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Kutzer MAM, Cornish B, Jamieson M, Zawistowska O, Monteith KM, Vale PF. Mitochondrial background can explain variable costs of immune deployment. J Evol Biol 2024; 37:1125-1133. [PMID: 39145390 DOI: 10.1093/jeb/voae082] [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] [Indexed: 08/16/2024]
Abstract
Organismal health and survival depend on the ability to mount an effective immune response against infection. Yet immune defence may be energy-demanding, resulting in fitness costs if investment in immune function deprives other physiological processes of resources. While evidence of costly immunity resulting in reduced longevity and reproduction is common, the role of energy-producing mitochondria on the magnitude of these costs is unknown. Here, we employed Drosophila melanogaster cybrid lines, where several mitochondrial genotypes (mitotypes) were introgressed onto a single nuclear genetic background, to explicitly test the role of mitochondrial variation on the costs of immune stimulation. We exposed female flies carrying one of nine distinct mitotypes to either a benign, heat-killed bacterial pathogen (stimulating immune deployment while avoiding pathology) or to a sterile control and measured lifespan, fecundity, and locomotor activity. We observed mitotype-specific costs of immune stimulation and identified a positive genetic correlation in immune-stimulated flies between lifespan and the proportion of time cybrids spent moving while alive. Our results suggests that costs of immunity are highly variable depending on the mitochondrial genome, adding to a growing body of work highlighting the important role of mitochondrial variation in host-pathogen interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan A M Kutzer
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Beth Cornish
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Jamieson
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Olga Zawistowska
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Katy M Monteith
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Pedro F Vale
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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2
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Brand JA, Garcia-Gonzalez F, Dowling DK, Wong BBM. Mitochondrial genetic variation as a potential mediator of intraspecific behavioural diversity. Trends Ecol Evol 2024; 39:199-212. [PMID: 37839905 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2023] [Revised: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
Mitochondrial genes play an essential role in energy metabolism. Variation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence often exists within species, and this variation can have consequences for energy production and organismal life history. Yet, despite potential links between energy metabolism and the expression of animal behaviour, mtDNA variation has been largely neglected to date in studies investigating intraspecific behavioural diversity. We outline how mtDNA variation and interactions between mitochondrial and nuclear genotypes may contribute to the expression of individual-to-individual behavioural differences within populations, and why such effects may lead to sex differences in behaviour. We contend that integration of the mitochondrial genome into behavioural ecology research may be key to fully understanding the evolutionary genetics of animal behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack A Brand
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.
| | - Francisco Garcia-Gonzalez
- Doñana Biological Station-CSIC, Seville, Spain; Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Damian K Dowling
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Bob B M Wong
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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3
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Arnqvist G, Rowe L. Ecology, the pace-of-life, epistatic selection and the maintenance of genetic variation in life-history genes. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:4713-4724. [PMID: 37386734 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023]
Abstract
Evolutionary genetics has long struggled with understanding how functional genes under selection remain polymorphic in natural populations. Taking as a starting point that natural selection is ultimately a manifestation of ecological processes, we spotlight an underemphasized and potentially ubiquitous ecological effect that may have fundamental effects on the maintenance of genetic variation. Negative frequency dependency is a well-established emergent property of density dependence in ecology, because the relative profitability of different modes of exploiting or utilizing limiting resources tends to be inversely proportional to their frequency in a population. We suggest that this may often generate negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) on major effect loci that affect rate-dependent physiological processes, such as metabolic rate, that are phenotypically manifested as polymorphism in pace-of-life syndromes. When such a locus under NFDS shows stable intermediate frequency polymorphism, this should generate epistatic selection potentially involving large numbers of loci with more minor effects on life-history (LH) traits. When alternative alleles at such loci show sign epistasis with a major effect locus, this associative NFDS will promote the maintenance of polygenic variation in LH genes. We provide examples of the kind of major effect loci that could be involved and suggest empirical avenues that may better inform us on the importance and reach of this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Göran Arnqvist
- Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Locke Rowe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Swedish Collegium of Advanced Study, Uppsala, Sweden
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4
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Nagarajan‐Radha V, Cordina N, Beekman M. Diet and mitonuclear haplotype interactions affect growth rate in a slime mould. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10508. [PMID: 37674651 PMCID: PMC10477482 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2023] [Revised: 08/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Trait expression in metazoans is strongly influenced by the balance of macronutrients (i.e. protein, carbohydrate and fat) in the diet. At the same time, an individual's genetic background seems to regulate the magnitude of phenotypic response to a particular diet. It needs to be better understood whether interactions between diet, genetic background and trait expression are found in unicellular eukaryotes. A protist-the slime mould, Physarum polycephalum can choose diets based on protein-to-carbohydrate (P:C) content to support optimal growth rate. Yet, the role of genetic background (variation in the mitochondrial and nuclear DNAs) in mediating growth rate response to dietary P:C ratios in the slime mould is unknown. Here, we studied the effects of interactions between mitochondrial and nuclear DNA haplotypes and diet (i.e. G × G × E interactions) on the growth rate of P. polycephalum. A genetic panel of six distinct strains of P. polycephalum that differ in their mitochondrial and nuclear DNA haplotypes was used to measure growth rate across five diets that varied in their P:C ratio and total calories. We first determined the strains' growth rate (total biomass and surface area) when grown on a set menu with access to a particular diet. We then assessed whether the growth rate of strains increased on a buffet menu with access to all diets. Our findings show that the growth rate of P. polycephalum is generally higher on diets containing more carbohydrates than protein and that total calories negatively affect the growth rate. Three-way interactions between mitochondrial, nuclear haplotypes and dietary P:C ratios affected the strains' surface area of growth but not biomass. Intriguingly, strains did not increase their surface area and biomass when they had access to all diets on the buffet menu. Our findings have broad implications for our understanding of the effect of mitonuclear interactions on trait expression across diverse eukaryotic lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Venkatesh Nagarajan‐Radha
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental SciencesThe University of SydneyCamperdownNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Natalie Cordina
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental SciencesThe University of SydneyCamperdownNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Madeleine Beekman
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental SciencesThe University of SydneyCamperdownNew South WalesAustralia
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5
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Immonen E, Sayadi A, Stojković B, Savković U, Đorđević M, Liljestrand-Rönn J, Wiberg RAW, Arnqvist G. Experimental Life History Evolution Results in Sex-specific Evolution of Gene Expression in Seed Beetles. Genome Biol Evol 2022; 15:6948356. [PMID: 36542472 PMCID: PMC9830990 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evac177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The patterns of reproductive timing and senescence vary within and across species owing to differences in reproductive strategies, but our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of such variation is incomplete. This is perhaps particularly true for sex differences. We investigated the evolution of sex-specific gene expression associated with life history divergence in replicated populations of the seed beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus, experimentally evolving under (E)arly or (L)ate life reproduction for >200 generations which has resulted in strongly divergent life histories. We detected 1,646 genes that were differentially expressed in E and L lines, consistent with a highly polygenic basis of life history evolution. Only 30% of differentially expressed genes were similarly affected in males and females. The evolution of long life was associated with significantly reduced sex differences in expression, especially in non-reproductive tissues. The expression differences were overall more pronounced in females, in accordance with their greater phenotypic divergence in lifespan. Functional enrichment analysis revealed differences between E and L beetles in gene categories previously implicated in aging, such as mitochondrial function and defense response. The results show that divergent life history evolution can be associated with profound changes in gene expression that alter the transcriptome in a sex-specific way, highlighting the importance of understanding the mechanisms of aging in each sex.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ahmed Sayadi
- Department of Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Biljana Stojković
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia,Faculty of Biology, Institute of Zoology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Uroš Savković
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Mirko Đorđević
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | | | - R Axel W Wiberg
- Evolutionary Biology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Göran Arnqvist
- Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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6
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Watson ET, Flanagan BA, Pascar JA, Edmands S. Mitochondrial effects on fertility and longevity in Tigriopus californicus contradict predictions of the mother's curse hypothesis. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221211. [PMID: 36382523 PMCID: PMC9667352 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Strict maternal inheritance of mitochondria favours the evolutionary accumulation of sex-biased fitness effects, as mitochondrial evolution occurs exclusively in female lineages. The 'mother's curse' hypothesis proposes that male-harming mutations should accumulate in mitochondrial genomes when they have neutral or beneficial effects on female fitness. Rigorous empirical tests have largely focused on Drosophila, where support for the predictions of mother's curse has been mixed. We investigated the impact of mother's curse mutations in Tigriopus californicus, a minute crustacean. Using non-recombinant backcrosses, we introgressed four divergent mitochondrial haplotypes into two nuclear backgrounds and recorded measures of fertility and longevity. We found that the phenotypic effects of mitochondrial mutations were context dependent, being influenced by the nuclear background in which they were expressed, as well as the sex of the individual and rearing temperature. Mitochondrial haplotype effects were greater for fertility than longevity, and temperature effects were greater for longevity. However, in opposition to mother's curse expectations, females had higher mitochondrial genetic variance than males for fertility and longevity, little evidence of sexual antagonism favouring females was found, and the impacts of mitonuclear mismatch harmed females but not males. Together, this indicates that selection on mitochondrial variation has not resulted in the accumulation of male mutation load in Tigriopus californicus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric T. Watson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0001, USA
| | - Ben A. Flanagan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0001, USA
| | - Jane A. Pascar
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0001, USA
| | - Suzanne Edmands
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0001, USA
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7
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Concerted evolution of metabolic rate, economics of mating, ecology, and pace of life across seed beetles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2205564119. [PMID: 35943983 PMCID: PMC9388118 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2205564119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Coevolution between females and males has led to remarkable differences between the sexes but has taken very different routes, even in closely related animal species, for reasons that are not well understood. We studied the physiological processes that convert resources into offspring (metabolism) in males and females of several related beetle species. We found that ecological factors dictate metabolic rate, which, in turn, have predictable direct and indirect effects on male–female coevolution. Our findings suggest that a complete understanding of differences between the sexes requires an understanding of how ecology affects metabolic processes and how these differ in the sexes. Male–female coevolution has taken different paths among closely related species, but our understanding of the factors that govern its direction is limited. While it is clear that ecological factors, life history, and the economics of reproduction are connected, the divergent links are often obscure. We propose that a complete understanding requires the conceptual integration of metabolic phenotypes. Metabolic rate, a nexus of life history evolution, is constrained by ecological factors and may exert important direct and indirect effects on the evolution of sexual dimorphism. We performed standardized experiments in 12 seed beetle species to gain a rich set of sex-specific measures of metabolic phenotypes, life history traits, and the economics of mating and analyzed our multivariate data using phylogenetic comparative methods. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) showed extensive evolution and evolved more rapidly in males than in females. The evolution of RMR was tightly coupled with a suite of life history traits, describing a pace-of-life syndrome (POLS), with indirect effects on the economics of mating. As predicted, high resource competition was associated with a low RMR and a slow POLS. The cost of mating showed sexually antagonistic coevolution, a hallmark of sexual conflict. The sex-specific costs and benefits of mating were predictably related to ecology, primarily through the evolution of male ejaculate size. Overall, our results support the tenet that resource competition affects metabolic processes that, in turn, have predictable effects on both life history evolution and reproduction, such that ecology shows both direct and indirect effects on male–female coevolution.
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8
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Erić P, Patenković A, Erić K, Tanasković M, Davidović S, Rakić M, Savić Veselinović M, Stamenković-Radak M, Jelić M. Temperature-Specific and Sex-Specific Fitness Effects of Sympatric Mitochondrial and Mito-Nuclear Variation in Drosophila obscura. INSECTS 2022; 13:insects13020139. [PMID: 35206713 PMCID: PMC8880146 DOI: 10.3390/insects13020139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Does variation in the mitochondrial DNA sequence influence the survival and reproduction of an individual? What is the purpose of genetic variation of the mitochondrial DNA between individuals from the same population? As a simple laboratory model, Drosophila species can give us the answer to this question. Creating experimental lines with different combinations of mitochondrial and nuclear genomic DNA and testing how successful these lines were in surviving in different experimental set-ups enables us to deduce the effect that both genomes have on fitness. This study on D. obscura experimentally validates theoretical models that explain the persistence of mitochondrial DNA variation within populations. Our results shed light on the various mechanisms that maintain this type of variation. Finally, by conducting the experiments on two experimental temperatures, we have shown that environmental variations can support mitochondrial DNA variation within populations. Abstract The adaptive significance of sympatric mitochondrial (mtDNA) variation and the role of selective mechanisms that maintain it are debated to this day. Isofemale lines of Drosophila obscura collected from four populations were backcrossed within populations to construct experimental lines, with all combinations of mtDNA Cyt b haplotypes and nuclear genetic backgrounds (nuDNA). Individuals of both sexes from these lines were then subjected to four fitness assays (desiccation resistance, developmental time, egg-to-adult viability and sex ratio) on two experimental temperatures to examine the role of temperature fluctuations and sex-specific selection, as well as the part that interactions between the two genomes play in shaping mtDNA variation. The results varied across populations and fitness components. In the majority of comparisons, they show that sympatric mitochondrial variants affect fitness. However, their effect should be examined in light of interactions with nuDNA, as mito-nuclear genotype was even more influential on fitness across all components. We found both sex-specific and temperature-specific differences in mitochondrial and mito-nuclear genotype ranks in all fitness components. The effect of temperature-specific selection was found to be more prominent, especially in desiccation resistance. From the results of different components tested, we can also infer that temperature-specific mito-nuclear interactions rather than sex-specific selection on mito-nuclear genotypes have a more substantial role in preserving mtDNA variation in this model species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavle Erić
- Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia; (A.P.); (K.E.); (M.T.); (S.D.); (M.R.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +381-112-078-334
| | - Aleksandra Patenković
- Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia; (A.P.); (K.E.); (M.T.); (S.D.); (M.R.)
| | - Katarina Erić
- Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia; (A.P.); (K.E.); (M.T.); (S.D.); (M.R.)
| | - Marija Tanasković
- Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia; (A.P.); (K.E.); (M.T.); (S.D.); (M.R.)
| | - Slobodan Davidović
- Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia; (A.P.); (K.E.); (M.T.); (S.D.); (M.R.)
| | - Mina Rakić
- Department of Genetics of Populations and Ecogenotoxicology, Institute for Biological Research “Siniša Stanković”–National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Bulevar Despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia; (A.P.); (K.E.); (M.T.); (S.D.); (M.R.)
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.S.V.); (M.S.-R.); (M.J.)
| | - Marija Savić Veselinović
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.S.V.); (M.S.-R.); (M.J.)
| | - Marina Stamenković-Radak
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.S.V.); (M.S.-R.); (M.J.)
| | - Mihailo Jelić
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; (M.S.V.); (M.S.-R.); (M.J.)
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9
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Carnegie L, Reuter M, Fowler K, Lane N, Camus MF. Mother's curse is pervasive across a large mitonuclear Drosophila panel. Evol Lett 2021; 5:230-239. [PMID: 34136271 PMCID: PMC8190446 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The maternal inheritance of mitochondrial genomes entails a sex‐specific selective sieve, whereby mutations in mitochondrial DNA can only respond to selection acting on females. In theory, this enables male‐harming mutations to accumulate in mitochondrial genomes as long as they are neutral, beneficial, or only slightly deleterious to females. Ultimately, this bias could drive the evolution of male‐specific mitochondrial mutation loads, an idea known as mother's curse. Earlier work on this hypothesis has mainly used small Drosophila panels, in which naturally sourced mitochondrial genomes were coupled to an isogenic nuclear background. The lack of nuclear genetic variation in these designs has precluded robust generalization. Here, we test the predictions of mother's curse using a large Drosophila mitonuclear genetic panel, comprising nine isogenic nuclear genomes coupled to nine mitochondrial haplotypes, giving a total of 81 different mitonuclear genotypes. Following a predictive framework, we tested the mother's curse hypothesis by screening our panel for wing size. This trait is tightly correlated with overall body size and is sexually dimorphic in Drosophila. Moreover, growth is heavily reliant on metabolism and mitochondrial function, making wing size an ideal trait for the study of the impact of mitochondrial variation. We detect high levels of mitonuclear epistasis, and more importantly, we report that mitochondrial genetic variance is larger in male than female Drosophila for eight out of the nine nuclear genetic backgrounds used. These results demonstrate that the maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA does indeed modulate male life history traits in a more generalisable way than previously demonstrated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lorcan Carnegie
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment University College London London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom
| | - Max Reuter
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment University College London London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom
| | - Kevin Fowler
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment University College London London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom
| | - Nick Lane
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment University College London London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom
| | - M Florencia Camus
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment University College London London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom
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10
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Immonen E, Berger D, Sayadi A, Liljestrand‐Rönn J, Arnqvist G. An experimental test of temperature-dependent selection on mitochondrial haplotypes in Callosobruchus maculatus seed beetles. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:11387-11398. [PMID: 33144972 PMCID: PMC7593184 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) consists of few but vital maternally inherited genes that interact closely with nuclear genes to produce cellular energy. How important mtDNA polymorphism is for adaptation is still unclear. The assumption in population genetic studies is often that segregating mtDNA variation is selectively neutral. This contrasts with empirical observations of mtDNA haplotypes affecting fitness-related traits and thermal sensitivity, and latitudinal clines in mtDNA haplotype frequencies. Here, we experimentally test whether ambient temperature affects selection on mtDNA variation, and whether such thermal effects are influenced by intergenomic epistasis due to interactions between mitochondrial and nuclear genes, using replicated experimental evolution in Callosobruchus maculatus seed beetle populations seeded with a mixture of different mtDNA haplotypes. We also test for sex-specific consequences of mtDNA evolution on reproductive success, given that mtDNA mutations can have sexually antagonistic fitness effects. Our results demonstrate natural selection on mtDNA haplotypes, with some support for thermal environment influencing mtDNA evolution through mitonuclear epistasis. The changes in male and female reproductive fitness were both aligned with changes in mtDNA haplotype frequencies, suggesting that natural selection on mtDNA is sexually concordant in stressful thermal environments. We discuss the implications of our findings for the evolution of mtDNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elina Immonen
- Department of Ecology and Evolution/Evolutionary BiologyUppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
| | - David Berger
- Department of Ecology and Evolution/Animal EcologyUppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
| | - Ahmed Sayadi
- Department of Ecology and Evolution/Animal EcologyUppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
| | | | - Göran Arnqvist
- Department of Ecology and Evolution/Animal EcologyUppsala UniversityUppsalaSweden
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11
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Kurbalija Novičić Z, Bodén R, Kozarski K, Jelić M, Jovanović VM, Cunningham JL. Lithium influences whole-organism metabolic rate in Drosophila subobscura. J Neurosci Res 2020; 99:407-418. [PMID: 32729199 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24678] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2019] [Revised: 05/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Lithium is widely used to treat bipolar disorder. However, the efficacy and vulnerability as to its side effects are known to differ. Although the specific biochemical mechanism of action is still elusive, lithium may influence mitochondrial function, and consequently, metabolism. Lithium exposure in this study was conducted on a unique set of mito-nuclear introgression lines of Drosophila subobscura to disentangle the independent effects of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) against a common nuclear DNA background. The study addressed three issues: (a) whether lithium has a dose-dependent effect on whole-organism metabolic rate, (b) whether mtDNA haplotypes show divergent metabolic efficiency measured by metabolic rate to lithium exposure and (c) whether lithium influences the whole-organism metabolic rate across sexes. The results confirm that lithium influenced the whole-organism metabolic rate, showing a subtle balance between efficacy and adverse effects within a narrow dose range. In addition, lithium exposure was found to influence metabolism differently based on mtDNA haplotypes and sex. This preliminary research may have a range of biological implications for the role of mitochondrial variability in psychiatric disease and treatment by contributing to the understanding and predicting of the lithium treatment response and risk for toxic side effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zorana Kurbalija Novičić
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.,Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Center, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Robert Bodén
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ksenija Kozarski
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Mihailo Jelić
- Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia
| | - Vladimir M Jovanović
- Bioinformatics Solution Center, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Human Biology Group, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Institute for Zoology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.,Department of Biology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Janet L Cunningham
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
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12
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Salminen TS, Vale PF. Drosophila as a Model System to Investigate the Effects of Mitochondrial Variation on Innate Immunity. Front Immunol 2020; 11:521. [PMID: 32269576 PMCID: PMC7109263 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding why the response to infection varies between individuals remains one of the major challenges in immunology and infection biology. A substantial proportion of this heterogeneity can be explained by individual genetic differences which result in variable immune responses, and there are many examples of polymorphisms in nuclear-encoded genes that alter immunocompetence. However, how immunity is affected by genetic polymorphism in an additional genome, inherited maternally inside mitochondria (mtDNA), has been relatively understudied. Mitochondria are increasingly recognized as important mediators of innate immune responses, not only because they are the main source of energy required for costly immune responses, but also because by-products of mitochondrial metabolism, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), may have direct microbicidal action. Yet, it is currently unclear how naturally occurring variation in mtDNA contributes to heterogeneity in infection outcomes. In this review article, we describe potential sources of variation in mitochondrial function that may arise due to mutations in vital nuclear and mitochondrial components of energy production or due to a disruption in mito-nuclear crosstalk. We then highlight how these changes in mitochondrial function can impact immune responses, focusing on their effects on ATP- and ROS-generating pathways, as well as immune signaling. Finally, we outline how being a powerful and genetically tractable model of infection, immunity and mitochondrial genetics makes the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster ideally suited to dissect mitochondrial effects on innate immune responses to infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiina S. Salminen
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Pedro F. Vale
- School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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13
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Vaught RC, Voigt S, Dobler R, Clancy DJ, Reinhardt K, Dowling DK. Interactions between cytoplasmic and nuclear genomes confer sex-specific effects on lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:694-713. [PMID: 32053259 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2019] [Revised: 02/04/2020] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Genetic variation outside of the cell nucleus can affect the phenotype. The cytoplasm is home to the mitochondria, and in arthropods often hosts intracellular bacteria such as Wolbachia. Although numerous studies have implicated epistatic interactions between cytoplasmic and nuclear genetic variation as mediators of phenotypic expression, two questions remain. Firstly, it remains unclear whether outcomes of cyto-nuclear interactions will manifest differently across the sexes, as might be predicted given that cytoplasmic genomes are screened by natural selection only through females as a consequence of their maternal inheritance. Secondly, the relative contribution of mitochondrial genetic variation to other cytoplasmic sources of variation, such as Wolbachia infection, in shaping phenotypic outcomes of cyto-nuclear interactions remains unknown. Here, we address these questions, creating a fully crossed set of replicated cyto-nuclear populations derived from three geographically distinct populations of Drosophila melanogaster, measuring the lifespan of males and females from each population. We observed that cyto-nuclear interactions shape lifespan and that the outcomes of these interactions differ across the sexes. Yet, we found no evidence that placing the cytoplasms from one population alongside the nuclear background of others (generating putative cyto-nuclear mismatches) leads to decreased lifespan in either sex. Although it was difficult to partition mitochondrial from Wolbachia effects, our results suggest at least some of the cytoplasmic genotypic contribution to lifespan was directly mediated by an effect of sequence variation in the mtDNA. Future work should explore the degree to which cyto-nuclear interactions result in sex differences in the expression of other components of organismal life history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca C Vaught
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Susanne Voigt
- Faculty of Biology, Applied Zoology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Ralph Dobler
- Faculty of Biology, Applied Zoology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - David J Clancy
- Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, School of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Klaus Reinhardt
- Faculty of Biology, Applied Zoology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Damian K Dowling
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
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14
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Dowling DK, Adrian RE. Challenges and Prospects for Testing the Mother's Curse Hypothesis. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 59:875-889. [PMID: 31225591 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icz110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal inheritance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) renders selection blind to mutations whose effects are limited to males. Evolutionary theory predicts this will lead to the accumulation of a male-specific genetic load within the mitochondrial genomes of populations; that is, a pool of mutations that negatively affects male, but not female, fitness components. This principle has been termed the Mother's Curse hypothesis. While the hypothesis has received some empirical support, its relevance to natural populations of metazoans remains unclear, and these ambiguities are compounded by the lack of a clear predictive framework for studies attempting to test Mother's Curse. Here, we seek to redress this by outlining the core predictions of the hypothesis, as well as the key features of the experimental designs that are required to enable direct testing of the predictions. Our goal is to provide a roadmap for future research seeking to elucidate the evolutionary significance of the Mother's Curse hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damian K Dowling
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Rebecca E Adrian
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
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15
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Rand DM, Mossman JA. Mitonuclear conflict and cooperation govern the integration of genotypes, phenotypes and environments. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 375:20190188. [PMID: 31787039 PMCID: PMC6939372 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The mitonuclear genome is the most successful co-evolved mutualism in the history of life on Earth. The cross-talk between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes has been shaped by conflict and cooperation for more than 1.5 billion years, yet this system has adapted to countless genomic reorganizations by each partner, and done so under changing environments that have placed dramatic biochemical and physiological pressures on evolving lineages. From putative anaerobic origins, mitochondria emerged as the defining aerobic organelle. During this transition, the two genomes resolved rules for sex determination and transmission that made uniparental inheritance the dominant, but not a universal pattern. Mitochondria are much more than energy-producing organelles and play crucial roles in nutrient and stress signalling that can alter how nuclear genes are expressed as phenotypes. All of these interactions are examples of genotype-by-environment (GxE) interactions, gene-by-gene (GxG) interactions (epistasis) or more generally context-dependent effects on the link between genotype and phenotype. We provide evidence from our own studies in Drosophila, and from those of other systems, that mitonuclear interactions—either conflicting or cooperative—are common features of GxE and GxG. We argue that mitonuclear interactions are an important model for how to better understand the pervasive context-dependent effects underlying the architecture of complex phenotypes. Future research in this area should focus on the quantitative genetic concept of effect size to place mitochondrial links to phenotype in a proper context. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Linking the mitochondrial genotype to phenotype: a complex endeavour’.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Rand
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, 80 Waterman Street, Box G, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Jim A Mossman
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, 80 Waterman Street, Box G, Providence, RI, USA
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16
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Nagarajan-Radha V, Aitkenhead I, Clancy DJ, Chown SL, Dowling DK. Sex-specific effects of mitochondrial haplotype on metabolic rate in Drosophila melanogaster support predictions of the Mother's Curse hypothesis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 375:20190178. [PMID: 31787038 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary theory proposes that maternal inheritance of mitochondria will facilitate the accumulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations that are harmful to males but benign or beneficial to females. Furthermore, mtDNA haplotypes sampled from across a given species distribution are expected to differ in the number and identity of these 'male-harming' mutations they accumulate. Consequently, it is predicted that the genetic variation which delineates distinct mtDNA haplotypes of a given species should confer larger phenotypic effects on males than females (reflecting mtDNA mutations that are male-harming, but female-benign), or sexually antagonistic effects (reflecting mutations that are male-harming, but female-benefitting). These predictions have received support from recent work examining mitochondrial haplotypic effects on adult life-history traits in Drosophila melanogaster. Here, we explore whether similar signatures of male-bias or sexual antagonism extend to a key physiological trait-metabolic rate. We measured the effects of mitochondrial haplotypes on the amount of carbon dioxide produced by individual flies, controlling for mass and activity, across 13 strains of D. melanogaster that differed only in their mtDNA haplotype. The effects of mtDNA haplotype on metabolic rate were larger in males than females. Furthermore, we observed a negative intersexual correlation across the haplotypes for metabolic rate. Finally, we uncovered a male-specific negative correlation, across haplotypes, between metabolic rate and longevity. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that maternal mitochondrial inheritance has led to the accumulation of a sex-specific genetic load within the mitochondrial genome, which affects metabolic rate and that may have consequences for the evolution of sex differences in life history. This article is part of the theme issue 'Linking the mitochondrial genotype to phenotype: a complex endeavour'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ian Aitkenhead
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - David J Clancy
- Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Steven L Chown
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Damian K Dowling
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
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17
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Keaney TA, Wong HWS, Dowling DK, Jones TM, Holman L. Mother’s curse and indirect genetic effects: Do males matter to mitochondrial genome evolution? J Evol Biol 2019; 33:189-201. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2019] [Revised: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas A. Keaney
- School of Biosciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Heidi W. S. Wong
- School of Biosciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Damian K. Dowling
- School of Biological Sciences Monash University Clayton Victoria Australia
| | - Therésa M. Jones
- School of Biosciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Luke Holman
- School of Biosciences The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
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18
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Abstract
Mitochondria, a nearly ubiquitous feature of eukaryotes, are derived from an ancient symbiosis. Despite billions of years of cooperative coevolution - in what is arguably the most important mutualism in the history of life - the persistence of mitochondrial genomes also creates conditions for genetic conflict with the nucleus. Because mitochondrial genomes are present in numerous copies per cell, they are subject to both within- and among-organism levels of selection. Accordingly, 'selfish' genotypes that increase their own proliferation can rise to high frequencies even if they decrease organismal fitness. It has been argued that uniparental (often maternal) inheritance of cytoplasmic genomes evolved to curtail such selfish replication by minimizing within-individual variation and, hence, within-individual selection. However, uniparental inheritance creates conditions for cytonuclear conflict over sex determination and sex ratio, as well as conditions for sexual antagonism when mitochondrial variants increase transmission by enhancing maternal fitness but have the side-effect of being harmful to males (i.e., 'mother's curse'). Here, we review recent advances in understanding selfish replication and sexual antagonism in the evolution of mitochondrial genomes and the mechanisms that suppress selfish interactions, drawing parallels and contrasts with other organelles (plastids) and bacterial endosymbionts that arose more recently. Although cytonuclear conflict is widespread across eukaryotes, it can be cryptic due to nuclear suppression, highly variable, and lineage-specific, reflecting the diverse biology of eukaryotes and the varying architectures of their cytoplasmic genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin C Havird
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
| | - Evan S Forsythe
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Alissa M Williams
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - John H Werren
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
| | - Damian K Dowling
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Daniel B Sloan
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
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19
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Savković U, Đorđević M, Stojković B. Potential for Acanthoscelides obtectus to Adapt to New Hosts Seen in Laboratory Selection Experiments. INSECTS 2019; 10:insects10060153. [PMID: 31146407 PMCID: PMC6627625 DOI: 10.3390/insects10060153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Revised: 05/24/2019] [Accepted: 05/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Effective pest management strategies for a targeted pest species must rely on accurate, reliable and reproducible estimates of population dynamics. Importance of such approaches is even more conspicuous when assessing pest’s potential to utilize other stored products. Using an experimental evolution approach, we have focused our attention on a common bean pest, the seed beetle (Acanthoscelides obtectus). We looked into the potential to invade and sustain population growth on two suboptimal host plants (chickpeas and mung beans). Such an approach simulates steps of the host-shift process in storages. By analyzing population dynamics during initial encountering with a new host plant, we detected a population drop for both novel hosts. However, transgenerational development in a novel environment resulted in a constant population growth in chickpeas, but not in mung bean populations. Reversal of chickpea selected populations to original host plant has led to a severe decrease in population parameters due to low viability of immatures, while the opposite trend was detected in mung bean populations. This paper highlights the importance of good practice in estimating population dynamics for economically important species. With special emphasis on storage pest species, we discuss how this approach can be useful for estimating invading potential of pest insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uroš Savković
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", University of Belgrade, Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia.
| | - Mirko Đorđević
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", University of Belgrade, Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia.
| | - Biljana Stojković
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", University of Belgrade, Bulevar despota Stefana 142, 11060 Belgrade, Serbia.
- Institute of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Studentski trg 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
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20
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Abstract
Abstract
The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis considers an animal’s behavior, physiology, and life history as nonindependent components of a single integrated phenotype. However, frequent deviations from the expected correlations between POLS traits suggest that these relationships may be context, and potentially, sex dependent. To determine whether the sexes express distinct POLS trait covariance structures, we observed the behavior (mobility, latency to emerge from a shelter), physiology (mass-specific metabolic rate), and life history (life span, development time) of male and female Australian field crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus). Path analysis modeling suggested that POLS trait covariation differed between the sexes. Although neither sex displayed the complete integration of traits predicted by the POLS hypothesis, females did display greater overall integration with a significant negative correlation between metabolic rate and risk-taking behavior but with life-history traits varying independently. In males, however, there was no clear association between traits. These results suggest that T. oceanicus do indeed display sex-specific trait covariance structures, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging sex in assessments of POLS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe A Moschilla
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Joseph L Tomkins
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
| | - Leigh W Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
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21
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Pascar J, Chandler CH. A bioinformatics approach to identifying Wolbachia infections in arthropods. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5486. [PMID: 30202647 PMCID: PMC6126470 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2017] [Accepted: 07/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Wolbachia is the most widespread endosymbiont, infecting >20% of arthropod species, and capable of drastically manipulating the host's reproductive mechanisms. Conventionally, diagnosis has relied on PCR amplification; however, PCR is not always a reliable diagnostic technique due to primer specificity, strain diversity, degree of infection and/or tissue sampled. Here, we look for evidence of Wolbachia infection across a wide array of arthropod species using a bioinformatic approach to detect the Wolbachia genes ftsZ, wsp, and the groE operon in next-generation sequencing samples available through the NCBI Sequence Read Archive. For samples showing signs of infection, we attempted to assemble entire Wolbachia genomes, and in order to better understand the relationships between hosts and symbionts, phylogenies were constructed using the assembled gene sequences. Out of the 34 species with positively identified infections, eight species of arthropod had not previously been recorded to harbor Wolbachia infection. All putative infections cluster with known representative strains belonging to supergroup A or B, which are known to only infect arthropods. This study presents an efficient bioinformatic approach for post-sequencing diagnosis and analysis of Wolbachia infection in arthropods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane Pascar
- Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, United States of America
| | - Christopher H. Chandler
- Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY, United States of America
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22
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Immonen E, Hämäläinen A, Schuett W, Tarka M. Evolution of sex-specific pace-of-life syndromes: genetic architecture and physiological mechanisms. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018; 72:60. [PMID: 29576676 PMCID: PMC5856903 DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2462-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Revised: 11/13/2017] [Accepted: 02/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Sex differences in life history, physiology, and behavior are nearly ubiquitous across taxa, owing to sex-specific selection that arises from different reproductive strategies of the sexes. The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis predicts that most variation in such traits among individuals, populations, and species falls along a slow-fast pace-of-life continuum. As a result of their different reproductive roles and environment, the sexes also commonly differ in pace-of-life, with important consequences for the evolution of POLS. Here, we outline mechanisms for how males and females can evolve differences in POLS traits and in how such traits can covary differently despite constraints resulting from a shared genome. We review the current knowledge of the genetic basis of POLS traits and suggest candidate genes and pathways for future studies. Pleiotropic effects may govern many of the genetic correlations, but little is still known about the mechanisms involved in trade-offs between current and future reproduction and their integration with behavioral variation. We highlight the importance of metabolic and hormonal pathways in mediating sex differences in POLS traits; however, there is still a shortage of studies that test for sex specificity in molecular effects and their evolutionary causes. Considering whether and how sexual dimorphism evolves in POLS traits provides a more holistic framework to understand how behavioral variation is integrated with life histories and physiology, and we call for studies that focus on examining the sex-specific genetic architecture of this integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elina Immonen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC), Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 D, SE-75 236 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anni Hämäläinen
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E9 Canada
| | - Wiebke Schuett
- Zoological Institute, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Maja Tarka
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Høgskoleringen 5, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
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23
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Mother's curse neutralizes natural selection against a human genetic disease over three centuries. Nat Ecol Evol 2017; 1:1400-1406. [PMID: 29046555 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0276-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2016] [Accepted: 06/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
According to evolutionary theory, mitochondria could be poisoned gifts that mothers transmit to their sons. This is because mutations harmful to males are expected to accumulate in the mitochondrial genome, the so-called 'mother's curse'. However, the contribution of the mother's curse to the mutation load in nature remains largely unknown and hard to predict, because compensatory mechanisms could impede the spread of deleterious mitochondria. Here we provide evidence for the mother's curse in action over 290 years in a human population. We studied a mutation causing Leber's hereditary optical neuropathy, a disease with male-biased prevalence and which has long been suspected to be maintained in populations by the mother's curse. Male carriers showed a low fitness relative to non-carriers and to females, mostly explained by their high rate of infant mortality. Despite poor male fitness, selection analysis predicted a slight (albeit non-significant) increase in frequency, which sharply contrasts with the 35.5% per-generation decrease predicted if mitochondrial DNA transmission had been through males instead of females. Our results are therefore even suggestive of positive selection through the female line that may exacerbate effects of the mother's curse. This study supports a contribution of the mother's curse to the reduction of male lifespan, uncovering a large fitness effect associated with a single mitochondrial variant.
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24
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Arnqvist G, Stojković B, Rönn JL, Immonen E. The pace‐of‐life: A sex‐specific link between metabolic rate and life history in bean beetles. Funct Ecol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Göran Arnqvist
- Animal EcologyDepartment of Ecology and GeneticsEvolutionary Biology CentreUppsala University Uppsala Sweden
| | - Biljana Stojković
- Department of Evolutionary BiologyInstitute for Biological ResearchUniversity of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
- Institute of ZoologyFaculty of BiologyUniversity of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia
| | - Johanna L. Rönn
- Animal EcologyDepartment of Ecology and GeneticsEvolutionary Biology CentreUppsala University Uppsala Sweden
| | - Elina Immonen
- Animal EcologyDepartment of Ecology and GeneticsEvolutionary Biology CentreUppsala University Uppsala Sweden
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25
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Sunnucks P, Morales HE, Lamb AM, Pavlova A, Greening C. Integrative Approaches for Studying Mitochondrial and Nuclear Genome Co-evolution in Oxidative Phosphorylation. Front Genet 2017; 8:25. [PMID: 28316610 PMCID: PMC5334354 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2017.00025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 02/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
In animals, interactions among gene products of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes (mitonuclear interactions) are of profound fitness, evolutionary, and ecological significance. Most fundamentally, the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) complexes responsible for cellular bioenergetics are formed by the direct interactions of 13 mitochondrial-encoded and ∼80 nuclear-encoded protein subunits in most animals. It is expected that organisms will develop genomic architecture that facilitates co-adaptation of these mitonuclear interactions and enhances biochemical efficiency of OXPHOS complexes. In this perspective, we present principles and approaches to understanding the co-evolution of these interactions, with a novel focus on how genomic architecture might facilitate it. We advocate that recent interdisciplinary advances assist in the consolidation of links between genotype and phenotype. For example, advances in genomics allow us to unravel signatures of selection in mitochondrial and nuclear OXPHOS genes at population-relevant scales, while newly published complete atomic-resolution structures of the OXPHOS machinery enable more robust predictions of how these genes interact epistatically and co-evolutionarily. We use three case studies to show how integrative approaches have improved the understanding of mitonuclear interactions in OXPHOS, namely those driving high-altitude adaptation in bar-headed geese, allopatric population divergence in Tigriopus californicus copepods, and the genome architecture of nuclear genes coding for mitochondrial functions in the eastern yellow robin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Sunnucks
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, ClaytonVIC, Australia
| | - Hernán E. Morales
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, ClaytonVIC, Australia
- Department of Marine Sciences, University of GothenburgGothenburg, Sweden
| | - Annika M. Lamb
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, ClaytonVIC, Australia
| | - Alexandra Pavlova
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, ClaytonVIC, Australia
| | - Chris Greening
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, ClaytonVIC, Australia
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