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Macit MN, Collin E, Pfenninger M, Foitzik S, Feldmeyer B. Genomic basis of adaptation to climate and parasite prevalence and the importance of odorant perception in the ant Temnothorax longispinosus. Mol Ecol 2024:e17417. [PMID: 38808556 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
A co-evolutionary arms race ensues when parasites exhibit exploitative behaviour, which prompts adaptations in their hosts, in turn triggering counter-adaptations by the parasites. To unravel the genomic basis of this coevolution from the host's perspective, we collected ants of the host species Temnothorax longispinosus, parasitized by the social parasite Temnothorax americanus, from 10 populations in the northeastern United States exhibiting varying levels of parasite prevalence and living under different climatic conditions. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with both prevalence and climate. Our investigation highlighted a multitude of candidate SNPs associated with parasite prevalence, particularly in genes responsible for sensory perception of smell including odorant receptor genes. We further focused on population-specific compositions of cuticular hydrocarbons, a complex trait important for signalling, communication and protection against desiccation. The relative abundances of n-alkanes were correlated with climate, while there was only a trend between parasite prevalence and the relative abundances of known recognition cues. Furthermore, we identified candidate genes likely involved in the synthesis and recognition of specific hydrocarbons. In addition, we analysed the population-level gene expression in the antennae, the primary organ for odorant reception, and established a strong correlation with parasite prevalence. Our comprehensive study highlights the intricate genomic patterns forged by the interplay of diverse selection factors and how these are manifested in the expression of various phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maide Nesibe Macit
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Erwann Collin
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Markus Pfenninger
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Susanne Foitzik
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Barbara Feldmeyer
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Cardenas CR, Mularo AJ, Chavez AS, Adams RMM. Limited genetic differentiation of
Mycetomoellerius mikromelanos
in Parque National Soberanía, Panama: Implications for queen dispersal. Biotropica 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/btp.13171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Cody Raul Cardenas
- Department of Evolution Ecology and Organismal Biology & Museum of Biological Diversity The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA
- Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de la Ville de Genève Geneva Switzerland
- Université de Genève Faculté des Sciences Life Sciences PhD School Ecology and Evolution Geneva Switzerland
| | - Andrew J. Mularo
- Department of Evolution Ecology and Organismal Biology & Museum of Biological Diversity The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA
- Department of Biological Sciences Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana USA
| | - Andreas S. Chavez
- Department of Evolution Ecology and Organismal Biology & Museum of Biological Diversity The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA
- Translational Data Analytics Institute The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA
| | - Rachelle M. M. Adams
- Department of Evolution Ecology and Organismal Biology & Museum of Biological Diversity The Ohio State University Columbus Ohio USA
- Department of Entomology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington District of Colombia USA
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3
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Fontcuberta A, Kapun M, Tran Van P, Purcell J, Chapuisat M. Effects of social organization and elevation on spatial genetic structure in a montane ant. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e8813. [PMID: 35600679 PMCID: PMC9108227 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Revised: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Amaranta Fontcuberta
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Martin Kapun
- Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology Department of Cell and Developmental Biology Medical University of Vienna Vienna Austria
- Natural History Museum of Vienna Vienna Austria
| | - Patrick Tran Van
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Jessica Purcell
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
- Department of Entomology University of California Riverside California USA
| | - Michel Chapuisat
- Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
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Hagan T, Gloag R. Founder effects on sex determination systems in invasive social insects. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2021; 46:31-38. [PMID: 33610774 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2021.02.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2020] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Invasive populations are often established from a small number of individuals, and thus have low genetic diversity relative to native-range populations. Social ants, bees and wasps (social Hymenoptera) should be vulnerable to such founder effects on genetic diversity because sex in these species is determined genetically via Complementary Sex Determination (CSD). Under CSD, individuals homozygous at one or more critical sex loci are inviable or develop as infertile diploid males. Low diversity at sex loci leads to increased homozygosity and diploid male production, increasing the chance of colony death. In this review, we identify behavioral, social and reproductive traits that preserve allele richness at sex loci, allow colonies to cope with diploid male production, and eventually restore sex allele diversity in invasive populations of social Hymenoptera that experience founding bottlenecks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Hagan
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Rosalyn Gloag
- Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution Lab, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
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Matthews AE, Kellner K, Seal JN. Male-biased dispersal in a fungus-gardening ant symbiosis. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:2307-2320. [PMID: 33717457 PMCID: PMC7920773 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 12/11/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
For nearly all organisms, dispersal is a fundamental life-history trait that can shape their ecology and evolution. Variation in dispersal capabilities within a species exists and can influence population genetic structure and ecological interactions. In fungus-gardening (attine) ants, co-dispersal of ants and mutualistic fungi is crucial to the success of this obligate symbiosis. Female-biased dispersal (and gene flow) may be favored in attines because virgin queens carry the responsibility of dispersing the fungi, but a paucity of research has made this conclusion difficult. Here, we investigate dispersal of the fungus-gardening ant Trachymyrmex septentrionalis using a combination of maternally (mitochondrial DNA) and biparentally inherited (microsatellites) markers. We found three distinct, spatially isolated mitochondrial DNA haplotypes; two were found in the Florida panhandle and the other in the Florida peninsula. In contrast, biparental markers illustrated significant gene flow across this region and minimal spatial structure. The differential patterns uncovered from mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers suggest that most long-distance ant dispersal is male-biased and that females (and concomitantly the fungus) have more limited dispersal capabilities. Consequently, the limited female dispersal is likely an important bottleneck for the fungal symbiont. This bottleneck could slow fungal genetic diversification, which has significant implications for both ant hosts and fungal symbionts regarding population genetics, species distributions, adaptive responses to environmental change, and coevolutionary patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alix E. Matthews
- Department of BiologyThe University of Texas at TylerTylerTXUSA
- Present address:
College of Sciences and Mathematics and Molecular Biosciences ProgramArkansas State UniversityJonesboroARUSA
| | - Katrin Kellner
- Department of BiologyThe University of Texas at TylerTylerTXUSA
| | - Jon N. Seal
- Department of BiologyThe University of Texas at TylerTylerTXUSA
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Liu X, Wang X, Liu J, Wang X, Bao H. Identifying Candidate Genes for Hypoxia Adaptation of Tibet Chicken Embryos by Selection Signature Analyses and RNA Sequencing. Genes (Basel) 2020; 11:E823. [PMID: 32698384 PMCID: PMC7397227 DOI: 10.3390/genes11070823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2020] [Revised: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The Tibet chicken (Gallus gallus) lives on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and adapts to the hypoxic environment very well. The objectives of this study was to obtain candidate genes associated with hypoxia adaptation in the Tibet chicken embryos. In the present study, we used the fixation index (Fst) and cross population extended haplotype homozygosity (XPEHH) statistical methods to detect signatures of positive selection of the Tibet chicken, and analyzed the RNA sequencing data from the embryonic liver and heart with HISAT, StringTie and Ballgown for differentially expressed genes between the Tibet chicken and White leghorn (Gallus gallus, a kind of lowland chicken) embryos hatched under hypoxia condition. Genes which were screened out by both selection signature analysis and RNA sequencing analysis could be regarded as candidate genes for hypoxia adaptation of chicken embryos. We screened out 1772 genes by XPEHH and 601 genes by Fst, and obtained 384 and 353 differentially expressed genes in embryonic liver and heart, respectively. Among these genes, 89 genes were considered as candidate genes for hypoxia adaptation in chicken embryos. ARNT, AHR, GSTK1 and FGFR1 could be considered the most important candidate genes. Our findings provide references to elucidate the molecular mechanism of hypoxia adaptation in Tibet chicken embryos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiayi Liu
- National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Beijing Key Laboratory of Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; (X.L.); (J.L.)
| | - Xiaochen Wang
- Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Beijing 100101, China;
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Jing Liu
- National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Beijing Key Laboratory of Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; (X.L.); (J.L.)
| | - Xiangyu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Haigang Bao
- National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, Beijing Key Laboratory of Animal Genetic Improvement, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; (X.L.); (J.L.)
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Bluher SE, Miller SE, Sheehan MJ. Fine-Scale Population Structure but Limited Genetic Differentiation in a Cooperatively Breeding Paper Wasp. Genome Biol Evol 2020; 12:701-714. [PMID: 32271866 PMCID: PMC7259676 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evaa070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Relatively little is known about the processes shaping population structure in cooperatively breeding insect species, despite the long-hypothesized importance of population structure in shaping patterns of cooperative breeding. Polistes paper wasps are primitively eusocial insects, with a cooperative breeding system in which females often found nests in cooperative associations. Prior mark-recapture studies of Polistes have documented extreme female philopatry, although genetic studies frequently fail to detect the strong population structure expected for highly philopatric species. Together these findings have led to lack of consensus on the degree of dispersal and population structure in these species. This study assessed population structure of female Polistes fuscatus wasps at three scales: within a single site, throughout Central New York, and across the Northeastern United States. Patterns of spatial genetic clustering and isolation by distance were observed in nuclear and mitochondrial genomes at the continental scale. Remarkably, population structure was evident even at fine spatial scales within a single collection site. However, P. fuscatus had low levels of genetic differentiation across long distances. These results suggest that P. fuscatus wasps may employ multiple dispersal strategies, including extreme natal philopatry as well as longer-distance dispersal. We observed greater genetic differentiation in mitochondrial genes than in the nuclear genome, indicative of increased dispersal distances in males. Our findings support the hypothesis that limited female dispersal contributes toward population structure in paper wasps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah E Bluher
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University
| | - Sara E Miller
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University
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Matthews AE, Rowan C, Stone C, Kellner K, Seal JN. Development, characterization, and cross-amplification of polymorphic microsatellite markers for North American Trachymyrmex and Mycetomoellerius ants. BMC Res Notes 2020; 13:173. [PMID: 32204727 PMCID: PMC7092486 DOI: 10.1186/s13104-020-05015-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective The objective of this study is to develop and identify polymorphic microsatellite markers for fungus-gardening (attine) ants in the genus Trachymyrmex sensu lato. These ants are important ecosystem engineers and have been a model group for understanding complex symbiotic systems, but very little is understood about the intraspecific genetic patterns across most North American attine species. These microsatellite markers will help to better study intraspecific population genetic structure, gene flow, mating habits, and phylogeographic patterns in these species and potentially other congeners. Results Using next-generation sequencing techniques, we identified 17 and 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers from T. septentrionalis and Mycetomoellerius (formerly Trachymyrmex) turrifex, respectively, and assessed the genetic diversity of each marker. We also analyzed the cross-amplification success of the T. septentrionalis markers in two other closely related Trachymyrmex species, and identified 10 and 12 polymorphic markers for T. arizonensis and T. pomonae, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alix E Matthews
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA
| | - Chase Rowan
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA
| | - Colby Stone
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA
| | - Katrin Kellner
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA
| | - Jon N Seal
- Department of Biology, The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, TX, USA.
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