scholarly journals Alternative reproductive tactics and sex‐biased gene expression: the study of the bulb mite transcriptome

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 623-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal T. Stuglik ◽  
Wiesław Babik ◽  
Zofia Prokop ◽  
Jacek Radwan
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Bulb Mite

Neural Gene Expression Profiles and Androgen Levels Underlie Alternative Reproductive Tactics in the Ocellated Wrasse,Symphodus ocellatus

Ethology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly A. Stiver ◽  
Rayna M. Harris ◽  
Jeffrey P. Townsend ◽  
Hans A. Hofmann ◽  
Suzanne H. Alonzo
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Gene Expression Profiles ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Androgen Levels

scholarly journals Toward an understanding of the chemical ecology of alternative reproductive tactics in the bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N. Zeeman ◽  
Isabel M. Smallegange ◽  
Emily Burdfield Steel ◽  
Astrid T. Groot ◽  
Kathryn A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chemical Ecology ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Female Mimicry ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Bulb Mite

Abstract BackgroundUnder strong sexual selection, certain species evolve distinct intrasexual, alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). In many cases, ARTs can be viewed as environmentally-cued threshold traits, such that ARTs coexist if their relative fitness alternates over the environmental cue gradient. Surprisingly, the chemical ecology of ARTs has been underexplored in this context. To our knowledge, no prior study has directly quantified pheromone production for ARTs in a male-polymorphic species. Here, we used the bulb mite—in which males are either armed fighters that kill conspecifics, or unarmed scramblers—as a model system to gain insight into the role of pheromones in the evolutionary maintenance of ARTs. Given that scramblers forgo investment into weaponry, we tested whether scramblers produce higher pheromone quantities than fighters, which would improve the fitness of the scrambler phenotype, e.g. through female mimicry to avoid aggression from competitors. To this end, we sampled mites from a rich and a poor nutritional environment and quantified their production of the female sex pheromone α-acaridial through gas chromatography analysis. ResultsWe found a positive relationship between pheromone production and body size, but males exhibited a steeper slope in pheromone production with increasing size than females. Females exhibited a higher average pheromone production than males. We found no significant difference in slope of pheromone production over body size between fighters and scramblers. However, scramblers reached larger body sizes and higher pheromone production than fighters, providing some evidence for a potential female mimic strategy adopted by large scramblers. Pheromone production was significantly higher in mites from the rich nutritional environment than the poor environment. ConclusionFurther elucidation of pheromone functionality in bulb mites, and additional inter- and intrasexual comparisons of pheromone profiles are needed to determine if the observed intersexual and intrasexual differences in pheromone production are adaptive, if they are a by-product of allometric scaling, or diet-mediated pheromone production under weak selection. We argue chemical ecology offers a novel perspective for research on ARTs and other complex life-history traits.

scholarly journals The role of genetic diversity in the evolution and maintenance of environmentally-cued, male alternative reproductive tactics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
KA Stewart ◽  
R Draaijer ◽  
MR Kolasa ◽  
IM Smallegange
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Genetic Differentiation ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Genetic Profiling ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Face ◽  
Bulb Mite

AbstractBackgroundAlternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are taxonomically pervasive strategies adopted by individuals to maximize reproductive success within populations. Even for conditionally-dependent traits, consensus postulates most ARTs involve both genetic and environmental interactions (GEIs), but to date, quantifying genetic variation underlying the threshold disposing an individual to switch phenotypes in response to an environmental cue has been a difficult undertaking. Our study aims to investigate the origins and maintenance of ARTs within environmentally disparate populations of the microscopic bulb mite, Rhizoglyphus robini, that express ‘fighter’ and ‘scrambler’ male morphs mediated by a complex combination of environmental and genetic factors.ResultsUsing never-before-published individual genetic profiling, we found all individuals across populations are highly inbred with the exception of scrambler males in stressed environments. In fact within the poor environment, scrambler males and females showed no significant difference in genetic differentiation (Fst) compared to all other comparisons, and although fighters were highly divergent from the rest of the population in both poor or rich environments (e.g., Fst, STRUCTURE), fighters demonstrated approximately three times less genetic divergence from the population in poor environments. AMOVA analyses further corroborated significant genetic differentiation across subpopulations, between morphs and sexes, and among subpopulations within each environment.ConclusionOur study provides new insights into the origin of ARTs in the bulb mite, highlighting the importance of GEIs: genetic correlations, epistatic interactions, and sex-specific inbreeding depression across environmental stressors. Asymmetric reproductive output, coupled with the purging of highly inbred individuals during environmental oscillations, also facilitates genetic variation within populations, despite evidence for strong directional selection. This cryptic genetic variation also conceivably facilitates stable population persistence even in the face of spatially or temporally unstable environmental challenges. Ultimately, understanding the genetic context that maintains thresholds, even for conditionally-dependent ARTs, will enhance our understanding of within population variation and our ability to predict responses to selection.

scholarly journals Toward an understanding of the chemical ecology of alternative reproductive tactics in the bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini)

2022 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N. Zeeman ◽  
Isabel M. Smallegange ◽  
Emily Burdfield Steel ◽  
Astrid T. Groot ◽  
Kathryn A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chemical Ecology ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Female Mimicry ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Bulb Mite

Abstract Background Under strong sexual selection, certain species evolve distinct intrasexual, alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). In many cases, ARTs can be viewed as environmentally-cued threshold traits, such that ARTs coexist if their relative fitness alternates over the environmental cue gradient. Surprisingly, the chemical ecology of ARTs has been underexplored in this context. To our knowledge, no prior study has directly quantified pheromone production for ARTs in a male-polymorphic species. Here, we used the bulb mite—in which males are either armed fighters that kill conspecifics, or unarmed scramblers (which have occasionally been observed to induce mating behavior in other males)—as a model system to gain insight into the role of pheromones in the evolutionary maintenance of ARTs. Given that scramblers forgo investment into weaponry, we tested whether scramblers produce higher quantities of the putative female sex-pheromone α-acaridial than fighters, which would improve the fitness of the scrambler phenotype through female mimicry by allowing avoidance of aggression from competitors. To this end, we sampled mites from a rich and a poor nutritional environment and quantified their production of α-acaridial through gas chromatography analysis. Results We found a positive relationship between pheromone production and body size, but males exhibited a steeper slope in pheromone production with increasing size than females. Females exhibited a higher average pheromone production than males. We found no significant difference in slope of pheromone production over body size between fighters and scramblers. However, scramblers reached larger body sizes and higher pheromone production than fighters, providing some evidence for a potential female mimic strategy adopted by large scramblers. Pheromone production was significantly higher in mites from the rich nutritional environment than the poor environment. Conclusion Further elucidation of pheromone functionality in bulb mites, and additional inter- and intrasexual comparisons of pheromone profiles are needed to determine if the observed intersexual and intrasexual differences in pheromone production are adaptive, if they are a by-product of allometric scaling, or diet-mediated pheromone production under weak selection. We argue chemical ecology offers a novel perspective for research on ARTs and other complex life-history traits.

scholarly journals Toward an understanding of the chemical ecology of alternative reproductive tactics in the bulb mite (Rhizoglyphus robini)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N Zeeman ◽  
Isabel M. Smallegange ◽  
Emily Burdfield-Steel ◽  
Astrid T. Groot ◽  
Kathryn A. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chemical Ecology ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Pheromone Production ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Female Mimicry ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Nutritional Environment ◽  
Bulb Mite

Background Under strong sexual selection, certain species evolve distinct intrasexual, alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). In many cases, ARTs can be viewed as environmentally cued threshold traits, such that ARTs coexist if their relative fitness alternates over the environmental cue gradient. Surprisingly, the chemical ecology of ARTs has been underexplored in this context. To our knowledge, no prior study has directly quantified pheromone production for ARTs in a male polymorphic species. Here, we used the bulb mite — in which males are either armed fighters that kill conspecifics, or unarmed scramblers — as a model system to gain insight into the role of pheromones in the evolutionary maintenance of ARTs. Given that scramblers forgo investment into weaponry, we tested whether scramblers produce higher pheromone quantities than fighters, which would improve the fitness of the scrambler phenotype, e.g. through female mimicry to avoid aggression from competitors. To this end, we sampled mites from a rich and a poor nutritional environment and quantified their production of the female sex pheromone α acaridial through gas chromatography analysis. Results We found a positive relationship between pheromone production and body size, but males exhibited a steeper slope in pheromone production with increasing size than females. Females exhibited a higher average pheromone production than males. We found no significant difference in slope of pheromone production over body size between fighters and scramblers. However, scramblers reached larger body sizes and higher pheromone production than fighters, providing some evidence for a potential female mimic strategy adopted by large scramblers. Pheromone production was significantly higher in mites from the rich nutritional environment than the poor environment. Conclusion Further elucidation of pheromone functionality in bulb mites, and additional inter and intrasexual comparisons of pheromone profiles are needed to determine if the observed intersexual and intrasexual differences in pheromone production are adaptive, if they are a byproduct of allometric scaling, or diet mediated pheromone production under weak selection. We argue chemical ecology offers a novel perspective for research on ARTs and other complex life-history traits.

scholarly journals Behavioural tactic predicts preoptic-hypothalamic gene expression more strongly than developmental morph in fish with alternative reproductive tactics

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1871) ◽  
pp. 20172742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel A. Tripp ◽  
Ni Y. Feng ◽  
Andrew H. Bass
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Social Behaviour ◽  
Hormonal Regulation ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Territory Defence

Reproductive success relies on the coordination of social behaviours, such as territory defence, courtship and mating. Species with extreme variation in reproductive tactics are useful models for identifying the neural mechanisms underlying social behaviour plasticity. The plainfin midshipman ( Porichthys notatus ) is a teleost fish with two male reproductive morphs that follow widely divergent developmental trajectories and display alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). Type I males defend territories, court females and provide paternal care, but will resort to cuckoldry if they cannot maintain a territory. Type II males reproduce only through cuckoldry. We sought to disentangle gene expression patterns underlying behavioural tactic, in this case ARTs, from those solely reflective of developmental morph. Using RNA-sequencing, we investigated differential transcript expression in the preoptic area-anterior hypothalamus (POA-AH) of courting type I males, cuckolding type I males and cuckolding type II males. Unexpectedly, POA-AH differential expression was more strongly coupled to behavioural tactic than morph. This included a suite of transcripts implicated in hormonal regulation of vertebrate social behaviour. Our results reveal that divergent expression patterns in a conserved neuroendocrine centre known to regulate social-reproductive behaviours across vertebrate lineages may be uncoupled from developmental history to enable plasticity in the performance of reproductive tactics.

scholarly journals Alternative reproductive tactics increase effective population size and decrease inbreeding in wild Atlantic salmon

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 1094-1106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Perrier ◽  
Éric Normandeau ◽  
Mélanie Dionne ◽  
Antoine Richard ◽  
Louis Bernatchez
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Salmon ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Effective Population Size ◽  
Alternative Reproductive Tactics ◽  
Effective Population ◽  
Reproductive Tactics
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