Behavioural syndromes shape evolutionary trajectories via conserved genetic architecture

Behaviours are often correlated within broader syndromes, creating the potential for evolution in one behaviour to drive evolutionary changes in other behaviours. Despite demonstrations that behavioural syndromes are common, this potential for evolutionary effects has not been demonstrated. Here we show that populations of field crickets ( Gryllus integer ) exhibit a genetically conserved behavioural syndrome structure, despite differences in average behaviours. We found that the distribution of genetic variation and genetic covariance among behavioural traits was consistent with genes and cellular mechanisms underpinning behavioural syndromes rather than correlated selection. Moreover, divergence among populations' average behaviours was constrained by the genetically conserved behavioural syndrome. Our results demonstrate that a conserved genetic architecture linking behaviours has shaped the evolutionary trajectories of populations in disparate environments—illustrating an important way for behavioural syndromes to result in shared evolutionary fates.

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Behavioral syndromes shape evolutionary trajectories via conserved genetic architecture

10.1101/619411 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Raphael Royauté ◽

Ann Hedrick ◽

Ned A. Dochtermann

Keyword(s):

Genetic Architecture ◽

Behavioral Syndromes ◽

Behavioral Syndrome ◽

Cellular Mechanisms ◽

Genetic Covariance ◽

Behavioral Traits ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Evolutionary Changes ◽

Evolutionary Trajectories ◽

Gryllus Integer

AbstractBehaviors are often correlated within broader syndromes, creating the potential for evolution in one behavior to drive evolutionary changes in other behaviors. Despite demonstrations that behavioral syndromes are common across taxa, whether this potential for evolutionary effects is realized has not yet been demonstrated. Here we show that populations of field crickets (Gryllus integer) exhibit a genetically conserved behavioral syndrome structure despite differences in average behaviors. We found that the distribution of genetic variation and genetic covariance among behavioral traits was consistent with genes and cellular mechanisms underpinning behavioral syndromes rather than correlated selection. Moreover, divergence among populations’ average behaviors was constrained by the genetically conserved behavioral syndrome. Our results demonstrate that a conserved genetic architecture linking behaviors has shaped the evolutionary trajectories of populations in disparate environments—illustrating an important way by which behavioral syndromes result in shared evolutionary fates.

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Floral signals evolve in a predictable way under artificial and pollinator selection in Brassica rapa using a G-matrix

10.1101/675413 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pengjuan Zu ◽

Florian P. Schiestl ◽

Daniel Gervasi ◽

Xin Li ◽

Daniel Runcie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brassica Rapa ◽

Resource Limitation ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Selection Experiment ◽

Response To Selection ◽

Multiple Traits ◽

Floral Trait ◽

Genetic Covariance ◽

Evolutionary Changes ◽

Evolutionary Trajectories

AbstractBackgroundAngiosperms employ an astonishing variety of visual and olfactory floral signals that are generally thought to evolve under natural selection. Those morphological and chemical traits can form highly correlated sets of traits. It is not always clear which of these are used by pollinators as primary targets of selection and which would be indirectly selected by being linked to those primary targets. Quantitative genetics tools for predicting multiple traits response to selection have been developed since long and have advanced our understanding of evolution of genetically correlated traits in various biological systems. We use these tools to predict the evolutionary trajectories of floral traits and understand the selection pressures acting on them.ResultsWe used data from an artificial and a pollinator (bumblebee, hoverfly) selection experiment with fast cycling Brassica rapa plants to predict evolutionary changes of 12 floral volatiles and 4 morphological floral traits in response to selection. Using the observed selection gradients and the genetic variance-covariance matrix (G-matrix) of the traits, we showed that the responses of most floral traits including volatiles were predicted in the right direction in artificial- and bumblebee-selection experiment, revealing direct and indirect targets of bumblebee selection. Genetic covariance had a mix of constraining and facilitating effects on evolutionary responses. We further revealed how G-matrices evolved in the selection processes.ConclusionsOverall, our integrative study shows that floral signals, and especially volatiles, evolve under selection in a mostly predictable way, at least during short term evolution. Evolutionary constraints stemming from genetic covariance affected traits evolutionary trajectories and thus it is important to include genetic covariance for predicting the evolutionary changes of a comprehensive suite of traits. Other processes such as resource limitation and selfing also needs to be considered for a better understanding of floral trait evolution.

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Floral signals evolve in a predictable way under artificial and pollinator selection in Brassica rapa

BMC Evolutionary Biology ◽

10.1186/s12862-020-01692-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Pengjuan Zu ◽

Florian P. Schiestl ◽

Daniel Gervasi ◽

Xin Li ◽

Daniel Runcie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Brassica Rapa ◽

Resource Limitation ◽

Floral Traits ◽

Response To Selection ◽

Multiple Traits ◽

Floral Trait ◽

Genetic Covariance ◽

Selection Gradients ◽

Evolutionary Changes ◽

Evolutionary Trajectories

Abstract Background Angiosperms employ an astonishing variety of visual and olfactory floral signals that are generally thought to evolve under natural selection. Those morphological and chemical traits can form highly correlated sets of traits. It is not always clear which of these are used by pollinators as primary targets of selection and which would be indirectly selected by being linked to those primary targets. Quantitative genetics tools for predicting multiple traits response to selection have been developed since long and have advanced our understanding of evolution of genetically correlated traits in various biological systems. We use these tools to predict the evolutionary trajectories of floral traits and understand the selection pressures acting on them. Results We used data from an artificial selection and a pollinator (bumblebee, hoverfly) evolution experiment with fast cycling Brassica rapa plants to predict evolutionary changes of 12 floral volatiles and 4 morphological floral traits in response to selection. Using the observed selection gradients and the genetic variance-covariance matrix (G-matrix) of the traits, we showed that the observed responses of most floral traits including volatiles were predicted in the right direction in both artificial- and bumblebee-selection experiment. Genetic covariance had a mix of constraining and facilitating effects on evolutionary responses. We further revealed that G-matrices also evolved in the selection processes. Conclusions Overall, our integrative study shows that floral signals, especially volatiles, evolve under selection in a mostly predictable way, at least during short term evolution. Evolutionary constraints stemming from genetic covariance affected traits evolutionary trajectories and thus it is important to include genetic covariance for predicting the evolutionary changes of a comprehensive suite of traits. Other processes such as resource limitation and selfing also need to be considered for a better understanding of floral trait evolution.

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Inter- and intraspecific variation in nightly calling duration in field crickets,Gryllus integer andG. rubens (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)

Journal of Insect Behavior ◽

10.1007/bf01054611 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 185-194 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

William H. Cade

Keyword(s):

Intraspecific Variation ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Gryllus Integer

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Focused Strategies for Defining the Genetic Architecture of Congenital Heart Defects

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12060827 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 827

Author(s):

Lisa J. Martin ◽

D Woodrow Benson

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Congenital Heart Defects ◽

Heart Development ◽

Genetic Architecture ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Rare Variants ◽

Heart Defects ◽

Genetic Origin ◽

Genetic Studies ◽

The Ideal

Congenital heart defects (CHD) are malformations present at birth that occur during heart development. Increasing evidence supports a genetic origin of CHD, but in the process important challenges have been identified. This review begins with information about CHD and the importance of detailed phenotyping of study subjects. To facilitate appropriate genetic study design, we review DNA structure, genetic variation in the human genome and tools to identify the genetic variation of interest. Analytic approaches powered for both common and rare variants are assessed. While the ideal outcome of genetic studies is to identify variants that have a causal role, a more realistic goal for genetic analytics is to identify variants in specific genes that influence the occurrence of a phenotype and which provide keys to open biologic doors that inform how the genetic variants modulate heart development. It has never been truer that good genetic studies start with good planning. Continued progress in unraveling the genetic underpinnings of CHD will require multidisciplinary collaboration between geneticists, quantitative scientists, clinicians, and developmental biologists.

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Intra- and lnterspecific aggression in two species of field crickets,Gryllus integer andG. alogus

Aggressive Behavior ◽

10.1002/1098-2337(1987)13:3<149::aid-ab2480130305>3.0.co;2-g ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 149-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Floyd Sandford

Keyword(s):

Field Crickets ◽

Gryllus Integer

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Sex, amitosis, and evolvability in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila

10.1101/2021.12.21.473698 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jason A Tarkington ◽

Hao Zhang ◽

Ricardo Azevedo ◽

Rebecca Zufall

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Experimental Evolution ◽

Evolutionary Biology ◽

Genetic Architecture ◽

Nuclear Division ◽

Tetrahymena Thermophila ◽

Laboratory Populations ◽

Evolutionary Success ◽

Sexual Progeny ◽

Open Question

Understanding the mechanisms that generate genetic variation, and thus contribute to the process of adaptation, is a major goal of evolutionary biology. Mutation and genetic exchange have been well studied as mechanisms to generate genetic variation. However, there are additional processes that may also generate substantial genetic variation in some populations and the extent to which these variation generating mechanisms are themselves shaped by natural selection is still an open question. Tetrahymena thermophila is a ciliate with an unusual mechanism of nuclear division, called amitosis, which can generate genetic variation among the asexual descendants of a newly produced sexual progeny. We hypothesize that amitosis thus increases the evolvability of newly produced sexual progeny relative to species that undergo mitosis. To test this hypothesis, we used experimental evolution and simulations to compare the rate of adaptation in T. thermophila populations founded by a single sexual progeny to parental populations that had not had sex in many generations. The populations founded by a sexual progeny adapted more quickly than parental populations in both laboratory populations and simulated populations. This suggests that the additional genetic variation generated by amitosis of a heterozygote can increase the rate of adaptation following sex and may help explain the evolutionary success of the unusual genetic architecture of Tetrahymena and ciliates more generally.

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Sterilization of Adult Male Field Crickets Gryllus integer (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) by Gamma Radiation

Florida Entomologist ◽

10.2307/3494953 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 69 (2) ◽

pp. 433

Author(s):

Vickie L. Backus

Keyword(s):

Gamma Radiation ◽

Adult Male ◽

Field Crickets ◽

Gryllus Integer

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Rainbow trout personality: individual behavioural variation in juvenile Oncorhynchus mykiss

Behaviour ◽

10.1163/1568539x-00003483 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 155 (2-3) ◽

pp. 205-230 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ashley Elias ◽

Frank Thrower ◽

Krista M. Nichols

Keyword(s):

Rainbow Trout ◽

Oncorhynchus Mykiss ◽

Life Histories ◽

Behavioural Syndrome ◽

Level Variation ◽

Individual Level ◽

Behavioural Syndromes ◽

Multiple Hypotheses ◽

Developmental Shift

Abstract We evaluated the variation in dispersal, exploration, and aggression across time in juvenile progeny produced from wild caught rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at a critical developmental shift associated with the highest mortality in fish. By testing multiple ecologically relevant behaviours repeatedly in the same individuals, we simultaneously tested multiple hypotheses regarding personality, plasticity, and behavioural syndromes to better understand the innate behavioural variation in a population containing both migratory and resident life histories. There were consistent behavioural differences, or personality, between individuals across time, for dispersal, aggression, and exploration, unrelated to size or sex. The significant repeatabilities (0.10–0.46) indicate that these traits are potentially heritable. Also, we found both habituation in all behaviours and significant differences between individuals in the rate of that habituation, despite no evidence of a behavioural syndrome. The identification of this individual level variation is a step towards understanding which heritable traits selection could influence.

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