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Kelly MBJ, Khan MK, Wierucka K, Jones BR, Shofner R, Derkarabetian S, Wolff JO. Dynamic evolution of locomotor performance independent of changes in extended phenotype use in spiders. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20232035. [PMID: 37876190 PMCID: PMC10598421 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2035] [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: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Many animals use self-built structures (extended phenotypes) to enhance body functions, such as thermoregulation, prey capture or defence. Yet, it is unclear whether the evolution of animal constructions supplements or substitutes body functions-with disparate feedbacks on trait evolution. Here, using brown spiders (Araneae: marronoid clade), we explored if the evolutionary loss and gain of silken webs as extended prey capture devices correlates with alterations in traits known to play an important role in predatory strikes-locomotor performance (sprint speed) and leg spination (expression of capture spines on front legs). We found that in this group high locomotor performance, with running speeds of over 100 body lengths per second, evolved repeatedly-both in web-building and cursorial spiders. There was no correlation with running speed, and leg spination only poorly correlated, relative to the use of extended phenotypes, indicating that web use does not reduce selective pressures on body functions involved in prey capture and defence per se. Consequently, extended prey capture devices serve as supplements rather than substitutions to body traits and may only be beneficial in conjunction with certain life-history traits, possibly explaining the rare evolution and repeated loss of trapping strategies in predatory animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael B. J. Kelly
- Evolutionary Biomechanics, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Loitzer Strasse 26, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
| | - Md Kawsar Khan
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Straße 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Kaja Wierucka
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Braxton R. Jones
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales 2006, Australia
| | - Ryan Shofner
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences E26, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
| | - Shahan Derkarabetian
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Jonas O. Wolff
- Evolutionary Biomechanics, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Loitzer Strasse 26, 17489 Greifswald, Germany
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109, Australia
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Yu N, Yang Z, Fan Z, Liu Z. Classification and functional characterization of spidroin genes in a wandering spider, Pardosa pseudoannulata. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2022; 151:103862. [PMID: 36328175 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2022.103862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Spiders impress us with their sophisticated use of silk and the stunningly distinct silk proteins (spidroins) in each spider species. Understanding how silks and spidroins function and evolve within the spider world is one profound interest to expand our knowledge on spider evolution. Spidroins are characterized with the divergent repeat core region flanked with the relatively conserved N- and C-terminus. The structure and number of the repeats contribute to the unique mechanical properties of the spidroin and the silk. Spidroins have been intensively studied in web-weaver spiders, but information regarding their diversity in wandering spiders remains scarce. Here, twenty spidroin genes were identified in the pond wolf spider, Pardosa pseudoannulata, belonging to the retrolateral tibial apophysis (RTA) clade. These spidroins were categorized into four classes, including twelve ampullate spidroin (AmpSp), four aciniform spidroin (AcSp), one tubuliform spidroin (TuSp), one pyriform spidroin (PiSp), and two spidroin-like proteins. Multiple copies of the AmpSp and AcSp genes were tandemly arranged in a cluster within the genome, and the N-terminal domains and repetitive sequences of the proximately located spidroins were highly similar, suggesting that the spidroin genes diversified via tandem duplication. Only four types of morphologically distinct silk glands were found in P. pseudoannulata, namely Ma, Mi, Ac, and Pi glands, consistent with the glandular affiliation hypothesis that spidroins co-evolved with glandular specialization to fit species-specific needs. Expression profiling revealed that the single tubuliform spidroin (TuSp) gene was highly expressed in gravid females and two AcSp genes displayed synchronous expression. Knock-down of the TuSp gene via RNAi resulted in fragile and cracked eggsacs and prolonged the female pre-oviposition period, validating its importance in spider reproduction. The genome-scale characterization and functional study of spidroin genes allows associating the presence of specific spidroins with silk utility in P. pseudoannulata and will expand our knowledge of spider evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Na Yu
- Key laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests (Ministry of Education), College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Weigang 1, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Zhiming Yang
- Key laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests (Ministry of Education), College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Weigang 1, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Zheng Fan
- School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, No.2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Zewen Liu
- Key laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests (Ministry of Education), College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Weigang 1, Nanjing, 210095, China.
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Evolutionary kinematics of spinneret movements for rapid silk thread anchorage in spiders. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2020; 207:141-152. [PMID: 33226486 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-020-01453-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/24/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Many organisms secrete structural materials from their bodies to enhance protection, foraging or signalling. The function of such secretion products can be further extended by their assembly into complex structures, so-called extended phenotypes, such as shells, nests and biofilms. Understanding the variation in the efficacy of such assembly processes could help to explain why extended phenotypes are common on some lineages and rare in others. Here, I comparatively studied the assembly of sticky silk fibres into thread anchorages by the innate 'printing' behaviour in 92 species of spiders from 45 families, representing the so-far largest comparative study of construction-related motion patterns. I found a global evolutionary trend towards a faster production of silk thread anchorages, in both web builders and hunting spiders. The slowest producers of silk anchors belong to a clade with an ancestral configuration of respiratory organs, suggesting that a major constraint to the evolution of spinning speed is the efficiency of oxygen uptake. Motion patterns were found to contain a high phylogenetic signal, but did not correlate with spinning speeds. These results help to explain the variation in diversity and ecological success among the spider fauna and showcase the value of comparative kinematics in biodiversity studies.
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Alfaro RE, Griswold CE, Miller KB. -Comparative spigot ontogeny across the spider tree of life. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4233. [PMID: 29362692 PMCID: PMC5772386 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 12/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Spiders are well known for their silk and its varying use across taxa. Very few studies have examined the silk spigot ontogeny of the entire spinning field of a spider. Historically the spider phylogeny was based on morphological data and behavioral data associated with silk. Recent phylogenomics studies have shifted major paradigms in our understanding of silk use evolution, reordering phylogenetic relationships that were once thought to be monophyletic. Considering this, we explored spigot ontogeny in 22 species, including Dolomedes tenebrosus and Hogna carolinensis, reported here for the first time. This is the first study of its kind and the first to incorporate the Araneae Tree of Life. After rigorous testing for phylogenetic signal and model fit, we performed 60 phylogenetic generalized least squares analyses on adult female and second instar spigot morphology. Six analyses had significant correlation coefficients, suggesting that instar, strategy, and spigot variety are good predictors of spigot number in spiders, after correcting for bias of shared evolutionary history. We performed ancestral character estimation of singular, fiber producing spigots on the posterior lateral spinneret whose potential homology has long been debated. We found that the ancestral root of our phylogram of 22 species, with the addition of five additional cribellate and ecribellate lineages, was more likely to have either none or a modified spigot rather than a pseudoflagelliform gland spigot or a flagelliform spigot. This spigot ontogeny approach is novel and we can build on our efforts from this study by growing the dataset to include deeper taxon sampling and working towards the capability to incorporate full ontogeny in the analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachael E. Alfaro
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, Division of Arthropods, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America
| | - Charles E. Griswold
- Entomology, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, United States of America
| | - Kelly B. Miller
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, Division of Arthropods, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America
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Male courtship vibrations delay predatory behaviour in female spiders. Sci Rep 2013; 3:3557. [PMID: 24356181 PMCID: PMC3867958 DOI: 10.1038/srep03557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2013] [Accepted: 12/03/2013] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
During courtship, individuals transfer information about identity, mating status and quality. However, male web-building spiders face a significant problem: how to begin courting female spiders without being mistaken for prey? Male Argiope spiders generate distinctive courtship vibrations (shudders) when entering a female's web. We tested whether courtship shudders delay female predatory behaviour, even when live prey is present in the web. We presented a live cricket to females during playbacks of shudder vibrations, or white noise, and compared female responses to a control in which we presented a live cricket with no playback vibrations. Females were much slower to respond to crickets during playback of shudder vibrations. Shudder vibrations also delayed female predatory behaviour in a related spider species, showing that these vibrations do not simply function for species identity. These results suggest that male web-building spiders employ a phylogenetically conserved vibratory signal to ameliorate the risk of pre-copulatory cannibalism.
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MAGALHÃES IVANLF, SANTOS ADALBERTOJ. Phylogenetic analysis of Micrathena and Chaetacis spiders (Araneae: Araneidae) reveals multiple origins of extreme sexual size dimorphism and long abdominal spines. Zool J Linn Soc 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00831.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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