted into CNglcs in different Kingdoms of Life. For arthropods to handle ingestion of cyanogenic glucosides, an effective detoxification system is required. In butterflies and moths, hydrogen cyanide released from hydrolysis of cyanogenic glucosides is mainly detoxified by β-cyanoalanine synthase, while other arthropods use the enzyme rhodanese. The storage of cyanogenic glucosides and spatially separated hydrolytic enzymes (β-glucosidases and α-hydroxynitrile lyases) are important for an effective hydrogen cyanide release for defensive purposes. Accordingly, such hydrolytic enzymes are also present in many cyanogenic arthropods, and spatial separation has been shown in a few species. Although much knowledge regarding presence, biosynthesis, hydrolysis and detoxification of cyanogenic glucosides in arthropods has emerged in recent years, many exciting unanswered questions remain regarding the distribution, roles apart from defence, and convergent evolution of the metabolic pathways involved.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mika Zagrobelny
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
| | | | - Birger Lindberg Møller
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
- VILLUM Center for Plant Plasticity, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
| | - Søren Bak
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Thompson KA, Renaudin M, Johnson MTJ. Urbanization drives the evolution of parallel clines in plant populations. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20162180. [PMID: 28003451 PMCID: PMC5204167 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 11/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Urban ecosystems are an increasingly dominant feature of terrestrial landscapes. While evidence that species can adapt to urban environments is accumulating, the mechanisms through which urbanization imposes natural selection on populations are poorly understood. The identification of adaptive phenotypic changes (i.e. clines) along urbanization gradients would facilitate our understanding of the selective factors driving adaptation in cities. Here, we test for phenotypic clines in urban ecosystems by sampling the frequency of a Mendelian-inherited trait-cyanogenesis-in white clover (Trifolium repens L.) populations along urbanization gradients in four cities. Cyanogenesis protects plants from herbivores, but reduces tolerance to freezing temperatures. We found that the frequency of cyanogenic plants within populations decreased towards the urban centre in three of four cities. A field experiment indicated that spatial variation in herbivory is unlikely to explain these clines. Rather, colder minimum winter ground temperatures in urban areas compared with non-urban areas, caused by reduced snow cover in cities, may select against cyanogenesis. In the city with no cline, high snow cover might protect plants from freezing damage in the city centre. Our study suggests that populations are adapting to urbanization gradients, but regional climatic patterns may ultimately determine whether adaptation occurs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ken A Thompson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 1C6
| | | | - Marc T J Johnson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2
- Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 1C6
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Thompson KA, Johnson MT. Antiherbivore defenses alter natural selection on plant reproductive traits. Evolution 2016; 70:796-810. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2015] [Revised: 02/07/2016] [Accepted: 02/26/2016] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ken A. Thompson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Toronto Mississauga; Mississauga Ontario L5L 1C6 Canada
- Department of Biology; University of Toronto Mississauga; Mississauga Ontario L5L 1C6 Canada
| | - Marc T.J. Johnson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Toronto Mississauga; Mississauga Ontario L5L 1C6 Canada
- Department of Biology; University of Toronto Mississauga; Mississauga Ontario L5L 1C6 Canada
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Fürstenberg-Hägg J, Zagrobelny M, Jørgensen K, Vogel H, Møller BL, Bak S. Chemical defense balanced by sequestration and de novo biosynthesis in a lepidopteran specialist. PLoS One 2014; 9:e108745. [PMID: 25299618 PMCID: PMC4191964 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2014] [Accepted: 08/25/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of sequestration (uptake and accumulation) relative to de novo biosynthesis of chemical defense compounds is poorly understood, as is the interplay between these two strategies. The Burnet moth Zygaena filipendulae (Lepidoptera) and its food-plant Lotus corniculatus (Fabaceae) poses an exemplary case study of these questions, as Z. filipendulae belongs to the only insect family known to both de novo biosynthesize and sequester the same defense compounds directly from its food-plant. Z. filipendulae and L. corniculatus both contain the two cyanogenic glucosides linamarin and lotaustralin, which are defense compounds that can be hydrolyzed to liberate toxic hydrogen cyanide. The overall amounts and ratios of linamarin and lotaustralin in Z. filipendulae are tightly regulated, and only to a low extent reflect the ratio in the ingested food-plant. We demonstrate that Z. filipendulae adjusts the de novo biosynthesis of CNglcs by regulation at both the transcriptional and protein level depending on food plant composition. Ultimately this ensures that the larva saves energy and nitrogen while maintaining an effective defense system to fend off predators. By using in situ PCR and immunolocalization, the biosynthetic pathway was resolved to the larval fat body and integument, which infers rapid replenishment of defense compounds following an encounter with a predator. Our study supports the hypothesis that de novo biosynthesis of CNglcs in Z. filipendulae preceded the ability to sequester, and facilitated a food-plant switch to cyanogenic plants, after which sequestration could evolve. Preservation of de novo biosynthesis allows fine-tuning of the amount and composition of CNglcs in Z. filipendulae.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joel Fürstenberg-Hägg
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen Plant Science Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- VILLUM Research Center “Plant Plasticity”, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mika Zagrobelny
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen Plant Science Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- VILLUM Research Center “Plant Plasticity”, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Kirsten Jørgensen
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen Plant Science Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- VILLUM Research Center “Plant Plasticity”, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Heiko Vogel
- Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - Birger Lindberg Møller
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen Plant Science Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- VILLUM Research Center “Plant Plasticity”, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Søren Bak
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen Plant Science Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- VILLUM Research Center “Plant Plasticity”, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Crawford DJ, Doyle JJ, Soltis DE, Soltis PS, Wendel JF. Contemporary and future studies in plant speciation, morphological/floral evolution and polyploidy: honouring the scientific contributions of Leslie D. Gottlieb to plant evolutionary biology. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2014; 369:20130341. [PMID: 24958916 PMCID: PMC4071516 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Crawford
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
| | - Jeffrey J Doyle
- L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Douglas E Soltis
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 17 32611, USA
| | - Pamela S Soltis
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 17 32611, USA
| | - Jonathan F Wendel
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
| |
Collapse
|