scholarly journals Plant trichomes and a single gene GLABRA1 contribute to insect community composition on field-grown Arabidopsis thaliana

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Sato ◽  
Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi ◽  
Misako Yamazaki ◽  
Kentaro K. Shimizu ◽  
Atsushi J. Nagano
Keyword(s):  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Single Gene ◽  
Insect Community ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
As Species ◽  
Distant Field ◽  
Diverse Plant

AbstractBackground: Genetic variation in plants alters insect abundance and community structure in the field; however, little is known about the importance of a single gene among diverse plant genotypes. In this context, Arabidopsis trichomes provide an excellent system to discern the roles of natural variation and a key gene, GLABRA1, in shaping insect communities. In this study, we transplanted two independent glabrous mutants (gl1-1 and gl1-2) and 17 natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana to two localities in Switzerland and Japan.Results: Fifteen insect species inhabited plant accessions, with 10–30% broad-sense heritability of community indices being detected, such as species richness and diversity. The total abundance of leaf-chewing herbivores was negatively correlated with trichome density at both the field sites, while glucosinolates had variable effects on leaf chewers between the two sites. Interestingly, there was a parallel tendency for the abundance of leaf chewers to be higher on gl1-1 and gl1-2 than for their different parental accessions, Ler-1 and Col-0, respectively. Furthermore, the loss of function in the GLABRA1 gene significantly decreased the resistance of plants to the two predominant chewers, flea beetles and turnip sawflies.Conclusions: Overall, our results indicate that insect community composition on A. thaliana is heritable across two distant field sites, with GLABRA1 playing a key role in altering the abundance of leaf-chewing herbivores. Given that such a trichome variation is widely observed in Brassicaceae plants, the present study exemplifies the community-wide impact of a single plant gene on crucifer-feeding insects in the field.

scholarly journals Plant trichomes and a single gene GLABRA1 contribute to insect community composition on field-grown Arabidopsis thaliana

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuhiro Sato ◽  
Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi ◽  
Misako Yamazaki ◽  
Kentaro K. Shimizu ◽  
Atsushi J. Nagano
Keyword(s):  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Single Gene ◽  
Insect Community

scholarly journals Natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana defense metabolism genes modulates field fitness

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Kerwin ◽  
Julie Feusier ◽  
Jason Corwin ◽  
Matthew Rubin ◽  
Catherine Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Environmental Heterogeneity ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Control Field ◽  
Natural Genetic Variation ◽  
Causal Genes ◽  
Selective Forces

Natural populations persist in complex environments, where biotic stressors, such as pathogen and insect communities, fluctuate temporally and spatially. These shifting biotic pressures generate heterogeneous selective forces that can maintain standing natural variation within a species. To directly test if genes containing causal variation for the Arabidopsis thaliana defensive compounds, glucosinolates (GSL) control field fitness and are therefore subject to natural selection, we conducted a multi-year field trial using lines that vary in only specific causal genes. Interestingly, we found that variation in these naturally polymorphic GSL genes affected fitness in each of our environments but the pattern fluctuated such that highly fit genotypes in one trial displayed lower fitness in another and that no GSL genotype or genotypes consistently out-performed the others. This was true both across locations and within the same location across years. These results indicate that environmental heterogeneity may contribute to the maintenance of GSL variation observed within Arabidopsis thaliana.

scholarly journals Establishing insect community composition using metabarcoding of soil samples, and preservative ethanol and homogenate from Malaise trap catches: surprising inconsistencies between methods

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Marquina ◽  
Rodrigo Esparza-Salas ◽  
Tomas Roslin ◽  
Fredrik Ronquist
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Malaise Trap ◽  
Insect Community ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Target Dna ◽  
Dna Metabarcoding ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Trap Catches

AbstractDNA metabarcoding allows the analysis of insect communities faster and more efficiently than ever before. However, metabarcoding can be conducted through several alternative approaches, and the consistency of results across methods has rarely been studied. We compare the results obtained by DNA metabarcoding of the same communities using two different markers – COI and 16S – and three different sampling methods – homogenized Malaise trap samples (homogenate), preservative ethanol from the same samples, and soil samples. Our results indicate that COI and 16S offer partly complementary information on Malaise trap samples, with each marker detecting a significant number of species not detected by the other. Different sampling methods offer highly divergent estimates of community composition. The community recovered from preservative ethanol of Malaise trap samples is quite distinct from that recovered from homogenate. Small and weakly sclerotized insects tend to be overrepresented in ethanol, with some exceptions that could be related to taxon-specific traits. For soil samples, highly degenerate COI primers pick up large amounts of non-target DNA and only 16S provides adequate analyses of insect diversity. However, even with 16S, very little overlap in MOTU content was found between the trap and the soil samples. Our results demonstrate that no metabarcoding approach is all-comprehensive in itself. For instance, DNA extraction from preservative ethanol is not a valid replacement for destructive bulk extraction but a complement. In future metabarcoding studies, both should ideally be used together to achieve comprehensive representation of the target community.

scholarly journals Natural variation identifies genes affecting drought-induced abscisic acid accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (43) ◽  
pp. 11536-11541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Kalladan ◽  
Jesse R. Lasky ◽  
Trent Z. Chang ◽  
Sandeep Sharma ◽  
Thomas E. Juenger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Abscisic Acid ◽  
Water Potential ◽  
Natural Variation ◽  
Lipid Binding ◽  
Reverse Genetic ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Start Domain ◽  
Domain Protein ◽  
Low Water Potential

Accumulation of the stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) in response to drought and low water-potential controls many downstream acclimation mechanisms. However, mechanisms controlling ABA accumulation itself are less known. There was a 10-fold range of variation in ABA levels among nearly 300 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions exposed to the same low water-potential severity. Genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) identified genomic regions containing clusters of ABA-associated SNPs. Candidate genes within these regions included few genes with known stress or ABA-related function. The GWAS data were used to guide reverse genetic analysis, which found effectors of ABA accumulation. These included plasma-membrane–localized signaling proteins such as receptor-like kinases, aspartic protease, a putative lipid-binding START domain protein, and other membrane proteins of unknown function as well as a RING U-box protein and possible effect of tonoplast transport on ABA accumulation. Putative loss-of-function polymorphisms within the START domain protein were associated with climate factors at accession sites of origin, indicating its potential involvement in drought adaptation. Overall, using ABA accumulation as a basis for a combined GWAS–reverse genetic strategy revealed the broad natural variation in low-water-potential–induced ABA accumulation and was successful in identifying genes that affect ABA levels and may act in upstream drought-related sensing and signaling mechanisms. ABA effector loci were identified even when each one was of incremental effect, consistent with control of ABA accumulation being distributed among the many branches of ABA metabolism or mediated by genes with partially redundant function.

scholarly journals Invertebrate Assemblages on Biscogniauxia Sporocarps on Oak Dead Wood: An Observation Aided by Squirrels

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1124
Author(s):  
Yu Fukasawa
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Stage ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Dead Wood ◽  
Forest Biodiversity ◽  
Insect Community ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Invertebrate Assemblages ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Important Habitat

Dead wood is an important habitat for both fungi and insects, two enormously diverse groups that contribute to forest biodiversity. Unlike the myriad of studies on fungus–insect relationships, insect communities on ascomycete sporocarps are less explored, particularly for those in hidden habitats such as underneath bark. Here, I present my observations of insect community dynamics on Biscogniauxia spp. on oak dead wood from the early anamorphic stage to matured teleomorph stage, aided by the debarking behaviour of squirrels probably targeting on these fungi. In total, 38 insect taxa were observed on Biscogniauxia spp. from March to November. The community composition was significantly correlated with the presence/absence of Biscogniauxia spp. Additionally, Librodor (Glischrochilus) ipsoides, Laemophloeus submonilis, and Neuroctenus castaneus were frequently recorded and closely associated with Biscogniauxia spp. along its change from anamorph to teleomorph. L. submonilis was positively associated with both the anamorph and teleomorph stages. L. ipsoides and N. castaneus were positively associated with only the teleomorph but not with the anamorph stage. N. castaneus reproduced and was found on Biscogniauxia spp. from June to November. These results suggest that sporocarps of Biscogniauxia spp. are important to these insect taxa, depending on their developmental stage.

scholarly journals Evergreen Abundance Drives Ground Beetle Diversity And Density In Eastern Temperate Forests

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janey R. Lienau ◽  
Robert W. Buchkowski ◽  
Meghan G. Midgley
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Ground Beetle ◽  
Tree Diversity ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Insect Community ◽  
Insect Communities ◽  
Community Patterns ◽  
Plant Soil ◽  
Evergreen Tree

Abstract Purpose: Soil insects mediate plant-soil interactions by fragmenting and decomposing litter that forms the base of soil food webs and through predator-prey interactions. Plant communities, in turn, shape soil insect communities via the quality, availability, and diversity of their litters. However, these drivers have rarely been examined in concert even though describing soil insect community patterns is critical for mitigating the effects of global environmental changes. Methods: Here, we evaluated the effects of tree diversity, density, and functional groups on ground beetle (Carabidae) diversity, density, and community composition in four eastern temperate forest sites in the National Ecological Observatory Network. Results Though we expected that higher tree diversity and density would, respectively, lead to higher diversity and density ground beetle communities, we found little evidence to support this hypothesis. Instead, evergreen tree abundance strongly shaped ground beetle diversity, density, and community composition. Specifically, evergreen plots as defined by National Land Cover Database hosted lower density ground beetle communities than deciduous plots. Similarly, ground beetle Shannon diversity and density decreased as the relative abundance of evergreen tree species increased. Conclusions: Although further study is needed to explicitly link litter quality with soil insect communities, the resource environments created by trees with varying leaf habits appear to be a dominant force driving ground beetle community diversity and density patterns.

scholarly journals Alternative splicing landscapes in Arabidopsis thaliana across tissues and stress conditions highlight major functional differences with animals

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guiomar Martín ◽  
Yamile Márquez ◽  
Federica Mantica ◽  
Paula Duque ◽  
Manuel Irimia
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Alternative Splicing ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Intron Retention ◽  
Single Gene ◽  
Exon Skipping ◽  
Environmental Response ◽  
Biotic Stresses

Abstract Background Alternative splicing (AS) is a widespread regulatory mechanism in multicellular organisms. Numerous transcriptomic and single-gene studies in plants have investigated AS in response to specific conditions, especially environmental stress, unveiling substantial amounts of intron retention that modulate gene expression. However, a comprehensive study contrasting stress-response and tissue-specific AS patterns and directly comparing them with those of animal models is still missing. Results We generate a massive resource for Arabidopsis thaliana, PastDB, comprising AS and gene expression quantifications across tissues, development and environmental conditions, including abiotic and biotic stresses. Harmonized analysis of these datasets reveals that A. thaliana shows high levels of AS, similar to fruitflies, and that, compared to animals, disproportionately uses AS for stress responses. We identify core sets of genes regulated specifically by either AS or transcription upon stresses or among tissues, a regulatory specialization that is tightly mirrored by the genomic features of these genes. Unexpectedly, non-intron retention events, including exon skipping, are overrepresented across regulated AS sets in A. thaliana, being also largely involved in modulating gene expression through NMD and uORF inclusion. Conclusions Non-intron retention events have likely been functionally underrated in plants. AS constitutes a distinct regulatory layer controlling gene expression upon internal and external stimuli whose target genes and master regulators are hardwired at the genomic level to specifically undergo post-transcriptional regulation. Given the higher relevance of AS in the response to different stresses when compared to animals, this molecular hardwiring is likely required for a proper environmental response in A. thaliana.

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