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Palominos MF, Bharadwaj R, Tralka C, Trang K, Aka D, Alami M, Andrews D, Bartlett BI, Golde C, Liu J, Le-Pedroza M, Perrot R, Seiter B, Sparrow C, Shapira M, Martin CH. The West African lungfish secretes a living cocoon during aestivation with uncertain antimicrobial function. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.05.602297. [PMID: 39026789 PMCID: PMC11257426 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.05.602297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
One of the most exceptional adaptations to extreme drought is found in the sister group to tetrapods, the lungfishes (Dipnoi), which can aestivate inside a mucus cocoon for multiple years at reduced metabolic rates with complete cessation of ingestion and excretion. However, the function of the cocoon tissue is not fully understood. Here we developed a new more natural laboratory protocol for inducing aestivation in the West African lungfish, Protopterus annectens, and investigated the structure and function of the cocoon. We used electron microscopy and imaging of live tissue-stains to confirm that the inner and outer layers of the paper-thin cocoon are composed primarily of living cells. However, we also repeatedly observed extensive bacterial and fungal growth covering the cocoon and found no evidence of anti-microbial activity in vitro against E. coli for the cocoon tissue in this species. This classroom discovery-based research, performed during a course-based undergraduate research experience course (CURE), provides a robust laboratory protocol for investigating aestivation and calls into the question the function of this bizarre vertebrate adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Fernanda Palominos
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | | | - Charles Tralka
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Kenneth Trang
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - David Aka
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Mariam Alami
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Dominique Andrews
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Ben I Bartlett
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Chloe Golde
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Joseph Liu
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Maya Le-Pedroza
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Robert Perrot
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Blanca Seiter
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Claudia Sparrow
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Michael Shapira
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Christopher H Martin
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
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St John ME, Dunker JC, Richards EJ, Romero S, Martin CH. Parallel evolution of integrated craniofacial traits in trophic specialist pupfishes. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11640. [PMID: 38979003 PMCID: PMC11228360 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Populations may adapt to similar environments via parallel or non-parallel genetic changes, but the frequency of these alternative mechanisms and underlying contributing factors are still poorly understood outside model systems. We used QTL mapping to investigate the genetic basis of highly divergent craniofacial traits between the scale-eater (Cyprinodon desquamator) and molluscivore (C. brontotheroides) pupfish adapting to two different hypersaline lake environments on San Salvador Island, Bahamas. We lab-reared F2 scale-eater x molluscivore intercrosses from two different lake populations, estimated linkage maps, scanned for significant QTL for 29 skeletal and craniofacial traits, female mate preference, and sex. We compared the location of QTL between lakes to quantify parallel and non-parallel genetic changes. We detected significant QTL for six craniofacial traits in at least one lake. However, nearly all shared QTL loci were associated with a different craniofacial trait within each lake. Therefore, our estimate of parallel evolution of craniofacial genetic architecture could range from one out of six identical trait QTL (low parallelism) to five out of six integrated trait QTL (high parallelism). We suggest that pleiotropy and trait integration can affect estimates of parallel evolution, particularly within rapid radiations. We also observed increased adaptive introgression in shared QTL regions, suggesting that gene flow contributed to parallel evolution. Overall, our results suggest that the same genomic regions may contribute to parallel adaptation across integrated suites of craniofacial traits, rather than specific traits, and highlight the need for a more expansive definition of parallel evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Julia C Dunker
- Department of Integrative Biology University of California Berkeley California USA
| | - Emilie J Richards
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA
| | - Stephanie Romero
- Department of Evolution and Ecology University of California Davis California USA
| | - Christopher H Martin
- Department of Integrative Biology University of California Berkeley California USA
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology University of California Berkeley California USA
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Tan A, St. John M, Chau D, Clair C, Chan H, Holzman R, Martin CH. Multiple performance peaks for scale-biting in an adaptive radiation of pupfishes. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.22.573139. [PMID: 38187684 PMCID: PMC10769438 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.22.573139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
The physical interactions between organisms and their environment ultimately shape their rate of speciation and adaptive radiation, but the contributions of biomechanics to evolutionary divergence are frequently overlooked. Here we investigated an adaptive radiation of Cyprinodon pupfishes to measure the relationship between feeding kinematics and performance during adaptation to a novel trophic niche, lepidophagy, in which a predator removes only the scales, mucus, and sometimes tissue from their prey using scraping and biting attacks. We used high-speed video to film scale-biting strikes on gelatin cubes by scale-eater, molluscivore, generalist, and hybrid pupfishes and subsequently measured the dimensions of each bite. We then trained the SLEAP machine-learning animal tracking model to measure kinematic landmarks and automatically scored over 100,000 frames from 227 recorded strikes. Scale-eaters exhibited increased peak gape and greater bite length; however, substantial within-individual kinematic variation resulted in poor discrimination of strikes by species or strike type. Nonetheless, a complex performance landscape with two distinct peaks best predicted gel-biting performance, corresponding to a significant nonlinear interaction between peak gape and peak jaw protrusion in which scale-eaters and their hybrids occupied a second performance peak requiring larger peak gape and greater jaw protrusion. A bite performance valley separating scale-eaters from other species may have contributed to their rapid evolution and is consistent with multiple estimates of a multi-peak fitness landscape in the wild. We thus present an efficient deep-learning automated pipeline for kinematic analyses of feeding strikes and a new biomechanical model for understanding the performance and rapid evolution of a rare trophic niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anson Tan
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
| | | | - Dylan Chau
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Chloe Clair
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
| | | | - Roi Holzman
- School of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Eilat, Israel
- Inter-University Institute for Marine Sciences, Eilat, Israel
| | - Christopher H. Martin
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley
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Palominos MF, Muhl V, Richards EJ, Miller CT, Martin CH. Jaw size variation is associated with a novel craniofacial function for galanin receptor 2 in an adaptive radiation of pupfishes. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231686. [PMID: 37876194 PMCID: PMC10598438 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Understanding the genetic basis of novel adaptations in new species is a fundamental question in biology. Here we demonstrate a new role for galr2 in vertebrate craniofacial development using an adaptive radiation of trophic specialist pupfishes endemic to San Salvador Island, Bahamas. We confirmed the loss of a putative Sry transcription factor binding site upstream of galr2 in scale-eating pupfish and found significant spatial differences in galr2 expression among pupfish species in Meckel's cartilage using in situ hybridization chain reaction (HCR). We then experimentally demonstrated a novel role for Galr2 in craniofacial development by exposing embryos to Garl2-inhibiting drugs. Galr2-inhibition reduced Meckel's cartilage length and increased chondrocyte density in both trophic specialists but not in the generalist genetic background. We propose a mechanism for jaw elongation in scale-eaters based on the reduced expression of galr2 due to the loss of a putative Sry binding site. Fewer Galr2 receptors in the scale-eater Meckel's cartilage may result in their enlarged jaw lengths as adults by limiting opportunities for a circulating Galr2 agonist to bind to these receptors during development. Our findings illustrate the growing utility of linking candidate adaptive SNPs in non-model systems with highly divergent phenotypes to novel vertebrate gene functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Fernanda Palominos
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Vanessa Muhl
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Emilie J. Richards
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Craig T. Miller
- Department of Molecular & Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Christopher H. Martin
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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