scholarly journals Divergent coevolutionary trajectories in parent–offspring interactions and discrimination against brood parasites revealed by interspecific cross-fostering

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 180189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Capodeanu-Nägler ◽  
Elena Ruiz de la Torre ◽  
Anne-Katrin Eggert ◽  
Scott K. Sakaluk ◽  
Sandra Steiger
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Cross ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Differential Survival ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Brood Parasites ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Nicrophorus Orbicollis ◽  
Direct Recognition ◽  
Cross Fostering

In animal families, parents are expected to adapt to their offspring's traits, and offspring, in turn, are expected to adapt to the environment circumscribed by their parents. However, whether such coevolutionary trajectories differ between closely related species is poorly understood. Here, we employ interspecific cross-fostering in three species of burying beetles, Nicrophorus orbicollis , Nicrophorus pustulatus and Nicrophorus vespilloides , to test for divergent co-adaptation among species with different degrees of offspring dependency on parental care, and to test whether they are able to discriminate against interspecific parasites. We found that offspring survival was always higher when offspring were reared by conspecific rather than heterospecific parents. In the case of N. orbicollis raising N. pustulatus , none of the larvae survived. Overall, these results indicate that parent and offspring traits have diverged between species, and that the differential survival of conspecific and heterospecific larvae is because of improper matching of co-adapted traits, or, in the case of N. orbicollis with larval N. pustulatus , because of selection on parents to recognize and destroy interspecific brood parasites. We suggest that burying beetles experiencing a high risk of brood parasitism have evolved direct recognition mechanisms that enable them to selectively kill larvae of potential brood parasites.

scholarly journals Evolutionary change in the construction of the nursery environment when parents are prevented from caring for their young directly

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (48) ◽  
pp. e2102450118
Author(s):  
Ana Duarte ◽  
Darren Rebar ◽  
Allysa C. Hallett ◽  
Benjamin J. M. Jarrett ◽  
Rebecca M. Kilner
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Experimental Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Change ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Dead Body ◽  
Extended Phenotype ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Cross Fostering

Parental care can be partitioned into traits that involve direct engagement with offspring and traits that are expressed as an extended phenotype and influence the developmental environment, such as constructing a nursery. Here, we use experimental evolution to test whether parents can evolve modifications in nursery construction when they are experimentally prevented from supplying care directly to offspring. We exposed replicate experimental populations of burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides) to different regimes of posthatching care by allowing larvae to develop in the presence (Full Care) or absence of parents (No Care). After only 13 generations of experimental evolution, we found an adaptive evolutionary increase in the pace at which parents in the No Care populations converted a dead body into a carrion nest for larvae. Cross-fostering experiments further revealed that No Care larvae performed better on a carrion nest prepared by No Care parents than did Full Care larvae. We conclude that parents construct the nursery environment in relation to their effectiveness at supplying care directly, after offspring are born. When direct care is prevented entirely, they evolve to make compensatory adjustments to the nursery in which their young will develop. The rapid evolutionary change observed in our experiments suggests there is considerable standing genetic variation for parental care traits in natural burying beetle populations—for reasons that remain unclear.

scholarly journals Ecological divergence of burying beetles into the forest canopy

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jillian D. Wettlaufer ◽  
Kevin W. Burke ◽  
Adam Schizkoske ◽  
David V. Beresford ◽  
Paul R. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Geographic Ranges ◽  
Vertical Partitioning ◽  
Nicrophorus Orbicollis ◽  
Carrion Beetles ◽  
Number Of Individuals

Closely related species with overlapping geographic ranges encounter a significant challenge: they share many ecological traits and preferences but must partition resources to coexist. In Ontario, potentially eleven species of carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) live together and require vertebrate carrion for reproduction. Their reliance on an ephemeral and uncommon resource that is unpredictable in space and time is thought to create intense intra- and interspecific competition. Evidence suggests that burying beetle species reduce competition by partitioning carrion for breeding across different habitats, temperatures, and seasons. Here, we test predictions of an alternative axis for partitioning carrion: vertical partitioning between the ground and forest canopy. We conducted a survey of carrion beetles from May to July 2016 at the Queen’s University Biological Station across 50 randomly generated points using baited lethal traps at zero and six metres. Ground traps yielded more species and individuals compared to those in the canopy, and the number of individuals and species caught increased through the season in both trap types. Ground and canopy traps were accurately distinguished by the presence or absence of three species: ground traps contained more Nicrophorus orbicollis and Necrophila americana, while canopy traps contained more Nicrophorus pustulatus. We trapped 253 N. pustulatus in the canopy, but only 60 on the ground. N. pustulatus is thought to be rare across its geographic range, but our results suggest it is uniquely common in canopy habitats, demonstrating a vertical partitioning of habitat and resources. Our results are consistent with N. pustulatus having diverged into canopy habitats as a strategy to coexist with closely related sympatric species when competing for similar resources. We still, however, do not know the traits that allow N. pustulatus to flourish in the canopy, exactly how N. pustulatus uses canopy resources for breeding, or the factors that restrict the expansion of other burying beetles into this habitat.

scholarly journals Effect of male parental care on reproductive success of burying beetles, nicrophorus vespilloides

1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170
Author(s):  
Sharmin Musa
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Offspring Survival ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Care Experience ◽  
Offspring Fitness ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Key Words Parental Care

The burying beetles, Nicrophorus vespilloides (Coleoptera: Silphidae) show elaborate biparental care. They utilize a carcass as food of their own and to feed their offspring. Male parental care is important for both before and after the larvae hatch. But it is still not clear why male parents stay with the brood after the larvae hatch and provide care. The main objective of the study was to test whether male parents gain any future benefit from providing care that means access to carcass. Present investigation suggested previous parental care experience did not improve offspring fitness of future clutches. The offspring survival traits like number, average weight and development time showed no variation between clutches of experienced and inexperienced male parents. Key words: Parental care; Reproductive success; Burying beetles DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dujbs.v19i2.8960 DUJBS 2010; 19(2): 165-170

scholarly journals The transcriptional basis of quantitative behavioral variation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle M. Benowitz ◽  
Elizabeth C. McKinney ◽  
Christopher B. Cunningham ◽  
Allen J. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Parental Care ◽  
Behavioral State ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Burying Beetle ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Behavioral Variation ◽  
Provisioning Behavior ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides ◽  
Nicrophorus Orbicollis

AbstractWhat causes individuals to produce quantitatively different phenotypes? While substantial research has focused on the allelic changes that affect phenotype, we know less about how gene expression accompanies variable phenotypes. Here, we investigate the transcriptional basis of variation in parental provisioning using two species of burying beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis and Nicrophorus vespilloides. Specifically, we used RNA-seq to compare the transcriptomes of parents that provided high amounts of provisioning behavior versus low amounts in males and females of each species. We found that there were no overarching transcriptional patterns that distinguish high from low caring parents, and no informative transcripts that displayed particularly large expression differences in females or males. However, we did find more subtle gene expression changes between high and low provisioning parents that are consistent across sexes as well as between the two species. Furthermore, we show that transcripts previously implicated in transitioning into parental care in N. vespilloides had high variance in the levels of transcription and were unusually likely to display differential expression between high and low provisioning parents. Thus, quantitative behavioral variation appears to reflect many transcriptional differences of small effect. We show that nuanced regulation of the same gene products that are required for the transition of one behavioral state to another are also those influencing variation within a behavioral state.Author SummaryBurying beetles in the genus Nicrophorus breed on vertebrate carcasses and provide advanced parental care to their offspring by regurgitating partially digested flesh. However, all adult beetles do not uniformly express this trait. Some provide a large amount of parenting to their offspring, and some only a little. Here, we investigate the genetic causes of why some Nicrophorus beetles feed their offspring more than others. We demonstrate that this difference is likely caused by many small changes in gene expression, rather than a few genes that have major effects. We also find that some of the same genes that help to turn on parental care behavior in burying beetles also seem to play a role in determining how much care a beetle gives. These results provide new angles on longstanding questions about the complexity of the mechanisms that underlie quantitative variation in populations.

scholarly journals Rapid, ultra-local adaptation facilitated by phenotypic plasticity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syuan-Jyun Sun ◽  
Andrew M. Catherall ◽  
Sonia Pascoal ◽  
Benjamin J. M. Jarrett ◽  
Sara E. Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Ancestral Population ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Rapid Adaptation ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Genetic Accommodation ◽  
Nicrophorus Vespilloides

AbstractModels of ‘plasticity-first’ evolution are attractive because they explain the rapid evolution of new complex adaptations. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether plasticity can still facilitate rapid evolution when diverging populations are connected by gene flow. Here we show how plasticity has generated adaptive divergence in fecundity in wild populations of burying beetlesNicrophorus vespilloides, which are still connected by gene flow, which occupy distinct Cambridgeshire woodlands that are just 2.5km apart and which diverged from a common ancestral population c. 1000-4000 years ago. We show that adaptive divergence is duetothe coupling of an evolved increase in the elevation of the reaction norm linking clutch size to carrion size (i.e. genetic accommodation) with plastic secondary elimination of surplus offspring. Working in combination, these two processes have facilitated rapid adaptation to fine-scale environmental differences, despite ongoing gene flow.

Habitat use of co-occurring burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) in southeastern Ontario, Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (9) ◽  
pp. 591-602
Author(s):  
K.W. Burke ◽  
J.D. Wettlaufer ◽  
D.V. Beresford ◽  
P.R. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Habitat Associations ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Habitat Partitioning ◽  
Shared Resources ◽  
Burying Beetles ◽  
Local Diversity ◽  
Nicrophorus Orbicollis ◽  
Nicrophorus Marginatus

The coexistence of closely related species plays an important role in shaping local diversity. However, competition for shared resources can limit the ability of species to coexist. Many species avoid the costs of coexistence by diverging in habitat use, known as habitat partitioning. We examine patterns of habitat use in seven co-occurring species of burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus Fabricius, 1775), testing the hypothesis that Nicrophorus species partition resources by occupying distinct habitats. We surveyed Nicrophorus abundance and 54 habitat characteristics at 100 random sites spanning an environmentally diverse region of southeastern Ontario, Canada. We found that three species occupied distinct habitat types consistent with habitat partitioning. Specifically, Nicrophorus pustulatus Herschel, 1807, Nicrophorus hebes Kirby, 1837, and Nicrophorus marginatus Fabricius, 1801 appear to be specialists for forest canopy, wetlands, and open fields, respectively. In contrast, Nicrophorus orbicollis Say, 1825, Nicrophorus sayi Laporte, 1840, and Nicrophorus tomentosus Weber, 1801 appear to be generalists with wide breadths of habitat use. We were unable to identify the habitat associations of Nicrophorus defodiens Mannerheim, 1846. Our findings are consistent with habitat acting as an important resource axis along which some Nicrophorus species partition; however, divergence along other resource axes (e.g., temporal partitioning) also appears important for Nicrophorus coexistence.

scholarly journals Differential Effects of Breed and Nursing on Early-Life Colonic Microbiota and Immune Status as Revealed in a Cross-Fostering Piglet Model

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunlong Mu ◽  
Gaorui Bian ◽  
Yong Su ◽  
Weiyun Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Early Life ◽  
Inflammatory Cytokine ◽  
Immune Status ◽  
Interspecific Cross ◽  
Cytokine Expression ◽  
Gut Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Nursing Mother ◽  
Colonic Microbiota ◽  
Cross Fostering

ABSTRACT Nursing mother and breed can differently regulate early-life microbiota succession in pigs. However, it remains unclear whether they affect gastrointestinal microbiota and immune status, which are critical for early-life gut health. Here, an interspecific cross-fostering piglet model was employed by fostering neonatal Yorkshire and Meishan piglets to the same or another breed of sows. Jejunal and colonic microbiotas and mucosal immune parameters were analyzed at postnatal days 14 (preweaning) and 49 (postweaning). Nursing mother affected 10 genera in the colon and 3 minor genera in the jejunum. At day 14, Meishan sow-nursed piglets had lower Streptococcus suis and higher Cloacibacillus counts in the colonic digesta and larger amounts of interleukin 10 and Foxp3-positive cells in the colonic mucosa than did Yorkshire sow-nursed piglets. At day 49, nursing mother had no significant effects on cytokine expression. Breed effects were observed; Meishan piglets had lower relative abundances of Prevotella and lower gene expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) than those of Yorkshire piglets at days 14 and 49. Collectively, nursing mother mainly affected preweaning colonic microbiota and immune status, while breed effects persisted after weaning. Piglets nursed by Meishan sows had different microbiota compositions and inflammatory cytokine profiles in the colon compared with those of piglets nursed by Yorkshire sows. These results highlight the different role of nursing mother and breed in affecting early gut microenvironment. IMPORTANCE Early-life gut microbiota and immune status are pivotal for postnatal growth. By using an interspecific cross-fostering piglet model, we find that change in nursing mother transiently reshapes preweaning colon microbiota and immune status, while breed shows persistent effects both pre- and postweaning. Piglets nursed by Meishan sows had lower Streptococcus suis counts and higher anti-inflammatory cytokine expression. These results highlight the significance of nursing mother in regulating early-life gut health.

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