scholarly journals Dynamic Changes of Gut Microbial Communities of Bumble Bee Queens through Important Life Stages

mSystems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liuhao Wang ◽  
Jie Wu ◽  
Kai Li ◽  
Ben M. Sadd ◽  
Yulong Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Gut Bacteria ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Bumble Bee ◽  
Life Stages

ABSTRACT Bumble bees are important pollinators in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Their social colonies are founded by individual queens, which, as the predominant reproductive females of colonies, contribute to colony function through worker production and fitness through male and new queen production. Therefore, queen health is paramount, but even though there has been an increasing emphasis on the role of gut microbiota for animal health, there is limited information on the gut microbial dynamics of bumble bee queens. Employing 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and quantitative PCR, we investigate how the adult life stage and physiological state influence a queen’s gut bacterial community diversity and composition in unmated, mated, and ovipositing queens of Bombus lantschouensis. We found significant shifts in total gut microbe abundance and microbiota composition across queen states. There are specific compositional signatures associated with different stages, with unmated and ovipositing queens showing the greatest similarity in composition and mated queens being distinct. The bacterial genera Gilliamella, Snodgrassella, and Lactobacillus were relatively dominant in unmated and ovipositing queens, with Bifidobacterium dominant in ovipositing queens only. Bacillus, Lactococcus, and Pseudomonas increased following queen mating. Intriguingly, however, further analysis of unmated queens matching the mated queens in age showed that changes are independent of the act of mating. Our study is the first to explore the gut microbiome of bumble bee queens across key life stages from adult eclosion to egg laying and provides useful information for future studies of the function of gut bacteria in queen development and colony performance. IMPORTANCE Bumble bee queens undergo a number of biological changes as they transition through adult emergence, mating, overwintering, foraging, and colony initiation including egg laying. Therefore, they represent an important system to understand the link between physiological, behavioral, and environmental changes and host-associated microbiota. It is plausible that the bumble bee queen gut bacteria play a role in shaping the ability of the queen to survive environmental extremes and reproduce, due to long-established coevolutionary relationships between the host and microbiome members.

scholarly journals Salmonid gene expression biomarkers indicative of physiological responses to changes in salinity, temperature, but not dissolved oxygen

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee Lee S. Houde ◽  
Arash Akbarzadeh ◽  
Oliver P. Günther ◽  
Shaorong Li ◽  
David A. Patterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Dissolved Oxygen ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Multiple Stressors ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Skin Pigmentation ◽  
Seawater Temperature ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Transcriptional Responses

AbstractAn organism’s ability to respond effectively to environmental change is critical to their survival. Yet, life stage and overall condition can dictate tolerance thresholds to heightened environmental stressors, such that stress may not be equally felt across individuals within a species. Environmental changes can induce transcriptional responses in an organism, some of which reflect generalized responses, and others are highly specific to the type of change being experienced. Thus, if transcriptional biomarkers specific to a heightened environmental stressor, even under multi-stressor impacts, can be identified, the biomarkers could be then applied in natural environments to determine when and where individuals are experiencing such stressors. Here, we validate candidate gill gene expression biomarkers by experimentally challenging juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). A sophisticated experimental set-up (four trials) manipulated salinity (freshwater, brackish water, and seawater), temperature (10, 14, and 18°C), and dissolved oxygen (normoxia and hypoxia), in all 18 possible combinations, for up to six days during the pre-smolt, smolt, and de-smolt life stages. In addition, we also describe the changes in juvenile behaviour, plasma variables, gill Na+/K+- ATPase (NKA) activity, body size, body morphology, and skin pigmentation associated with salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, mortality, and smolt status. We statistically identified biomarkers specific to salinity and temperature treatments, as well as mortality across multiple stressors and life stages. Similar biomarkers for the dissolved oxygen treatment could not be identified in the data and we discuss our next steps using an RNA-seq study. This work demonstrates the unique power of gene expression biomarkers to identify a specific stressor even under multi-stressor conditions.

scholarly journals A Molecular Approach for Detecting Stage-Specific Predation on Lygus hesperus (Hemiptera: Miridae)

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
James R Hagler ◽  
Miles T Casey ◽  
Allya M Hull ◽  
Scott A Machtley
Keyword(s):  
Life Stage ◽  
Exposure Period ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Cotton Field ◽  
Rabbit Serum ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Lygus Hesperus ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Plant Sampling

Abstract A molecular gut analysis technique is described to identify predators of Lygus hesperus (Knight), a significant pest of many crops. The technique is unique because it can pinpoint which life stage of the pest was consumed. Sentinel egg masses designed to mimic the endophytic egg-laying behavior of L. hesperus were marked with rabbit serum, while third instar and adult L. hesperus were marked with chicken and rat sera, respectively. Then, the variously labeled L. hesperus life stages were introduced into field cages that enclosed the native arthropod population inhabiting an individual cotton plant. After a 6-h exposure period, the predator assemblage, including the introduced and native L. hesperus population, in each cage were counted and had their gut contents examined for the presence of the variously marked L. hesperus life stages by a suite of serum-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The whole-plant sampling scheme revealed that Geocoris punticpes (Say) and Geocoris pallens Stal (Hemiptera: Geocoridae) and members of the spider complex were the numerically dominant predator taxa in the cotton field. The gut content analyses also showed that these two taxa appeared to be the most prolific predators of the L. hesperus nymph stage. Other key findings include that Collops vittatus (Say) (Coleoptera: Melyridae) and Solenopsis xyloni McCook (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) appear to be adept at finding and feeding on the cryptic L. hesperus egg stage, and that L. hesperus, albeit at low frequencies, engaged in cannibalism. The methods described here could be adapted for studying life stage-specific feeding preferences for a wide variety of arthropod taxa.

scholarly journals Heat hardening capacity in Drosophila melanogaster is life stage-specific and juveniles show the highest plasticity

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 20180628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neda N. Moghadam ◽  
Tarmo Ketola ◽  
Cino Pertoldi ◽  
Simon Bahrndorff ◽  
Torsten N. Kristensen
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Heat Resistance ◽  
High Temperatures ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Thermal Sensitivity ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
High Plasticity ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Heat Hardening ◽  
The Impact

Variations in stress resistance and adaptive plastic responses during ontogeny have rarely been addressed, despite the possibility that differences between life stages can affect species' range margins and thermal tolerance. Here, we assessed the thermal sensitivity and hardening capacity of Drosophila melanogaster across developmental stages from larval to the adult stage. We observed strong differences between life stages in heat resistance, with adults being most heat resistant followed by puparia , pupae and larvae . The impact of heat hardening (1 h at 35°C) on heat resistance changed during ontogeny, with the highest positive effect of hardening observed in puparia and pupae and the lowest in adults. These results suggest that immobile life stages ( puparia and pupae ) have evolved high plasticity in upper thermal limits whereas adults and larvae rely more on behavioural responses to heat stress allowing them to escape from extreme high temperatures. While most studies on the plasticity of heat resistance in ectotherms have focused on the adult life stage, our findings emphasize the crucial importance of juvenile life stages of arthropods in understanding the thermal biology and life stage-specific physiological responses to variable and stressful high temperatures. Failure to acknowledge this complication might lead to biased estimates of species' ability to cope with environmental changes, such as climate change.

scholarly journals Rating the potential suitability of habitat in Michigan stream reaches for Arctic grayling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron Goble ◽  
Troy G. Zorn ◽  
Nancy A. Auer ◽  
J. Marty Holtgren ◽  
Dan W. Mays ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Suitability ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
The State ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Maximum Score ◽  
Arctic Grayling ◽  
Northern Half ◽  
Lower Peninsula ◽  
Prioritization Framework

Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus were historically found throughout the northern half of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula but were extirpated from the state by 1936. By addressing issues from previous reintroduction efforts and employing instream rearing (Remote Site Incubator) approach to stocking, numerous partners are working to reintroduce Arctic Grayling to Michigan with hopes of reestablishing self-sustaining populations. With over 47,000 km of coldwater stream habitat in the state and limited numbers of eggs for reintroductions, a prioritization framework was needed to provide a standardized, fine-scale method for rating suitability of streams for reintroductions. Through facilitated discussions with stakeholders and experts, we developed an overall prioritization framework for rating Michigan streams with components evaluating a reach’s thermal, instream habitat, biological, and connectivity characteristics.  Within the context of this broader framework, we developed the habitat rating component for assessing suitability of instream conditions for egg, fry, juvenile, and adult life stages of Arctic Grayling. Life-stage specific habitat metrics and scoring criteria from this effort were used to rate habitat conditions for 45 reaches in tributaries of Michigan’s Manistee River, enabling identification of reaches likely having instream habitat most suitable for Arctic Grayling. Numbers of reaches meeting or exceeding 60%, 70%, and 80% of the maximum score for overall habitat suitability were 31, 8, and 1. Upon completion of the fish assemblage and connectivity components, the prioritization framework and habitat rating process described here will be used for comparing suitability among streams throughout the historic range of Arctic Grayling in Michigan and guiding reintroduction efforts. Though it will take considerable time before instream habitat suitability criteria can be evaluated for all life stages of Arctic Grayling in Michigan, the collaborative stream prioritization framework developed for Arctic Grayling reintroduction can be readily adapted to reintroduction efforts for other species elsewhere.

scholarly journals Concurrence in the ability for lipid synthesis between life stages in insects

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 160815 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertanne Visser ◽  
Denis S. Willett ◽  
Jeffrey A. Harvey ◽  
Hans T. Alborn
Keyword(s):  
Life Stage ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Lipid Synthesis ◽  
Metabolic Model ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Parasitoid Species ◽  
Feeding Experiments ◽  
Vinegar Fly ◽  
Carry Over

The ability to synthesize lipids is critical for an organism’s fitness; hence, metabolic pathways, underlying lipid synthesis, tend to be highly conserved. Surprisingly, the majority of parasitoids deviate from this general metabolic model by lacking the ability to convert sugars and other carbohydrates into lipids. These insects spend the first part of their life feeding and developing in or on an arthropod host, during which they can carry over a substantial amount of lipid reserves. While many parasitoid species have been tested for lipogenic ability at the adult life stage, it has remained unclear whether parasitoid larvae can synthesize lipids. Here we investigate whether or not several insects can synthesize lipids during the larval stage using three ectoparasitic wasps (developing on the outside of the host) and the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster that differ in lipogenic ability in the adult life stage. Using feeding experiments and stable isotope tracing with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, we first confirm lipogenic abilities in the adult life stage. Using topical application of stable isotopes in developing larvae, we then provide clear evidence of concurrence in lipogenic ability between larval and adult life stages in all species tested.

scholarly journals Dietary carotenoids affect the development of individual differences and behavioral plasticity

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1273-1282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon R Kelleher ◽  
Aimee J Silla ◽  
Petri T Niemelä ◽  
Niels J Dingemanse ◽  
Phillip G Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Individual Variation ◽  
Behavioral Plasticity ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Nutritional Conditions ◽  
Exploration Behavior ◽  
Irreversible Effects

AbstractNutritional conditions experienced during development are expected to play a key role in shaping an individual’s behavioral phenotype. The long term, irreversible effects of nutritional conditions on behavioral variation among and within individuals remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate how long-term carotenoid availability (representing low vs. high quality nutritional conditions) during both larval and adult life stages influences the expression of among-individual variation (animal personality) and within-individual variation (behavioral plasticity). We tested for personality and plasticity along the exploration/avoidance behavioral axis in the Southern Corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree). We predicted that treatment groups receiving carotenoids during early development would be more exploratory and have greater among- and within-individual variation compared with individuals that did not receive carotenoids (i.e., silver spoon hypothesis). Superior nutritional conditions experienced during development are expected to provide individuals with resources needed to develop costly behaviors, giving them an advantage later in life irrespective of prevailing conditions. Unexpectedly, frogs that did not receive carotenoids as larvae expressed greater among-individual variance in exploration behavior. Additionally, frogs that did not receive carotenoids at either life stage displayed greater within-individual variance. Our findings provide no support for the silver spoon hypothesis but suggest that inconsistent nutritional conditions between life stages may adversely affect the development of behavioral phenotypes. Overall, our results indicate that early and late life nutritional conditions affect the development of personality and plasticity. They also highlight that nutritional effects on behavior may be more complex than previously theorized.

scholarly journals Coping with a changing environment: the effects of early life stress

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 160382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco A. Vindas ◽  
Angelico Madaro ◽  
Thomas W. K. Fraser ◽  
Erik Höglund ◽  
Rolf E. Olsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Life Stress ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Acute Stress ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Early Life Stress ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Artificial Rearing

Ongoing rapid domestication of Atlantic salmon implies that individuals are subjected to evolutionarily novel stressors encountered under conditions of artificial rearing, requiring new levels and directions of flexibility in physiological and behavioural coping mechanisms. Phenotypic plasticity to environmental changes is particularly evident at early life stages. We investigated the performance of salmon, previously subjected to an unpredictable chronic stress (UCS) treatment at an early age (10 month old parr), over several months and life stages. The UCS fish showed overall higher specific growth rates compared with unstressed controls after smoltification, a particularly challenging life stage, and after seawater transfer. Furthermore, subjecting fish to acute stress at the end of the experiment, we found that UCS groups had an overall lower hypothalamic catecholaminergic and brain stem serotonergic response to stress compared with control groups. In addition, serotonergic activity was negatively correlated with final growth rates, which implies that serotonin responsive individuals have growth disadvantages. Altogether, our results may imply that a subdued monoaminergic response in stressful farming environments may be beneficial, because in such situations individuals may be able to reallocate energy from stress responses into other life processes, such as growth.

‘And all my children?’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Scott
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Cultural Imagination ◽  
Modern Period

Beginning with an exploration of the role of the child in the cultural imagination, Chapter 1 establishes the formative and revealing ways in which societies identify themselves in relation to how they treat their children. Focusing on Shakespeare and the early modern period, Chapter 1 sets out to determine the emotional, symbolic, and political registers through which children are depicted and discussed. Attending to the different life stages and representations of the child on stage, this chapter sets out the terms of the book’s enquiry: what role do children play in Shakespeare’s plays; how do we recognize them as such—age, status, parental dynamic—and what are the effects of their presence? This chapter focuses on how the early moderns understood the child, as a symbolic figure, a life stage, a form of obligation, a profound bond, and an image of servitude.

scholarly journals Laying hen mortality in different indoor housing systems: a meta-analysis of data from commercial farms in 16 countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia Schuck-Paim ◽  
Elsa Negro-Calduch ◽  
Wladimir J. Alonso
Keyword(s):  
Production Systems ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Laying Hen ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
Commercial Farms ◽  
Degree Of Maturity ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Average Drop

AbstractSocietal concern with the welfare of egg laying hens housed in conventional cages is fostering a transition towards cage-free systems in many countries. However, although cage-free facilities enable hens to move freely and express natural behaviours, concerns have also been raised over the possibility that cage-free flocks experience higher mortality, potentially compromising some aspects of their welfare. To investigate this possibility, we conducted a large meta-analysis of laying hen mortality in conventional cages, furnished cages and cage-free aviaries using data from 6040 commercial flocks and 176 million hens from 16 countries. We show that except for conventional cages, mortality gradually drops as experience with each system builds up: since 2000, each year of experience with cage-free aviaries was associated with a 0.35–0.65% average drop in cumulative mortality, with no differences in mortality between caged and cage-free systems in more recent years. As management knowledge evolves and genetics are optimized, new producers transitioning to cage-free housing may experience even faster rates of decline. Our results speak against the notion that mortality is inherently higher in cage-free production and illustrate the importance of considering the degree of maturity of production systems in any investigations of farm animal health, behaviour and welfare.

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