scholarly journals Male Sexual Trait Decay in Two Asexual Springtail Populations Follows Neutral Mutation Accumulation Theory

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-292
Author(s):  
Andries Augustus Kampfraath ◽  
Tjeerd Pieter Dudink ◽  
Ken Kraaijeveld ◽  
Jacintha Ellers ◽  
Zaira Valentina Zizzari
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Mutation Accumulation ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Sexual Population ◽  
Sexually Selected Traits ◽  
Neutral Mutation ◽  
Sperm Dna ◽  
Sexual Traits

Abstract The transition to asexual reproduction is frequent and widespread across the tree of life and constitutes a major life history change. Without sexual reproduction, selection on sexually selected traits is expected to be weaker or absent, allowing the decay and ultimately loss of sexual traits. In this study, we applied an experimental approach to investigate the decay of reproductive traits under asexuality in two asexual populations of the springtail Folsomia candida. Specifically, we compared several key male sexual traits of a sexual population and two distinct parthenogenetic lines. To allow direct comparisons between sexual and asexual individuals we first determined a suite of life history characteristics in the sexual F. candida population, which performs an indirect transfer of sperm packages (spermatophores).To investigate the decay of male sexual traits under asexuality we measured the size of spermatophores, quantified the amount of sperm DNA material, and tested spermatophore attractiveness to females in all three populations. The amount of sperm DNA material in the sperm droplets and the attractiveness of spermatophores were lower in the asexual lines compared to the sexual population. However, the two asexual lines differed in the extent of decay of these traits. Our results are consistent with predictions from neutral mutation accumulation theory, and thus suggest this to be the main evolutionary process underlying the decay of male traits in F. candida.

scholarly journals Dentinal anomalies in teeth of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from Scottish waters: are they linked to sexual maturation and environmental events?

2009 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 893-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.L. Luque ◽  
G.J. Pierce ◽  
J.A. Learmonth ◽  
M.B. Santos ◽  
E. Ieno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Sexual Maturation ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Physiological Stress ◽  
Organic Pollutant ◽  
Additive Models ◽  
Phocoena Phocoena ◽  
Major Life ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Pulp Stones

We examined the tooth ultra-structure of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from Scottish waters to determine whether the incidence of mineralization anomalies could be related to certain life history events (e.g. the achievement of sexual maturation) as well as other factors that affect the general health of the individual (e.g. persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations in blubber). Five distinct types of mineralization anomalies were recorded: accessory lines, marker lines, dentinal resorption, cemental disturbance and pulp stones and the occurrence of these anomalies was scored by sex, age and maturity state. Overall, the incidence of mineralization anomalies was high and tended to increase with age. Marker lines and accessory lines were the most commonly recorded anomalies while pulp stones were least frequent. Duplicate teeth (i.e. from the same individual) always showed the same pattern of anomaly occurrence.Fitted binary generalized linear and additive models indicated that the presence of dentinal resorption, cemental disturbance and marker lines in harbour porpoise teeth increased with age, body length and maturity. Males displayed marker lines more frequently than females. Age was the best predictor of the incidence of dentinal resorption and cemental disturbance while age and sex were the best predictors of the incidence of marker lines. The time course of appearance of dentinal resorption and cemental disturbance suggests that their occurrence could be related to physiological stress linked to sexual maturation. Marker lines were found within growth layer groups which coincided with the beginning of weaning and sexual maturation, suggesting an association with these two major life history events. Accessory lines were found in most teeth and may be a normal characteristic of porpoise teeth or reflect regular events. Pulp stones appeared only in mature animals. We found no evidence that the presence of anomalies in teeth was significantly related to POP concentrations in the blubber.

Life-history tradeoffs revealed by seasonal declines in reproductive traits of Arctic-breeding shorebirds

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. jav-01531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily L. Weiser ◽  
Stephen C. Brown ◽  
Richard B. Lanctot ◽  
H. River Gates ◽  
Kenneth F. Abraham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Life History Tradeoffs

scholarly journals Comparative Developmental Transcriptomics Reveals Rewiring of a Highly Conserved Gene Regulatory Network during a Major Life History Switch in the Sea Urchin Genus Heliocidaris

PLoS Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. e1002391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer W. Israel ◽  
Megan L. Martik ◽  
Maria Byrne ◽  
Elizabeth C. Raff ◽  
Rudolf A. Raff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Gene Regulatory Network ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Regulatory Network ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Gene Regulatory ◽  
Conserved Gene

scholarly journals The influence of juvenile and adult environments on life-history trajectories

2005 ◽  
Vol 273 (1587) ◽  
pp. 741-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Taborsky
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Growth Conditions ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Juvenile Growth ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Adult Growth ◽  
Trade Offs

There is increasing evidence that the environment experienced early in life can strongly influence adult life histories. It is largely unknown, however, how past and present conditions influence suites of life-history traits regarding major life-history trade-offs. Especially in animals with indeterminate growth, we may expect that environmental conditions of juveniles and adults independently or interactively influence the life-history trade-off between growth and reproduction after maturation. Juvenile growth conditions may initiate a feedback loop determining adult allocation patterns, triggered by size-dependent mortality risk. I tested this possibility in a long-term growth experiment with mouthbrooding cichlids. Females were raised either on a high-food or low-food diet. After maturation half of them were switched to the opposite treatment, while the other half remained unchanged. Adult growth was determined by current resource availability, but key reproductive traits like reproductive rate and offspring size were only influenced by juvenile growth conditions, irrespective of the ration received as adults. Moreover, the allocation of resources to growth versus reproduction and to offspring number versus size were shaped by juvenile rather than adult ecology. These results indicate that early individual history must be considered when analysing causes of life-history variation in natural populations.

In-plantasporulation phenotype: a major life history trait to understand the evolution ofAlnus-infectiveFrankiastrains

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 3125-3138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrien C. Pozzi ◽  
Hector H. Bautista-Guerrero ◽  
Imen Nouioui ◽  
Laëtitia Cotin-Galvan ◽  
Régis Pepin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Trait ◽  
Major Life

scholarly journals Mainstreaming Caenorhabditis elegans in experimental evolution

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1778) ◽  
pp. 20133055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy C. Gray ◽  
Asher D. Cutter
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Systems Biology ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Biological Knowledge ◽  
Experimental Systems ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Mating System Evolution

Experimental evolution provides a powerful manipulative tool for probing evolutionary process and mechanism. As this approach to hypothesis testing has taken purchase in biology, so too has the number of experimental systems that use it, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses. The depth of biological knowledge about Caenorhabditis nematodes, combined with their laboratory tractability, positions them well for exploiting experimental evolution in animal systems to understand deep questions in evolution and ecology, as well as in molecular genetics and systems biology. To date, Caenorhabditis elegans and related species have proved themselves in experimental evolution studies of the process of mutation, host–pathogen coevolution, mating system evolution and life-history theory. Yet these organisms are not broadly recognized for their utility for evolution experiments and remain underexploited. Here, we outline this experimental evolution work undertaken so far in Caenorhabditis , detail simple methodological tricks that can be exploited and identify research areas that are ripe for future discovery.

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