scholarly journals Meta-analysis suggests the microbiome responds to Evolve and Resequence experiments in Drosophila melanogaster

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas P. Henry ◽  
Julien F. Ayroles

Abstract Background Experimental evolution has a long history of uncovering fundamental insights into evolutionary processes, but has largely neglected one underappreciated component--the microbiome. As eukaryotic hosts evolve, the microbiome may also respond to selection. However, the microbial contribution to host evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we re-analyzed genomic data to characterize the metagenomes from ten Evolve and Resequence (E&R) experiments in Drosophila melanogaster to determine how the microbiome changed in response to host selection. Results Bacterial diversity was significantly different in 5/10 studies, primarily in traits associated with metabolism or immunity. Duration of selection did not significantly influence bacterial diversity, highlighting the importance of associations with specific host traits. Conclusions Our genomic re-analysis suggests the microbiome often responds to host selection; thus, the microbiome may contribute to the response of Drosophila in E&R experiments. We outline important considerations for incorporating the microbiome into E&R experiments. The E&R approach may provide critical insights into host-microbiome interactions and fundamental insight into the genomic basis of adaptation.

Author(s):  
Lucas P Henry ◽  
Julien F Ayroles

Experimental evolution has a long history of uncovering fundamental insights into evolutionary processes but has largely neglected one underappreciated component--the microbiome. As eukaryotic hosts evolve, the microbiome may also evolve in response. However, the microbial contribution to host evolution remains poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the metagenomes from 10 E&R experiments in Drosophila melanogaster to determine how the microbiome changes in response to host selection. Bacterial diversity was significantly different in 5/10 studies in traits associated with metabolism or immunity. Additionally, we find that excluding reads from a facultative symbiont, Wolbachia, in the analysis of bacterial diversity changes the inference, raising important questions for future E&R experiments in D. melanogaster. Our results suggest the microbiome often responds to host selection but highlights the need for more work to understand how the microbiome changes the host response to selection.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas P. Henry ◽  
Marjolein Bruijning ◽  
Simon K.G. Forsberg ◽  
Julien F. Ayroles

AbstractThe microbiome shapes many traits in hosts, but we still do not understand how it influences host evolution. To impact host evolution, the microbiome must be heritable and have phenotypic effects on the host. However, the complex inheritance and context-dependence of the microbiome challenges traditional models of organismal evolution. Here, we take a multifaceted approach to identify conditions in which the microbiome influences host evolutionary trajectories. We explore quantitative genetic models to highlight how microbial inheritance and phenotypic effects can modulate host evolutionary responses to selection. We synthesize the literature across diverse taxa to find common scenarios of microbiome driven host evolution. First, hosts may leverage locally adapted microbes, increasing survivorship in stressful environments. Second, microbial variation may increase host phenotypic variation, enabling exploration of novel fitness landscapes. We further illustrate these effects by performing a meta-analysis of artificial selection in Drosophila, finding that bacterial diversity also frequently responds to host selection. We conclude by outlining key avenues of research and experimental procedures to improve our understanding of the complex interplay between hosts and microbiomes. By synthesizing perspectives through multiple conceptual and analytical approaches, we show how microbiomes can influence the evolutionary trajectories of hosts.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas P. Henry ◽  
Michael Fernandez ◽  
Julien F. Ayroles

AbstractThe microbiome may serve as a reservoir of adaptive potential if hosts can leverage microbial adaptations in stressful environments. However, the facilitation of rapid host adaptation may be limited by interactions between host genotype, microbiome, and environment (GH x GM x E). Here, to understand how host x microbiome x environment interactions shape adaptation, we leverage >150 generations of experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster in a stressful environment, high sugar (HS) diet. The microbiome of HS adapted flies shifted to be dominated by one bacteria, Acetobacter pasteurianus. We next performed a fully reciprocal transplant experiment using the dominant control and HS bacteria to measure life-history and metabolic traits in flies. Mismatches between fly evolution and microbiome exerted fitness costs by slowing development and reducing fecundity, especially in the stressful HS diet. The GH x GM x E interactions observed suggest that both ecological context and host evolution shape the adaptive potential of the microbiome. We conclude by proposing future directions that highlight the benefit of using experimental evolution to study the contribution of the microbiome to host evolution.


PLoS Genetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. e1009787
Author(s):  
Emily L. Rivard ◽  
Andrew G. Ludwig ◽  
Prajal H. Patel ◽  
Anna Grandchamp ◽  
Sarah E. Arnold ◽  
...  

Comparative genomics has enabled the identification of genes that potentially evolved de novo from non-coding sequences. Many such genes are expressed in male reproductive tissues, but their functions remain poorly understood. To address this, we conducted a functional genetic screen of over 40 putative de novo genes with testis-enriched expression in Drosophila melanogaster and identified one gene, atlas, required for male fertility. Detailed genetic and cytological analyses showed that atlas is required for proper chromatin condensation during the final stages of spermatogenesis. Atlas protein is expressed in spermatid nuclei and facilitates the transition from histone- to protamine-based chromatin packaging. Complementary evolutionary analyses revealed the complex evolutionary history of atlas. The protein-coding portion of the gene likely arose at the base of the Drosophila genus on the X chromosome but was unlikely to be essential, as it was then lost in several independent lineages. Within the last ~15 million years, however, the gene moved to an autosome, where it fused with a conserved non-coding RNA and evolved a non-redundant role in male fertility. Altogether, this study provides insight into the integration of novel genes into biological processes, the links between genomic innovation and functional evolution, and the genetic control of a fundamental developmental process, gametogenesis.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasir Elhassan ◽  
Fares Alahdab ◽  
Alessandro Prete ◽  
Danae Delivanis ◽  
Aakanksha Khanna ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
Ms. Cheryl Antonette Dumenil ◽  
Dr. Cheryl Davis

North- East India is an under veiled region with an awe-inspiring landscape, different groups of ethnic people, their culture and heritage. Contemporary writers from this region aspire towards a vision outside the tapered ethnic channel, and they represent a shared history. In their writings, the cultural memory is showcased, and the intensity of feeling overflows the labour of technique and craft. Mamang Dai presents a rare glimpse into the ecology, culture, life of the tribal people and history of the land of the dawn-lit mountains, Arunachal Pradesh, through her novel The Legends of Pensam. The word ‘Pensam’ in the title means ‘in-between’,  but it may also be interpreted as ‘the hidden spaces of the heart’. This is a small world where anything can happen. Being adherents of the animistic faith, the tribes here believe in co-existence with the natural world along with the presence of spirits in their forests and rivers. This paper attempts to draw an insight into the culture and gender of the Arunachalis with special reference to The Legends of Pensam by Mamang Dai.


2018 ◽  
pp. 306-312
Author(s):  
Veniamin F. Zima ◽  

The reviewed work is devoted to a significant, and yet little-studied in both national and foreign scholarship, issue of the clergy interactions with German occupational authorities on the territory of the USSR in the days of the Great Patriotic War. It introduces into scientific use historically significant complex of documents (1941-1945) from the archive of the Office of the Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) of Vilnius and Lithuania, patriarchal exarch in Latvia and Estonia, and also records from the investigatory records on charges against clergy and employees concerned in the activities of the Pskov Orthodox Mission (1944-1990). Documents included in the publication are stored in the archives of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Estonia, Lithuania, Leningrad, Novgorod, and Pskov regions. They allow some insight into nature, forms, and methods of the Nazi occupational regime policies in the conquered territories (including policies towards the Church). The documents capture religious policies of the Nazis and inner life of the exarchate, describe actual situation of population and clergy, management activities and counterinsurgency on the occupied territories. The documents bring to light connections between the exarchate and German counterintelligence and reveal the nature of political police work with informants. They capture the political mood of population and prisoners of war. There is information on participants of partisan movement and underground resistance, on communication net between the patriarchal exarchate in the Baltic states and the German counterintelligence. Reports and dispatches of the clergy in the pay of the Nazis addressed to the Metropolitan Sergius (Voskresensky) contain detailed activity reports. Investigatory records contain important biographical information and personal data on the collaborators. Most of the documents, being classified, have never been published before.


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