scholarly journals Environmental specificity and evolution in Drosophila-bacteria symbiosis

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Guilhot ◽  
Antoine Rombaut ◽  
Anne Xuéreb ◽  
Kate Howell ◽  
Simon Fellous

AbstractEnvironmentally acquired microbial symbionts could contribute to host adaptation to local adaptation like vertically transmitted symbionts do. This scenario necessitates symbionts to have different effects in different environments. In Drosophila melanogaster, communities of extracellular bacterial symbionts vary largely among environments, which could be due to variable effects on phenotype. We investigated this idea with four bacterial strains isolated from the feces of a D. melanogaster lab strain, and tested their effects in two environments: the environment of origin (i.e. the laboratory medium) and a new one (i.e. fresh fruit with live yeast). All bacterial effects on larval and adult traits differed among environments, ranging from very beneficial to marginally deleterious. The joint analysis of larval development speed and adult size further suggests bacteria would affect developmental plasticity more than resource acquisition in males. The context-dependent effects of bacteria we observed, and its underlying mechanisms, sheds light on how environmentally acquired symbionts may contribute to host evolution.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Guilhot ◽  
Antoine Rombaut ◽  
Anne Xuéreb ◽  
Kate Howell ◽  
Simon Fellous

ABSTRACTEnvironmentally acquired microbial symbionts could contribute to host adaptation to local conditions like vertically transmitted symbionts do. This scenario necessitates symbionts to have different effects in different environments. We investigated this idea in Drosophila melanogaster, a species which communities of bacterial symbionts vary greatly among environments. We isolated four bacterial strains isolated from the feces of a D. melanogaster laboratory strain and tested their effects in two conditions: the ancestral environment (i.e. the laboratory medium) and a new environment (i.e. fresh fruit with live yeast). All bacterial effects on larval and adult traits differed among environments, ranging from very beneficial to marginally deleterious. The joint analysis of larval development speed and adult size further shows bacteria affected developmental plasticity more than resource acquisition. This effect was largely driven by the contrasted effects of the bacteria in each environment. Our study illustrates that understanding D. melanogaster symbiotic interactions in the wild will necessitate working in ecologically realistic conditions. Besides, context-dependent effects of symbionts, and their influence on host developmental plasticity, shed light on how environmentally acquired symbionts may contribute to host evolution.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Guilhot ◽  
Anne Xuéreb ◽  
Simon Fellous

AbstractMany symbionts provide nutrients to their host and/or affect its phenotypic plasticity. Such symbiont effects on host resource acquisition and allocation are often simultaneous and difficult to disentangle. Here we partitioned symbiont effects on host resource acquisition and allocation using a new framework based on the analysis of a well-established trade-off between host fitness components. This framework was used to analyze the effect of symbiotic yeast on the larval development of Drosophila larvae in field-realistic conditions. The screening of eighteen yeast fresh isolates showed they had similar effects on the resource acquisition in Drosophila melanogaster, D. simulans and D. suzukii but species-specific effects on resource allocation between either larval development speed or adult size. These differences shed light on the ecology of Drosophila flies and illustrate why distinguishing between these qualitatively different effects of microorganisms on hosts is essential to understand and predict symbiosis evolution.


2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIW PHILLIPS

A large number of studies show that low birth weight is associated with cardiovascular disease and its risk factors including raised blood pressure, glucose intolerance and the metabolic syndrome. These findings have formed the basis for the ‘fetal origins hypothesis’. This suggests that the operation of adverse influences during intrauterine life leads to permanent alterations in fetal structure and physiology which predispose to adult disease. The process is known as developmental plasticity or programming and is strongly supported by studies in experimental animals. Ongoing research is providing important insights in to the underlying mechanisms. It is likely that adverse environmental factors during pregnancy are important, and that these include suboptimal nutrition of the mother. The long-term programming effects may be transduced by alterations in the set-point of key hormonal axes, especially the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and recent evidence suggests that epigenetic modification of gene expression may be a key factor. Importantly, this has the potential to produce transgenerational effects.The hypothesis has not remained unchallenged and a wide variety of criticisms have been put forward. These include accusations that the associations are weak and overestimated due to publication bias, that there are many inconsistencies between studies, that the associations are confounded by lifestyle factors, and that there has been inappropriate adjustment for adult size. Finally many studies report that the findings in singletons do not seem to be replicated in twins. While many of these issues have been resolved, some continue to form the basis of a lively dialogue and ongoing research. Nevertheless the research findings have important implications for clinical obstetric practice and maternal-fetal medicine.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 1027-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Hanson ◽  
P. D. Gluckman

Extensive experimental animal studies and epidemiological observations have shown that environmental influences during early development affect the risk of later pathophysiological processes associated with chronic, especially noncommunicable, disease (NCD). This field is recognized as the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). We discuss the extent to which DOHaD represents the result of the physiological processes of developmental plasticity, which may have potential adverse consequences in terms of NCD risk later, or whether it is the manifestation of pathophysiological processes acting in early life but only becoming apparent as disease later. We argue that the evidence suggests the former, through the operation of conditioning processes induced across the normal range of developmental environments, and we summarize current knowledge of the physiological processes involved. The adaptive pathway to later risk accords with current concepts in evolutionary developmental biology, especially those concerning parental effects. Outside the normal range, effects on development can result in nonadaptive processes, and we review their underlying mechanisms and consequences. New concepts concerning the underlying epigenetic and other mechanisms involved in both disruptive and nondisruptive pathways to disease are reviewed, including the evidence for transgenerational passage of risk from both maternal and paternal lines. These concepts have wider implications for understanding the causes and possible prevention of NCDs such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, for broader social policy and for the increasing attention paid in public health to the lifecourse approach to NCD prevention.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Guilhot ◽  
Antoine Rombaut ◽  
Anne Xuéreb ◽  
Kate Howell ◽  
Simon Fellous

AbstractInteractions between microbial symbionts of metazoan hosts are emerging as key features of symbiotic systems. Little is known about the role of such interactions on the maintenance of symbiosis through host’s life cycle. We studied the influence of symbiotic bacteria on the maintenance of symbiotic yeast through metamorphosis of the fly Drosophila melanogaster. To this end we mimicked the development of larvae in natural fruit. In absence of bacteria yeast was never found in young adults. However, yeast could maintain through metamorphosis when larvae were inoculated with symbiotic bacteria isolated from D. melanogaster faeces. Furthermore, an Enterobacteriaceae favoured yeast transstadial maintenance. Because yeast is a critical symbiont of D. melanogaster flies, bacterial influence on host-yeast association may have consequences for the evolution of insect-yeast-bacteria tripartite symbiosis and their cooperation.Summary statementBacterial symbionts of Drosophila influence yeast maintenance through fly metamorphosis, a novel observation that may have consequences for the evolution of insect-yeast-bacteria interactions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1808) ◽  
pp. 20190603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela E. Douglas

In many animal hosts, microbial symbionts are housed within specialized structures known as symbiotic organs, but the evolutionary origins of these structures have rarely been investigated. Here, I adopt an evolutionary developmental (evo-devo) approach, specifically to apply knowledge of the development of symbiotic organs to gain insights into their evolutionary origins and diversification. In particular, host genetic changes associated with evolution of symbiotic organs can be inferred from studies to identify the host genes that orchestrate the development of symbiotic organs, recognizing that microbial products may also play a key role in triggering the developmental programme in some associations. These studies may also reveal whether higher animal taxonomic groups (order, class, phylum, etc.) possess a common genetic regulatory network for symbiosis that is latent in taxa lacking symbiotic organs, and activated at the origination of symbiosis in different host lineages. In this way, apparent instances of convergent evolution of symbiotic organs may be homologous in terms of a common genetic blueprint for symbiosis. Advances in genetic technologies, including reverse genetic tools and genome editing, will facilitate the application of evo-devo approaches to investigate the evolution of symbiotic organs in animals. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of the microbiome in host evolution’.


1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Gee

The hypothesis that developmental plasticity contributes to variation in swimbladder length, volume, weight of tissue, and buoyancy was examined in two species of dace. At both maximum and minimum buoyancy attained dace reared in still water to adult size possessed swimbladders of a greater length, volume, and weight of tissue than those reared in current. Such developmental plasticity affected the range over which buoyancy could be adjusted (behavioral plasticity). Those reared in still water attained a more buoyant condition than those reared in current while the latter attained a greater degree of negative buoyancy.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Hall ◽  
Daniel A. Warner

ABSTRACTNatural thermal environments are notably complex and challenging to mimic in controlled studies. Consequently, our understanding of the ecological relevance and underlying mechanisms of organismal responses to thermal environments is often limited. For example, studies of thermal developmental plasticity have provided key insights into the ecological consequences of temperature variation, but most laboratory studies use treatments that do not reflect natural thermal regimes. While controlling other important factors, we compared the effects of naturally fluctuating temperatures to commonly used laboratory regimes on development of lizard embryos and offspring phenotypes and survival. We incubated eggs in 4 treatments – 3 that followed procedures commonly used in the literature, and one that precisely mimicked naturally fluctuating nest temperatures. To explore context-dependent effects, we replicated these treatments across two seasonal regimes: relatively cool temperatures from nests constructed early in the season and warm temperatures from late-season nests. We show that natural thermal fluctuations have a relatively small effect on developmental variables but enhance hatchling performance and survival at cooler temperatures. Thus, natural thermal fluctuations are important for successful development and simpler approximations (e.g. repeated sine waves, constant temperatures) may poorly reflect natural systems under some conditions. Thus, the benefits of precisely replicating real-world temperatures in controlled studies may outweigh logistical costs. Although patterns might vary according to study system and research goals, our methodological approach demonstrates the importance of incorporating natural variation into controlled studies and provides biologists interested in thermal ecology with a framework for validating the effectiveness of commonly used methods.


2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (8) ◽  
pp. 1751-1764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenying Wang ◽  
Hyo Jeong Kim ◽  
Ping Lv ◽  
Bruce Tempel ◽  
Ebenezer N. Yamoah

Developmental plasticity in spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) ensues from profound alterations in the functional properties of the developing hair cell (HC). For example, prehearing HCs are spontaneously active. However, at the posthearing stage, HC membrane properties transition to graded receptor potentials. The dendrotoxin (DTX)-sensitive Kv1 channel subunits (Kv1.1, 1.2, and 1.6) shape the firing properties and membrane potential of SGNs, and the expression of the channel undergoes developmental changes. Because of the stochastic nature of Kv subunit heteromultimerization, it has been difficult to determine physiologically relevant subunit-specific interactions and their functions in the underlying mechanisms of Kv1 channel plasticity in SGNs. Using Kcna2 null mutant mice, we demonstrate a surprising paradox in changes in the membrane properties of SGNs. The resting membrane potential of Kcna2−/− SGNs was significantly hyperpolarized compared with that of age-matched wild-type (WT) SGNs. Analyses of outward currents in the mutant SGNs suggest an apparent approximately twofold increase in outward K+ currents. We show that in vivo and in vitro heteromultimerization of Kv1.2 and Kv1.4 α-subunits underlies the striking and unexpected alterations in the properties of SGNs. The results suggest that heteromeric interactions of Kv1.2 and Kv1.4 dominate the defining features of Kv1 channels in SGNs.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah F. Worsley ◽  
Tabitha M. Innocent ◽  
Neil A. Holmes ◽  
Mahmoud M. Al-Bassam ◽  
Barrie Wilkinson ◽  
...  

AbstractCuticular microbiomes of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants are exceptional because they are freely colonizable, and yet the prevalence of Pseudonocardia, a native vertically transmitted symbiont that controls Escovopsis fungus-garden disease, is never compromised. Game theory suggests that competition-based screening can allow the selective recruitment of antibiotic-producing bacteria from the environment, by fomenting and biasing competition for abundant host resources. Mutual symbiont aggression benefits the host and also maintains native symbiont viability. Here we use RNA-stable isotope probing (RNA-SIP) to confirm predictions that Acromyrmex cuticles can maintain a range of microbial symbionts. We then used dual-RNA-sequencing and bioassays to show that vertically transmitted Pseudonocardia strains produce antibacterials that differentially reduce the growth rates of other microbes, ultimately eliminating non-antibiotic-producing strains that might parasitize the symbiosis while still allowing antibiotic-producing Streptomyces strains to survive. Open cuticular microbiomes can thus maintain a specific co-evolved mutualism by restricting access for other bacterial strains.


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