1
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Cosme LV, Corley M, Johnson T, Severson DW, Yan G, Wang X, Beebe N, Maynard A, Bonizzoni M, Khorramnejad A, Martins AJ, Lima JBP, Munstermann LE, Surendran SN, Chen CH, Maringer K, Wahid I, Mukherjee S, Xu J, Fontaine MC, Estallo EL, Stein M, Livdahl T, Scaraffia PY, Carter BH, Mogi M, Tuno N, Mains JW, Medley KA, Bowles DE, Gill RJ, Eritja R, González-Obando R, Trang HTT, Boyer S, Abunyewa AM, Hackett K, Wu T, Nguyễn J, Shen J, Zhao H, Crawford JE, Armbruster P, Caccone A. A genotyping array for the globally invasive vector mosquito, Aedes albopictus. Parasit Vectors 2024; 17:106. [PMID: 38439081 PMCID: PMC10910840 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-024-06158-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is the preferred genotyping method for most genomic analyses, limitations are often experienced when studying genomes characterized by a high percentage of repetitive elements, high linkage, and recombination deserts. The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), for example, has a genome comprising up to 72% repetitive elements, and therefore we set out to develop a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip to be more cost-effective. Aedes albopictus is an invasive species originating from Southeast Asia that has recently spread around the world and is a vector for many human diseases. Developing an accessible genotyping platform is essential in advancing biological control methods and understanding the population dynamics of this pest species, with significant implications for public health. METHODS We designed a SNP chip for Ae. albopictus (Aealbo chip) based on approximately 2.7 million SNPs identified using WGS data from 819 worldwide samples. We validated the chip using laboratory single-pair crosses, comparing technical replicates, and comparing genotypes of samples genotyped by WGS and the SNP chip. We then used the chip for a population genomic analysis of 237 samples from 28 sites in the native range to evaluate its usefulness in describing patterns of genomic variation and tracing the origins of invasions. RESULTS Probes on the Aealbo chip targeted 175,396 SNPs in coding and non-coding regions across all three chromosomes, with a density of 102 SNPs per 1 Mb window, and at least one SNP in each of the 17,461 protein-coding genes. Overall, 70% of the probes captured the genetic variation. Segregation analysis found that 98% of the SNPs followed expectations of single-copy Mendelian genes. Comparisons with WGS indicated that sites with genotype disagreements were mostly heterozygotes at loci with WGS read depth < 20, while there was near complete agreement with WGS read depths > 20, indicating that the chip more accurately detects heterozygotes than low-coverage WGS. Sample sizes did not affect the accuracy of the SNP chip genotype calls. Ancestry analyses identified four to five genetic clusters in the native range with various levels of admixture. CONCLUSIONS The Aealbo chip is highly accurate, is concordant with genotypes from WGS with high sequence coverage, and may be more accurate than low-coverage WGS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciano Veiga Cosme
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA.
| | - Margaret Corley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA
| | - Thomas Johnson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA
| | - Dave W Severson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
| | - Guiyun Yan
- Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Xiaoming Wang
- Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Nigel Beebe
- School of the Environment, University of Queensland Australia, St Lucia, Australia
| | - Andrew Maynard
- School of the Environment, University of Queensland Australia, St Lucia, Australia
| | - Mariangela Bonizzoni
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Lazzaro Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Ayda Khorramnejad
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "Lazzaro Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Ademir Jesus Martins
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Controle de Artrópodes Vetores, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - José Bento Pereira Lima
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Controle de Artrópodes Vetores, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
| | - Leonard E Munstermann
- Yale School of Public Health and Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Chun-Hong Chen
- National Health Research Institutes, National Mosquito-Borne Disease Control Research Center & National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, Miaoli, Taiwan
| | | | - Isra Wahid
- Center for Zoonotic and Emerging Diseases, Hasanuddin University Medical Research Centre (HUMRC), Makassar, Indonesia
| | - Shomen Mukherjee
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes of Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
- Biological and Life Sciences Division, School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India
| | - Jiannon Xu
- Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA
| | - Michael C Fontaine
- MIVEGEC, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier, France
- University of Groningen, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Elizabet L Estallo
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Centro de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Córdoba, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Marina Stein
- Instituto de Medicina Regional, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, CONICET CCT Nordeste, Resistencia, Argentina
| | | | - Patricia Y Scaraffia
- School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Brendan H Carter
- School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Motoyoshi Mogi
- Division of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Nabeshima, Saga, Japan
| | - Nobuko Tuno
- Laboratory of Ecology, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
| | | | - Kim A Medley
- Tyson Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, USA
| | | | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Berkshire, UK
| | - Roger Eritja
- Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Blanes, Spain
| | | | - Huynh T T Trang
- Department of Medical Entomology and Zoonotics, Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Sébastien Boyer
- Medical Entomology Unit, Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
| | - Ann-Marie Abunyewa
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA
| | - Kayleigh Hackett
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA
| | - Tina Wu
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA
| | - Justin Nguyễn
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA
| | - Jiangnan Shen
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
| | - Hongyu Zhao
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
- Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
| | | | - Peter Armbruster
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Adalgisa Caccone
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520-8105, USA
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2
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Liu Y, Olsson A, Larva T, Cantwell-Jones A, Gill RJ, Cederberg B, Webster MT. Genomic variation in montane bumblebees in Scandinavia: High levels of intraspecific diversity despite population vulnerability. Mol Ecol 2024; 33:e17251. [PMID: 38112228 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Populations of many bumblebee species are declining, with distributions shifting northwards to track suitable climates. Climate change is considered a major contributing factor. Arctic species are particularly vulnerable as they cannot shift further north, making assessment of their population viability important. Analysis of levels of whole-genome variation is a powerful way to analyse population declines and fragmentation. Here, we use genome sequencing to analyse genetic variation in seven species of bumblebee from the Scandinavian mountains, including two classified as vulnerable. We sequenced 333 samples from across the ranges of these species in Sweden. Estimates of effective population size (NE ) vary from ~55,000 for species with restricted high alpine distributions to 220,000 for more widespread species. Population fragmentation is generally very low or undetectable over large distances in the mountains, suggesting an absence of barriers to gene flow. The relatively high NE and low population structure indicate that none of the species are at immediate risk of negative genetic effects caused by high levels of genetic drift. However, reconstruction of historical fluctuations in NE indicates that the arctic specialist species Bombus hyperboreus has experienced population declines since the last ice age and we detected one highly inbred diploid male of this species close to the southern limit of its range, potentially indicating elevated genetic load. Although the levels of genetic variation in montane bumblebee populations are currently relatively high, their ranges are predicted to shrink drastically due to the effects of climate change and monitoring is essential to detect future population declines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanzhen Liu
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anna Olsson
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tuuli Larva
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Aoife Cantwell-Jones
- Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Björn Cederberg
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Swedish Species Information Centre, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Matthew T Webster
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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3
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Cantwell-Jones A, Tylianakis JM, Larson K, Gill RJ. Using individual-based trait frequency distributions to forecast plant-pollinator network responses to environmental change. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14368. [PMID: 38247047 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Determining how and why organisms interact is fundamental to understanding ecosystem responses to future environmental change. To assess the impact on plant-pollinator interactions, recent studies have examined how the effects of environmental change on individual interactions accumulate to generate species-level responses. Here, we review recent developments in using plant-pollinator networks of interacting individuals along with their functional traits, where individuals are nested within species nodes. We highlight how these individual-level, trait-based networks connect intraspecific trait variation (as frequency distributions of multiple traits) with dynamic responses within plant-pollinator communities. This approach can better explain interaction plasticity, and changes to interaction probabilities and network structure over spatiotemporal or other environmental gradients. We argue that only through appreciating such trait-based interaction plasticity can we accurately forecast the potential vulnerability of interactions to future environmental change. We follow this with general guidance on how future studies can collect and analyse high-resolution interaction and trait data, with the hope of improving predictions of future plant-pollinator network responses for targeted and effective conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aoife Cantwell-Jones
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Jason M Tylianakis
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, School of Biological Sciences, Private Bag 4800, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Keith Larson
- Climate Impacts Research Centre, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Richard J Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
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4
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Johansson J, Arce AN, Gill RJ. How competition between overlapping generations can influence optimal egg-laying strategies in annual social insects. Oecologia 2023:10.1007/s00442-023-05411-z. [PMID: 37428254 PMCID: PMC10386978 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-023-05411-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Annual social insects are an integral functional group of organisms, particularly in temperate environments. An emblematic part of their annual cycle is the social phase, during which the colony-founding queen rears workers that later assist her in rearing sexual progeny (gynes and drones). In many annual social insects, such as species of bees, wasps, and other groups, developing larvae are provisioned gradually as they develop (progressive provisioning) leading to multiple larval generations being reared simultaneously. We present a model for how the queen in such cases should optimize her egg-laying rate throughout the social phase depending on number-size trade-offs, colony age-structure, and energy balance. Complementing previous theory on optimal allocation between workers vs. sexuals in annual social insects and on temporal egg-laying patterns in solitary insects, we elucidate how resource competition among overlapping larval generations can influence optimal egg-laying strategies. With model parameters informed by knowledge of a common bumblebee species, the optimal egg-laying schedule consists of two temporally separated early broods followed by a more continuous rearing phase, matching empirical observations. However, eggs should initially be laid continuously at a gradually increasing rate when resources are scarce or mortality risks high and in cases where larvae are fully supplied with resources at the egg-laying stage (mass-provisioning). These factors, alongside sexual:worker body size ratios, further determine the overall trend in egg-laying rates over the colony cycle. Our analysis provides an inroad to study and mechanistically understand variation in colony development strategies within and across species of annual social insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Johansson
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, 22362, Lund, Sweden.
- Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK.
| | - Andres N Arce
- Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK
- School of Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology, University of Suffolk, 19 Neptune Quay, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK
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5
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Kenna D, Graystock P, Gill RJ. Toxic temperatures: Bee behaviours exhibit divergent pesticide toxicity relationships with warming. Glob Chang Biol 2023; 29:2981-2998. [PMID: 36944569 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Climate change and agricultural intensification are exposing insect pollinators to temperature extremes and increasing pesticide usage. Yet, we lack good quantification of how temperature modulates the sublethal effects of pesticides on behaviours vital for fitness and pollination performance. Consequently, we are uncertain if warming decreases or increases the severity of different pesticide impacts, and whether separate behaviours vary in the direction of response. Quantifying these interactive effects is vital in forecasting pesticide risk across climate regions and informing pesticide application strategies and pollinator conservation. This multi-stressor study investigated the responses of six functional behaviours of bumblebees when exposed to either a neonicotinoid (imidacloprid) or a sulfoximine (sulfoxaflor) across a standardised low, mid, and high temperature. We found the neonicotinoid had a significant effect on five of the six behaviours, with a greater effect at the lower temperature(s) when measuring responsiveness, the likelihood of movement, walking rate, and food consumption rate. In contrast, the neonicotinoid had a greater impact on flight distance at the higher temperature. Our findings show that different organismal functions can exhibit divergent thermal responses, with some pesticide-affected behaviours showing greater impact as temperatures dropped, and others as temperatures rose. We must therefore account for environmental context when determining pesticide risk. Moreover, we found evidence of synergistic effects, with just a 3°C increase causing a sudden drop in flight performance, despite seeing no effect of pesticide at the two lower temperatures. Our findings highlight the importance of multi-stressor studies to quantify threats to insects, which will help to improve dynamic evaluations of population tipping points and spatiotemporal risks to biodiversity across different climate regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kenna
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Berkshire, UK
| | - Peter Graystock
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Berkshire, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Berkshire, UK
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6
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Arce AN, Cantwell-Jones A, Tansley M, Barnes I, Brace S, Mullin VE, Notton D, Ollerton J, Eatough E, Rhodes MW, Bian X, Hogan J, Hunter T, Jackson S, Whiffin A, Blagoderov V, Broad G, Judd S, Kokkini P, Livermore L, Dixit MK, Pearse WD, Gill RJ. Signatures of increasing environmental stress in bumblebee wings over the past century: Insights from museum specimens. J Anim Ecol 2023; 92:297-309. [PMID: 35978494 PMCID: PMC10086799 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Determining when animal populations have experienced stress in the past is fundamental to understanding how risk factors drive contemporary and future species' responses to environmental change. For insects, quantifying stress and associating it with environmental factors has been challenging due to a paucity of time-series data and because detectable population-level responses can show varying lag effects. One solution is to leverage historic entomological specimens to detect morphological proxies of stress experienced at the time stressors emerged, allowing us to more accurately determine population responses. Here we studied specimens of four bumblebee species, an invaluable group of insect pollinators, from five museums collected across Britain over the 20th century. We calculated the degree of fluctuating asymmetry (FA; random deviations from bilateral symmetry) between the right and left forewings as a potential proxy of developmental stress. We: (a) investigated whether baseline FA levels vary between species, and how this compares between the first and second half of the century; (b) determined the extent of FA change over the century in the four bumblebee species, and whether this followed a linear or nonlinear trend; (c) tested which annual climatic conditions correlated with increased FA in bumblebees. Species differed in their baseline FA, with FA being higher in the two species that have recently expanded their ranges in Britain. Overall, FA significantly increased over the century but followed a nonlinear trend, with the increase starting c. 1925. We found relatively warm and wet years were associated with higher FA. Collectively our findings show that FA in bumblebees increased over the 20th century and under weather conditions that will likely increase in frequency with climate change. By plotting FA trends and quantifying the contribution of annual climate conditions on past populations, we provide an important step towards improving our understanding of how environmental factors could impact future populations of wild beneficial insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andres N Arce
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK.,School of Engineering, Arts, Science & Technology, University of Suffolk, Ipswich, UK
| | - Aoife Cantwell-Jones
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Michael Tansley
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK.,Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Ian Barnes
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Selina Brace
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Victoria E Mullin
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.,Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - David Notton
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.,National Museum Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Jeff Ollerton
- Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, University of Northampton, Northampton, UK
| | - Emma Eatough
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Marcus W Rhodes
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Xueni Bian
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK.,Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - James Hogan
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Simon Jackson
- Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust, Cumbria, UK.,Ipswich Museum (Colchester and Ipswich Museums), Ipswich, UK
| | | | | | - Gavin Broad
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - Phaedra Kokkini
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - Mahika K Dixit
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - William D Pearse
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
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7
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Cantwell‐Jones A, Larson K, Ward A, Bates OK, Cox T, Gibbons C, Richardson R, Al‐Hayali AMR, Svedin J, Aronsson M, Brannlund F, Tylianakis JM, Johansson J, Gill RJ. Mapping trait versus species turnover reveals spatiotemporal variation in functional redundancy and network robustness in a plant‐pollinator community. Funct Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Aoife Cantwell‐Jones
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Imperial College London SL5 7PY UK
| | - Keith Larson
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Umeå University 90187 Umeå Sweden
| | - Alan Ward
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Imperial College London SL5 7PY UK
| | - Olivia K. Bates
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Imperial College London SL5 7PY UK
| | - Tara Cox
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Imperial College London SL5 7PY UK
| | - Charlotte Gibbons
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Imperial College London SL5 7PY UK
| | - Ryan Richardson
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Imperial College London SL5 7PY UK
| | | | - Johan Svedin
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Umeå University 90187 Umeå Sweden
| | - Max Aronsson
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Umeå University 90187 Umeå Sweden
| | - Frida Brannlund
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Umeå University 90187 Umeå Sweden
| | - Jason M. Tylianakis
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, School of Biological Sciences, Private Bag 4800 University of Canterbury 8041 Christchurch New Zealand
| | | | - Richard J. Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet, Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park Imperial College London SL5 7PY UK
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8
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Mullin VE, Stephen W, Arce AN, Nash W, Raine C, Notton DG, Whiffin A, Blagderov V, Gharbi K, Hogan J, Hunter T, Irish N, Jackson S, Judd S, Watkins C, Haerty W, Ollerton J, Brace S, Gill RJ, Barnes I. First large‐scale quantification study of DNA preservation in insects from natural history collections using genome‐wide sequencing. Methods Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/2041-210x.13945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Victoria E. Mullin
- Department of Earth Sciences The Natural History Museum London UK
- Smurfit Institute of Genetics Trinity College Dublin Dublin Ireland
| | - William Stephen
- Department of Earth Sciences The Natural History Museum London UK
| | - Andres N. Arce
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London Berks UK
- School of Engineering, Arts, Science & Technology University of Suffolk Ipswich UK
| | - Will Nash
- The Earlham Institute Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane Norwich UK
| | - Calum Raine
- The Earlham Institute Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane Norwich UK
| | | | | | | | - Karim Gharbi
- The Earlham Institute Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane Norwich UK
| | - James Hogan
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History Oxford UK
| | | | - Naomi Irish
- The Earlham Institute Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane Norwich UK
| | - Simon Jackson
- Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust Carlisle UK
- Ipswich Museum (Colchester and Ipswich Museums) Ipswich UK
| | | | - Chris Watkins
- The Earlham Institute Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane Norwich UK
| | - Wilfried Haerty
- The Earlham Institute Norwich Research Park, Colney Lane Norwich UK
| | - Jeff Ollerton
- Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology University of Northampton Northampton UK
| | - Selina Brace
- Department of Earth Sciences The Natural History Museum London UK
| | - Richard J. Gill
- Georgina Mace Centre for The Living Planet Department of Life Sciences, Silwood Park, Imperial College London Berks UK
| | - Ian Barnes
- Department of Earth Sciences The Natural History Museum London UK
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9
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Yordanova M, Evison SEF, Gill RJ, Graystock P. The threat of pesticide and disease co-exposure to managed and wild bee larvae. Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl 2022; 17:319-326. [PMID: 35342713 PMCID: PMC8943340 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2022.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Revised: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Brood diseases and pesticides can reduce the survival of bee larvae, reduce bee populations, and negatively influence ecosystem biodiversity. However, major gaps persist in our knowledge regarding the routes and implications of co-exposure to these stressors in managed and wild bee brood. In this review, we evaluate the likelihood for co-exposure to brood pathogen and pesticide stressors by examining the routes of potential co-exposure and the possibility for pollen and nectar contaminated with pathogens and pesticides to become integrated into brood food. Furthermore, we highlight ways in which pesticides may increase brood disease morbidity directly, through manipulating host immunity, and indirectly through disrupting microbial communities in the guts of larvae, or compromising brood care provided by adult bees. Lastly, we quantify the brood research bias towards Apis species and discuss the implications the bias has on brood disease and pesticide risk assessment in wild bee communities. We advise that future studies should place a higher emphasis on evaluating bee brood afflictions and their interactions with commonly encountered stressors, especially in wild bee species. Brood exposure to pathogens and pesticides may occur frequently and in combination during the consumption of pollen and nectar. Brood pathogen virulence can be directly increased due to pesticide-mediated manipulation of larvae immune responses. Pesticides may indirectly increase brood disease morbidity by affecting larval gut microbial compositionand adult bee health. Research bias towards Apis species skews our understanding and management of brood disease and pesticide risks in wild bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Yordanova
- Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Berks, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Sophie E F Evison
- School of Life Sciences, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2TQ, United Kingdom
| | - Richard J Gill
- Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Berks, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Peter Graystock
- Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Berks, SL5 7PY, UK
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10
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Colgan TJ, Arce AN, Gill RJ, Ramos Rodrigues A, Kanteh A, Duncan EJ, Li L, Chittka L, Wurm Y. Genomic signatures of recent adaptation in a wild bumblebee. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6521030. [PMID: 35134226 PMCID: PMC8845123 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental changes threaten insect pollinators, creating risks for agriculture and ecosystem stability. Despite their importance, we know little about how wild insects respond to environmental pressures. To understand the genomic bases of adaptation in an ecologically important pollinator, we analyzed genomes of Bombus terrestris bumblebees collected across Great Britain. We reveal extensive genetic diversity within this population, and strong signatures of recent adaptation throughout the genome affecting key processes including neurobiology and wing development. We also discover unusual features of the genome, including a region containing 53 genes that lacks genetic diversity in many bee species, and a horizontal gene transfer from a Wolbachia bacteria. Overall, the genetic diversity we observe and how it is distributed throughout the genome and the population should support the resilience of this important pollinator species to ongoing and future selective pressures. Applying our approach to more species should help understand how they can differ in their adaptive potential, and to develop conservation strategies for those most at risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Colgan
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom
| | - Andres N Arce
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, SL5 7QN, United Kingdom.,School of Engineering, Arts, Science & Technology, University of Suffolk, Ipswich, IP3 0FS, United KingdomCurrent Address
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, SL5 7QN, United Kingdom
| | - Ana Ramos Rodrigues
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, SL5 7QN, United Kingdom
| | - Abdoulie Kanteh
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth J Duncan
- School of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
| | - Li Li
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom
| | - Lars Chittka
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom
| | - Yannick Wurm
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom.,Alan Turing Institute, London, NW1 2DB, United Kingdom
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11
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Watrobska CM, Ramos Rodrigues A, Arce AN, Clarke J, Gill RJ. Pollen Source Richness May Be a Poor Predictor of Bumblebee ( Bombus terrestris) Colony Growth. Front Insect Sci 2021; 1:741349. [PMID: 38468876 PMCID: PMC10926443 DOI: 10.3389/finsc.2021.741349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2021] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
Agricultural intensification has drastically altered foraging landscapes for bees, with large-scale crop monocultures associated with floral diversity loss. Research on bumblebees and honeybees has shown individuals feeding on pollen from a low richness of floral sources can experience negative impacts on health and longevity relative to higher pollen source richness of similar protein concentrations. Florally rich landscapes are thus generally assumed to better support social bees. Yet, little is known about whether the effects of reduced pollen source richness can be mitigated by feeding on pollen with higher crude protein concentration, and importantly how variation in diet affects whole colony growth, rearing decisions and sexual production. Studying queen-right bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) colonies, we monitored colony development under a polyfloral pollen diet or a monofloral pollen diet with 1.5-1.8 times higher crude protein concentration. Over 6 weeks, we found monofloral colonies performed better for all measures, with no apparent long-term effects on colony mass or worker production, and a higher number of pupae in monofloral colonies at the end of the experiment. Unexpectedly, polyfloral colonies showed higher mortality, and little evidence of any strategy to counteract the effects of reduced protein; with fewer and lower mass workers being reared, and males showing a similar trend. Our findings (i) provide well-needed daily growth dynamics of queenright colonies under varied diets, and (ii) support the view that pollen protein content in the foraging landscape rather than floral species richness per se is likely a key driver of colony health and success.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Richard J. Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, London, United Kingdom
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12
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kenna
- Department of Life Sciences Imperial College LondonSilwood Park Campus Ascot UK
| | - Samraat Pawar
- Department of Life Sciences Imperial College LondonSilwood Park Campus Ascot UK
| | - Richard J. Gill
- Department of Life Sciences Imperial College LondonSilwood Park Campus Ascot UK
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13
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Rother L, Kraft N, Smith DB, El Jundi B, Gill RJ, Pfeiffer K. A micro-CT-based standard brain atlas of the bumblebee. Cell Tissue Res 2021; 386:29-45. [PMID: 34181089 PMCID: PMC8526489 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-021-03482-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, bumblebees have become a prominent insect model organism for a variety of biological disciplines, particularly to investigate learning behaviors as well as visual performance. Understanding these behaviors and their underlying neurobiological principles requires a clear understanding of brain anatomy. Furthermore, to be able to compare neuronal branching patterns across individuals, a common framework is required, which has led to the development of 3D standard brain atlases in most of the neurobiological insect model species. Yet, no bumblebee 3D standard brain atlas has been generated. Here we present a brain atlas for the buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scans as a source for the raw data sets, rather than traditional confocal microscopy, to produce the first ever micro-CT-based insect brain atlas. We illustrate the advantages of the micro-CT technique, namely, identical native resolution in the three cardinal planes and 3D structure being better preserved. Our Bombus terrestris brain atlas consists of 30 neuropils reconstructed from ten individual worker bees, with micro-CT allowing us to segment neuropils completely intact, including the lamina, which is a tissue structure often damaged when dissecting for immunolabeling. Our brain atlas can serve as a platform to facilitate future neuroscience studies in bumblebees and illustrates the advantages of micro-CT for specific applications in insect neuroanatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Rother
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Nadine Kraft
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Dylan B Smith
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Basil El Jundi
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Keram Pfeiffer
- Department of Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
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14
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Samuelson AE, Gill RJ, Leadbeater E. Urbanisation is associated with reduced Nosema sp. infection, higher colony strength and higher richness of foraged pollen in honeybees. Apidologie 2020; 51:746-762. [PMID: 33122866 PMCID: PMC7584562 DOI: 10.1007/s13592-020-00758-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2019] [Revised: 02/12/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Bees are vital pollinators, but are faced with numerous threats that include loss of floral resources and emerging parasites amongst others. Urbanisation is a rapidly expanding driver of land-use change that may interact with these two major threats to bees. Here we investigated effects of urbanisation on food store quality and colony health in honeybees (Apis mellifera) by sampling 51 hives in four different land-use categories: urban, suburban, rural open and rural wooded during two seasons (spring and autumn). We found positive effects of urban land use on colony strength and richness of stored pollen morphotypes, alongside lower late-season Nosema sp. infection in urban and suburban colonies. Our results reveal that honeybees exhibit lower colony performance in strength in rural areas, adding to the growing evidence that modern agricultural landscapes can constitute poor habitat for insect pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ash E. Samuelson
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Richard J. Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, UK
| | - Ellouise Leadbeater
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
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15
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Smith DB, Arce AN, Ramos Rodrigues A, Bischoff PH, Burris D, Ahmed F, Gill RJ. Insecticide exposure during brood or early-adult development reduces brain growth and impairs adult learning in bumblebees. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192442. [PMID: 32126960 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
For social bees, an understudied step in evaluating pesticide risk is how contaminated food entering colonies affects residing offspring development and maturation. For instance, neurotoxic insecticide compounds in food could affect central nervous system development predisposing individuals to become poorer task performers later-in-life. Studying bumblebee colonies provisioned with neonicotinoid spiked nectar substitute, we measured brain volume and learning behaviour of 3 or 12-day old adults that had experienced in-hive exposure during brood and/or early-stage adult development. Micro-computed tomography scanning and segmentation of multiple brain neuropils showed exposure during either of the developmental stages caused reduced mushroom body calycal growth relative to unexposed workers. Associated with this was a lower probability of responding to a sucrose reward and lower learning performance in an olfactory conditioning test. While calycal volume of control workers positively correlated with learning score, this relationship was absent for exposed workers indicating neuropil functional impairment. Comparison of 3- and 12-day adults exposed during brood development showed a similar degree of reduced calycal volume and impaired behaviour highlighting lasting and irrecoverable effects from exposure despite no adult exposure. Our findings help explain how the onset of pesticide exposure to whole colonies can lead to lag-effects on growth and resultant dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan B Smith
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Andres N Arce
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Ana Ramos Rodrigues
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Philipp H Bischoff
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Daisy Burris
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Farah Ahmed
- Core Research Laboratories, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
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16
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Kenna D, Cooley H, Pretelli I, Ramos Rodrigues A, Gill SD, Gill RJ. Pesticide exposure affects flight dynamics and reduces flight endurance in bumblebees. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:5637-5650. [PMID: 31160987 PMCID: PMC6540668 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2018] [Revised: 03/13/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of agricultural land use change creates a number of challenges that insect pollinators, such as eusocial bees, must overcome. Resultant fragmentation and loss of suitable foraging habitats, combined with pesticide exposure, may increase demands on foraging, specifically the ability to collect or reach sufficient resources under such stress. Understanding effects that pesticides have on flight performance is therefore vital if we are to assess colony success in these changing landscapes. Neonicotinoids are one of the most widely used classes of pesticide across the globe, and exposure to bees has been associated with reduced foraging efficiency and homing ability. One explanation for these effects could be that elements of flight are being affected, but apart from a couple of studies on the honeybee (Apis mellifera), this has scarcely been tested. Here, we used flight mills to investigate how exposure to a field realistic (10 ppb) acute dose of imidacloprid affected flight performance of a wild insect pollinator-the bumblebee, Bombus terrestris audax. Intriguingly, observations showed exposed workers flew at a significantly higher velocity over the first ¾ km of flight. This apparent hyperactivity, however, may have a cost because exposed workers showed reduced flight distance and duration to around a third of what control workers were capable of achieving. Given that bumblebees are central place foragers, impairment to flight endurance could translate to a decline in potential forage area, decreasing the abundance, diversity, and nutritional quality of available food, while potentially diminishing pollination service capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kenna
- Department of Life SciencesImperial College LondonSilwood ParkAscotBerkshireUK
| | - Hazel Cooley
- Department of Life SciencesImperial College LondonSilwood ParkAscotBerkshireUK
| | - Ilaria Pretelli
- Department of Life SciencesImperial College LondonSilwood ParkAscotBerkshireUK
- Dipartimento di BiologiaUniversità di PadovaPadovaItaly
- Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology, and CultureMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLeipzigGermany
| | - Ana Ramos Rodrigues
- Department of Life SciencesImperial College LondonSilwood ParkAscotBerkshireUK
| | - Steve D. Gill
- Department of Life SciencesImperial College LondonSilwood ParkAscotBerkshireUK
| | - Richard J. Gill
- Department of Life SciencesImperial College LondonSilwood ParkAscotBerkshireUK
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17
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Colgan TJ, Fletcher IK, Arce AN, Gill RJ, Ramos Rodrigues A, Stolle E, Chittka L, Wurm Y. Caste- and pesticide-specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on gene expression in bumblebees. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:1964-1974. [PMID: 30843300 PMCID: PMC6563198 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Social bees are important insect pollinators of wildflowers and agricultural crops, making their reported declines a global concern. A major factor implicated in these declines is the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Indeed, recent research has demonstrated that exposure to low doses of these neurotoxic pesticides impairs bee behaviours important for colony function and survival. However, our understanding of the molecular-genetic pathways that lead to such effects is limited, as is our knowledge of how effects may differ between colony members. To understand what genes and pathways are affected by exposure of bumblebee workers and queens to neonicotinoid pesticides, we implemented a transcriptome-wide gene expression study. We chronically exposed Bombus terrestriscolonies to either clothianidin or imidacloprid at field-realistic concentrations while controlling for factors including colony social environment and worker age. We reveal that genes involved in important biological processes including mitochondrial function are differentially expressed in response to neonicotinoid exposure. Additionally, clothianidin exposure had stronger effects on gene expression amplitude and alternative splicing than imidacloprid. Finally, exposure affected workers more strongly than queens. Our work demonstrates how RNA-Seq transcriptome profiling can provide detailed novel insight on the mechanisms mediating pesticide toxicity to a key insect pollinator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Colgan
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.,School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Isabel K Fletcher
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Andres N Arce
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK
| | | | - Eckart Stolle
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Lars Chittka
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Yannick Wurm
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
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18
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Arce AN, Ramos Rodrigues A, Yu J, Colgan TJ, Wurm Y, Gill RJ. Foraging bumblebees acquire a preference for neonicotinoid-treated food with prolonged exposure. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:rspb.2018.0655. [PMID: 30158303 PMCID: PMC6125916 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Social bees represent an important group of pollinating insects that can be exposed to potentially harmful pesticides when foraging on treated or contaminated flowering plants. To investigate if such exposure is detrimental to bees, many studies have exclusively fed individuals with pesticide-spiked food, informing us about the hazard but not necessarily the risk of exposure. While such studies are important to establish the physiological and behavioural effects on individuals, they do not consider the possibility that the risk of exposure may change over time. For example, many pesticide assays exclude potential behavioural adaptations to novel toxins, such as rejection of harmful compounds by choosing to feed on an uncontaminated food source, thus behaviourally lowering the risk of exposure. In this paper, we conducted an experiment over 10 days in which bumblebees could forage on an array of sucrose feeders containing 0, 2 and 11 parts per billion of the neonicotinoid pesticide thiamethoxam. This more closely mimics pesticide exposure in the wild by allowing foraging bees to (i) experience a field realistic range of pesticide concentrations across a chronic exposure period, (ii) have repeated interactions with the pesticide in their environment, and (iii) retain the social cues associated with foraging by using whole colonies. We found that the proportion of visits to pesticide-laced feeders increased over time, resulting in greater consumption of pesticide-laced sucrose relative to untreated sucrose. After changing the spatial position of each feeder, foragers continued to preferentially visit the pesticide-laced feeders which indicates that workers can detect thiamethoxam and alter their behaviour to continue feeding on it. The increasing preference for consuming the neonicotinoid-treated food therefore increases the risk of exposure for the colony during prolonged pesticide exposure. Our results highlight the need to incorporate attractiveness of pesticides to foraging bees (and potentially other insect pollinators) in addition to simply considering the proportion of pesticide-contaminated floral resources within the foraging landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andres N Arce
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Ana Ramos Rodrigues
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Jiajun Yu
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Thomas J Colgan
- Department of Organismal Biology, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Yannick Wurm
- Department of Organismal Biology, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
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19
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Samuelson AE, Gill RJ, Brown MJF, Leadbeater E. Lower bumblebee colony reproductive success in agricultural compared with urban environments. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20180807. [PMID: 30051852 PMCID: PMC6030522 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2018] [Accepted: 05/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Urbanization represents a rapidly growing driver of land-use change. While it is clear that urbanization impacts species abundance and diversity, direct effects of urban land use on animal reproductive success are rarely documented. Here, we show that urban land use is linked to long-term colony reproductive output in a key pollinator. We reared colonies from wild-caught bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queens, placed them at sites characterized by varying degrees of urbanization from inner city to rural farmland and monitored the production of sexual offspring across the entire colony cycle. Our land-use cluster analysis identified three site categories, and this categorization was a strong predictor of colony performance. Crucially, colonies in the two clusters characterized by urban development produced more sexual offspring than those in the cluster dominated by agricultural land. These colonies also reached higher peak size, had more food stores, encountered fewer parasite invasions and survived for longer. Our results show a link between urbanization and bumblebee colony reproductive success, supporting the theory that urban areas provide a refuge for pollinator populations in an otherwise barren agricultural landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ash E Samuelson
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, UK
| | - Mark J F Brown
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
| | - Ellouise Leadbeater
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, UK
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20
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Gray REJ, Ewers RM, Boyle MJW, Chung AYC, Gill RJ. Effect of tropical forest disturbance on the competitive interactions within a diverse ant community. Sci Rep 2018; 8:5131. [PMID: 29572517 PMCID: PMC5865194 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23272-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2017] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding how anthropogenic disturbance influences patterns of community composition and the reinforcing interactive processes that structure communities is important to mitigate threats to biodiversity. Competition is considered a primary reinforcing process, yet little is known concerning disturbance effects on competitive interaction networks. We examined how differences in ant community composition between undisturbed and disturbed Bornean rainforest, is potentially reflected by changes in competitive interactions over a food resource. Comparing 10 primary forest sites to 10 in selectively-logged forest, we found higher genus richness and diversity in the primary forest, with 18.5% and 13.0% of genera endemic to primary and logged respectively. From 180 hours of filming bait cards, we assessed ant-ant interactions, finding that despite considered aggression over food sources, the majority of ant interactions were neutral. Proportion of competitive interactions at bait cards did not differ between forest type, however, the rate and per capita number of competitive interactions was significantly lower in logged forest. Furthermore, the majority of genera showed large changes in aggression-score with often inverse relationships to their occupancy rank. This provides evidence of a shuffled competitive network, and these unexpected changes in aggressive relationships could be considered a type of competitive network re-wiring after disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ross E J Gray
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, SL5 7PY, UK.
| | - Robert M Ewers
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Michael J W Boyle
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, SL5 7PY, UK
| | - Arthur Y C Chung
- Forest Research Centre, Forestry Department, P.O. Box 1407, 90715, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
| | - Richard J Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, SL5 7PY, UK
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21
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Samuelson EEW, Chen-Wishart ZP, Gill RJ, Leadbeater E. Effect of acute pesticide exposure on bee spatial working memory using an analogue of the radial-arm maze. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38957. [PMID: 27958350 PMCID: PMC5154185 DOI: 10.1038/srep38957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Pesticides, including neonicotinoids, typically target pest insects by being neurotoxic. Inadvertent exposure to foraging insect pollinators is usually sub-lethal, but may affect cognition. One cognitive trait, spatial working memory, may be important in avoiding previously-visited flowers and other spatial tasks such as navigation. To test this, we investigated the effect of acute thiamethoxam exposure on spatial working memory in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, using an adaptation of the radial-arm maze (RAM). We first demonstrated that bumblebees use spatial working memory to solve the RAM by showing that untreated bees performed significantly better than would be expected if choices were random or governed by stereotyped visitation rules. We then exposed bees to either a high sub-lethal positive control thiamethoxam dose (2.5 ng-1 bee), or one of two low doses (0.377 or 0.091 ng-1) based on estimated field-realistic exposure. The high dose caused bees to make more and earlier spatial memory errors and take longer to complete the task than unexposed bees. For the low doses, the negative effects were smaller but statistically significant, and dependent on bee size. The spatial working memory impairment shown here has the potential to harm bees exposed to thiamethoxam, through possible impacts on foraging efficiency or homing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Richard J. Gill
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park campus, Ascot, United Kingdom
| | - Ellouise Leadbeater
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
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Arce AN, David TI, Randall EL, Ramos Rodrigues A, Colgan TJ, Wurm Y, Gill RJ. Impact of controlled neonicotinoid exposure on bumblebees in a realistic field setting. J Appl Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.12792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andres N. Arce
- Department of Life Sciences; Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus; Buckhurst Road Ascot SL5 7PY UK
| | - Thomas I. David
- Department of Life Sciences; Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus; Buckhurst Road Ascot SL5 7PY UK
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Crop Protection; Rothamsted Research; Harpenden Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ UK
| | - Emma L. Randall
- Department of Life Sciences; Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus; Buckhurst Road Ascot SL5 7PY UK
- College of Life and Environmental Science; University of Exeter, Penryn Campus; Penryn Cornwall TR10 9FE UK
| | - Ana Ramos Rodrigues
- Department of Life Sciences; Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus; Buckhurst Road Ascot SL5 7PY UK
| | - Thomas J. Colgan
- Department of Organismal Biology; Queen Mary University of London; Mile End Road London E1 4NS UK
| | - Yannick Wurm
- Department of Organismal Biology; Queen Mary University of London; Mile End Road London E1 4NS UK
| | - Richard J. Gill
- Department of Life Sciences; Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus; Buckhurst Road Ascot SL5 7PY UK
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J. Gill
- School of Biological Sciences; Royal Holloway University of London; Egham Surrey TW20 0EX UK
| | - Nigel E. Raine
- School of Biological Sciences; Royal Holloway University of London; Egham Surrey TW20 0EX UK
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Bryden J, Gill RJ, Mitton RAA, Raine NE, Jansen VAA. Chronic sublethal stress causes bee colony failure. Ecol Lett 2013; 16:1463-9. [PMID: 24112478 PMCID: PMC4299506 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2013] [Revised: 07/23/2013] [Accepted: 09/04/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Current bee population declines and colony failures are well documented yet poorly understood and no single factor has been identified as a leading cause. The evidence is equivocal and puzzling: for instance, many pathogens and parasites can be found in both failing and surviving colonies and field pesticide exposure is typically sublethal. Here, we investigate how these results can be due to sublethal stress impairing colony function. We mathematically modelled stress on individual bees which impairs colony function and found how positive density dependence can cause multiple dynamic outcomes: some colonies fail while others thrive. We then exposed bumblebee colonies to sublethal levels of a neonicotinoid pesticide. The dynamics of colony failure, which we observed, were most accurately described by our model. We argue that our model can explain the enigmatic aspects of bee colony failures, highlighting an important role for sublethal stress in colony declines.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Bryden
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK
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Abstract
Understanding which parties regulate reproduction is fundamental to understanding conflict resolution in animal societies. In social insects, workers can influence male production and sex ratio. Surprisingly, few studies have investigated worker influence over which queen(s) reproduce(s) in multiple queen (MQ) colonies (skew), despite skew determining worker-brood relatedness and so worker fitness. We provide evidence for worker influence over skew in a functionally monogynous population of the ant Leptothorax acervorum. Observations of MQ colonies leading up to egg laying showed worker aggressive and non-aggressive behaviour towards queens and predicted which queen monopolized reproduction. In contrast, among-queen interactions were rare and did not predict queen reproduction. Furthermore, parentage analysis showed workers favoured their mother when present, ensuring closely related fullsibs (average r = 0.5) were reared instead of less related offspring of other resident queens (r ≤ 0.375). Discrimination among queens using relatedness-based cues, however, seems unlikely as workers also biased their behaviour in colonies without a mother queen. In other polygynous populations of this species, workers are not aggressive towards queens and MQs reproduce, showing the outcome of social conflicts varies within species. In conclusion, this study supports non-reproductive parties having the power and information to influence skew within cooperative breeding groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Gill
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
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Abstract
Identifying species exhibiting variation in social organization is an important step towards explaining the genetic and environmental factors underlying social evolution. In most studied populations of the ant Leptothorax acervorum, reproduction is shared among queens in multiple queen colonies (polygyny). By contrast, reports from other populations, but based on weaker evidence, suggest a single queen may monopolize all reproduction in multiple queen colonies (functional monogyny). Here we identify a marked polymorphism in social organization in this species, by conclusively showing that functional monogyny is exhibited in a Spanish population, showing that the social organization is stable and not purely a consequence of daughter queens overwintering, that daughter queen re-adoption is frequent and queen turnover is low. Importantly, we show that polygynous and functionally monogynous populations are not genetically distinct from one another based on mtDNA and nDNA. This suggests a recent evolutionary divergence between social phenotypes. Finally, when functionally monogynous and polygynous colonies were kept under identical laboratory conditions, social organization did not change, suggesting a genetic basis for the polymorphism. We discuss the implications of these findings to the study of reproductive skew.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard J Gill
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull HU67RX, UK
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Pinchak WE, Tolleson DR, McCloy M, Hunt LJ, Gill RJ, Ansley RJ, Bevers SJ. Morbidity effects on productivity and profitability of stocker cattle grazing in the Southern Plains. J Anim Sci 2005; 82:2773-9. [PMID: 15446494 DOI: 10.2527/2004.8292773x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Effects of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) on stocker cattle systems are unknown under extensive rangeland environments. Three experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that BRD-based morbidity is a major factor affecting the productivity and profitability of stocker cattle grazing Southern Plains rangelands. In Exp. 1 (658 male calves; average BW = 231 kg), 17% of the cattle were treated for BRD <8 d, 6% for 8 to 14 d, and 8% for >14 d. Morbid cattle had lower ADG than did healthy cattle (P < 0.10). Cattle requiring 14 d of pharmaceutical therapy gained less than cattle having <14 d therapy (P < 0.01). In Exp. 2, (279 steers and bulls; average BW = 216 kg), the ADG by steers (0.74 kg x animal(-1) x d(-1)) was greater (P < 0.05) than by bulls castrated after arrival (0.64 kg x animal(-1) x d(-1)). Castration after arrival led to a 13.5% loss in daily gain and a 10.3% loss in season-long gain. More (P < 0.05) bulls castrated after arrival (60%) were morbid compared with steers (28%). In Exp. 3, 633 heifers (average BW = 251 kg) were used to test the effects of morbidity on weight gain and reproduction. Heifers with lower initial weights exhibited increased (P < 0.05) morbidity. Heifers requiring two or more antibiotic treatments gained 0.03 kg/d less (P < 0.10) than did healthy heifers and had lower (P < 0.05) conception rates (66 vs. 81%). Conception rate in twice-treated heifers was 19% less than healthy heifers. Morbid heifers conceived 0.6 mo later (P < 0.05) than healthy heifers. Under the conditions of Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, morbidity decreased net returns 9.7 to 21.3% per animal. Adjusted gross returns per animal in Exp. 3 for replacement heifers were 3 to 7.8% less for morbid heifers.
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Affiliation(s)
- W E Pinchak
- Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Vernon 76384, USA.
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Campbell BC, Steffen-Campbell JD, Gill RJ. Evolutionary origin of whiteflies (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae) inferred from 18S rDNA sequences. Insect Mol Biol 1994; 3:73-88. [PMID: 7987524 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2583.1994.tb00154.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA nucleotide sequences of hemipteran exemplars shows Sternorrhyncha (psyllids, whiteflies, aphids and scales) is monophyletic and forms a sister group to all other hemipterans (Euhemiptera). Whiteflies form a sister group to all other Sternorrhyncha. Primary structures of 18S rDNAs of all sternorrhynchans are exceptionally long (approximately 2200 to approximately 2500 bp) due to internal expansions. These expansions are a synapomorphy of Sternorrhyncha; other hemipterans possess shorter 18S rDNAs (approximately 1900 to approximately 1925 bp). The 18S rDNA of whiteflies is the longest recorded to date and has a base substitution rate of approximately 3 times greater than Euhemiptera taxa examined. The relevance of these findings to the fossil record, feeding strategies, reproductive biologies, and geoclimatic distribution is discussed.
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