scholarly journals Antifungals, arthropods and antifungal resistance prevention: lessons from ecological interactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1944) ◽  
pp. 20202716
Author(s):  
Steve Kett ◽  
Ayush Pathak ◽  
Stefano Turillazzi ◽  
Duccio Cavalieri ◽  
Massimiliano Marvasi
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Antifungal Resistance ◽  
Antifungal Compound ◽  
Antifungal Compounds ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Mutualistic Association

Arthropods can produce a wide range of antifungal compounds, including specialist proteins, cuticular products, venoms and haemolymphs. In spite of this, many arthropod taxa, particularly eusocial insects, make use of additional antifungal compounds derived from their mutualistic association with microbes. Because multiple taxa have evolved such mutualisms, it must be assumed that, under certain ecological circumstances, natural selection has favoured them over those relying upon endogenous antifungal compound production. Further, such associations have been shown to persist versus specific pathogenic fungal antagonists for more than 50 million years, suggesting that compounds employed have retained efficacy in spite of the pathogens' capacity to develop resistance. We provide a brief overview of antifungal compounds in the arthropods’ armoury, proposing a conceptual model to suggest why their use remains so successful. Fundamental concepts embedded within such a model may suggest strategies by which to reduce the rise of antifungal resistance within the clinical milieu.

scholarly journals Acquisition of Adaptive Traits via Interspecific Association: Ecological Consequences and Applications

Ecologies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-70
Author(s):  
Aabir Banerji
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Gene Transfer ◽  
Horizontal Gene Transfer ◽  
Natural Resource Management ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Interspecific Association ◽  
Adaptive Traits ◽  
Exogenous Substances

Adaptative traits enable organisms to survive and reproduce. Though these traits are often innate features (ones that may or may not exhibit variability in response to environmental cues or originate from horizontal gene transfer), this is not always the case. Many species endure natural selection not with the traits they possess intrinsically but with exogenous substances and abilities that they acquire from other species, via ecological interactions akin to outsourcing, pillaging, and fraud. Here, I review the mechanisms of this exogenous trait acquisition and highlight some of their repercussions and usefulness for natural resource management, industry, and human health.

Ecological interactions in the transmission of the leishmaniases

1988 ◽  
Vol 321 (1207) ◽  
pp. 389-404 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Disease ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Environmental Barriers ◽  
Human Host ◽  
Phlebotomine Sandfly ◽  
Ecological Changes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Epidemiological Pattern

Epidemiological studies on the leishmaniases are disclosing a multiplicity of Leishmania species infecting a wide range of wild mammalian hosts, from marsupials to monkeys. In the primitive, silvatic habitat these parasites are transmitted by an equally wide variety of phlebotomine sandfly species (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae). Transmission is not haphazard, however, and available evidence points to the existence of environmental barriers that normally limit the different Leishmania species to specific sandfly vectors, transmitting to certain mammalian species, within distinct ecotopes. In this situation, humans may become infected by a variety of leishmanial parasites when intruding into the different enzootics, if the sandfly vectors are anthropophilic. Many are not, however, and their parasites rarely, if ever, make contact with the human host. Natural or man-made ecological changes may result in modification of the epidemiological pattern of leishmaniasis, leading to either a reduction or an increase in the human disease.

scholarly journals Possible role of natural selection in the formation of tandem-repetitive noncoding DNA.

Genetics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 333-341
Author(s):  
W Stephan ◽  
S Cho
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Satellite Dna ◽  
Repeat Length ◽  
Crossing Over ◽  
Recombination Rates ◽  
Noncoding Dna ◽  
Satellite Dnas ◽  
Unequal Crossing Over ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Long Range Ordering

Abstract A simulation model of sequence-dependent amplification, unequal crossing over and mutation is analyzed. This model predicts the spontaneous formation of tandem-repetitive patterns of noncoding DNA from arbitrary sequences for a wide range of parameter values. Natural selection is found to play an essential role in this self-organizing process. Natural selection which is modeled as a mechanism for controlling the length of a nucleotide string but not the sequence itself favors the formation of tandem-repetitive structures. Two measures of sequence heterogeneity, inter-repeat variability and repeat length, are analyzed in detail. For fixed mutation rate, both inter-repeat variability and repeat length are found to increase with decreasing rates of (unequal) crossing over. The results are compared with data on micro-, mini- and satellite DNAs. The properties of minisatellites and satellite DNAs resemble the simulated structures very closely. This suggests that unequal crossing over is a dominant long-range ordering force which keeps these arrays homogeneous even in regions of very low recombination rates, such as at satellite DNA loci. Our analysis also indicates that in regions of low rates of (unequal) crossing over, inter-repeat variability is maintained at a low level at the expense of much larger repeat units (multimeric repeats), which are characteristic of satellite DNA. In contrast, the microsatellite data do not fit the proposed model well, suggesting that unequal crossing over does not act on these very short tandem arrays.

Sciences of complexity and language origins: an alternative to natural selection

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor M Longa
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Specific Property ◽  
Dynamic Interaction ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Internal Factors ◽  
Language Origins ◽  
Complex Design ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Self Organisation ◽  
Sciences Of Complexity

AbstractNatural selection is claimed to be the only way to explain complex design. The same assumption has also been held for language. However, sciences of complexity have shown, from a wide range of domains, the existence of a clear alternative: self-organisation, spontaneous patterns of order arising from chaos. According to this view, design derives from internal factors (dynamic interaction of the elements within the system) rather than from adaptation to the environment by means of selection. This paper aims to apply sciences of complexity to language origins; it shows that preexisting and well established ideas can be rethought according to such a view. The main objective of the paper is to illustrate the new and promising horizons that complexity could open as regards the origins of the most specific property of human beings.

Cooperation, Coordination, and Collective Action

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Cronk ◽  
Beth L. Leech
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
Coordination Problems ◽  
Evolutionary Biologist ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Two Bodies

This book investigates a wide range of ideas, theories, and existing empirical research relevant to the study of the complex and diverse phenomenon of human cooperation. Issues relating to cooperation are examined from the perspective of evolutionary theory, political science, and related social sciences. The book draws upon two bodies of work: Mancur Olson's The Logic of Collective Action (1965) and George C. Williams's Adaptation and Natural Selection (1966). Olson, an economist, and Williams, an evolutionary biologist, both argued that a focus on groups would not provide a complete understanding of collective action and other social behaviors. This introductory chapter discusses some important definitions relating to cooperation, with particular emphasis on collective action and collective action dilemmas, along with coordination and coordination problems. It also provides an overview of the chapters that follow.

Linnaeus, Carl von (1707–78)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.F. Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Classification System ◽  
Natural System ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Divine Retribution ◽  
The World ◽  
Artificial Classification

Linnaeus was educated in Sweden, and became a doctor of medicine in Harderwijk, Holland, in 1735. He visited other European countries then, but he never left Sweden after his return in 1738. After practising as a physician in Stockholm, he moved to Uppsala University as professor of medicine and botany in 1741. He articulated four different but complementary ways of understanding nature – through two kinds of classification, and through what can be called developmental and functional/ecological interactions. Linnaeus is best known for his classificatory work, for which he received material from all over the world. His classificatory precepts are elaborated in the Philosophia botanica of 1751, an enlarged version of the 365 aphorisms of his Fundamenta botanica of 1735; the other aspects of his work are diffused through his writings. His artificial classification system, initially very popular, was replaced by the ’natural’ system, more slowly in botany than in zoology, and more slowly in England than in some other countries. Current biological nomenclature is based on his Species plantarum, edition 1 (for plants), and Systema naturae, edition 10 (for animals). His codification of botanical terms remains influential. Almost 200 dissertations, most written by Linnaeus, were defended by his students. In these and other less well-known works, including the unpublished Nemesis divina (Stories of Divine Retribution), he covered a wide range of subjects. Quinarian thinking is noticeable in Linnaeus’ work – there are five ranks in systems, five years’ growth in flowers – and in some of the occult works that he knew. He also shows a strong combinatorial bent and a tendency to draw close analogies between the parts of animals and plants.

scholarly journals Chemical encoding of risk perception and predator detection among estuarine invertebrates

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 662-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remington X. Poulin ◽  
Serge Lavoie ◽  
Katherine Siegel ◽  
David A. Gaul ◽  
Marc J. Weissburg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Blue Crab ◽  
Urinary Metabolites ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Blue Crabs ◽  
Predator Detection ◽  
Prey Behavior ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Panopeus Herbstii ◽  
Mud Crabs

An effective strategy for prey to survive in habitats rich in predators is to avoid being noticed. Thus, prey are under selection pressure to recognize predators and adjust their behavior, which can impact numerous community-wide interactions. Many animals in murky and turbulent aquatic environments rely on waterborne chemical cues. Previous research showed that the mud crab, Panopeus herbstii, recognizes the predatory blue crab, Callinectus sapidus, via a cue in blue crab urine. This cue is strongest if blue crabs recently preyed upon mud crabs. Subsequently, mud crabs suppress their foraging activity, reducing predation by blue crabs. Using NMR spectroscopy- and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, chemical variation in urine from blue crabs fed different diets was related to prey behavior. We identified the urinary metabolites trigonelline and homarine as components of the cue that mud crabs use to detect blue crabs, with concentrations of each metabolite dependent on the blue crab’s diet. At concentrations found naturally in blue crab urine, trigonelline and homarine, alone as well as in a mixture, alerted mud crabs to the presence of blue crabs, leading to decreased foraging by mud crabs. Risk perception by waterborne cues has been widely observed by ecologists, but the molecular nature of these cues has not been previously identified. Metabolomics provides an opportunity to study waterborne cues where other approaches have historically failed, advancing our understanding of the chemical nature of a wide range of ecological interactions.

Eusocial Insects as a Model for Understanding Altruism, Cooperation, and Levels of Selection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heikki Helanterä
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Social Insect ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Inclusive Fitness ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
Eusocial Insects ◽  
Insect Societies ◽  
Evolutionary Success

If the logic of natural selection is applied strictly at the level of individual production of offspring, sterile workers in insect societies are enigmatic. How can natural selection ever produce individuals that refrain from reproduction, and how are traits of such individuals that never produce offspring scrutinized and changed through natural selection? The solution to both questions is found in the family structures of insect societies. That is, the sterile helper individuals are evolutionary altruists that give up their own reproduction and instead are helping their kin reproduce and proliferate shared genes in the offspring of the fertile queen. Selection in such cases is not just a matter of individual’s direct reproduction, and instead of own offspring, the currency of the evolutionary success of sterile individuals is inclusive fitness. The concept of inclusive fitness and the process of kin selection are key to understanding the magnificent cooperation we see in insect societies, and reciprocally, insect societies are key case studies of inclusive fitness logic. In extreme cases, such as the highly advanced and sophisticated societies of ants, honeybees, and termites, the division of labor and interdependence of colony members is so complete, that it is justified to talk about a new level of evolutionary individuality. Such increases in the hierarchical complexity of life are called major transitions in evolution. We see adaptations of the colony, rather than individuals, in, e.g., their communication and group behaviors. The division of labor between morphologically differentiated queens and workers is analogous to germline-soma separation of a multicellular organism, justifying the term superorganism for the extreme cases of social lifestyle. Alongside these extreme cases, there is enormous diversity in the social lifestyles across social insect taxa, which provides a window into the balance of cooperation and conflict, and individual reproduction and helping others, in social evolution. Over the last decades, social insect research has been an area where the theoretical and empirical understanding have been developed hand in hand, together with examples of wonderful natural history, and has tremendously improved our understanding of evolution.

scholarly journals A New Conceptual Model for Slope-Infiltration

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato Morbidelli ◽  
Corrado Corradini ◽  
Carla Saltalippi ◽  
Alessia Flammini ◽  
Jacopo Dari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Soil Type ◽  
Unsolved Problem ◽  
Threshold Value ◽  
Water Velocity ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Infiltration Process ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Steep Slopes

Rainfall infiltration modeling over surfaces with significant slopes is an unsolved problem. Even though water infiltration occurs over soil surfaces with noticeable gradients in most real situations, the typical mathematical models used were developed for infiltration over horizontal surfaces. In addition, recent investigations on infiltration over sloping surfaces have provided conflicting results, suggesting that our understanding of the process may still be lacking. In this study, our objective is to specifically examine if the surface water velocity that is negligible over near horizontal soil surfaces can affect the infiltration process over steep slopes. A new conceptual model representing a wide range of experimental results is proposed. The model represents water flow as an ensemble of infinitesimal “particles” characterized by specific velocities and assumes that only “particles” with velocity less than a threshold value can contribute to the infiltration process. The velocity distribution and the threshold value depend on slope and soil type, respectively. This conceptual model explains observed results and serves as a foundation for developing further experiments and refining models that offer more realistic representations of infiltration over sloping surfaces.

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