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Lee IHT, Nong W, So WL, Cheung CKH, Xie Y, Baril T, Yip HY, Swale T, Chan SKF, Wei Y, Lo N, Hayward A, Chan TF, Lam HM, Hui JHL. The genome and sex-dependent responses to temperature in the common yellow butterfly, Eurema hecabe. BMC Biol 2023; 21:200. [PMID: 37749565 PMCID: PMC10521528 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01703-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) is one of the most geographically widespread insect orders in the world, and its species play important and diverse ecological and applied roles. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges to biodiversity this century, and lepidopterans are vulnerable to climate change. Temperature-dependent gene expression differences are of relevance under the ongoing climate crisis. However, little is known about how climate affects gene expression in lepidopterans and the ecological consequences of this, particularly with respect to genes with biased expression in one of the sexes. The common yellow butterfly, Eurema hecabe (Family Pieridae), is one of the most geographically widespread lepidopterans that can be found in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Nevertheless, what temperature-dependent effects there may be and whether the effects differ between the sexes remain largely unexplored. RESULTS Here, we generated high-quality genomic resources for E. hecabe along with transcriptomes from eight developmental stages. Male and female butterflies were subjected to varying temperatures to assess sex-specific gene expression responses through mRNA and microRNA transcriptomics. We find that there are more temperature-dependent sex-biased genes in females than males, including genes that are involved in a range of biologically important functions, highlighting potential ecological impacts of increased temperatures. Further, by considering available butterfly data on sex-biased gene expression in a comparative genomic framework, we find that the pattern of sex-biased gene expression identified in E. hecabe is highly species-specific, rather than conserved across butterfly species, suggesting that sex-biased gene expression responses to climate change are complex in butterflies. CONCLUSIONS Our study lays the foundation for further understanding of differential responses to environmental stress in a widespread lepidopteran model and demonstrates the potential complexity of sex-specific responses of lepidopterans to climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivy H T Lee
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wenyan Nong
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Wai Lok So
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chris K H Cheung
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yichun Xie
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | | | - Ho Yin Yip
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | | | - Simon K F Chan
- Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong, China
| | - Yingying Wei
- Department of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Nathan Lo
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Ting Fung Chan
- School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Hon-Ming Lam
- School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jerome H L Hui
- School of Life Sciences, Simon F.S. Li Marine Science Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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Tunström K, Woronik A, Hanly JJ, Rastas P, Chichvarkhin A, Warren AD, Kawahara AY, Schoville SD, Ficarrotta V, Porter AH, Watt WB, Martin A, Wheat CW. Evidence for a single, ancient origin of a genus-wide alternative life history strategy. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eabq3713. [PMID: 36947619 PMCID: PMC10032607 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq3713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the evolutionary origins and factors maintaining alternative life history strategies (ALHS) within species is a major goal of evolutionary research. While alternative alleles causing discrete ALHS are expected to purge or fix over time, one-third of the ~90 species of Colias butterflies are polymorphic for a female-limited ALHS called Alba. Whether Alba arose once, evolved in parallel, or has been exchanged among taxa is currently unknown. Using comparative genome-wide association study (GWAS) and population genomic analyses, we placed the genetic basis of Alba in time-calibrated phylogenomic framework, revealing that Alba evolved once near the base of the genus and has been subsequently maintained via introgression and balancing selection. CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis was then used to verify a putative cis-regulatory region of Alba, which we identified using phylogenetic foot printing. We hypothesize that this cis-regulatory region acts as a modular enhancer for the induction of the Alba ALHS, which has likely facilitated its long evolutionary persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kalle Tunström
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Alyssa Woronik
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, USA
| | - Joseph J. Hanly
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Pasi Rastas
- Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Anton Chichvarkhin
- National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Palchevskogo 17, Vladivostok 690022, Russia
| | - Andrew D. Warren
- McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Akito Y. Kawahara
- McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Sean D. Schoville
- Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Vincent Ficarrotta
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Adam H. Porter
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Ward B. Watt
- Department of Biology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
- Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA
| | - Arnaud Martin
- Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
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Fogg LG, Cortesi F, Lecchini D, Gache C, Marshall NJ, de Busserolles F. Development of dim-light vision in the nocturnal reef fish family Holocentridae I: retinal gene expression. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:276222. [PMID: 35929500 PMCID: PMC9482368 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.244513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Developmental changes to the visual systems of animals are often associated with ecological shifts. Reef fishes experience a change in habitat between larval life in the shallow open ocean to juvenile and adult life on the reef. Some species also change their lifestyle over this period and become nocturnal. While these ecological transitions are well documented, little is known about the ontogeny of nocturnal reef fish vision. Here, we used transcriptomics to investigate visual development in 12 representative species from both subfamilies, Holocentrinae (squirrelfishes) and Myripristinae (soldierfishes), in the nocturnal coral reef fish family, Holocentridae. Results revealed that the visual systems of holocentrids are initially well adapted to photopic conditions with pre-settlement larvae having high levels of cone opsin gene expression and a broad cone opsin gene repertoire (8 genes). At reef settlement, holocentrids started to invest more in their scotopic visual system, and compared with adults, showed upregulation of genes involved in cell differentiation/proliferation. By adulthood, holocentrids had well developed scotopic vision with high levels of rod opsin gene expression, reduced cone opsin gene expression and repertoire (1–4 genes) and upregulated phototransduction genes. Finally, although the two subfamilies shared similar ecologies across development, their visual systems diverged after settlement, with Myripristinae investing more in scotopic vision than Holocentrinae. Hence, both ecology and phylogeny are likely to determine the development of the holocentrid visual system. Summary: Coral reef fishes in the family Holocentridae remodel their retina at the molecular level to adapt to a nocturnal lifestyle during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily G Fogg
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Fabio Cortesi
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - David Lecchini
- PSL Research University, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia, France.,Laboratoire d'Excellence "CORAIL", Paris, France
| | - Camille Gache
- PSL Research University, EPHE-UPVD-CNRS, UAR3278 CRIOBE, 98729 Papetoai, Moorea, French Polynesia, France.,Laboratoire d'Excellence "CORAIL", Paris, France
| | - N Justin Marshall
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
| | - Fanny de Busserolles
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
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Nieberding CM, Beldade P, Baumlé V, San Martin G, Arun A, Lognay G, Montagné N, Bastin-Héline L, Jacquin-Joly E, Noirot C, Klopp C, Visser B. Mosaic Evolution of Molecular Pathways for Sex Pheromone Communication in a Butterfly. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:1372. [PMID: 36011283 PMCID: PMC9407440 DOI: 10.3390/genes13081372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Unraveling the origin of molecular pathways underlying the evolution of adaptive traits is essential for understanding how new lineages emerge, including the relative contribution of conserved ancestral traits and newly evolved derived traits. Here, we investigated the evolutionary divergence of sex pheromone communication from moths (mostly nocturnal) to butterflies (mostly diurnal) that occurred ~119 million years ago. In moths, it is the females that typically emit pheromones to attract male mates, but in butterflies males emit pheromones that are used by females for mate choice. The molecular bases of sex pheromone communication are well understood in moths, but they have remained relatively unexplored in butterflies. We used a combination of transcriptomics, real time qPCR, and phylogenetics to identify genes involved in the different steps (i.e., production, regulation, and reception) of sex pheromone communication of the butterfly Bicyclus anynana. Our results show that the biosynthesis and reception of sex pheromones relies both on moth-specific gene families (reductases) and on more ancestral insect gene families (desaturases, olfactory receptors, odorant binding proteins). Interestingly, B. anynana appears to use what was believed to be the moth-specific neuropeptide Pheromone Biosynthesis Activating Neuropeptide (PBAN) for regulating sex pheromone production. Altogether, our results suggest that a mosaic pattern best explains how sex pheromone communication evolved in butterflies, with some molecular components derived from moths, and others conserved from more ancient insect ancestors. This is the first large-scale investigation of the genetic pathways underlying sex pheromone communication in a butterfly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline M. Nieberding
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UC Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (V.B.); (G.S.M.); (A.A.); (G.L.)
| | - Patrícia Beldade
- Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c) & Global Change and Sustainability Institute (CHANGE), Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FCUL), 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal;
| | - Véronique Baumlé
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UC Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (V.B.); (G.S.M.); (A.A.); (G.L.)
| | - Gilles San Martin
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UC Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (V.B.); (G.S.M.); (A.A.); (G.L.)
| | - Alok Arun
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UC Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (V.B.); (G.S.M.); (A.A.); (G.L.)
| | - Georges Lognay
- Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics Group, Earth and Life Institute, UC Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; (V.B.); (G.S.M.); (A.A.); (G.L.)
| | - Nicolas Montagné
- INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Sorbonne Université, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, Université de Paris, 78000 Versailles, France; (N.M.); (L.B.-H.); (E.J.-J.)
| | - Lucie Bastin-Héline
- INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Sorbonne Université, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, Université de Paris, 78000 Versailles, France; (N.M.); (L.B.-H.); (E.J.-J.)
| | - Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly
- INRAE, CNRS, IRD, UPEC, Sorbonne Université, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris, Université de Paris, 78000 Versailles, France; (N.M.); (L.B.-H.); (E.J.-J.)
| | - Céline Noirot
- Plateforme Bio-Informatique GenoToul, MIAT, INRAE, UR875 Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées Toulouse, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France; (C.N.); (C.K.)
| | - Christophe Klopp
- Plateforme Bio-Informatique GenoToul, MIAT, INRAE, UR875 Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées Toulouse, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France; (C.N.); (C.K.)
| | - Bertanne Visser
- Evolution and Ecophysiology Group, Department of Functional and Evolutionary Entomology, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium;
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