Laboratory-Based Comparison for the Effects of Environmental Stressors Supports Field Evidence for the Relative Importance of Pollution on Life History and Behavior of the Pond Snail, Lymnaea stagnalis

Author(s):  
Emily M. Moore ◽  
Mhairi E. Alexander ◽  
Katherine A. Sloman ◽  
M. Glória Pereira ◽  
Sarah A. Thacker ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Maren N. Vitousek ◽  
Laura A. Schoenle

Hormones mediate the expression of life history traits—phenotypic traits that contribute to lifetime fitness (i.e., reproductive timing, growth rate, number and size of offspring). The endocrine system shapes phenotype by organizing tissues during developmental periods and by activating changes in behavior, physiology, and morphology in response to varying physical and social environments. Because hormones can simultaneously regulate many traits (hormonal pleiotropy), they are important mediators of life history trade-offs among growth, reproduction, and survival. This chapter reviews the role of hormones in shaping life histories with an emphasis on developmental plasticity and reversible flexibility in endocrine and life history traits. It also discusses the advantages of studying hormone–behavior interactions from an evolutionary perspective. Recent research in evolutionary endocrinology has provided insight into the heritability of endocrine traits, how selection on hormone systems may influence the evolution of life histories, and the role of hormonal pleiotropy in driving or constraining evolution.



2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Cerveau ◽  
Daniel John Jackson

AbstractMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a deeply conserved class of small, single stranded RNA molecules that post-transcriptionally regulate mRNA levels via several targeted degradation pathways. They are involved in a wide variety of biological processes and have been used to infer the deep evolutionary relationships of major groups such as the Metazoa. Here we have surveyed several adult tissues of the freshwater pulmonate Lymnaea stagnalis (the Great Pond Snail) for miRNAs. In addition we perform a shell regeneration assay to identify miRNAs that may be involved in regulating mRNAs directly involved in the shell-forming process. From seven mature tissues we identify a total of 370 unique precursor miRNAs that give rise to 336 unique mature miRNAs. While the majority of these appear to be evolutionarily novel, most of the 70 most highly expressed (which account for 99.8% of all reads) share sequence similarity with a miRBase or mirGeneDB2.0 entry. We also identify 10 miRNAs that are differentially regulated in mantle tissue that is actively regenerating shell material, 5 of which appear to be evolutionarily novel and none of which share similarity with any miRNA previously reported to regulate biomineralization in molluscs. One significantly down-regulated miRNA is predicted to target Lst-Dermatopontin, a previously characterized shell matrix protein from another freshwater gastropod. This survey provides a foundation for future studies that would seek to characterize the functional role of these molecules in biomineralization or other processes of interest.



1998 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hisayo Sadamoto ◽  
Dai Hatakeyama ◽  
Satoshi Kojima ◽  
Yutaka Fujito ◽  
Etsuro Ito


2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carissa Jones ◽  
Isaac Rojas-González ◽  
Julio Lemos-Espinal ◽  
Jaime Zúñiga-Vega

Abstract There appears to be variation in life-history strategies even between populations of the same species. For ectothermic organisms such as lizards, it has been predicted that demographic and life-history traits should differ consistently between temperate and tropical populations. This study compares the demographic strategies of a temperate and a tropical population of the lizard Xenosaurus platyceps. Population growth rates in both types of environments indicated populations in numerical equilibrium. Of the two populations, we found that the temperate population experiences lower adult mortality. The relative importance (estimated as the relative contribution to population growth rate) of permanence and of the adult/reproductive size classes is higher in the temperate population. In contrast, the relative importance for average fitness of fecundity and growth is higher in the tropical population. These results are consistent with the theoretical frameworks about life-historical differences among tropical and temperate lizard populations.



1960 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Raine

Since 1947, when the bramble leafhopper, Ribautiana tenerrima (H.-S.) (rubi Hardy, misella 13011.), was first reported in North America near Victoria, B.C., it has become a serious pest in cane fruit plantings on southern Vancouver Island and the lower Fraser Valley. Hoth nymphs and adults suck the sap from the leaves, producing a white stippling on the upper surfaces (Fig. 1). In a dry season a severe infestation causes many leaves to become curled and appear burned. The canes lack vigor and the size of the fruit is reduced. This is a report on a study of the life history and behavior of the species conducted at Victoria from 1953 to 1957.



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