Plant neighborhood shapes diversity and reduces interspecific variation of the phyllosphere microbiome

2020 ◽

Vol 22 ◽

Author(s):

Shannon L Summers ◽

Akito Y Kawahara ◽

Ana P. S. Carvalho

Keyword(s):

Interspecific Variation ◽

Sperm Storage ◽

Male Mating ◽

Museum Collections ◽

Storage Organ ◽

Mating Plug ◽

Males And Females ◽

Comparison And Analysis ◽

Imagej Software ◽

Sexually Antagonistic Coevolution

Male mating plugs have been used in many species to prevent female re-mating and sperm competition. One of the most extreme examples of a mating plug is the sphragis, which is a large, complex and externalized plug found only in butterflies. This structure is found in many species in the genus Acraea (Nymphalidae) and provides an opportunity for investigation of the effects of the sphragis on the morphology of the genitalia, which is poorly understood. This study aims to understand morphological interspecific variation in the genitalia of Acraea butterflies. Using specimens from museum collections, abdomen dissections were conducted on 19 species of Acraea: 9 sphragis bearing and 10 non-sphragis bearing species. Genitalia imaging was performed for easier comparison and analysis and measurements of genitalia structures was done using ImageJ software. Some distinguishing morphological features in the females were found. The most obvious difference is the larger and more externalized copulatory opening in sphragis bearing species, with varying degrees of external projections. Females of the sphragis bearing species also tend to have a shorter ductus (the structure that connects the copulatory opening with the sperm storage organ) than those without the sphragis. These differences may be due to a sexually antagonistic coevolution between the males and females, where the females evolve larger and more difficult to plug copulatory openings and the males attempt to prevent re-mating with the sphragis.

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Interspecific variation of zona pellucida glycoconjugates in several species of marsupial

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/reprod/119.1.111 ◽

2000 ◽

pp. 111-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

JA Chapman ◽

OW Wiebkin ◽

WG Breed

Keyword(s):

Glycine Max ◽

Sialic Acid ◽

Zona Pellucida ◽

Fluorescein Isothiocyanate ◽

Interspecific Variation ◽

Lectin Histochemistry ◽

Sialic Acids ◽

Arachis Hypogea ◽

Marsupial Species ◽

Similar Intensity

The zona pellucida glycoconjugate content of several marsupial species was investigated using differential lectin histochemistry. Ovaries from fat-tailed dunnarts, a southern brown bandicoot, grey short-tailed opossums, brushtail possums, ringtail possums, koalas and eastern grey kangaroos were fixed, embedded in paraffin wax, sectioned and stained with ten fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated lectins. Sections were also incubated with either neuraminidase or saponified, respectively, before incubation with the lectins to identify saccharide residues masked by sialic acids or O-acetyl groups on sialic acids. The zonae pellucidae surrounding the oocytes of the marsupials demonstrated interspecific variation in glycoconjugate content, with mannose-containing glycoconjugates exhibiting the greatest variation. Some of the zona pellucida glycoconjugates of all species, except those of the opossums, were masked by sialic acid with an increase in fluorescence with lectins from Arachis hypogea (PNA), and Glycine max (SBA), after desialylation. The disaccharide beta-galactose(1-4)N-acetyl-D-glucosamine appeared to be conformationally masked by O-acetyl groups of sialic acids in the zonae pellucidae of all species, with an increase in fluorescence with the lectin from Erythrina cristagalli (ECA), after saponification. Similar intensity and localization of beta-(1-4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, as shown by staining of the lectin from Triticum vulgaris (WGA), to the inner and outer regions of the zona pellucida, were found to those reported in eutherian species. WGA fluorescence became uniform throughout the zonae pellucidae after saponification, indicating differential O-acetylation of sialic acids on the internal compartment of the zonae pellucidae.

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Geographical and interspecific variation in susceptibility of three common thrips species to the insecticide, spinetoram

Journal of Pest Science ◽

10.1007/s10340-019-01128-2 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yong-Fu Gao ◽

Ya-Jun Gong ◽

Li-Jun Cao ◽

Jin-Cui Chen ◽

Yu-Lin Gao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Interspecific Variation ◽

Thrips Species

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Neural correlates of mating system diversity: oxytocin and vasopressin receptor distributions in monogamous and non-monogamous Eulemur

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-83342-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nicholas M. Grebe ◽

Annika Sharma ◽

Sara M. Freeman ◽

Michelle C. Palumbo ◽

Heather B. Patisaul ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mating System ◽

Interspecific Variation ◽

Neural Correlates ◽

Primate Research ◽

Pair Bonding ◽

Closely Related Species ◽

Neuropeptide Receptors ◽

Monogamous Species ◽

Vasopressin 1A Receptor ◽

Rare Opportunity

AbstractContemporary theory that emphasizes the roles of oxytocin and vasopressin in mammalian sociality has been shaped by seminal vole research that revealed interspecific variation in neuroendocrine circuitry by mating system. However, substantial challenges exist in interpreting and translating these rodent findings to other mammalian groups, including humans, making research on nonhuman primates crucial. Both monogamous and non-monogamous species exist within Eulemur, a genus of strepsirrhine primate, offering a rare opportunity to broaden a comparative perspective on oxytocin and vasopressin neurocircuitry with increased evolutionary relevance to humans. We performed oxytocin and arginine vasopressin 1a receptor autoradiography on 12 Eulemur brains from seven closely related species to (1) characterize receptor distributions across the genus, and (2) examine differences between monogamous and non-monogamous species in regions part of putative “pair-bonding circuits”. We find some binding patterns across Eulemur reminiscent of olfactory-guided rodents, but others congruent with more visually oriented anthropoids, consistent with lemurs occupying an ‘intermediary’ evolutionary niche between haplorhine primates and other mammalian groups. We find little evidence of a “pair-bonding circuit” in Eulemur akin to those proposed in previous rodent or primate research. Mapping neuropeptide receptors in these nontraditional species questions existing assumptions and informs proposed evolutionary explanations about the biological bases of monogamy.

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No sex differences in learning in wild bumblebees

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/arab013 ◽

2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Felicity Muth ◽

Amber D Tripodi ◽

Rene Bonilla ◽

James P Strange ◽

Anne S Leonard

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Associative Learning ◽

Sierra Nevada ◽

Comparative Cognition ◽

Natural Populations ◽

Interspecific Variation ◽

Learning Task ◽

Learning Ability ◽

Learning Performance ◽

Males And Females

Abstract Females and males often face different sources of selection, resulting in dimorphism in morphological, physiological, and even cognitive traits. Sex differences are often studied in respect to spatial cognition, yet the different ecological roles of males and females might shape cognition in multiple ways. For example, in dietary generalist bumblebees (Bombus), the ability to learn associations is critical to female workers, who face informationally rich foraging scenarios as they collect nectar and pollen from thousands of flowers over a period of weeks to months to feed the colony. While male bumblebees likely need to learn associations as well, they only forage for themselves while searching for potential mates. It is thus less clear whether foraging males would benefit from the same associative learning performance as foraging females. In this system, as in others, cognitive performance is typically studied in lab-reared animals under captive conditions, which may not be representative of patterns in the wild. In the first test of sex and species differences in cognition using wild bumblebees, we compared the performance of Bombus vancouverensis nearcticus (formerly bifarius) and Bombus vosnesenskii of both sexes on an associative learning task at Sierra Nevada (CA) field sites. Across both species, we found that males and females did not differ in their ability to learn, although males were slower to respond to the sucrose reward. These results offer the first evidence from natural populations that male bumblebees may be equally as able to learn associations as females, supporting findings from captive colonies of commercial bees. The observed interspecific variation in learning ability opens the door to using the Bombus system to test hypotheses about comparative cognition.

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Constitutive Chemical Compounds in Different Tissues of Seven Pine Species and Their Relationship with Susceptibility to Pine Wood Nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus)

Environmental Sciences Proceedings ◽

10.3390/iecf2020-07767 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 68

Author(s):

Margarita Alonso Santos ◽

María Menéndez-Gutiérrez ◽

Raquel Díaz Vazquez

Keyword(s):

Condensed Tannin ◽

Pine Wilt Disease ◽

Interspecific Variation ◽

Bursaphelenchus Xylophilus ◽

Soluble Carbohydrates ◽

Total Polyphenols ◽

North West ◽

Calcium Iron ◽

Susceptible Group ◽

Pine Species

Pine wilt disease was detected in Galicia (North West of Spain) in 2010. Two-year-old seedlings of seven pine species were inoculated with B. xylophilus, and three different groups were stablished: non-susceptible (P. canariensis, P. taeda, P. halepensis, and P. pinea); susceptible (P. pinaster, P. radiata), and highly-susceptible (P. sylvestris). We aimed to determine the interspecific variation of constitutive compounds levels, groups and species, and their relationships with nematode multiplication and mortality. Needles of the non-susceptible group had significantly less water and more nitrogen, potassium, iron, and starch than the others groups; the cortex and phloem of the non-susceptible group had more nitrogen, phosphorus, manganese, and starch, and less potassium, calcium, iron, total polyphenols, condensed tannins and liposoluble substances than the highly susceptible group. The xylem of the non-susceptible group had more N, P, Mg, Mn, total polyphenols, and starch than the other groups. Higher levels of constitutive N and/or starch in any tissue was related with less mortality and nematode multiplication; higher P in the three tissues was also correlated with less nematode multiplication. Moreover, liposoluble substances, soluble carbohydrates and condensed tannin concentration in the needles were negatively correlated with nematode multiplication. On the contrary, in the needles, water content and K were positively correlated with mortality and nematode invasion.

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Phylogeny of the Australian freshwater crayfish Cherax destructor-complex (Decapoda : Parastacidae) inferred from four mitochondrial gene regions

Invertebrate Systematics ◽

10.1071/is04021 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 209 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Thuy T. T. Nguyen ◽

Christopher M. Austin

Keyword(s):

16S Rrna ◽

Cytochrome Oxidase ◽

Mitochondrial Gene ◽

Large Subunit ◽

Strong Support ◽

Interspecific Variation ◽

Rrna Gene ◽

Freshwater Crayfish ◽

Cherax Destructor ◽

Australian Freshwater

The phylogenetic relationships among 32 individuals of Australian freshwater crayfish belonging to the Cherax destructor-complex were investigated using a dataset comprising sequences from four mitochondrial gene regions: the large subunit rRNA (16S rRNA), cytochrome oxidase I (COI), adenosine triphosphatase 6 (ATPase 6), and cytochrome oxidase III (COIII). A total of 1602 bp was obtained, and a combined analysis of the data produced a tree with strong support (bootstrap values 94–100%) for three divergent lineages, verifying the phylogenetic hypotheses of relationships within the C. destructor species-complex suggested in previous studies. Overall, sequences from the 16S rRNA gene showed the least variation compared to those generated from protein coding genes, which presented considerably greater levels of divergence. The level of divergence within C. destructor was found to be greater than that observed in other species of freshwater crayfish, but interspecific variation among species examined in the present study was similar to that reported previously.

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