1
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Maternal effects, paternal effects, and their interactions in the freshwater snail Physa acuta. Oecologia 2023; 201:409-419. [PMID: 36682011 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05311-8] [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: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Individuals exposed to predation risk can produce offspring with altered phenotypes. Most work on predation-induced parental effects has focused on maternal effects or on generalized parental effects where both parents are exposed to risk. We conducted an experiment to measure and compare maternal and paternal effects on offspring phenotypes and test for interactions in those effects. We exposed 82 snails from 22 lines to control or predator cues and created line dyads with the four possible mating pairings of control and predator cue exposed individuals. We measured the resulting body masses, shell masses, shell shapes, and anti-predator behaviors of the offspring. We found some evidence that offspring were larger and heavier when the mother was exposed to predation cues, but that this effect was negated when the father was also exposed. The mass of offspring shells relative to their total mass was unaffected by parental treatments. Shell shape was marginally affected by maternal treatment, but not paternal treatment. Behavioral responses to cues were not affected by maternal or paternal treatments. Our results suggest potential conflict between male and female parental effects and highlight the importance of examining the interactions of maternal and paternal effects.
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2
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Veronica CS, Ivan GM, Francisco GG. Evolutionary consequences of pesticide exposure include transgenerational plasticity and potential terminal investment transgenerational effects. Evolution 2022; 76:2649-2668. [PMID: 36117275 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14613] [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: 08/21/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Transgenerational plasticity, the influence of the environment experienced by parents on the phenotype and fitness of subsequent generations, is being increasingly recognized. Human-altered environments, such as those resulting from the increasing use of pesticides, may be major drivers of such cross-generational influences, which in turn may have profound evolutionary and ecological repercussions. Most of these consequences are, however, unknown. Whether transgenerational plasticity elicited by pesticide exposure is common, and the consequences of its potential carryover effects on fitness and population dynamics, remains to be determined. Here, we investigate whether exposure of parents to a common pesticide elicits intra-, inter-, and transgenerational responses (in F0, F1, and F2 generations) in life history (fecundity, longevity, and lifetime reproductive success), in an insect model system, the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. We also assessed sex specificity of the effects. We found sex-specific and hormetic intergenerational and transgenerational effects on longevity and lifetime reproductive success, manifested both in the form of maternal and paternal effects. In addition, the transgenerational effects via mothers detected in this study are consistent with a new concept: terminal investment transgenerational effects. Such effects could underlie cross-generational responses to environmental perturbation. Our results indicate that pesticide exposure leads to unanticipated effects on population dynamics and have far-reaching ecological and evolutionary implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Castano-Sanz Veronica
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, Seville, 41092, Spain
| | - Gomez-Mestre Ivan
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, Seville, 41092, Spain
| | - Garcia-Gonzalez Francisco
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, Seville, 41092, Spain.,Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia
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3
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Spinks RK, Donelson JM, Bonzi LC, Ravasi T, Munday PL. Parents exposed to warming produce offspring lower in weight and condition. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9044. [PMID: 35866024 PMCID: PMC9288889 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The parental environment can alter offspring phenotypes via the transfer of non-genetic information. Parental effects may be viewed as an extension of (within-generation) phenotypic plasticity. Smaller size, poorer physical condition, and skewed sex ratios are common responses of organisms to global warming, yet whether parental effects alleviate, exacerbate, or have no impact on these responses has not been widely tested. Further, the relative non-genetic influence of mothers and fathers and ontogenetic timing of parental exposure to warming on offspring phenotypes is poorly understood. Here, we tested how maternal, paternal, and biparental exposure of a coral reef fish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) to elevated temperature (+1.5°C) at different ontogenetic stages (development vs reproduction) influences offspring length, weight, condition, and sex. Fish were reared across two generations in present-day and projected ocean warming in a full factorial design. As expected, offspring of parents exposed to present-day control temperature that were reared in warmer water were shorter than their siblings reared in control temperature; however, within-generation plasticity allowed maintenance of weight, resulting in a higher body condition. Parental exposure to warming, irrespective of ontogenetic timing and sex, resulted in decreased weight and condition in all offspring rearing temperatures. By contrast, offspring sex ratios were not strongly influenced by their rearing temperature or that of their parents. Together, our results reveal that phenotypic plasticity may help coral reef fishes maintain performance in a warm ocean within a generation, but could exacerbate the negative effects of warming between generations, regardless of when mothers and fathers are exposed to warming. Alternatively, the multigenerational impact on offspring weight and condition may be a necessary cost to adapt metabolism to increasing temperatures. This research highlights the importance of examining phenotypic plasticity within and between generations across a range of traits to accurately predict how organisms will respond to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel K. Spinks
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Jennifer M. Donelson
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Lucrezia C. Bonzi
- Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Red Sea Research CenterKing Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
| | - Timothy Ravasi
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- Marine Climate Change UnitOkinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate UniversityOnnaJapan
| | - Philip L. Munday
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
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4
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Kirkpatrick WH, Sheldon KS. Experimental increases in temperature mean and variance alter reproductive behaviours in the dung beetle Phanaeus vindex. Biol Lett 2022; 18:20220109. [PMID: 35857889 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2022.0109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Temperature profoundly impacts insect development, but plasticity of reproductive behaviours may mediate the impacts of temperature change on earlier life stages. Few studies have examined the potential for adult behavioural plasticity to buffer offspring from the warmer, more variable temperatures associated with climate change. We used a field manipulation to examine whether the dung beetle Phanaeus vindex alters breeding behaviours in response to temperature changes and whether behavioural shifts protect offspring from temperature changes. Dung beetles lay eggs inside brood balls made of dung that are buried underground. Brood ball depth impacts the temperatures offspring experience with consequences for development. We placed adult females in either control or greenhouse treatments that simultaneously increased temperature mean and variance. We found that females in greenhouse treatments produced more brood balls that were smaller and buried deeper than controls, suggesting brood ball number or burial depth may come at a cost to brood ball size, which can impact offspring nutrition. Despite being buried deeper, brood balls from the greenhouse treatment experienced warmer mean temperatures but similar amplitudes of temperature fluctuation relative to controls. Our findings suggest adult behaviours may partially buffer developing offspring from temperature changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- William H Kirkpatrick
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1610, USA
| | - Kimberly S Sheldon
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1610, USA
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5
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Davidowitz G, Bronstein JL, Tigreros N. Flight-Fecundity Trade-offs: A Possible Mechanistic Link in Plant-Herbivore-Pollinator Systems. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:843506. [PMID: 35548312 PMCID: PMC9082648 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.843506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Plant-herbivore and plant-pollinator interactions are both well-studied, but largely independent of each other. It has become increasingly recognized, however, that pollination and herbivory interact extensively in nature, with consequences for plant fitness. Here, we explore the idea that trade-offs in investment in insect flight and reproduction may be a mechanistic link between pollination and herbivory. We first provide a general background on trade-offs between flight and fecundity in insects. We then focus on Lepidoptera; larvae are generally herbivores while most adults are pollinators, making them ideal to study these links. Increased allocation of resources to flight, we argue, potentially increases a Lepidopteran insect pollinator's efficiency, resulting in higher plant fitness. In contrast, allocation of resources to reproduction in the same insect species reduces plant fitness, because it leads to an increase in herbivore population size. We examine the sequence of resource pools available to herbivorous Lepidopteran larvae (maternally provided nutrients to the eggs, as well as leaf tissue), and to adults (nectar and nuptial gifts provided by the males to the females), which potentially are pollinators. Last, we discuss how subsequent acquisition and allocation of resources from these pools may alter flight-fecundity trade-offs, with concomitant effects both on pollinator performance and the performance of larval herbivores in the next generation. Allocation decisions at different times during ontogeny translate into costs of herbivory and/or benefits of pollination for plants, mechanistically linking herbivory and pollination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Goggy Davidowitz
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - Judith L. Bronstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
| | - Natasha Tigreros
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States
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6
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Nervo B, Laini A, Roggero A, Fabbriciani F, Palestrini C, Rolando A. Interactions Between Individuals and Sex Rather Than Morphological Traits Drive Intraspecific Dung Removal in Two Dung Beetle Species. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.863669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Dung beetle functional ecology has traditionally focused on studying the relation between traits and ecosystem functions in multispecies assemblages, often ignoring the contribution of behavioral interactions and trait variability within species. Here we focus on the factors that affect dung removal at an intraspecific level in two horned dung beetle species with dimorphic males (Onthophagus taurus and Onthophagus verticicornis). By setting treatments for each species with single individuals (one female, F; one major male, M; one minor male, m) or with pairs of individuals (MF, mF, MM, mm, FF), we examined the effect on dung removal of morphological traits (head, pronotum, leg, horn), sex, and interactions between individuals. Our results showed that dung removal at an intraspecific level depended more on sex and behavioral interactions than on the underlying morphological traits, whose effects on dung removal were negligible. Single females generally removed more dung than single males, which suggests that females are more effective than males. In both species, pairs with at least one female (MF, mF, FF) showed high dung removal efficiency, but did not perform differently from the sum of single treatments (M + F, m + f, F + F). This suggests an additive effect: males and females (or two females) join their efforts when they are together. The pairs with only males (MM and mm) removed less dung than the sum of the single individuals (M + M and m + m), which indicates a mutual inhibition of males. In both species, male morphs performed similarly as they removed the same amount of dung. Despite our results are limited to two Onthophagus species, we suggest that the intraspecific functional ecology of dung beetles might be more influenced by behavioral interactions and sex rather than by morphological traits.
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7
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Abdul Rahman IL, Yap S, Goh TG, Toh KX, Yee QQH, Puniamoorthy N. Vertical stratification of dung beetles in young secondary forests of Singapore. Biotropica 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.13000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Sean Yap
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
| | - Thary Gazi Goh
- Science Faculty Institute of Biological Sciences University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
| | - Kai Xin Toh
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
| | - Qian Qi Hillary Yee
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
| | - Nalini Puniamoorthy
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
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8
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Woodman TE, Chen S, Emberts Z, Wilner D, Federle W, Miller CW. Developmental nutrition affects the structural integrity of a sexually selected weapon. Integr Comp Biol 2021; 61:723-735. [PMID: 34117763 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Males in many species engage in physical combat over access to mates, and sexual selection has led to the evolution of weapons to enhance contest performance. The size of these often-elaborate structures is known to be exquisitely sensitive to nutrition. However, we know very little about the degree to which nutrition affects other attributes of animal weapons that can be crucial to fighting. In this study, we investigated the impact of natural dietary variation on weapon structural integrity in a fighting insect, Narnia femorata (Hemiptera: Coreidae). Males in this species display their enlarged, spiny hind legs to other males, and these legs serve as weapons in aggressive physical contests where they are used to strike and squeeze opponents. N. femorata feeds on the fruit of prickly pear cactus and sets up territories on this plant. In North Central Florida the prickly pear Opuntia mesacantha spp. lata blooms and begins to produce fruits in April and May. N. femorata has multiple, overlapping generations while the green fruits slowly ripen over the next several months. We examined insects reaching adulthood at two nearby time points in this range, June and July, to test the influence of the nutrition provided by ripening green cactus fruit on weapon size and its ability to resist puncture. We also raised insects on cactus with red, ripe fruit for comparison. We found a striking effect of cactus fruit phenology on weapons. Insects raised with the more mature green fruit (those in the second cohort) had 71% larger weapon area and 4.4 times greater puncture resistance than those raised on the early green fruit (those in the first cohort). In contrast, insects raised on red, ripe fruit were moderate in size, had high puncture resistance, and they changed little phenotypically from the first to second cohort. Increased structural integrity of the hind femur weapon was associated with the increased body size that came with better nutrition. This pattern highlights that cuticle thickness increased or its material properties changed when weapons were larger. Importantly, effects of nutrition on puncture resistance also transcended size. Insects of the same size had greater structural integrity if they received superior nutrition. Sexually selected weapons are often used as visual signals to conspecifics before fights, and this work hints that the size of the weapons may be a poor signal of weapon performance when nutrition is variable.
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Affiliation(s)
- T E Woodman
- Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32605, USA
| | - S Chen
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Z Emberts
- Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32605, USA
| | - D Wilner
- Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32605, USA
| | - W Federle
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - C W Miller
- Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32605, USA
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9
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Bebbington K, Groothuis TGG. Who listens to mother? A whole-family perspective on the evolution of maternal hormone allocation. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:1951-1968. [PMID: 33988906 PMCID: PMC8518390 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Maternal effects, or the influence of maternal environment and phenotype on offspring phenotype, may allow mothers to fine-tune their offspring's developmental trajectory and resulting phenotype sometimes long after the offspring has reached independence. However, maternal effects on offspring phenotype do not evolve in isolation, but rather within the context of a family unit, where the separate and often conflicting evolutionary interests of mothers, fathers and offspring are all at play. While intrafamilial conflicts are routinely invoked to explain other components of reproductive strategy, remarkably little is known about how intrafamilial conflicts influence maternal effects. We argue that much of the considerable variation in the relationship between maternally derived hormones, nutrients and other compounds and the resulting offspring phenotype might be explained by the presence of conflicting selection pressures on different family members. In this review, we examine the existing literature on maternal hormone allocation as a case study for maternal effects more broadly, and explore new hypotheses that arise when we consider current findings within a framework that explicitly incorporates the different evolutionary interests of the mother, her offspring and other family members. Specifically, we hypothesise that the relationship between maternal hormone allocation and offspring phenotype depends on a mother's ability to manipulate the signals she sends to offspring, the ability of family members to be plastic in their response to those signals and the capacity for the phenotypes and strategies of various family members to interact and influence one another on both behavioural and evolutionary timescales. We also provide suggestions for experimental, comparative and theoretical work that may be instrumental in testing these hypotheses. In particular, we highlight that manipulating the level of information available to different family members may reveal important insights into when and to what extent maternal hormones influence offspring development. We conclude that the evolution of maternal hormone allocation is likely to be shaped by the conflicting fitness optima of mothers, fathers and offspring, and that the outcome of this conflict depends on the relative balance of power between family members. Extending our hypotheses to incorporate interactions between family members, as well as more complex social groups and a wider range of taxa, may provide exciting new developments in the fields of endocrinology and maternal effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kat Bebbington
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, Groningen, 9747AG, The Netherlands.,Animal Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, de Elst 1, Wageningen, 6708WD, The Netherlands
| | - Ton G G Groothuis
- Behavioural Biology, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 7, Groningen, 9747AG, The Netherlands
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10
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Gotoh H, Adachi H, Matsuda K, Lavine LC. Epithelial folding determines the final shape of beetle horns. Curr Opin Genet Dev 2021; 69:122-128. [PMID: 33848957 DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2021.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Revised: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The elaborate ornaments and weapons of sexual selection, such as the vast array of horns observed in scarab beetles, are some of the most striking outcomes of evolution. How these novel traits have arisen, develop, and respond to condition is governed by a complex suite of interactions that require coordination between the environment, whole-animal signals, cell-cell signals, and within-cell signals. Endocrine factors, developmental patterning genes, and sex-specific gene expression have been shown to regulate beetle horn size, shape, and location, yet no overarching mechanism of horn shape has been described. Recent advances in microscopy and computational analyses combined with a functional genetic approach have revealed that patterning genes combined with intricate epithelial folding and movement are responsible for the final shape of a beetle head horn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroki Gotoh
- Ecological Genetics Laboratory, Department of Genomics and Evolutionary Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, 401-8540, Japan
| | - Haruhiko Adachi
- Graduate School of Frontier Bioscience, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Keisuke Matsuda
- Graduate School of Frontier Bioscience, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan; Osaka University Hospital, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan
| | - Laura C Lavine
- Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99163 USA.
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11
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Spinks RK, Bonzi LC, Ravasi T, Munday PL, Donelson JM. Sex- and time-specific parental effects of warming on reproduction and offspring quality in a coral reef fish. Evol Appl 2021; 14:1145-1158. [PMID: 33897826 PMCID: PMC8061261 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Global warming can disrupt reproduction or lead to fewer and poorer quality offspring, owing to the thermally sensitive nature of reproductive physiology. However, phenotypic plasticity may enable some animals to adjust the thermal sensitivity of reproduction to maintain performance in warmer conditions. Whether elevated temperature affects reproduction may depend on the timing of exposure to warming and the sex of the parent exposed. We exposed male and female coral reef damselfish (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) during development, reproduction or both life stages to an elevated temperature (+1.5°C) consistent with projected ocean warming and measured reproductive output and newly hatched offspring performance relative to pairs reared in a present-day control temperature. We found female development in elevated temperature increased the probability of breeding, but reproduction ceased if warming continued to the reproductive stage, irrespective of the male's developmental experience. Females that developed in warmer conditions, but reproduced in control conditions, also produced larger eggs and hatchlings with greater yolk reserves. By contrast, male development or pairs reproducing in higher temperature produced fewer and poorer quality offspring. Such changes may be due to alterations in sex hormones or an endocrine stress response. In nature, this could mean female fish developing during a marine heatwave may have enhanced reproduction and produce higher quality offspring compared with females developing in a year of usual thermal conditions. However, male development during a heatwave would likely result in reduced reproductive output. Furthermore, the lack of reproduction from an average increase in temperature could lead to population decline. Our results demonstrate how the timing of exposure differentially influences females and males and how this translates to effects on reproduction and population sustainability in a warming world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel K. Spinks
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Lucrezia C. Bonzi
- Red Sea Research CenterDivision of Biological and Environmental Sciences and EngineeringKing Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyThuwalSaudi Arabia
| | - Timothy Ravasi
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
- Marine Climate Change UnitOkinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate UniversityKunigami‐gunJapan
| | - Philip L. Munday
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
| | - Jennifer M. Donelson
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef StudiesJames Cook UniversityTownsvilleQueenslandAustralia
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12
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Macagno ALM, Edgerton TJ, Moczek AP. Incipient hybrid inferiority between recently introduced, diverging dung beetle populations. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Understanding why and how certain clades emerge as speciation hotspots is a fundamental objective of evolutionary biology. Here we investigate divergences between exotic Onthophagus taurus, a dung beetle introduced into the USA and Australia in the 1970s, as a potential model for the widespread recent speciation events characterizing the genus Onthophagus. To do so, we hybridized O. taurus derived from Eastern US (EUS) and Western Australian (WA) populations, and assessed fitness-relevant trait expression in first- and second-generation hybrids. We found that dams invest more in offspring provisioning when paired with a sire from the same population, and that WA dams crossed with EUS sires produce smaller and lighter F1 hybrids, with an unexpectedly male-biased sex ratio. Furthermore, fewer F2 hybrids with vertically inherited WA cytoplasm and microbiome emerged compared with WA backcrosses with WA cytoplasm/microbiome, suggesting that combinations of nuclear genome, cytoplasm and/or microbiome may contribute to hybrid viability. Lastly, we document a dominance of WA genotypes over body size at the point of inflection between minor and major male morphs, a trait of significance in mate competition, which has diverged remarkably between these populations. We discuss our results in light of the evolutionary ecology of onthophagine beetles and the role of developmental evolution in clade diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Armin P Moczek
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
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13
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Mamantov MA, Sheldon KS. Behavioural responses to warming differentially impact survival in introduced and native dung beetles. J Anim Ecol 2020; 90:273-281. [PMID: 33037612 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic changes are often studied in isolation but may interact to affect biodiversity. For example, climate change could exacerbate the impacts of biological invasions if climate change differentially affects invasive and native species. Behavioural plasticity may mitigate some of the impacts of climate change, but species vary in their degree of behavioural plasticity. In particular, invasive species may have greater behavioural plasticity than native species since plasticity helps invasive species establish and spread in new environments. This plasticity could make invasives better able to cope with climate change. Here our goal was to examine whether reproductive behaviours and behavioural plasticity vary between an introduced and a native Onthophagus dung beetle species in response to warming temperatures and how differences in behaviour influence offspring survival. Using a repeated measures design, we exposed small colonies of introduced O. taurus and native O. hecate to three temperature treatments, including a control, low warming and high warming treatment, and then measured reproductive behaviours, including the number, size and burial depth of brood balls. We reared offspring in their brood balls in developmental temperatures that matched those of the brood ball burial depth to quantify survival. We found that the introduced O. taurus produced more brood balls and larger brood balls, and buried brood balls deeper than the native O. hecate in all treatments. However, the two species did not vary in the degree of behavioural plasticity in response to warming. Differences in reproductive behaviours did affect survival such that warming temperatures had a greater effect on survival of offspring of native O. hecate compared to introduced O. taurus. Overall, our results suggest that differences in behaviour between native and introduced species are one mechanism through which climate change may exacerbate negative impacts of biological invasions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret A Mamantov
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Kimberly S Sheldon
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
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14
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Rohner PT, Moczek AP. Rapid differentiation of plasticity in life history and morphology during invasive range expansion and concurrent local adaptation in the horned beetle
Onthophagus taurus. Evolution 2020; 74:2059-2072. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.14045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Revised: 06/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/16/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Armin P. Moczek
- Department of Biology Indiana University Bloomington Indiana 47405
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15
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Lehto WR, Tinghitella RM. Predator‐induced maternal and paternal effects independently alter sexual selection. Evolution 2020; 74:404-418. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Revised: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 12/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Whitley R. Lehto
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Denver Denver Colorado 80210
- Current Address: College of Natural Science Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan 48823
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16
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Dury GJ, Wade MJ. When mother knows best: A population genetic model of transgenerational versus intragenerational plasticity. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:127-137. [PMID: 31549475 PMCID: PMC7891633 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Revised: 09/14/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Many organisms exhibit phenotypic plasticity; producing alternate phenotypes depending on the environment. Individuals can be plastic (intragenerational or direct plasticity), wherein individuals of the same genotype produce different phenotypes in response to the environments they experience. Alternatively, an individual's phenotype may be under the control of its parents, usually the mother (transgenerational or indirect plasticity), so that mother's genotype determines the phenotype produced by a given genotype of her offspring. Under what conditions does plasticity evolve to have intragenerational as opposed to transgenerational genetic control? To explore this question, we present a population genetic model for the evolution of transgenerational and intragenerational plasticity. We hypothesize that the capacity for plasticity incurs a fitness cost, which is borne either by the individual developing the plastic phenotype or by its mother. We also hypothesize that individuals are imperfect predictors of future environments and their capacity for plasticity can lead them occasionally to make a low-fitness phenotype for a particular environment. When the cost, benefit and error parameters are equal, we show that there is no evolutionary advantage to intragenerational over transgenerational plasticity, although the rate of evolution of transgenerational plasticity is half the rate for intragenerational plasticity, as predicted by theory on indirect genetic effects. We find that transgenerational plasticity evolves when mothers are better predictors of future environments than offspring or when the fitness cost of the capacity for plasticity is more readily borne by a mother than by her developing offspring. We discuss different natural systems with either direct intragenerational plasticity or indirect transgenerational plasticity and find a pattern qualitatively in accord with the predictions of our model.
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17
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Schausberger P, Gotoh T, Sato Y. Spider mite mothers adjust reproduction and sons' alternative reproductive tactics to immigrating alien conspecifics. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2019; 6:191201. [PMID: 31827855 PMCID: PMC6894581 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Maternal effects on environmentally induced alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are poorly understood but likely to be selected for if mothers can reliably predict offspring environments. We assessed maternal effects in two populations (Y and G) of herbivorous arrhenotokous spider mites Tetranychus urticae, where males conditionally express fighting and sneaking tactics in male-male combat and pre-copulatory guarding behaviour. We hypothesized that resident mothers should adjust their reproduction and sons' ARTs to immigrating alien conspecifics in dependence of alien conspecifics posing a fitness threat or advantage. To induce maternal effects, females were exposed to own or alien socio-environments and mated to own or alien males. Across maternal and sons' reproductive traits, the maternal socio-environment induced stronger effects than the maternal mate, and G-mothers responded more strongly to Y-influence than vice versa. G-socio-environments and Y-mates enhanced maternal egg production in both populations. Maternal exposure to G-socio-environments demoted, yet maternal Y-mates promoted, guarding occurrence and timing by sons. Sneakers guarded earlier than fighters in Y-environments, whereas the opposite happened in G-environments. The endosymbiont Cardinium, present in G, did not exert any classical effect but may have played a role via the shared plant. Our study highlights interpopulation variation in immediate and anticipatory maternal responses to immigrants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Schausberger
- Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Center, University of Tsukuba, Ueda, Nagano, Japan
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Tetsuo Gotoh
- Faculty of Agriculture, Ibaraki University, Ami, Ibaraki, Japan
- Faculty of Economics, Ryutsu Keizai University, Ryugasaki, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Yukie Sato
- Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Center, University of Tsukuba, Ueda, Nagano, Japan
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18
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Schausberger P, Sato Y. Parental effects of male alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) on ARTs of haploid sons. Funct Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Schausberger
- Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Center University of Tsukuba Ueda Japan
- Department of Behavioural Biology University of Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Yukie Sato
- Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Center University of Tsukuba Ueda Japan
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19
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Simmons LW, Lovegrove M. Nongenetic paternal effects via seminal fluid. Evol Lett 2019; 3:403-411. [PMID: 31388449 PMCID: PMC6675144 DOI: 10.1002/evl3.124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2019] [Accepted: 06/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests that nongenetic paternal effects on offspring may be widespread among animal taxa, but the mechanisms underlying this form of nongenetic inheritance are not yet fully understood. Here, we show that seminal fluids underlie paternal effects on early offspring survival in an insect, the cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus, and quantify the contribution of this paternal effect to the inheritance of this important fitness trait. We used castrated males within a full-sib half-sib experimental design to show that seminal fluid donors were responsible for variation in the survival of developing embryos to hatching, and in their subsequent survival to adulthood. Increased expression of two seminal fluid protein genes, previously found to be positively associated with sperm quality, was found to be negatively associated with embryo survival. These nongenetic paternal effects hold important implications for the evolution of adaptive maternal responses to sperm competition, and more broadly for the interpretation of sire effects from classic quantitative genetic breeding designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary BiologySchool of Biological SciencesThe University of Western AustraliaCrawley6009Australia
| | - Maxine Lovegrove
- Centre for Evolutionary BiologySchool of Biological SciencesThe University of Western AustraliaCrawley6009Australia
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20
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LeGrice RJ, Tezanos‐Pinto G, de Villemereuil P, Holwell GI, Painting CJ. Directional selection on body size but no apparent survival cost to being large in wild New Zealand giraffe weevils. Evolution 2019; 73:762-776. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Revised: 02/07/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Gabriela Tezanos‐Pinto
- Coastal‐Marine Research Group, INMS
- Professional and Continuing EducationMassey University Auckland 0745 New Zealand
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21
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Schacht R, Davis HE, Kramer KL. Patterning of Paternal Investment in Response to Socioecological Change. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2018.00142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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22
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Schrader M, Jarrett BJM, Kilner RM. Parental care and sibling competition independently increase phenotypic variation among burying beetle siblings. Evolution 2018; 72:2546-2552. [PMID: 30246425 PMCID: PMC6282698 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2018] [Accepted: 08/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Several recent hypotheses suggest that parental care can influence the extent of phenotypic variation within populations; however, there have been few tests of these ideas. We exploited the facultative nature of posthatching parental care in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus vespilloides, to test whether parental care influences the expression of phenotypic variation in an important fitness trait (body size). We found that parental care and brood size (which influences sibling competition) had positive and independent effects on variation in body size. First, the mean coefficient of variation (CV) of body size was significantly greater in broods that received care than in those that did not. Second, CV body size increased with brood size in both parental care treatments. These results are not consistent with predictions from recent hypotheses that predict parental care will reduce phenotypic variation among siblings. The positive effects of parental care and brood size on phenotypic variation that we observed are likely due to sibling competition for access to provisioning parents and competition for limiting resources contained in the breeding carcass. Our results suggest that future theory linking parental care to the generation and maintenance of phenotypic variation must integrate the nature of interactions among family members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Schrader
- Department of Biology, University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee 37383
| | - Benjamin J M Jarrett
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom.,Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
| | - Rebecca M Kilner
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom
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23
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Kerman K, Roggero A, Rolando A, Palestrini C. Evidence for Male Horn Dimorphism and Related Pronotal Shape Variation in Copris lunaris (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Coprini). INSECTS 2018; 9:insects9030108. [PMID: 30135396 PMCID: PMC6164466 DOI: 10.3390/insects9030108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Revised: 08/16/2018] [Accepted: 08/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Male horn dimorphism is a rather common phenomenon in dung beetles, where some adult individuals have well-developed head horns (i.e., major males), while others exhibit diminished horn length (i.e., minor males). We focused on horn dimorphism and associated head and pronotum shape variations in Copris lunaris. We examined the allometric relationship between horn length (i.e., cephalic and pronotal horns) and maximum pronotum width (as index of body size) by fitting linear and sigmoidal models for both sexes. We then asked whether head and pronotum shape variations, quantified using the geometric morphometric approach, contributed to this allometric pattern. We found that female cephalic and pronotal horn growth showed a typical isometric scaling with body size. Horn length in males, however, exhibited sigmoidal allometry, where a certain threshold in body size separated males into two distinct morphs as majors and minors. Interestingly, we highlighted the same allometric patterns (i.e., isometric vs. sigmoidal models) by scaling horn lengths with pronotum shape, making evident that male horn dimorphism is not only a matter of body size. Furthermore, the analysis of shape showed that the three morphs had similar heads, but different pronota, major males showing a more expanded, rounded pronotum than minor males and females. These morphological differences in C. lunaris can ultimately have important functional consequences in the ecology of this species, which should be explored in future work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaan Kerman
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, I-10123 Torino, Italy.
| | - Angela Roggero
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, I-10123 Torino, Italy.
| | - Antonio Rolando
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, I-10123 Torino, Italy.
| | - Claudia Palestrini
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, I-10123 Torino, Italy.
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24
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Vega‐Trejo R, Kruuk LEB, Jennions MD, Head ML. What happens to offspring when parents are inbred, old or had a poor start in life? Evidence for sex‐specific parental effects. J Evol Biol 2018; 31:1138-1151. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2017] [Revised: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 05/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Regina Vega‐Trejo
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology The Australian National University, Acton Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Loeske E. B. Kruuk
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology The Australian National University, Acton Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Michael D. Jennions
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology The Australian National University, Acton Canberra ACT Australia
| | - Megan L. Head
- Division of Ecology & Evolution, Research School of Biology The Australian National University, Acton Canberra ACT Australia
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25
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Bonduriansky R, Crean AJ. What are parental condition‐transfer effects and how can they be detected? Methods Ecol Evol 2017. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.12848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Russell Bonduriansky
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Australia Sydney NSW Australia
| | - Angela J. Crean
- Animal Reproduction Group School of Life and Environmental Sciences Faculty of Veterinary Science University of Sydney Sydney NSW Australia
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26
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Schwab DB, Casasa S, Moczek AP. Evidence of developmental niche construction in dung beetles: effects on growth, scaling and reproductive success. Ecol Lett 2017; 20:1353-1363. [PMID: 28942603 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12830] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2017] [Revised: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 08/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Niche construction occurs when organisms modify their environments and alter selective conditions through their physiology and behaviours. Such modifications can bias phenotypic variation and enhance organism-environment fit. Yet few studies exist that experimentally assess the degree to which environmental modifications shape developmental and fitness outcomes, how their influences may differ among species and identify the underlying proximate mechanisms. Here, we experimentally eliminate environmental modifications from the developmental environment of Onthophagus dung beetles. We show that these modifications (1) differentially influence growth among species, (2) consistently shape scaling relationships in fitness-related traits, (3) are necessary for the maintenance of sexual dimorphism, (4) influence reproductive success among females of at least one species and (5) implicate larval cultivation of an external rumen as a possible mechanism for environmental modification. Our results present evidence that Onthophagus larvae engage in niche construction, and that this is a fundamental component of beetle development and fitness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel B Schwab
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Sofia Casasa
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Armin P Moczek
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
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27
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McCullough EL, Buzatto BA, Simmons LW. Benefits of polyandry: Molecular evidence from field-caught dung beetles. Mol Ecol 2017; 26:3546-3555. [PMID: 28370584 DOI: 10.1111/mec.14127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2016] [Revised: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
When females mate with multiple males, they set the stage for postcopulatory sexual selection via sperm competition and/or cryptic female choice. Surprisingly little is known about the rates of multiple mating by females in the wild, despite the importance of this information in understanding the potential for postcopulatory sexual selection to drive the evolution of reproductive behaviour, morphology and physiology. Dung beetles in the genus Onthophagus have become a laboratory model for studying pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection, yet we still lack information about the reproductive behaviour of female dung beetles in natural populations. Here, we develop microsatellite markers for Onthophagus taurus and use them to genotype the offspring of wild-caught females and to estimate natural rates of multiple mating and patterns of sperm utilization. We found that O. taurus females are highly polyandrous: 88% of females produced clutches sired by at least two males, and 5% produced clutches with as many as five sires. Several females (23%) produced clutches with significant paternity skew, indicating the potential for strong postcopulatory sexual selection in natural populations. There were also strong positive correlations between the number of offspring produced and both number of fathers and paternity skew, which suggests that females benefit from mating polyandrously by inciting postcopulatory mechanisms that bias paternity towards males that can sire more viable offspring. This study evaluates the fitness consequences of polyandry for an insect in the wild and provides strong evidence that female dung beetles benefit from multiple mating under natural conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin L McCullough
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Bruno A Buzatto
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Leigh W Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
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28
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Arellano L, Castillo-Guevara C, Huerta C, Germán-García A, Lara C. Nesting biology and life history of the dung beetle Onthophagus lecontei (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae). ANIM BIOL 2017. [DOI: 10.1163/15707563-00002520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Obtaining knowledge about a species’ life history and reproductive behaviour is fundamental for understanding its biology, ecology, and potential role in ecosystem services. Here, we focused on the dung beetle species Onthophagus lecontei. Adults were collected in the field and then confined to terrariums, where they were supplied with semi-fresh domestic goat dung (Capra aegagrus Erxleben, 1777). After being paired (26 pairs), the nesting behavior of beetles was observed under laboratory conditions and the preimaginal development of individuals obtained from mating (from the deposition of the egg until the emergence of the adult) was described. Their nesting behavior was found to be characteristic of what is known as pattern I, which comprises building of brood masses, oviposition of a single egg in each brood mass, development of three larval instars, construction of a pupation chamber, pupal stage and adult emergence. Both sexes were involved in the handling of dung, tunnel construction, and mass nest elaboration. Pairs built from one to seven brood masses. The pre-nesting period (feeding) lasted 16 days; the egg stage two days, the larval period 22 days; the pupal period 11 days and the imagoes four days, after which the adults emerged. Our results are discussed and compared with other species in the genus. However, our knowledge of this dung beetle is still limited, and further studies are required in all areas of its biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. Arellano
- Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Red de Ecoetología, Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - C. Castillo-Guevara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Autopista Tlaxcala-San Martín Texmelucan km 10.5, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla 90120, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - C. Huerta
- Instituto de Ecología, A. C., Red de Ecoetología, Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - A. Germán-García
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Maestría en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Carretera Tlaxcala-Puebla km 1.5, Colonia Xicoténcatl, Tlaxcala 90070, Tlaxcala, Mexico
| | - C. Lara
- Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Autopista Tlaxcala-San Martín Texmelucan km 10.5, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla 90120, Tlaxcala, Mexico
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29
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Vega-Trejo R, Jennions MD, Head ML. Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life? BMC Evol Biol 2016; 16:263. [PMID: 27905874 PMCID: PMC5134236 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0838-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2016] [Accepted: 11/25/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Challenging conditions experienced early in life, such as a restricted diet, can detrimentally affect key life-history traits. Individuals can reduce these costs by delaying their sexual maturation, albeit at the price of the later onset of breeding, to eventually reach the same adult size as individuals that grow up in a benevolent environment. Delayed maturation can, however, still lead to other detrimental morphological and physiological changes that become apparent later in adulthood (e.g. shorter lifespan, faster senescence). In general, research focuses on the naturally selected costs of a poor early diet. In mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), males with limited food intake early in life delay maturation to reach a similar adult body size to their well-fed counterparts (‘catch-up growth’). Here we tested whether a poor early diet is costly due to the reduced expression of sexually selected male characters, namely genital size and ejaculate traits. Results We found that a male’s diet early in life significantly influenced his sperm reserves and sperm replenishment rate. Shortly after maturation males with a restricted early diet had significantly lower sperm reserves and slower replenishment rates than control diet males, but this dietary difference was no longer detectable in older males. Conclusions Although delaying maturation to reach the same body size as well fed juveniles can ameliorate some costs of a poor start in life, our findings suggest that costs might still arise because of sexual selection against these males. It should be noted, however, that the observed effects are modest (Hedges’ g = 0.20–0.36), and the assumption that lower sperm production translates into a decline in fitness under sperm competition remains unconfirmed. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0838-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Regina Vega-Trejo
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.
| | - Michael D Jennions
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia.,Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Wallotstraße 19, Berlin, 14193, Germany
| | - Megan L Head
- Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia
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30
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Mishima T, Wada N, Iwata R, Anzai H, Hosoya T, Araya K. Super-Protective Child-Rearing by Japanese Bess Beetles, Cylindrocaulus patalis: Adults Provide Their Larvae with Chewed and Predigested Wood. INSECTS 2016; 7:insects7020018. [PMID: 27128944 PMCID: PMC4931430 DOI: 10.3390/insects7020018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2016] [Revised: 04/18/2016] [Accepted: 04/20/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Beetles of the family Passalidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) are termed subsocial. The insects inhabit rotten wood as family groups consisting of the parents and their offspring. The Japanese species Cylindrocaulus patalis has the lowest fecundity among passalids because siblicide occurs among the first-instar larvae; accordingly, parental care toward the survived larva is the highest among Passalidae. To clarify the nutritional relationships between the parents and their offspring, we investigated their ability to digest three types of polysaccharides that are components of wood (cellulose and β-1,4-xylan) and fungal cell walls (β-1,3-glucan). Although carboxymethyl-cellulase activity was barely detectable, β-xylosidase, β-glucosidase, β-1,4-xylanase and β-1,3-glucanase activities were clearly detected in both adults and larvae. Because the activities of enzymes that digest β-1,3-glucan were much higher than those for degrading β-1,4-xylan, in both adults and larvae, it is concluded that they are mainly fungivorous. Furthermore, these digestive enzymatic activities in second- and third-instar larvae were much lower than they were in adults. Although all larval instars grew rapidly when fed chewed wood by their parents, larvae ceased growing and died when fed only artificially ground wood meals. We conclude that the larvae are assumed to be provided with chewed predigested wood in which β-1,3-glucan is degraded by parental enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuya Mishima
- Biosystematics Laboratory, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
| | - Noriko Wada
- Laboratory of Biotechnology in Daily Life, Department of Bioscience in Daily Life, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0880, Japan.
| | - Ryûtarô Iwata
- Laboratory of Forest Zoology, Department of Forest Science and Resources, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0880, Japan.
| | - Hirosi Anzai
- Laboratory of Biotechnology in Daily Life, Department of Bioscience in Daily Life, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0880, Japan.
| | - Tadatsugu Hosoya
- Institute of Decision Science for a Sustainable Society, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
| | - Kunio Araya
- Biosystematics Laboratory, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
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31
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Effects of parental care on the accumulation and release of cryptic genetic variation: review of mechanisms and a case study of dung beetles. Evol Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-015-9813-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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32
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Kishi S, Takakura KI, Nishida T. Sexual shape dimorphism accelerated by male-male competition, but not prevented by sex-indiscriminate parental care in dung beetles (Scarabaeidae). Ecol Evol 2015; 5:2754-61. [PMID: 26306164 PMCID: PMC4541983 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.1558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2015] [Revised: 05/16/2015] [Accepted: 05/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Dimorphic sexual differences in shape and body size are called sexual dimorphism and sexual size dimorphism, respectively. The degrees of both dimorphisms are considered to increase with sexual selection, represented by male–male competition. However, the degrees of the two dimorphisms often differ within a species. In some dung beetles, typical sexual shape dimorphisms are seen in male horns and other exaggerated traits, although sexual size dimorphism looks rare. We hypothesized that the evolution of this sexual shape dimorphism without sexual size dimorphism is caused by male–male competition and their crucial and sex-indiscriminate provisioning behaviors, in which parents provide the equivalent size of brood ball with each of both sons and daughters indiscriminately. As a result of individual-based model simulations, we show that parents evolve to provide each of sons and daughters with the optimal amount of resource for a son when parents do not distinguish the sex of offspring and males compete for mates. This result explains why crucial and sex-indiscriminate parental provisioning does not prevent the evolution of sexual shape dimorphism. The model result was supported by empirical data of Scarabaeidae beetles. In some dung beetles, sexual size dimorphism is absent, compared with significant sexual size dimorphism in other horned beetles, although both groups exhibit similar degrees of sexual shape dimorphism in male horns and other exaggerated traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shigeki Kishi
- Center for Ecological Research, Kyoto University Shiga, Japan
| | - Koh-Ichi Takakura
- Department of Biological Resource, School of Environmental Science, The University of Shiga Prefecture Shiga, Japan
| | - Takayoshi Nishida
- Department of Ecosystem Studies, School of Environmental Science, The University of Shiga Prefecture Shiga, Japan
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Rollinson N, Rowe L. The positive correlation between maternal size and offspring size: fitting pieces of a life-history puzzle. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2015; 91:1134-1148. [PMID: 26289842 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2015] [Revised: 07/03/2015] [Accepted: 07/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of investment per offspring (I) is often viewed through the lens of the classic theory, in which variation among individuals in a population is not expected. A substantial departure from this prediction arises in the form of correlations between maternal body size and I, which are observed within populations in virtually all taxonomic groups. Based on the generality of this observation, we suggest it is caused by a common underlying mechanism. We pursue a unifying explanation for this pattern by reviewing all theoretical models that attempt to explain it. We assess the generality of the mechanism upon which each model is based, and the extent to which data support its predictions. Two classes of adaptive models are identified: models that assume that the correlation arises from maternal influences on the relationship between I and offspring fitness [w(I)], and those that assume that maternal size influences the relationship between I and maternal fitness [W(I)]. The weight of evidence suggests that maternal influences on w(I) are probably not very general, and even for taxa where maternal influences on w(I) are likely, experiments fail to support model predictions. Models that assume that W(I) varies with maternal size appear to offer more generality, but the current challenge is to identify a specific and general mechanism upon which W(I) varies predictably with maternal size. Recent theory suggests the exciting possibility that a yet unknown mechanism modifies the offspring size-number trade-off function in a manner that is predictable with respect to maternal size, such that W(I) varies with size. We identify two promising avenues of inquiry. First, the trade-off might be modified by energetic costs that are associated with the initiation of reproduction ('overhead costs') and that scale with I, and future work could investigate what specific overhead costs are generally associated with reproduction and whether these costs scale with I. Second, the trade-off might be modified by virtue of condition-dependent offspring provisioning coupled with metabolic factors, and future work could investigate the proximate cause of, and generality of, condition-dependent offspring provisioning. Finally, drawing on the existing literature, we suggest that maternal size per se is not causatively related to variation in I, and the mechanism involved in the correlation is instead linked to maternal nutritional status or maternal condition, which is usually correlated with maternal size. Using manipulative experiments to elucidate why females with high nutritional status typically produce large offspring might help explain what specific mechanism underlies the maternal-size correlation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Njal Rollinson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks St., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B2, Canada.
| | - Locke Rowe
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks St., Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B2, Canada
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Kangassalo K, Valtonen TM, Roff D, Pölkki M, Dubovskiy IM, Sorvari J, Rantala MJ. Intra- and trans-generational effects of larval diet on susceptibility to an entomopathogenic fungus, Beauveria bassiana
, in the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:1453-64. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2014] [Accepted: 05/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. Kangassalo
- Department of Biology; Section of Ecology; University of Turku; Turku Finland
| | - T. M. Valtonen
- Department of Biology; Section of Ecology; University of Turku; Turku Finland
| | - D. Roff
- Department of Biology; University of California; Riverside CA USA
| | - M. Pölkki
- Department of Biology; Section of Ecology; University of Turku; Turku Finland
| | - I. M. Dubovskiy
- Institute of Animal Systematics and Ecology; Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science; Novosibirsk Russia
| | - J. Sorvari
- Department of Environmental Science; University of Eastern Finland; Kuopio Finland
| | - M. J. Rantala
- Department of Biology; Section of Ecology; University of Turku; Turku Finland
- Turku Brain and Mind Center; University of Turku; Turku Finland
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35
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Beckers OM, Anderson W, Moczek AP. A combination of developmental plasticity, parental effects, and genetic differentiation mediates divergences in life history traits between dung beetle populations. Evol Dev 2015; 17:148-59. [DOI: 10.1111/ede.12117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Oliver M. Beckers
- Department of Biology; Indiana University; 915 East Third Street Bloomington IN 47405-7107 USA
| | - Wendy Anderson
- Department of Biology; Indiana University; 915 East Third Street Bloomington IN 47405-7107 USA
| | - Armin P. Moczek
- Department of Biology; Indiana University; 915 East Third Street Bloomington IN 47405-7107 USA
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36
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Buzatto BA, Kotiaho JS, Tomkins JL, Simmons LW. Intralocus tactical conflict: genetic correlations between fighters and sneakers of the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus. J Evol Biol 2015; 28:730-8. [PMID: 25736536 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2014] [Revised: 02/02/2015] [Accepted: 02/02/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Males and females differ in their phenotypic optima for many traits, and as the majority of genes are expressed in both sexes, some alleles can be beneficial to one sex but harmful to the other (intralocus sexual conflict; ISC). ISC theory has recently been extended to intrasexual dimorphisms, where certain alleles may have opposite effects on the fitness of males of different morphs that employ alternative reproductive tactics (intralocus tactical conflict; ITC). Here, we use a half-sib breeding design to investigate the genetic basis for ISC and ITC in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus. We found positive heritabilities and intersexual genetic correlations for almost all traits investigated. Next, we calculated the intrasexual genetic correlation between males of different morphs for horn length, a sexually selected trait, and compared it to intrasexual correlations for naturally selected traits in both sexes. Intrasexual genetic correlations did not differ significantly between the sexes or between naturally and sexually selected traits, failing to support the hypothesis that horns present a reduction of intrasexual genetic correlations due to ITC. We discuss the implications for the idea of developmental reprogramming between male morphs and emphasize the importance of genetic correlations as constraints for the evolution of dimorphisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- B A Buzatto
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
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37
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Mirhosseini MA, Michaud JP, Jalali MA, Ziaaddini M. Paternal effects correlate with female reproductive stimulation in the polyandrous ladybird Cheilomenes sexmaculata. BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2014; 104:480-485. [PMID: 24661646 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485314000194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Components of male seminal fluids are known to stimulate fecundity and fertility in females of numerous insect species and paternal effects on offspring phenotype are also known, but no studies have yet demonstrated links between male effects on female reproduction and those on progeny phenotype. In separate laboratory experiments employing 10-day-old virgin females of Cheilomenes sexmaculata (F.), we varied male age and mating history to manipulate levels of male allomones and found that the magnitude of paternal effects on progeny phenotype was correlated with stimulation of female reproduction. Older virgin males remained in copula longer than younger ones, induced higher levels of female fecundity, and sired progeny that developed faster to yield heavier adults. When male age was held constant (13 days), egg fertility declined as a function of previous male copulations, progeny developmental times increased, and the adult weight of daughters declined. These results suggest that male epigenetic effects on progeny phenotype act in concert with female reproductive stimulation; both categories of effects increased as a consequence of male celibacy (factor accumulation), and diminished as a function of previous matings (factor depletion). Male factors that influence female reproduction are implicated in sexual conflict and parental effects may extend this conflict to offspring phenotype. Whereas mothers control the timing of oviposition events and can use maternal effects to tailor progeny phenotypes to prevailing or anticipated conditions, fathers cannot. Since females remate and dilute paternity in polyandrous systems, paternal fitness will be increased by linking paternal effects to female fecundity stimulation, so that more benefits accrue to the male's own progeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Mirhosseini
- Department of Crop Protection, Agriculture College,Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan,Rafsanjan,Iran
| | - J P Michaud
- Department of Entomology,Kansas State University,Agricultural Research Center-Hays, Hays, Kansas,USA
| | - M A Jalali
- Department of Crop Protection, Agriculture College,Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan,Rafsanjan,Iran
| | - M Ziaaddini
- Department of Crop Protection, Agriculture College,Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan,Rafsanjan,Iran
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38
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Steiger S. Bigger mothers are better mothers: disentangling size-related prenatal and postnatal maternal effects. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20131225. [PMID: 23843390 PMCID: PMC3730594 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite a vast literature on the factors controlling adult size, few studies have investigated how maternal size affects offspring size independent of direct genetic effects, thereby separating prenatal from postnatal influences. I used a novel experimental design that combined a cross-fostering approach with phenotypic manipulation of maternal body size that allowed me to disentangle prenatal and postnatal maternal effects. Using the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides as model organism, I found that a mother's body size affected egg size as well as the quality of postnatal maternal care, with larger mothers producing larger eggs and raising larger offspring than smaller females. However, with respect to the relative importance of prenatal and postnatal maternal effects on offspring growth, only the postnatal effects were important in determining offspring body size. Thus, prenatal effects can be offset by the quality of postnatal maternal care. This finding has implications for the coevolution of prenatal and postnatal maternal effects as they arise as a consequence of maternal body size. In general, my study provides evidence that there can be transgenerational phenotypic plasticity, with maternal size determining offspring size leading to a resemblance between mothers and their offspring above and beyond any direct genetic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Steiger
- Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, , Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany.
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39
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Almbro M, Simmons LW. SEXUAL SELECTION CAN REMOVE AN EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED MUTATION LOAD. Evolution 2013; 68:295-300. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.12238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2013] [Accepted: 08/07/2013] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Almbro
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology; School of Animal Biology (M092); The University of Western Australia; Crawley 6009 Australia
| | - Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology; School of Animal Biology (M092); The University of Western Australia; Crawley 6009 Australia
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40
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Chambert T, Rotella JJ, Higgs MD, Garrott RA. Individual heterogeneity in reproductive rates and cost of reproduction in a long-lived vertebrate. Ecol Evol 2013; 3:2047-60. [PMID: 23919151 PMCID: PMC3728946 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2013] [Revised: 04/18/2013] [Accepted: 04/24/2013] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Individual variation in reproductive success is a key feature of evolution, but also has important implications for predicting population responses to variable environments. Although such individual variation in reproductive outcomes has been reported in numerous studies, most analyses to date have not considered whether these realized differences were due to latent individual heterogeneity in reproduction or merely random chance causing different outcomes among like individuals. Furthermore, latent heterogeneity in fitness components might be expressed differently in contrasted environmental conditions, an issue that has only rarely been investigated. Here, we assessed (i) the potential existence of latent individual heterogeneity and (ii) the nature of its expression (fixed vs. variable) in a population of female Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii), using a hierarchical modeling approach on a 30-year mark–recapture data set consisting of 954 individual encounter histories. We found strong support for the existence of latent individual heterogeneity in the population, with “robust” individuals expected to produce twice as many pups as “frail” individuals. Moreover, the expression of individual heterogeneity appeared consistent, with only mild evidence that it might be amplified when environmental conditions are severe. Finally, the explicit modeling of individual heterogeneity allowed us to detect a substantial cost of reproduction that was not evidenced when the heterogeneity was ignored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thierry Chambert
- Department of Ecology, Montana State University Bozeman, Montana, 59717
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41
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Gleason ED, Marler CA. Non-genomic transmission of paternal behaviour between fathers and sons in the monogamous and biparental California mouse. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20130824. [PMID: 23698012 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Maternal behaviour has profound, long-lasting implications for the health and well-being of developing offspring. In the monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus), care by both parents is critical for offspring survival. We tested the hypothesis that similar to maternal care in rodents, paternal huddling and grooming (HG) behaviour can be transmitted to future generations via behavioural mechanisms. In California mice, testosterone maintains paternal HG behaviour. In the present study, we randomly assigned a group of male California mice to castration or sham-operated conditions and allowed them to raise their offspring normally. Adult sons of these males were paired with a female, and they were observed interacting with their own offspring. We found that like their fathers, the sons of castrated males huddled and groomed their young at lower levels than the sons of sham-operated fathers. The sons of castrates also retrieved pups more frequently. When both parents were present, the sons of castrates also showed a trend towards engaging in less exploratory behaviour. These data support the hypothesis that paternal behaviour, like maternal behaviour, can be transferred to future generations via epigenetic mechanisms and suggest that in a biparental species both parents contribute to offspring behavioural development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin D Gleason
- Departments of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1202 W Johnson Street, Madison, WI 53705, USA.
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42
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Christiansen P. Larval growth rates and sexual differences of resource allocation in the cetoniine scarabMecynorhina polyphemusFabricius 1781 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Goliathini). J NAT HIST 2013. [DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2012.763061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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43
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Snell-Rood EC, Troth A, Moczek AP. DNA methylation as a mechanism of nutritional plasticity: limited support from horned beetles. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART B, MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2013; 320:22-34. [PMID: 22951993 PMCID: PMC3708545 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2012] [Revised: 06/01/2012] [Accepted: 07/23/2012] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
Abstract
Epigenetic changes to DNA, potentially heritable alterations above the sequence level, such as DNA methylation, are thought to underlie many instances of adaptive phenotypic plasticity. Our understanding of the links between epigenetic variation and adaptive phenotypic plasticity in natural populations is limited. If DNA methylation underlies adaptive responses to different nutritional environments, methylation patterns should be correlated with differences in performance across nutritional environments, and respond to changes in the environment. Additionally, genotypes that can cope with a broader range of nutritional environments are expected to have greater flexibility in methylation patterns. We tested these predictions using horned beetles (genus Onthophagus), which can cope with a wide range of variation in larval nutrition. We surveyed levels of methylation across several methylated loci in lab-reared beetles originating from natural populations using a methylation-specific amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. For less than half the of the loci investigated, methylation level was correlated with performance, measured as adult body size attained on a given diet, in different nutritional environments, with an overall greater effect in males (the more nutritionally plastic sex) than females. Methylation levels at most sites were influenced more by genotype (iso-female line) than by environment (dung type). Only 1 site (of 12) showed a significant genotype-by-environment interaction. Taken together, our results provide modest support for the hypothesis that DNA methylation underlies nutritional plasticity, as only 8-16% of methylated sites conformed to all of our predictions.
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44
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Bonduriansky R, Day T. Nongenetic inheritance and the evolution of costly female preference. J Evol Biol 2012; 26:76-87. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.12028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2012] [Revised: 09/23/2012] [Accepted: 09/24/2012] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- R. Bonduriansky
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences; University of New South Wales; Sydney NSW Australia
| | - T. Day
- Departments of Mathematics and Biology; Queen's University; Kingston ON Canada
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45
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Hallsson LR, Björklund M. Sex-specific genetic variances in life-history and morphological traits of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. Ecol Evol 2012; 2:128-38. [PMID: 22408731 PMCID: PMC3297183 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.56] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2011] [Revised: 09/13/2011] [Accepted: 09/15/2011] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Knowledge of heritability and genetic correlations are of central importance in the study of adaptive trait evolution and genetic constraints. We use a paternal half-sib-full-sib breeding design to investigate the genetic architecture of three life-history and morphological traits in the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus. Heritability was significant for all traits under observation and genetic correlations between traits (r(A)) were low. Interestingly, we found substantial sex-specific genetic effects and low genetic correlations between sexes (r(MF)) in traits that are only moderately (weight at emergence) to slightly (longevity) sexually dimorphic. Furthermore, we found an increased sire ([Formula: see text]) compared to dam ([Formula: see text]) variance component within trait and sex. Our results highlight that the genetic architecture even of the same trait should not be assumed to be the same for males and females. Furthermore, it raises the issue of the presence of unnoticed environmental effects that may inflate estimates of heritability. Overall, our study stresses the fact that estimates of quantitative genetic parameters are not only population, time, environment, but also sex specific. Thus, extrapolation between sexes and studies should be treated with caution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lára R Hallsson
- Animal Ecology/Department of Ecology and Genetics, Evolutionary Biology Centre (EBC) Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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46
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Linksvayer TA, Fewell JH, Gadau J, Laubichler MD. Developmental evolution in social insects: regulatory networks from genes to societies. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2012; 318:159-69. [PMID: 22544713 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The evolution and development of complex phenotypes in social insect colonies, such as queen-worker dimorphism or division of labor, can, in our opinion, only be fully understood within an expanded mechanistic framework of Developmental Evolution. Conversely, social insects offer a fertile research area in which fundamental questions of Developmental Evolution can be addressed empirically. We review the concept of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) that aims to fully describe the battery of interacting genomic modules that are differentially expressed during the development of individual organisms. We discuss how distinct types of network models have been used to study different levels of biological organization in social insects, from GRNs to social networks. We propose that these hierarchical networks spanning different organizational levels from genes to societies should be integrated and incorporated into full GRN models to elucidate the evolutionary and developmental mechanisms underlying social insect phenotypes. Finally, we discuss prospects and approaches to achieve such an integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy A Linksvayer
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
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47
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Thompson ME, Muller MN, Wrangham RW. The energetics of lactation and the return to fecundity in wild chimpanzees. Behav Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ars107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
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48
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Emlen DJ, Warren IA, Johns A, Dworkin I, Lavine LC. A mechanism of extreme growth and reliable signaling in sexually selected ornaments and weapons. Science 2012; 337:860-4. [PMID: 22837386 DOI: 10.1126/science.1224286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 314] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Many male animals wield ornaments or weapons of exaggerated proportions. We propose that increased cellular sensitivity to signaling through the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway may be responsible for the extreme growth of these structures. We document how rhinoceros beetle horns, a sexually selected weapon, are more sensitive to nutrition and more responsive to perturbation of the insulin/IGF pathway than other body structures. We then illustrate how enhanced sensitivity to insulin/IGF signaling in a growing ornament or weapon would cause heightened condition sensitivity and increased variability in expression among individuals--critical properties of reliable signals of male quality. The possibility that reliable signaling arises as a by-product of the growth mechanism may explain why trait exaggeration has evolved so many different times in the context of sexual selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas J Emlen
- Division of Biological Sciences, The University of Montana, 104 Health Science Building, Missoula, MT 59812, USA.
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49
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Buzatto BA, Tomkins JL, Simmons LW. Maternal effects on male weaponry: female dung beetles produce major sons with longer horns when they perceive higher population density. BMC Evol Biol 2012; 12:118. [PMID: 22823456 PMCID: PMC3506554 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-12-118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2012] [Accepted: 06/29/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Maternal effects are environmental influences on the phenotype of one individual that are due to the expression of genes in its mother, and are expected to evolve whenever females are better capable of assessing the environmental conditions that their offspring will experience than the offspring themselves. In the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus, conditional male dimorphism is associated with alternative reproductive tactics: majors fight and guard females whereas minors sneak copulations. Furthermore, variation in dung beetle population density has different fitness consequences for each male morph, and theory predicts that higher population density might select for a higher frequency of minors and/or greater expenditure on weaponry in majors. Because adult dung beetles provide offspring with all the nutritional resources for their development, maternal effects strongly influence male phenotype. Results Here we tested whether female O. taurus are capable of perceiving population density, and responding by changing the phenotype of their offspring. We found that mothers who were reared with other conspecifics in their pre-mating period produced major offspring that had longer horns across a wider range of body sizes than the major offspring of females that were reared in isolation in their pre-mating period. Moreover, our results indicate that this maternal effect on male weaponry does not operate through the amount of dung provided by females to their offspring, but is rather transmitted through egg or brood mass composition. Finally, although theory predicts that females experiencing higher density might produce more minor males, we found no support for this, rather the best fitting models were equivocal as to whether fewer or the same proportions of minors were produced. Conclusions Our study describes a new type of maternal effect in dung beetles, which probably allows females to respond to population density adaptively, preparing at least their major offspring for the sexual competition they will face in the future. This new type of maternal effect in dung beetles represents a novel transgenerational response of alternative reproductive tactics to population density.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno A Buzatto
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology (M092), The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009 WA, Australia.
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50
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House CM, Simmons LW. The genetics of primary and secondary sexual character trade-offs in a horned beetle. J Evol Biol 2012; 25:1711-7. [PMID: 22775558 DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02559.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
When structures compete for shared resources, this may lead to acquisition and allocation trade-offs so that the enlargement of one structure occurs at the expense of another. Among the studies of morphological trade-offs, their importance has been demonstrated primarily through experimental manipulations and comparative analyses. Relatively, a few studies have investigated the underlying genetic basis of phenotypic patterns. Here, we use a half-sibling breeding design to determine the genetic underpinnings of the phenotypic trade-off between head horns and the male copulatory organ or aedeagus that has been found in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus. Instead of the predicted negative genetic covariance among characters that trade-off, we find positive genetic covariance between absolute horn and aedeagus length and zero genetic covariance between relative horn and aedeagus length. Therefore, although the genetic covariance between absolute horn and aedeagus length would constrain the independent evolution of primary and secondary sexual characters in this population, there was no evidence of a trade-off. We discuss alternative hypotheses for the observed patterns of genetic correlation between traits that compete for resources and the implications that these have for selection and the evolution of such traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- C M House
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, School of Biosciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus, Penryn, UK
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