scholarly journals Unmatched level of molecular convergence among deeply divergent complex multicellular fungi

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsolt Merényi ◽  
Arun N. Prasanna ◽  
Wang Zheng ◽  
Károly Kovács ◽  
Botond Hegedüs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories ◽  
Repeated Evolution ◽  
Selection Limit ◽  
Fungal Genomes ◽  
Coding Capacity ◽  
Molecular Convergence

AbstractConvergent evolution is pervasive in nature, but it is poorly understood how various constraints and natural selection limit the diversity of evolvable phenotypes. Here, we report that, despite >650 million years of divergence, the same genes have repeatedly been co-opted for the development of complex multicellularity in the two largest clades of fungi—the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Co-opted genes have undergone duplications in both clades, resulting in >81% convergence across shared multicellularity-related families. This convergence is coupled with a rich repertoire of multicellularity-related genes in ancestors that predate complex multicellular fungi, suggesting that the coding capacity of early fungal genomes was well suited for the repeated evolution of complex multicellularity. Our work suggests that evolution may be predictable not only when organisms are closely related or are under similar selection pressures, but also if the genome biases the potential evolutionary trajectories organisms can take, even across large phylogenetic distances.

scholarly journals Unmatched Level of Molecular Convergence among Deeply Divergent Complex Multicellular Fungi

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 2228-2240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsolt Merényi ◽  
Arun N Prasanna ◽  
Zheng Wang ◽  
Károly Kovács ◽  
Botond Hegedüs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Families ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Body Development ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories ◽  
Repeated Evolution ◽  
Selection Limit ◽  
Fungal Genomes ◽  
Coding Capacity

Abstract Convergent evolution is pervasive in nature, but it is poorly understood how various constraints and natural selection limit the diversity of evolvable phenotypes. Here, we analyze the transcriptome across fruiting body development to understand the independent evolution of complex multicellularity in the two largest clades of fungi—the Agarico- and Pezizomycotina. Despite >650 My of divergence between these clades, we find that very similar sets of genes have convergently been co-opted for complex multicellularity, followed by expansions of their gene families by duplications. Over 82% of shared multicellularity-related gene families were expanding in both clades, indicating a high prevalence of convergence also at the gene family level. This convergence is coupled with a rich inferred repertoire of multicellularity-related genes in the most recent common ancestor of the Agarico- and Pezizomycotina, consistent with the hypothesis that the coding capacity of ancestral fungal genomes might have promoted the repeated evolution of complex multicellularity. We interpret this repertoire as an indication of evolutionary predisposition of fungal ancestors for evolving complex multicellular fruiting bodies. Our work suggests that evolutionary convergence may happen not only when organisms are closely related or are under similar selection pressures, but also when ancestral genomic repertoires render certain evolutionary trajectories more likely than others, even across large phylogenetic distances.

scholarly journals Human niche construction in interdisciplinary focus

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1566) ◽  
pp. 785-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Kendal ◽  
Jamshid J. Tehrani ◽  
John Odling-Smee
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Niche Construction ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Causal Process ◽  
Genetic Inheritance ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Ecological Inheritance ◽  
Human Niche Construction ◽  
The Social

Niche construction is an endogenous causal process in evolution, reciprocal to the causal process of natural selection. It works by adding ecological inheritance , comprising the inheritance of natural selection pressures previously modified by niche construction, to genetic inheritance in evolution. Human niche construction modifies selection pressures in environments in ways that affect both human evolution, and the evolution of other species. Human ecological inheritance is exceptionally potent because it includes the social transmission and inheritance of cultural knowledge, and material culture. Human genetic inheritance in combination with human cultural inheritance thus provides a basis for gene–culture coevolution, and multivariate dynamics in cultural evolution. Niche construction theory potentially integrates the biological and social aspects of the human sciences. We elaborate on these processes, and provide brief introductions to each of the papers published in this theme issue.

Behavioural and genetic analyses of mate choice and reproductive success in two Chinook salmon populations

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa L. Evans ◽  
Bryan D. Neff ◽  
Daniel D. Heath
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Natural Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mhc Class Ii ◽  
Chinook Salmon ◽  
Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Evolutionary Force

Sexual selection is recognized as an important evolutionary force in salmon. However, relatively little is known about variation in sexual selection pressures across salmon populations or the potential role of natural selection as a driver of adaptive mating patterns. Here, we examine mating behaviour and correlates of reproductive success in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from the Quinsam and Little Qualicum rivers in British Columbia, Canada — two populations for which we have previously found evidence of natural selection operating on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes. In both populations, males courted females and exhibited dominance behaviour towards other males, and the frequency of each behaviour was positively associated with reproductive success. Males were more aggressive towards females with whom they would produce offspring of low or high MHC class II diversity, and the offspring of males from the Quinsam River exhibited higher diversity at the MHC class I than expected. We discuss our results in relation to local natural selection pressures on the MHC and the potential for MHC-dependent mate choice.

Unlike terrestrial hermit crabs, marine hermit crabs do not prefer shells previously used by conspecifics

Crustaceana ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 87 (7) ◽  
pp. 856-865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Laidre ◽  
Rebecca Trinh
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Matched Pairs ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Essential Resource ◽  
The Many

Gastropod shells represent an essential resource for hermit crabs (Decapoda, Anomura). In many cases, hermit crabs acquire used shells from conspecifics who previously occupied the shell. Terrestrial hermit crabs (Coenobita compressus H. Milne Edwards, 1836) strongly prefer used shells. Here we test whether marine hermit crabs (Pagurus samuelis (Stimpson, 1857)) also exhibit a preference for used shells by providing them with matched pairs of (1) a used shell (previously occupied by either the choosing crab itself or by a conspecific) versus (2) a brand new shell (freshly derived from a predated gastropod). Unlike terrestrial hermit crabs, marine hermit crabs showed no preference for used shells (either their original shell or a shell from a conspecific). We suggest the divergent shell preferences of marine and terrestrial hermit crabs relate to the contrasting natural selection pressures in the sea versus on land. In particular, the used shells of terrestrial hermit crabs are architecturally remodeled by prior occupants and these remodeled shells represent a superior resource on land. In contrast, marine hermit crabs never remodel shells, and for them a used shell may be less protective than a new shell against the many specialized shell predators in the ocean.

scholarly journals Ecology and the Evolution of Sex Chromosomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Meisel
Keyword(s):  
Sex Chromosomes ◽  
Chromosome Evolution ◽  
Sex Chromosome ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Sex Chromosome Evolution ◽  
Sexual Antagonism ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories ◽  
Animal Genomes

This article reviews and discusses ecological factors that affect sex chromosome evolution. Sex chromosomes are common features of animal genomes, and are often the location where master sex determination genes are found. Many important aspects of sex chromosome evolution are thought to be driven by sex-specific selection pressures, such as sexual antagonism and sexual selection. Sex-specific selection affects both the formation of sex chromosomes from autosomes and differences in the evolutionary trajectories between sex chromosomes and autosomes. Most population genetic models are agnostic as to whether the sex-specific selection pressures arise from intrinsic features of organismal biology or extrinsic factors that depend on environment. Here, I review the evidence that extrinsic, or ecological, factors are important determinants of sex-specific selection pressures that shape sex chromosome evolution.

scholarly journals Plasticity of plant defense and its evolutionary implications in wild populations of Boechera stricta

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie R. Wagner ◽  
Thomas Mitchell-Olds
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Environmental Gradient ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Reaction Norm ◽  
Relative Fitness ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Common Gardens ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories ◽  
Boechera Stricta ◽  
New Habitats

AbstractPhenotypic plasticity is thought to impact evolutionary trajectories by shifting trait values in a direction that is either favored by natural selection (“adaptive plasticity”) or disfavored (“nonadaptive” plasticity). However, it is unclear how commonly each of these types of plasticity occurs in natural populations. To answer this question, we measured glucosinolate defensive chemistry and reproductive fitness in over 1,500 individuals of the wild perennial mustard Boechera stricta, planted in four common gardens across central Idaho, USA. Glucosinolate profiles—including total glucosinolate quantity as well as the relative abundances and overall diversity of different compounds—were strongly plastic both among habitats and within habitats. Patterns of glucosinolate plasticity varied greatly among genotypes. More often than expected by chance, glucosinolate profiles shifted in a direction that matched the direction of natural selection, indicating that plasticity among habitats tended to increase relative fitness. In contrast, we found no evidence for within-habitat selection on glucosinolate reaction norm slopes (i.e., plasticity along a continuous environmental gradient). Together, our results indicate that glucosinolate plasticity may improve the ability of B. stricta populations to persist after migration to new habitats.

scholarly journals Adaptive substitutions underlying cardiac glycoside insensitivity in insects exhibit epistasis in vivo

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Taverner ◽  
Lu Yang ◽  
Zackery J. Barile ◽  
Becky Lin ◽  
Julie Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Glycoside ◽  
Cardiac Glycosides ◽  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Herbivorous Insects ◽  
Small Subset ◽  
Selection Pressures ◽  
Repeated Evolution ◽  
Neural Dysfunction

AbstractPredicting how species will respond to selection pressures requires understanding the factors that constrain their evolution. We use genome engineering of Drosophila to investigate constraints on the repeated evolution of unrelated herbivorous insects to toxic cardiac glycosides, which primarily occurs via a small subset of possible functionally-relevant substitutions to Na+,K+-ATPase. Surprisingly, we find that frequently observed adaptive substitutions at two sites, 111 and 122, are lethal when homozygous and adult heterozygotes exhibit dominant neural dysfunction. We identify a phylogenetically correlated substitution, A119S, that partially ameliorates the deleterious effects of substitutions at 111 and 122. Despite contributing little to cardiac glycoside-insensitivity in vitro, A119S, like substitutions at 111 and 122, substantially increases adult survivorship upon cardiac glycoside exposure. Our results demonstrate the importance of epistasis in constraining adaptive paths. Moreover, by revealing distinct effects of substitutions in vitro and in vivo, our results underscore the importance of evaluating the fitness of adaptive substitutions and their interactions in whole organisms.

scholarly journals The effects of increasing the number of taxa on inferences of molecular convergence

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregg W.C. Thomas ◽  
Matthew W. Hahn ◽  
Yoonsoo Hahn
Keyword(s):  
Positive Selection ◽  
Sample Size ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Convergent Evolution ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Original Analysis ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Molecular Convergence

AbstractConvergent evolution provides insight into the link between phenotype and genotype. Recently, large-scale comparative studies of convergent evolution have become possible, but researchers are still trying to determine the best way to design these types of analyses. One aspect of molecular convergence studies that has not yet been investigated is how taxonomic sample size affects inferences of molecular convergence. Here we show that increased sample size decreases the amount of inferred molecular convergence associated with the three convergent transitions to a marine environment in mammals. The sampling of more taxa—both with and without the convergent phenotype—reveals that alleles associated only with marine mammals in small datasets are actually more widespread, or are not shared by all marine species. The sampling of more taxa also allows finer resolution of ancestral substitutions, revealing that they are not in fact on lineages leading to solely marine species. We revisit a previous study on marine mammals and find that only 7 of the reported 43 genes with convergent substitutions still show signs of convergence with a larger number of background species. However, 4 of those 7 genes also showed signs of positive selection in the original analysis and may still be good candidates for adaptive convergence. Though our study is framed around the convergence of marine mammals, we expect our conclusions on taxonomic sampling are generalizable to any study of molecular convergence.

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