scholarly journals Patterns of Hybrid Seed Inviability in the Mimulus guttatus sp. Complex Reveal a Potential Role of Parental Conflict in Reproductive Isolation

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-93.e5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenn M. Coughlan ◽  
Maya Wilson Brown ◽  
John H. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Hybrid Seed ◽  
Parental Conflict ◽  
Mimulus Guttatus

scholarly journals Patterns of hybrid seed inviability in perennials of the Mimulus guttatus sp. complex reveal a potential role of parental conflict in reproductive isolation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenn M. Coughlan ◽  
Maya Wilson Brown ◽  
John H. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Hybrid Seed ◽  
Parental Conflict ◽  
Reproductive Barriers ◽  
Hybrid Inviability ◽  
Parent Of Origin

SummaryGenomic conflicts may play a central role in the evolution of reproductive barriers. Theory predicts that early-onset hybrid inviability may stem from conflict between parents for resource allocation to offspring. Here we describe M. decorus; a group of cryptic species within the M. guttatus species complex that are largely reproductively isolated by hybrid seed inviability (HSI). HSI between M. guttatus and M. decorus is common and strong, but populations of M. decorus vary in the magnitude and directionality of HSI with M. guttatus. Patterns of HSI between M. guttatus and M. decorus, as well as within M. decorus conform to the predictions of parental conflict: (1) reciprocal F1s exhibit size differences and parent-of-origin specific endosperm defects, (2) the extent of asymmetry between reciprocal F1 seed size is correlated with asymmetry in HSI, and (3) inferred differences in the extent of conflict predict the extent of HSI between populations. We also find that HSI is rapidly evolving, as populations that exhibit the most HSI are each others’ closest relative. Lastly, while all populations are largely outcrossing, we find that the differences in the inferred strength of conflict scale positively with π, suggesting that demographic or life history factors other than mating system may also influence the rate of parental conflict driven evolution. Overall, these patterns suggest the rapid evolution of parent-of-origin specific resource allocation alleles coincident with HSI within and between M. guttatus and M. decorus. Parental conflict may therefore be an important evolutionary driver of reproductive isolation.

Speciation and changes in male gene expression in Drosophila

Genome ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Bahar Patlar ◽  
Alberto Civetta
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Regulation Of Gene Expression ◽  
Drosophila Model ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Plastic Responses ◽  
Male Gene

It has long been acknowledged that changes in the regulation of gene expression may account for major organismal differences. However, we still do not fully understand how changes in gene expression evolve and how do such changes influence organisms’ differences. We are even less aware of the impact such changes might have in restricting gene flow between species. Here, we focus on studies of gene expression and speciation in the Drosophila model. We review studies that have identified gene interactions in post-mating reproductive isolation and speciation, particularly those that modulate male gene expression. We also address studies that have experimentally manipulated changes in gene expression to test their effect in post-mating reproductive isolation. We highlight the need for a more in-depth analysis of the role of selection causing disrupted gene expression of such candidate genes in sterile/inviable hybrids. Moreover, we discuss the relevance to incorporate more routinely assays that simultaneously evaluate the potential effects of environmental factors and genetic background in modulating plastic responses in male genes and their potential role in speciation.

scholarly journals The ecological stage changes benefits of mate choice and drives preference divergence

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1806) ◽  
pp. 20190546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin M. Tinghitella ◽  
Alycia C. R. Lackey ◽  
Catherine Durso ◽  
Jennifer A. H. Koop ◽  
Janette W. Boughman
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Mixed Models ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Fitness Components ◽  
Ecological Conditions ◽  
Female Preferences ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Indicator Trait

Preference divergence is thought to contribute to reproductive isolation. Ecology can alter the way selection acts on female preferences, making them most likely to diverge when ecological conditions vary among populations. We present a novel mechanism for ecologically dependent sexual selection, termed ‘the ecological stage’ to highlight its ecological dependence. Our hypothesized mechanism emphasizes that males and females interact over mating in a specific ecological context, and different ecological conditions change the costs and benefits of mating interactions, selecting for different preferences in distinct environments and different male traits, especially when traits are condition dependent. We test key predictions of this mechanism in a sympatric three-spine stickleback species pair. We used a maternal half-sib split-clutch design for both species, mating females to attractive and unattractive males and raising progeny on alternate diets that mimic the specialized diets of the species in nature. We estimated the benefits of mate choice for an indicator trait (male nuptial colour) by measuring many fitness components across the lifetimes of both sons and daughters from these crosses. We analysed fitness data using a combination of aster and mixed models. We found that many benefits of mating with high-colour males depended on both species and diet. These results support the ecological stage hypothesis for sticklebacks. Finally, we discuss the potential role of this mechanism for other taxa and highlight its ability to enhance reproductive isolation as speciation proceeds, thus facilitating the evolution of strong reproductive isolation. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Towards the completion of speciation: the evolution of reproductive isolation beyond the first barriers'.

POPDC proteins and cardiac function

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1393-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Brand
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Effector Proteins ◽  
Muscle Disease ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Protein Protein Interaction ◽  
Interaction Partners ◽  
And Function

Abstract The Popeye domain-containing gene family encodes a novel class of cAMP effector proteins in striated muscle tissue. In this short review, we first introduce the protein family and discuss their structure and function with an emphasis on their role in cyclic AMP signalling. Another focus of this review is the recently discovered role of POPDC genes as striated muscle disease genes, which have been associated with cardiac arrhythmia and muscular dystrophy. The pathological phenotypes observed in patients will be compared with phenotypes present in null and knockin mutations in zebrafish and mouse. A number of protein–protein interaction partners have been discovered and the potential role of POPDC proteins to control the subcellular localization and function of these interacting proteins will be discussed. Finally, we outline several areas, where research is urgently needed.

The Effect of Path Length and Display Size on Memory for Spatial Information

2012 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Guérard ◽  
Sébastien Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Path Length ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Recall Performance ◽  
Minor Role ◽  
Length Effect ◽  
Serial Memory ◽  
Fixed Reference ◽  
A Minor

In serial memory for spatial information, some studies showed that recall performance suffers when the distance between successive locations increases relatively to the size of the display in which they are presented (the path length effect; e.g., Parmentier et al., 2005) but not when distance is increased by enlarging the size of the display (e.g., Smyth & Scholey, 1994). In the present study, we examined the effect of varying the absolute and relative distance between to-be-remembered items on memory for spatial information. We manipulated path length using small (15″) and large (64″) screens within the same design. In two experiments, we showed that distance was disruptive mainly when it is varied relatively to a fixed reference frame, though increasing the size of the display also had a small deleterious effect on recall. The insertion of a retention interval did not influence these effects, suggesting that rehearsal plays a minor role in mediating the effects of distance on serial spatial memory. We discuss the potential role of perceptual organization in light of the pattern of results.

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