Correlation between acoustic divergence and phylogenetic distance in soniferous European gobiids (Gobiidae; Gobius lineage)

In fish, species identity can be encoded by sounds, which have been thoroughly investigated in European gobiids (Gobiidae, Gobius lineage). Recent evolutionary studies suggest that deterministic and/or stochastic forces could generate acoustic differences among related animal species, though this has not been investigated in any teleost group to date. In the present comparative study, we analysed the sounds from nine soniferous gobiids and quantitatively assessed their acoustic variability. Our interspecific acoustic study, incorporating for the first time the representative acoustic signals from the majority of soniferous gobiids, suggested that their sounds are truly species-specific (92% of sounds correctly classified into exact species) and each taxon possesses a unique set of spectro-temporal variables. In addition, we reconstructed phylogenetic relationships from a concatenated molecular dataset consisting of multiple molecular markers to track the evolution of acoustic signals in soniferous gobiids. The results of this study indicated that the genus Padogobius is polyphyletic, since P. nigricans was nested within the Ponto-Caspian clade, while the congeneric P. bonelli turned out to be a sister taxon to the remaining investigated soniferous species. Lastly, by extracting the acoustic and genetic distance matrices, sound variability and genetic distance were correlated for the first time to assess whether sound evolution follows a similar phylogenetic pattern. The positive correlation between the sound variability and genetic distance obtained here emphasizes that certain acoustic features from representative sounds could carry the phylogenetic signal in soniferous gobiids. Our study was the first attempt to evaluate the mutual relationship between acoustic variation and genetic divergence in any teleost fish.

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Species identity matters: Functional responses to warming in congeneric turfs differ from those of a canopy algae but are species-specific

Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science ◽

10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107396 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107396

Author(s):

Isabella Provera ◽

Cristina Piñeiro-Corbeira ◽

Rodolfo Barreiro ◽

Laura Díaz-Acosta ◽

Pilar Díaz-Tapia

Keyword(s):

Functional Responses ◽

Species Identity ◽

Species Specific ◽

Canopy Algae

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Bark traits, decomposition and flammability of Australian forest trees

Australian Journal of Botany ◽

10.1071/bt16258 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 65 (4) ◽

pp. 327 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Saskia Grootemaat ◽

Ian J. Wright ◽

Peter M. van Bodegom ◽

Johannes H. C. Cornelissen ◽

Veronica Shaw

Keyword(s):

Forest Tree ◽

Remarkable Feature ◽

Interspecific Differences ◽

Eucalypt Plantations ◽

Physical Traits ◽

Key Driver ◽

Multiple Species ◽

Species Specific ◽

First Time ◽

Different Tissues

Bark shedding is a remarkable feature of Australian trees, yet relatively little is known about interspecific differences in bark decomposability and flammability, or what chemical or physical traits drive variation in these properties. We measured the decomposition rate and flammability (ignitibility, sustainability and combustibility) of bark from 10 common forest tree species, and quantified correlations with potentially important traits. We compared our findings to those for leaf litter, asking whether the same traits drive flammability and decomposition in different tissues, and whether process rates are correlated across tissue types. Considerable variation in bark decomposability and flammability was found both within and across species. Bark decomposed more slowly than leaves, but in both tissues lignin concentration was a key driver. Bark took longer to ignite than leaves, and had longer mass-specific flame durations. Variation in flammability parameters was driven by different traits in the different tissues. Decomposability and flammability were each unrelated, when comparing between the different tissue types. For example, species with fast-decomposing leaves did not necessarily have fast-decomposing bark. For the first time, we show how patterns of variation in decomposability and flammability of bark diverge across multiple species. By taking species-specific bark traits into consideration there is potential to make better estimates of wildfire risks and carbon loss dynamics. This can lead to better informed management decisions for Australian forests, and eucalypt plantations, worldwide.

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The Morphological and Anatomical Traits of the Leaf in Representative Vinca Species Observed on Indoor- and Outdoor-Grown Plants

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants10040622 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 622

Author(s):

Alexandra Ciorîță ◽

Septimiu Cassian Tripon ◽

Ioan Gabriel Mircea ◽

Dorina Podar ◽

Lucian Barbu-Tudoran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spongy Parenchyma ◽

Palisade And Spongy Parenchyma ◽

Chemical Composition Of Plants ◽

Ultrastructural Characteristics ◽

Species Specific ◽

Microscopy Techniques ◽

First Time ◽

Thick Layers ◽

Space Ratio ◽

Indoor And Outdoor

Morphological and anatomical traits of the Vinca leaf were examined using microscopy techniques. Outdoor Vinca minor and V. herbacea plants and greenhouse cultivated V. major and V. major var. variegata plants had interspecific variations. All Vinca species leaves are hypostomatic. However, except for V. minor leaf, few stomata were also present on the upper epidermis. V. minor leaf had the highest stomatal index and V. major had the lowest, while the distribution of trichomes on the upper epidermis was species-specific. Differentiated palisade and spongy parenchyma tissues were present in all Vinca species’ leaves. However, V. minor and V. herbacea leaves had a more organized anatomical aspect, compared to V. major and V. major var. variegata leaves. Additionally, as a novelty, the cellular to intercellular space ratio of the Vinca leaf’s mesophyll was revealed herein with the help of computational analysis. Lipid droplets of different sizes and aspects were localized in the spongy parenchyma cells. Ultrastructural characteristics of the cuticle and its epicuticular waxes were described for the first time. Moreover, thick layers of cutin seemed to be characteristic of the outdoor plants only. This could be an adaptation to the unpredictable environmental conditions, but nevertheless, it might influence the chemical composition of plants.

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Acoustic communication and the evolution of hearing in fishes

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2000.0685 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 355 (1401) ◽

pp. 1285-1288 ◽

Cited By ~ 55

Author(s):

Friedrich Ladich

Keyword(s):

Inner Ear ◽

Acoustic Communication ◽

Acoustic Signals ◽

Spectral Content ◽

Auditory Thresholds ◽

Selective Pressures ◽

Vocal Signals ◽

Species Specific ◽

Hearing Abilities ◽

Dominant Frequencies

Fishes have evolved a diversity of sound–generating organs and acoustic signals of various temporal and spectral content. Additionally, representatives of many teleost families such as otophysines, anabantoids, mormyrids and holocentrids possess accessory structures that enhance hearing abilities by acoustically coupling air–filled cavities to the inner ear. Contrary to the accessory hearing structures such as Weberian ossicles in otophysines and suprabranchial chambers in anabantoids, sonic organs do not occur in all members of these taxa. Comparison of audiograms among nine representatives of seven otophysan families from four orders revealed major differences in auditory sensitivity, especially at higher frequencies (> 1kHz) where thresholds differed by up to 50 dB. These differences showed no apparent correspondence to the ability to produce sounds (vocal versus non–vocal species) or to the spectral content of species–specific sounds. In anabantoids, the lowest auditory thresholds were found in the blue gourami Trichogaster trichopterus , a species not thought to be vocal. Dominant frequencies of sounds corresponded with optimal hearing bandwidth in two out of three vocalizing species. Based on these results, it is concluded that the selective pressures involved in the evolution of accessory hearing structures and in the design of vocal signals were other than those serving to optimize acoustic communication.

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Linear correlates in the speech signal: The orderly output constraint

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x98001174 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 241-259 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Harvey M. Sussman ◽

David Fruchter ◽

Jon Hilbert ◽

Joseph Sirosh

Keyword(s):

Speech Signal ◽

Speech Sound ◽

Acoustic Signals ◽

Barn Owl ◽

Critical Parameters ◽

Place Of Articulation ◽

Mustached Bat ◽

Auditory Systems ◽

Species Specific ◽

Output Constraint

Neuroethological investigations of mammalian and avian auditory systems have documented species-specific specializations for processing complex acoustic signals that could, if viewed in abstract terms, have an intriguing and striking relevance for human speech sound categorization and representation. Each species forms biologically relevant categories based on combinatorial analysis of information-bearing parameters within the complex input signal. This target article uses known neural models from the mustached bat and barn owl to develop, by analogy, a conceptualization of human processing of consonant plus vowel sequences that offers a partial solution to the noninvariance dilemma – the nontransparent relationship between the acoustic waveform and the phonetic segment. Critical input sound parameters used to establish species-specific categories in the mustached bat and barn owl exhibit high correlation and linearity due to physical laws. A cue long known to be relevant to the perception of stop place of articulation is the second formant (F2) transition. This article describes an empirical phenomenon – the locus equations – that describes the relationship between the F2 of a vowel and the F2 measured at the onset of a consonant-vowel (CV) transition. These variables, F2 onset and F2 vowel within a given place category, are consistently and robustly linearly correlated across diverse speakers and languages, and even under perturbation conditions as imposed by bite blocks. A functional role for this category-level extreme correlation and linearity (the “orderly output constraint”) is hypothesized based on the notion of an evolutionarily conserved auditory-processing strategy. High correlation and linearity between critical parameters in the speech signal that help to cue place of articulation categories might have evolved to satisfy a preadaptation by mammalian auditory systems for representing tightly correlated, linearly related components of acoustic signals.

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Interspecific differences of stridulatory signals in three species of bark beetles from the genus Polygraphus Er. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) inhabiting the island of Sakhalin

10.7287/peerj.preprints.27697 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ivan Andreevich Kerchev

Keyword(s):

Host Plant ◽

Plant Species ◽

Bark Beetles ◽

Acoustic Signals ◽

Interval Number ◽

Host Plant Species ◽

Interspecific Differences ◽

Species Specific ◽

Conspecific Interactions

Stridulatory signals are involved in conspecific interactions between bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae). In this study, we compared the qualitative profiles of acoustic signals in three species from the genus Polygraphus Er. Sympatry can be periodically observed in two of them – P. proximus and P. subopacus. Sporadically they occur on the same plants. P. nigrielytris colonize distinctly different host plant species; however, on the island of Sakhalin it inhabits the same biotopes. The purpose of the study is to identify species-specific parameters and the extent of differences in stridulatory signals of these species. Airborne signals produced during the contact of males of the same species were experimentally recorded. Among tested parameters of stridulatory signals, as the most species-specific were noted: chirp duration, interchirp interval, number of tooth-strikes per chirp, and intertooth-strike interval.

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Ribosome profiling in Streptococcus pneumoniae reveals the role of methylation of 23S rRNA nucleotide G748 on ribosome stalling

10.1101/2020.12.21.423859 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tatsuma Shoji ◽

Akiko Takaya ◽

Yoko Kusuya ◽

Hiroki Takahashi ◽

Hiroto Kawashima

Keyword(s):

Streptococcus Pneumoniae ◽

Ribosome Profiling ◽

23S Rrna ◽

Ribosome Stalling ◽

70S Ribosome ◽

Exit Tunnel ◽

Species Specific ◽

Peptidyltransferase Center ◽

First Time

2.Abstract(1) BackgroundMany nucleotides in 23S rRNA are methylated post-transcriptionally by methyltransferases and cluster around the peptidyltransferase center (PTC) and the nascent peptidyl exit tunnel (NPET) located in 50S subunit of 70S ribosome. Biochemical interactions between a nascent peptide and the tunnel may stall ribosome movement and affect expression levels of the protein. However, no studies have shown a role for NPET on ribosome stalling using an NPET mutant.(2) ResultsA ribosome profiling assay in Streptococcus pneumoniae demonstrates for the first time that an NPET mutant exhibits completely different ribosome occupancy compared to wild-type. We demonstrate, using RNA footprinting, that changes in ribosome occupancy correlate with changes in ribosome stalling. Further, statistical analysis shows that short peptide sequences that cause ribosome stalling are species-specific and evolutionarily selected. NPET structure is required to realize these specie-specific ribosome stalling.(3) ConclusionsResults support the role of NPET on ribosome stalling. NPET structure is required to realize the species-specific and evolutionary conserved ribosome stalling. These findings clarify the role of NPET structure on the translation process.

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Sperm chemotaxis is driven by the slope of the chemoattractant concentration field

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.50532 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Héctor Vicente Ramírez-Gómez ◽

Vilma Jimenez Sabinina ◽

Martín Velázquez Pérez ◽

Carmen Beltran ◽

Jorge Carneiro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Marine Invertebrates ◽

Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus ◽

Concentration Field ◽

Stimulus Function ◽

Frequency Entrainment ◽

Sperm Chemotaxis ◽

Coupling Force ◽

Species Specific ◽

First Time ◽

Fundamental Requirement

Spermatozoa of marine invertebrates are attracted to their conspecific female gamete by diffusive molecules, called chemoattractants, released from the egg investments in a process known as chemotaxis. The information from the egg chemoattractant concentration field is decoded into intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) changes that regulate the internal motors that shape the flagellum as it beats. By studying sea urchin species-specific differences in sperm chemoattractant-receptor characteristics we show that receptor density constrains the steepness of the chemoattractant concentration gradient detectable by spermatozoa. Through analyzing different chemoattractant gradient forms, we demonstrate for the first time that Strongylocentrotus purpuratus sperm are chemotactic and this response is consistent with frequency entrainment of two coupled physiological oscillators: i) the stimulus function and ii) the [Ca2+]i changes. We demonstrate that the slope of the chemoattractant gradients provides the coupling force between both oscillators, arising as a fundamental requirement for sperm chemotaxis.

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The return to water in ancestral Xenopus was accompanied by a novel mechanism for producing and shaping vocal signals

10.1101/360255 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Ursula Kwong-Brown ◽

Martha L. Tobias ◽

Damian O. Elias ◽

Ian C. Hall ◽

Coen P.H. Elemans ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sound Production ◽

Neuromuscular Control ◽

Current Theory ◽

Species Divergence ◽

Species Identity ◽

Rapid Separation ◽

Resonance Modes ◽

Acoustic Signature ◽

Vocal Signals ◽

Species Specific

AbstractSpecies-specific vocal signals allow listeners to locate potential mates. During the tetrapod transition from water to land, lungs replaced gills, allowing expiration to drive sound production. Several groups, e.g. cetaceans and some frogs, then returned to water. Here we explore how air-driven sound production changed upon re-entry and how essential acoustic information on species identity was preserved in the secondarily aquatic frog Xenopus. We filmed movements of cartilage and muscles during evoked sound production in isolated larynges. Our results refute the current theory for Xenopus vocalization, cavitation, and instead favor sound production by mechanical excitation of laryngeal resonance modes following rapid separation of laryngeal arytenoid discs. The resulting frequency resonance modes (dyads) are intrinsic to the larynx rather than due to neuromuscular control. We show that dyads are a distinctive acoustic signature across species. While dyad component frequencies overlap across species, their ratio is shared within each Xenopus clade and thus provide information on species identity, potentially facilitating both conspecific localization and ancient species divergence.

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The “good, the bad and the double-sword” effects of exposure to MPs and their organic additives on N2-fixing bacteria

10.1101/2020.07.21.210740 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Víctor Fernández-Juárez ◽

Xabier López-Alforja ◽

Aida Frank-Comas ◽

Pedro Echeveste ◽

Antoni Bennasar-Figueras ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Posidonia Oceanica ◽

Dioctyl Phthalate ◽

Benthic Organisms ◽

Protein Overexpression ◽

Organic Additives ◽

Physical Interactions ◽

High Concentrations ◽

Species Specific ◽

Micro Organisms ◽

First Time

AbstractThe accumulation of microplastics (MPs) pollution at depths suggests the susceptibility of benthic organisms (e.g. seagrasses and their associated macro- and micro-organisms) to the effects of these pollutants. Little is known about the direct effects of MPs and their organic additives on marine bacteria, e.g. in one of the most ecologically significant groups, the diazotrophs or N2-fixing bacteria. To fill this gap of knowledge, we exposed marine diazotrophs found in association with the endemic Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica to pure MPs which differ in physical properties (e.g. density, hydrophobicity and/or size), namely, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polystyrene (PS) and to their most abundant associated organic additives (e.g. fluoranthene, 1,2,5,6,9,10-hexabromocyclododecane [HBCD] and dioctyl-phthalate [DEHP]). Growth, protein overexpression, direct physical interactions between MPs and bacteria, phosphorus (P) acquisition mechanisms and N2-fixation rates were evaluated. Our results show species-specific responses of the autotrophic and heterotrophic N2-fixing bacteria tested and the responses were dependent on the type and concentration of MPs and additives. N2-fixing cyanobacteria were positively affected by environmental and high concentrations of MPs (e.g. PVC), as opposed to heterotrophic strains, that were only positively affected with high concentrations of ∼120 µm-size MPs (detecting the overexpression of proteins related to plastic degradation and C-transport), and negatively affected by 1 µm-size PS beads. Generally, the organic additives (e.g. fluoranthene) had a deleterious effect in both autotrophic and heterotrophic N2-fixing bacteria and the magnitude of the effect is suggested to be dependent on bacterial size. We did not find evidences that specific N2-fixation rates were significantly affected by exposure to MPs, albeit changes in bacterial abundance can affect the bulk N2-fixation rates. In summary, we reported for the first time, the beneficial (the “good”), deleterious (the “bad”) and/or both (the “double-sword”) effects of exposure to MPs and their organic additives on diazotrophs found in association with seagrasses.

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