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Cobb NE, Mason SM, Tompkins K, Fitschen-Brown M, Rios-Cardenas O, Morris MR. Strength of female mate preferences in temperature manipulation study supports the signal reliability hypothesis. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0303691. [PMID: 38843264 PMCID: PMC11156382 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Both sexually selected traits and mate preferences for these traits can be context dependent, yet how variation in preferred traits could select for context dependent preferences has rarely been examined. The signal reliability hypothesis predicts that mate preferences vary across contexts (e.g., environments) in relation to the reliability of the information preferred traits provide in those contexts. Extensive variation in copy number of mc4r B alleles on the Y-chromosome that associates with male size in Xiphophorus multilineatus allowed us to use a split-sibling design to determine if male size is more likely to provide information about male genotype (i.e., dam) when males were reared in a warm as compared to a cold environment. We then examined strength of preference for male size by females reared in the same two environments. We found that males were larger in the cold environment, but male size was more variable across dams in the warm environment, and therefore male size would be a more reliable indicator of dam (i.e., genetics) in the warm environment. Females reared in the warm environment had stronger mate preferences based on male size than cold reared females, with a significant influence of dam on strength of preference. Therefore, strength of female preference for male size was influenced by the temperature in which they were reared, with the direction of the difference across treatments supporting the signal reliability hypothesis. Understanding how the reliability of male traits can select for contextual variation in the strength of the female mate preferences will further our discovery of adaptive mate preferences. For example, a relationship between the strength of a female's mate preference and their growth rates was detected in the context where females had a preference based on male size, supporting a hypothesis from previous work with this species of disassortative mating in relation to growth rates to mitigate a documented growth-mortality tradeoff.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole E. Cobb
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States of America
| | - Samantha M. Mason
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States of America
| | - Keith Tompkins
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States of America
| | | | - Oscar Rios-Cardenas
- Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Asociación Civil, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Molly R. Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States of America
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Riddle NC, Biga PR, Bronikowski AM, Walters JR, Wilkinson GS. Comparative analysis of animal lifespan. GeroScience 2024; 46:171-181. [PMID: 37889438 PMCID: PMC10828364 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-023-00984-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Comparative studies of aging are a promising approach to identifying general properties of and processes leading to aging. While to date, many comparative studies of aging in animals have focused on relatively narrow species groups, methodological innovations now allow for studies that include evolutionary distant species. However, comparative studies of aging across a wide range of species that have distinct life histories introduce additional challenges in experimental design. Here, we discuss these challenges, highlight the most pressing problems that need to be solved, and provide suggestions based on current approaches to successfully carry out comparative aging studies across the animal kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole C Riddle
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
| | - Peggy R Biga
- Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Anne M Bronikowski
- Department of Integrative Biology, Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, USA
| | - James R Walters
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
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Fitschen-Brown M, Morris M. Genotype and growth rate influence female mate preference in Xiphophorus multilineatus: Potential selection to optimize mortality-growth rate tradeoff. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0287843. [PMID: 37384757 PMCID: PMC10310027 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287843] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The extent to which mate preferences are adaptive requires a better understanding of the factors that influence variation in mate preferences. Xiphophorus multilineatus is a live-bearing fish with males that exhibit alternative reproductive tactics (courter/sneaker). We examined the influence of a female's genotype (courter vs sneaker lineage), growth rate, and social experience on mate preference for courter as compared to sneaker males. We found that females with a sneaker genotype and slower growth rates had stronger mate preferences for the faster growing courter males than females with a courter genotype, regardless of mating experience with one or both types of males. In addition, the relationship between strength of preference and growth rate depended on a females' genotype; females with sneaker genotypes decreased their preference as their growth rates increased, a pattern that trended in the opposite direction for females from the courter genotypes. Disassortative mating preferences are predicted to evolve when heterozygous offspring benefit from increased fitness. Given male tactical dimorphism in growth rates and a mortality-growth rate tradeoff previously detected in this species, the variation in mating preferences for the male tactics we detected may be under selection to optimize the mortality-growth rate tradeoff for offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meredith Fitschen-Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States of America
- The Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens OH, United States of America
| | - Molly Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, United States of America
- The Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens OH, United States of America
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Liotta MN, Abbott JK, Morris MR, Rios‐Cardenas O. Antagonistic selection on body size and sword length in a wild population of the swordtail fish, Xiphophorus multilineatus: Potential for intralocus tactical conflict. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:3941-3955. [PMID: 33976786 PMCID: PMC8093718 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 01/08/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) have provided valuable insights into how sexual selection and life history trade-offs can lead to variation within a sex. However, the possibility that tactics may constrain evolution through intralocus tactical conflict (IATC) is rarely considered. In addition, when IATC has been considered, the focus has often been on the genetic correlations between the ARTs, while evidence that the ARTs have different optima for associated traits and that at least one of the tactics is not at its optimum is often missing. Here, we investigate selection on three traits associated with the ARTs in the swordtail fish Xiphophorus multilineatus; body size, body shape, and the sexually selected trait for which these fishes were named, sword length (elongation of the caudal fin). All three traits are tactically dimorphic, with courter males being larger, deeper bodied and having longer swords, and the sneaker males being smaller, more fusiform and having shorter swords. Using measures of reproductive success in a wild population we calculated selection differentials, as well as linear and quadratic gradients. We demonstrated that the tactics have different optima and at least one of the tactics is not at its optimum for body size and sword length. Our results provide the first evidence of selection in the wild on the sword, an iconic trait for sexual selection. In addition, given the high probability that these traits are genetically correlated to some extent between the two tactics, our study suggests that IATC is constraining both body size and the sword from reaching their phenotypic optima. We discuss the importance of considering the role of IATC in the evolution of tactical dimorphism, how this conflict can be present despite tactical dimorphism, and how it is important to consider this conflict when explaining not only variation within a species but differences across species as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa N. Liotta
- Department of Biological SciencesThe Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary StudiesOhio UniversityAthensOHUSA
| | | | - Molly R. Morris
- Department of Biological SciencesThe Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary StudiesOhio UniversityAthensOHUSA
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Griebling HJ, Rios-Cardenas O, Abbott J, Morris MR. A study of tactical and sexual dimorphism in cognition with insights for sexual conflict. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Ichthyological Differentiation and Homogenization in the Pánuco Basin, Mexico. DIVERSITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/d12050187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Species introductions and extirpations are key aspects of aquatic ecosystem change that need to be examined at large geographic and temporal scales. The Pánuco Basin (Eastern Mexico) has high ichthyological diversity and ecological heterogeneity. However, freshwater fish (FWF) introductions and extirpations since the mid-1900s have modified species range and distribution. We examine changes in FWF species composition in and among four sub-basins of the Pánuco by comparing fish collection records pre-1980 to 2018. Currently, the FWF of the Pánuco includes 95 species. Fishes in the Poeciliidae, Cyprinidae, and Cichlidae, respectively, comprised most records over time. Significant differences in species composition were found between the first (pre-1980) and last (2011–2018) study periods, but not for periods in-between. Eight independent species groups were key for explaining changes in Pánuco river ichthyofauna; one group was dominated by invasive species, and saw increases in the number of records across study periods (faunal homogenization). Another group was formed by species with conservation concern with a declining number of records over time. Thirteen (2 native and 11 non-native) species were responsible for temporal turnover. These results strongly suggest high rates of differentiation over time (via native species loss) following widespread non-native species introductions.
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Selection on growth rates via a trade-off between survival to sexual maturity and longevity in the swordtail fish Xiphophorus multilineatus. Evol Ecol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-019-09989-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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Liotta MN, Abbott JK, Rios-Cardenas O, Morris MR. Tactical dimorphism: the interplay between body shape and mating behaviour in the swordtail Xiphophorus multilineatus (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Melissa N Liotta
- Department of Biological Sciences, The Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
| | | | - Oscar Rios-Cardenas
- Instituto de Ecología A.C., Red de Biología Evolutiva, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Molly R Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences, The Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
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Morris MR, Friebertshauser RJ, Zupi M, Liotta MN, Dunn G, Kleinas N, Rios-Cardenas O. Feeding Rates in the Swordtail Fish Xiphophorus multilineatus: A Model System for Genetic Variation in Nutritional Programming. Zebrafish 2018; 15:484-491. [DOI: 10.1089/zeb.2018.1624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Molly R. Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
| | | | - Megan Zupi
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
| | | | - Garrett Dunn
- Department of Biology, Washington and Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania
| | - Nicole Kleinas
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
| | - Oscar Rios-Cardenas
- Instituto de Ecología A.C., Red de Biología Evolutiva, Xalapa, Veracruz, México
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Rios-Cardenas O, Bono L, Morris MR. Frequency-dependent selection and fluctuations around an equilibrium for alternative reproductive tactics in a swordtail. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Lu Y, Klimovich CM, Robeson KZ, Boswell W, Ríos-Cardenas O, Walter RB, Morris MR. Transcriptome assembly and candidate genes involved in nutritional programming in the swordtail fish Xiphophorus multilineatus. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3275. [PMID: 28480144 PMCID: PMC5417068 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Nutritional programming takes place in early development. Variation in the quality and/or quantity of nutrients in early development can influence long-term health and viability. However, little is known about the mechanisms of nutritional programming. The live-bearing fish Xiphophorus multilineatus has the potential to be a new model for understanding these mechanisms, given prior evidence of nutritional programming influencing behavior and juvenile growth rate. We tested the hypotheses that nutritional programming would influence behaviors involved in energy homeostasis as well gene expression in X. multilineatus. METHODS We first examined the influence of both juvenile environment (varied in nutrition and density) and adult environment (varied in nutrition) on behaviors involved in energy acquisition and energy expenditure in adult male X. multilineatus. We also compared the behavioral responses across the genetically influenced size classes of males. Males stop growing at sexual maturity, and the size classes of can be identified based on phenotypes (adult size and pigment patterns). To study the molecular signatures of nutritional programming, we assembled a de novo transcriptome for X. multilineatus using RNA from brain, liver, skin, testis and gonad tissues, and used RNA-Seq to profile gene expression in the brains of males reared in low quality (reduced food, increased density) and high quality (increased food, decreased density) juvenile environments. RESULTS We found that both the juvenile and adult environments influenced the energy intake behavior, while only the adult environment influenced energy expenditure. In addition, there were significant interactions between the genetically influenced size classes and the environments that influenced energy intake and energy expenditure, with males from one of the four size classes (Y-II) responding in the opposite direction as compared to the other males examined. When we compared the brains of males of the Y-II size class reared in a low quality juvenile environment to males from the same size class reared in high quality juvenile environment, 131 genes were differentially expressed, including metabolism and appetite master regulator agrp gene. DISCUSSION Our study provides evidence for nutritional programming in X. multilineatus, with variation across size classes of males in how juvenile environment and adult diet influences behaviors involved in energy homeostasis. In addition, we provide the first transcriptome of X. multilineatus, and identify a group of candidate genes involved in nutritional programming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Lu
- Molecular Bioscience Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA
| | | | - Kalen Z Robeson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
| | - William Boswell
- Molecular Bioscience Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA
| | - Oscar Ríos-Cardenas
- Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
| | - Ronald B Walter
- Molecular Bioscience Research Group, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA
| | - Molly R Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA
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The potential for disruptive selection on growth rates across genetically influenced alternative reproductive tactics. Evol Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-016-9823-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Rios-Cardenas O, Brewer J, Morris MR. Maternal investment in the swordtail fish Xiphophorus multilineatus: support for the differential allocation hypothesis. PLoS One 2013; 8:e82723. [PMID: 24349348 PMCID: PMC3857246 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2013] [Accepted: 10/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The differential allocation hypothesis predicts that reproductive investment will be influenced by mate attractiveness, given a cost to reproduction and a tradeoff between current and future reproduction. We tested the differential allocation hypothesis in the swordtail fish Xiphophorus multilineatus, where males have genetically influenced (patroclinous inheritance) alternative mating tactics (ARTs) maintained by a tradeoff between being more attractive to females (mature later as larger courting males) and a higher probability of reaching sexual maturity (mature earlier as smaller sneaker males). Males in X. multilineatus do not provide parental care or other resources to the offspring. Allelic variation and copy number of the Mc4R gene on the Y-chromosome influences the size differences between males, however there is no variation in this gene on the X-chromosome. Therefore, to determine if mothers invested more in offspring of the larger courter males, we examined age to sexual maturity for daughters. We confirmed a tradeoff between number of offspring and female offspring’s age to sexual maturity, corroborating that there is a cost to reproduction. In addition, the ART of their fathers significantly influenced the age at which daughters reached sexual maturity, suggesting increased maternal investment to daughters of courter males. The differential allocation we detected was influenced by how long the wild-caught mother had been in the laboratory, as there was a brood order by father genotype (ART) interaction. These results suggest that females can adjust their reproductive investment strategy, and that differential allocation is context specific. We hypothesize that one of two aspects of laboratory conditions produced this shift: increased female condition due to higher quality diet, and/or assessment of future mating opportunities due to isolation from males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar Rios-Cardenas
- Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico
- * E-mail:
| | - Jason Brewer
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Molly R. Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, United States of America
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Marco-Rius F, Caballero P, Morán P, Garcia de Leaniz C. Mixed-effects modelling of scale growth profiles predicts the occurrence of early and late fish migrants. PLoS One 2013; 8:e61744. [PMID: 23613922 PMCID: PMC3628952 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2012] [Accepted: 03/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Fish growth is commonly used as a proxy for fitness but this is only valid if individual growth variation can be interpreted in relation to conspecifics' performance. Unfortunately, assessing individual variation in growth rates is problematic under natural conditions because subjects typically need to be marked, repeated measurements of body size are difficult to obtain in the field, and recaptures may be limited to a few time events which will generally vary among individuals. The analysis of consecutive growth rings (circuli) found on scales and other hard structures offers an alternative to mark and recapture for examining individual growth variation in fish and other aquatic vertebrates where growth rings can be visualized, but accounting for autocorrelations and seasonal growth stanzas has proved challenging. Here we show how mixed-effects modelling of scale growth increments (inter-circuli spacing) can be used to reconstruct the growth trajectories of sea trout (Salmo trutta) and correctly classify 89% of individuals into early or late seaward migrants (smolts). Early migrants grew faster than late migrants during their first year of life in freshwater in two natural populations, suggesting that migration into the sea was triggered by ontogenetic (intrinsic) drivers, rather than by competition with conspecifics. Our study highlights the profound effects that early growth can have on age at migration of a paradigmatic fish migrant and illustrates how the analysis of inter-circuli spacing can be used to reconstruct the detailed growth of individuals when these cannot be marked or are only caught once.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Marco-Rius
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
| | - Pablo Caballero
- Consellería de Medio Rural, Servizo de Conservación da Natureza, Xunta de Galicia, Pontevedra, Spain
| | - Paloma Morán
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
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Morris MR, Goedert D, Abbott JK, Robinson DM, Rios-Cardenas O. Intralocus Tactical Conflict and the Evolution of Alternative Reproductive Tactics. ADVANCES IN THE STUDY OF BEHAVIOR 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-407186-5.00007-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Morris MR, Rios-Cardenas O, Lyons SM, Scarlett Tudor M, Bono LM. Fluctuating asymmetry indicates the optimization of growth rate over developmental stability. Funct Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.01983.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Frequencies of alternative mating strategies influence female mate preference in the swordtail Xiphophorus multilineatus. Anim Behav 2011. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.09.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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