New model systems for studying the evolutionary biology of aging: Crustacea

During the last two decades, ecological speciation has been a major research theme in evolutionary biology. Ecological speciation occurs when reproductive isolation between populations evolves as a result of niche differentiation. Phytophagous insects represent model systems for the study of this evolutionary process. The host-plants on which these insects feed and often spend parts of their life cycle constitute ideal agents of divergent selection for these organisms. Adaptation to feeding on different host-plant species can potentially lead to ecological specialization of populations and subsequent speciation. This process is thought to have given birth to the astonishing diversity of phytophagous insects and is often put forward in macroevolutionary scenarios of insect diversification. Consequently, numerous phylogenetic studies on phytophagous insects have aimed at testing whether speciation driven by host-plant adaptation is the main pathway for the diversification of the groups under investigation. The increasing availability of comprehensive and well-resolved phylogenies and the recent developments in phylogenetic comparative methods are offering an unprecedented opportunity to test hypotheses on insect diversification at a macroevolutionary scale, in a robust phylogenetic framework. Our purpose here is to review the contribution of phylogenetic analyses to investigate the importance of plant-mediated speciation in the diversification of phytophagous insects and to present suggestions for future developments in this field.

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Title: The use and underuse of model systems in infectious disease ecology & evolutionary biology

10.22541/au.161038055.50262896/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nina Wale ◽

Meghan A Duffy

Keyword(s):

Infectious Disease ◽

Disease Ecology ◽

Evolutionary Biology ◽

Model Systems

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Life history tradeoffs and the evolutionary biology of aging

Evolution and Medicine ◽

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199661718.003.0005 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 51-64 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert L. Perlman

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Evolutionary Biology ◽

Life History Tradeoffs ◽

Biology Of Aging

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ESPO/ BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SECTION SYMPOSIUM: EMERGING INSIGHTS IN INTERACTIONS AND NETWORKS IN THE BIOLOGY OF AGING DEVELOPING C. ELEGANS TO STUDY AGE-RELATED EXTRACELLULAR VESICLE SIGNALS

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1583 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S424-S424

Author(s):

Joshua Russell ◽

Matt Kaeberlein

Keyword(s):

Biological Sciences ◽

Mammalian Cell Culture ◽

Extracellular Vesicle ◽

Model Systems ◽

C Elegans ◽

Physiological Processes ◽

Age Related ◽

Powerful Approach ◽

Invertebrate Model ◽

Biology Of Aging

Abstract All cells release vesicles into their extracellular environment. These extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain multiple classes of molecules, including nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. EV-signaling has been shown to be impacted by many age-related physiological processes such as inflammation, mitochondrial stress, and autophagy as well as directly mediate critical functions in cellular senescence and aging. The isolation and analysis of EV cargos from mammalian cell culture and liquid biopsy samples has become a powerful approach for uncovering the messages that are packaged into these organelles. Caenorhabditis elegans is a premier model for dissecting the genetics of aging however, EV analysis has not been tenable in invertebrate model systems due to lack of methods for obtaining sufficient amounts of pure EVs. We developed a method for isolating pure EVs from C. elegans with yields sufficient for mass spectrometry and RNAseq. Here we present the analysis of the genetic and protein cargos of EVs collected from wild type and long-lived mutants collected at different time points across their lifespans. As the first investigation of age-related EV signals in an invertebrate model system we believe these results will provide insights into cell non-autonomous mechanisms of aging.

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