Coevolutionary interactions are thought to have spurred the evolution of key innovations and driven the diversification of much of life on Earth. However, the genetic and evolutionary basis of the ...innovations that facilitate such interactions remains poorly understood. We examined the coevolutionary interactions between plants (Brassicales) and butterflies (Pieridae), and uncovered evidence for an escalating evolutionary arms-race. Although gradual changes in trait complexity appear to have been facilitated by allelic turnover, key innovations are associated with gene and genome duplications. Furthermore, we show that the origins of both chemical defenses and of molecular counter adaptations were associated with shifts in diversification rates during the arms-race. These findings provide an important connection between the origins of biodiversity, coevolution, and the role of gene and genome duplications as a substrate for novel traits.
The Pecorans (higher ruminants) are believed to have rapidly speciated in the Mid-Eocene, resulting in five distinct extant families: Antilocapridae, Giraffidae, Moschidae, Cervidae, and Bovidae. Due ...to the rapid radiation, the Pecoran phylogeny has proven difficult to resolve, and 11 of the 15 possible rooted phylogenies describing ancestral relationships among the Antilocapridae, Giraffidae, Cervidae, and Bovidae have each been argued as representations of the true phylogeny. Here we demonstrate that a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping platform designed for one species can be used to genotype ancient DNA from an extinct species and DNA from species diverged up to 29 million years ago and that the produced genotypes can be used to resolve the phylogeny for this rapidly radiated infraorder. We used a high-throughput assay with 54,693 SNP loci developed for Bos taurus taurus to rapidly genotype 678 individuals representing 61 Pecoran species. We produced a highly resolved phylogeny for this diverse group based upon 40,843 genome-wide SNP, which is five times as many informative characters as have previously been analyzed. We also establish a method to amplify and screen genomic information from extinct species, and place Bison priscus within the Bovidae. The quality of genotype calls and the placement of samples within a well-supported phylogeny may provide an important test for validating the fidelity and integrity of ancient samples. Finally, we constructed a phylogenomic network to accurately describe the relationships between 48 cattle breeds and facilitate inferences concerning the history of domestication and breed formation.
•MEG beta-band power suppression characterizes functional cortical engagement.•Time-resolved analysis reveals bilateral temporal regions over a narrative.•Progressive right-hemispheric dominance can ...be linked to social inference.
PET and fMRI studies suggest that auditory narrative comprehension is supported by a bilateral multilobar cortical network. The superior temporal resolution of magnetoencephalography (MEG) makes it an attractive tool to investigate the dynamics of how different neuroanatomic substrates engage during narrative comprehension. Using beta-band power changes as a marker of cortical engagement, we studied MEG responses during an auditory story comprehension task in 31 healthy adults. The protocol consisted of two runs, each interleaving 7 blocks of the story comprehension task with 15 blocks of an auditorily presented math task as a control for phonological processing, working memory, and attention processes. Sources at the cortical surface were estimated with a frequency-resolved beamformer. Beta-band power was estimated in the frequency range of 16–24 Hz over 1-sec epochs starting from 400 msec after stimulus onset until the end of a story or math problem presentation. These power estimates were compared to 1-second epochs of data before the stimulus block onset. The task-related cortical engagement was inferred from beta-band power decrements. Group-level source activations were statistically compared using non-parametric permutation testing. A story-math contrast of beta-band power changes showed greater bilateral cortical engagement within the fusiform gyrus, inferior and middle temporal gyri, parahippocampal gyrus, and left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during story comprehension. A math-story contrast of beta power decrements showed greater bilateral but left-lateralized engagement of the middle frontal gyrus and superior parietal lobule. The evolution of cortical engagement during five temporal windows across the presentation of stories showed significant involvement during the first interval of the narrative of bilateral opercular and insular regions as well as the ventral and lateral temporal cortex, extending more posteriorly on the left and medially on the right. Over time, there continued to be sustained right anterior ventral temporal engagement, with increasing involvement of the right anterior parahippocampal gyrus, STG, MTG, posterior superior temporal sulcus, inferior parietal lobule, frontal operculum, and insula, while left hemisphere engagement decreased. Our findings are consistent with prior imaging studies of narrative comprehension, but in addition, they demonstrate increasing right-lateralized engagement over the course of narratives, suggesting an important role for these right-hemispheric regions in semantic integration as well as social and pragmatic inference processing.
Premise
Whole‐genome duplications (WGDs) are prevalent throughout the evolutionary history of plants. For example, dozens of WGDs have been phylogenetically localized across the order Brassicales, ...specifically, within the family Brassicaceae. A WGD event has also been identified in the Cleomaceae, the sister family to Brassicaceae, yet its placement, as well as that of WGDs in other families in the order, remains unclear.
Methods
Phylo‐transcriptomic data were generated and used to infer a nuclear phylogeny for 74 Brassicales taxa. Genome survey sequencing was also performed on 66 of those taxa to infer a chloroplast phylogeny. These phylogenies were used to assess and confirm relationships among the major families of the Brassicales and within Brassicaceae. Multiple WGD inference methods were then used to assess the placement of WGDs on the nuclear phylogeny.
Results
Well‐supported chloroplast and nuclear phylogenies for the Brassicales and the putative placement of the Cleomaceae‐specific WGD event Th‐ɑ are presented. This work also provides evidence for previously hypothesized WGDs, including a well‐supported event shared by at least two members of the Resedaceae family, and a possible event within the Capparaceae.
Conclusions
Phylogenetics and the placement of WGDs within highly polyploid lineages continues to be a major challenge. This study adds to the conversation on WGD inference difficulties by demonstrating that sampling is especially important for WGD identification and phylogenetic placement. Given its economic importance and genomic resources, the Brassicales continues to be an ideal group for assessing WGD inference methods.
The members of the tribe Brassiceae share a whole-genome triplication (WGT), and one proposed model for its formation is a two-step pair of hybridizations producing hexaploid descendants. However, ...evidence for this model is incomplete, and the evolutionary and functional constraints that drove evolution after the hexaploidy are even less understood. Here, we report a new genome sequence of
, a species sister to most sequenced Brassiceae. Using this new genome and three others that share the hexaploidy, we traced the history of gene loss after the WGT using the Polyploidy Orthology Inference Tool (POInT). We confirm the two-step formation model and infer that there was a significant temporal gap between those two allopolyploidizations, with about a third of the gene losses from the first two subgenomes occurring before the arrival of the third. We also, for the 90,000 individual genes in our study, make parental subgenome assignments, inferring, with measured uncertainty, from which of the progenitor genomes of the allohexaploidy each gene derives. We further show that each subgenome has a statistically distinguishable rate of homoeolog losses. There is little indication of functional distinction between the three subgenomes: the individual subgenomes show no patterns of functional enrichment, no excess of shared protein-protein or metabolic interactions between their members, and no biases in their likelihood of having experienced a recent selective sweep. We propose a "mix and match" model of allopolyploidy, in which subgenome origin drives homoeolog loss propensities but where genes from different subgenomes function together without difficulty.
Naming decline after left temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery is common and difficult to predict. Preoperative language fMRI may predict naming decline, but this application is still lacking ...evidence. We performed a large multicenter cohort study of the effectiveness of fMRI in predicting naming deficits after left TLE surgery.
At 10 US epilepsy centers, 81 patients with left TLE were prospectively recruited and given the Boston Naming Test (BNT) before and ≈7 months after anterior temporal lobectomy. An fMRI language laterality index (LI) was measured with an auditory semantic decision-tone decision task contrast. Correlations and a multiple regression model were built with a priori chosen predictors.
Naming decline occurred in 56% of patients and correlated with fMRI LI (
= -0.41,
< 0.001), age at epilepsy onset (
-0.30,
= 0.006), age at surgery (
= -0.23,
= 0.039), and years of education (
= 0.24,
= 0.032). Preoperative BNT score and duration of epilepsy were not correlated with naming decline. The regression model explained 31% of the variance, with fMRI contributing 14%, with a 96% sensitivity and 44% specificity for predicting meaningful naming decline. Cross-validation resulted in an average prediction error of 6 points.
An fMRI-based regression model predicted naming outcome after left TLE surgery in a large, prospective multicenter sample, with fMRI as the strongest predictor. These results provide evidence supporting the use of preoperative language fMRI to predict language outcome in patients undergoing left TLE surgery.
This study provides Class I evidence that fMRI language lateralization can help in predicting naming decline after left TLE surgery.
Numerous studies have shown that surgical resection of the left anterior temporal lobe (ATL) is associated with a decline in object naming ability (Hermann et al., 1999). In contrast, few studies ...have examined the effects of left ATL surgery on auditory description naming (ADN) or category-specific naming. Compared with object naming, which loads heavily on visual recognition processes, ADN provides a more specific measure of concept retrieval. The present study examined ADN declines in a large group of patients who were tested before and after left ATL surgery, using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial manipulation of uniqueness (common vs. proper nouns), taxonomic category (living vs. nonliving things), and time (pre- vs. postsurgery). Significant declines occurred across all categories but were substantially larger for proper living (PL) concepts, i.e., famous individuals. The disproportionate decline in PL noun naming relative to other conditions is consistent with the notion that the left ATL is specialized not only for retrieval of unique entity concepts, but also plays a role in processing social concepts and person-specific features.
•Auditory description naming provides a more specific measure of concept retrieval.•Naming of proper living concepts declines disproportionately after left anterior temporal lobe resection.•The left anterior temporal lobe seems to play a role in processing social concepts and person specific features.