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Nakamura T, Ylla G, Extavour CG. Genomics and genome editing techniques of crickets, an emerging model insect for biology and food science. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2022; 50:100881. [PMID: 35123119 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2022.100881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Most tools available for manipulating gene function in insects have been developed for holometabolous species. In contrast, functional genetics tools for the Hemimetabola are highly underdeveloped. This is a barrier both to understanding ancestral insect biology, and to optimizing contemporary study and manipulation of particular large hemimetabolous orders of crucial economic and agricultural importance like the Orthoptera. For orthopteran insects, including crickets, the rapid spread of next-generation sequencing technology has made transcriptome data available for a wide variety of species over the past decade. Furthermore, whole genome sequences of orthopteran insects with relatively large genome sizes are now available. With these new genome assemblies and the development of genome editing technologies such as the CRISPR-Cas9 system, it has become possible to create gene knock-out and knock-in strains in orthopteran insects. As a result, orthopteran species should become increasingly feasible for laboratory study not only in research fields that have traditionally used insects, but also in agricultural fields that use them as food and feed. In this review, we summarize these recent advances and their relevance to such applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taro Nakamura
- Division of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan; Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Japan.
| | - Guillem Ylla
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA; Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Genome Biology, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA
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Moschilla JA, Tomkins JL, Simmons LW. Nongenetic inheritance of behavioural variability is context specific and sex specific. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Joe A. Moschilla
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences (M092) The University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | - Joseph L. Tomkins
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences (M092) The University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
| | - Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences (M092) The University of Western Australia Crawley WA Australia
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Whittle CA, Kulkarni A, Extavour CG. Evolutionary dynamics of sex-biased genes expressed in cricket brains and gonads. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:1188-1211. [PMID: 34114713 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Sex-biased gene expression, particularly sex-biased expression in the gonad, has been linked to rates of protein sequence evolution (nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions, dN/dS) in animals. However, in insects, sex-biased expression studies remain centred on a few holometabolous species. Moreover, other major tissue types such as the brain remain underexplored. Here, we studied sex-biased gene expression and protein evolution in a hemimetabolous insect, the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. We generated novel male and female RNA-seq data for two sexual tissue types, the gonad and somatic reproductive system, and for two core components of the nervous system, the brain and ventral nerve cord. From a genome-wide analysis, we report several core findings. Firstly, testis-biased genes had accelerated evolution, as compared to ovary-biased and unbiased genes, which was associated with positive selection events. Secondly, although sex-biased brain genes were much less common than for the gonad, they exhibited a striking tendency for rapid protein sequence evolution, an effect that was stronger for the female than male brain. Further, some sex-biased brain genes were linked to sexual functions and mating behaviours, which we suggest may have accelerated their evolution via sexual selection. Thirdly, a tendency for narrow cross-tissue expression breadth, suggesting low pleiotropy, was observed for sex-biased brain genes, suggesting relaxed purifying selection, which we speculate may allow enhanced freedom to evolve adaptive protein functional changes. The findings of rapid evolution of testis-biased genes and male and female-biased brain genes are discussed with respect to pleiotropy, positive selection and the mating biology of this cricket.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carrie A Whittle
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Arpita Kulkarni
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Mariette MM, Clayton DF, Buchanan KL. Acoustic developmental programming: a mechanistic and evolutionary framework. Trends Ecol Evol 2021; 36:722-736. [PMID: 34052045 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2020] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Conditions experienced prenatally, by modulating developmental processes, have lifelong effects on individual phenotypes and fitness, ultimately influencing population dynamics. In addition to maternal biochemical cues, prenatal sound is emerging as a potent alternative source of information to direct embryonic development. Recent evidence suggests that prenatal acoustic signals can program individual phenotypes for predicted postnatal environmental conditions, which improves fitness. Across taxonomic groups, embryos have now been shown to have immediate adaptive responses to external sounds and vibrations, and direct developmental effects of sound and noise are increasingly found. Establishing the full developmental, ecological, and evolutionary impact of early soundscapes will reveal how embryos interact with the external world, and potentially transform our understanding of developmental plasticity and adaptation to changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mylene M Mariette
- Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, Australia.
| | - David F Clayton
- Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
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Lange EC, Ptacek MB, Travis J, Hughes KA. Sex differences in the plasticity of life history in response to social environment. Evolution 2021; 75:888-902. [PMID: 33565604 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14186] [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: 07/02/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Predicting how social environment affects life history variation is critical to understanding if, and when, selection favors alternative life history development, especially in systems in which social interactions change over time or space. Although sexual selection theory predicts that males and females should respond differently to variation in the social environment, few studies have examined the responses of both male and female phenotypes to the same gradient of social environment. In this study, we used a livebearing fish to determine how males and females altered their life histories in response to variation in the social environment during development. We found that both males and females delayed maturity and attained larger sizes when their social environment included adults, in contrast to developing in juvenile-only environments. The magnitude of this effect differed substantially between the sexes. The common pattern of response in the sexes suggested that life history trade-offs, rather than sexual selection, is responsible for these changes in life history expression. These effects make the relationship between genotype and phenotype depend strongly on the environment experienced by each individual. These results indicate that social environment is an important driver of life history variation in sailfin mollies and can be at least as important as abiotic effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Lange
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306
| | - Margaret B Ptacek
- Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 29631
| | - Joseph Travis
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306
| | - Kimberly A Hughes
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306
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Pre-maturation social experience affects female reproductive strategies and offspring quality in a highly polyandrous insect. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02917-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Oppert B, Perkin LC, Lorenzen M, Dossey AT. Transcriptome analysis of life stages of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus, to improve insect crop production. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3471. [PMID: 32103047 PMCID: PMC7044300 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-59087-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
To develop genetic resources for the improvement of insects as food, we sequenced transcripts from embryos, one-day hatchlings, three nymphal stages, and male and female adults of the house cricket, Acheta domesticus. A draft transcriptome was assembled from more than 138 million sequences combined from all life stages and sexes. The draft transcriptome assembly contained 45,866 contigs, and more than half were similar to sequences at NCBI (e value < e−3). The highest sequence identity was found in sequences from the termites Cryptotermes secundus and Zootermopsis nevadensis. Sequences with identity to Gregarina niphandrodes suggest that these crickets carry the parasite. Among all life stages, there were 5,042 genes with differential expression between life stages (significant at p < 0.05). An enrichment analysis of gene ontology terms from each life stage or sex highlighted genes that were important to biological processes in cricket development. We further characterized genes that may be important in future studies of genetically modified crickets for improved food production, including those involved in RNA interference, and those encoding prolixicin and hexamerins. The data represent an important first step in our efforts to provide genetically improved crickets for human consumption and livestock feed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda Oppert
- USDA ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, 1515 College Ave, Manhattan, KS, 66502, USA.
| | - Lindsey C Perkin
- USDA ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, 1515 College Ave, Manhattan, KS, 66502, USA
| | - Marcé Lorenzen
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Aaron T Dossey
- All Things Bugs LLC, 755 Research Parkway, Suite 465, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
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Heinen‐Kay JL, Strub DB, Balenger SL, Zuk M. Direct and indirect effects of sexual signal loss on female reproduction in the Pacific field cricket (Teleogryllus oceanicus). J Evol Biol 2019; 32:1382-1390. [DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Justa L. Heinen‐Kay
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul MN USA
| | - Daina B. Strub
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul MN USA
| | | | - Marlene Zuk
- Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior University of Minnesota St. Paul MN USA
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Simmons LW, Lovegrove M. Socially cued seminal fluid gene expression mediates responses in ejaculate quality to sperm competition risk. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2017.1486. [PMID: 28855372 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
There is considerable evidence that males will increase the number of sperm ejaculated in response to sperm competition risk. However, whether they have the capacity to adjust seminal fluid components of the ejaculate has received less attention. Male crickets (Teleogryllus oceanicus) have been shown to adjust the viability of sperm in their ejaculate in response to sperm competition risk. Here we show that socially mediated plasticity in sperm viability is probably due, at least in part, to male adjustments in the protein composition of the seminal fluid. Seven seminal fluid protein genes were found to have an increased expression in males exposed to rival calls. Increased expression of these genes was correlated with increased sperm viability in whole ejaculates, and gene knockdown confirmed that at least one of these proteins promotes sperm viability. Our results lend support for recent theoretical models that predict complex responses in male allocation to seminal fluid composition in response to sperm competition risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leigh W Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia
| | - Maxine Lovegrove
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia
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Anderson CL, Kasumovic MM. Development rate rather than social environment influences cognitive performance in Australian black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus. PeerJ 2017; 5:e3563. [PMID: 28717598 PMCID: PMC5511702 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Accepted: 06/20/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Cognitive functioning is vital for enabling animals of all taxa to optimise their chances of survival and reproductive success. Learning and memory in particular are drivers of many evolutionary processes. In this study, we examine how developmental plasticity can affect cognitive ability by exploring the role the early social environment has on problem solving ability and learning of female black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus. We used two learning paradigms, an analog of the Morris water maze and a novel linear maze, to examine cognitive differences between individuals reared in two acoustic treatments: silence or calling. Although there was no evidence of learning or memory, individuals that took longer to mature solved the Morris water maze more quickly. Our results suggest that increased investment into cognitive development is likely associated with increased development time during immature stages. Inconsistent individual performance and motivation during the novel linear maze task highlights the difficulties of designing ecologically relevant learning tasks within a lab setting. The role of experimental design in understanding cognitive ability and learning in more natural circumstances is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin L Anderson
- Ecology & Evolution Research Centre, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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