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► We used empirical data to study sampling strategies for constructing species trees. ► Sex-linked loci significantly outperformed autosomal loci at all levels of sampling. ► Adding a ...mitochondrial gene to a set of loci substantially improved the species tree. ► Sampling more genes substantially improved the resolution of the species tree. ► Sampling greater numbers of individuals had minor effects on the species tree.
Systematists can now use multi-locus data to construct species trees that take into account the stochastic nature of gene tree divergence among populations. There is a need to evaluate the new methods for species tree reconstruction in order to determine what kinds of loci to use and the most effective sampling schemes in terms of numbers of genes and numbers of individuals per species. Here we study sampling strategies with an empirical data set for six shorebird species in which we sequenced 1 mitochondrial, 12 autosomal, and 12 Z-linked loci for >8 individuals/species. We found that sampling greater numbers of genes resulted in substantial improvements to the resolution of the species tree, but sampling greater numbers of individuals had minor effects. We found that Z-linked loci significantly outperformed autosomal loci at all levels of sampling, which likely resulted from the lower effective population size of the Z-linked loci. Therefore, sex-linked loci are likely to be a powerful tool for multi-locus phylogenetic studies. We found that adding a mitochondrial gene to a set of Z-linked or autosomal loci substantially improved the resolution of the tree. Overall, our results help evaluate how best to maximize phylogenetic resolution while minimizing the costs of sequencing and computation when performing species tree analyses.
Polymorphism may play an important role in speciation because new species could originate from the distinctive morphs observed in polymorphic populations. However, much remains to be understood about ...the process by which morphs found new species. To detail the steps of this mode of speciation, we studied the geographic variation and evolutionary history of a throat color polymorphism that distinguishes the "rock-paper-scissors" mating strategies of the side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana. We found that the polymorphism is geographically widespread and has been maintained for millions of years. However, there are many populations with reduced numbers of throat color morphs. Phylogenetic reconstruction showed that the polymorphism is ancestral, but it has been independently lost eight times, often giving rise to morphologically distinct subspecies/species. Changes to the polymorphism likely involved selection because the allele for one particular male strategy, the "sneaker" morph, has been lost in all cases. Polymorphism loss was associated with accelerated evolution of male size, female size, and sexual dimorphism, which suggests that polymorphism loss can promote rapid divergence among populations and aid species formation.
Critical thermal limits are thought to be correlated with the elevational distribution of species living in tropical montane regions, but with upper limits being relatively invariant compared to ...lower limits. To test this hypothesis, we examined the variation of thermal physiological traits in a group of terrestrial breeding frogs (Craugastoridae) distributed along a tropical elevational gradient. We measured the critical thermal maximum (CTmax; n = 22 species) and critical thermal minimum (CTmin; n = 14 species) of frogs captured between the Amazon floodplain (250 m asl) and the high Andes (3,800 m asl). After inferring a multilocus species tree, we conducted a phylogenetically informed test of whether body size, body mass, and elevation contributed to the observed variation in CTmax and CTmin along the gradient. We also tested whether CTmax and CTmin exhibit different rates of change given that critical thermal limits (and their plasticity) may have evolved differently in response to different temperature constraints along the gradient. Variation of critical thermal traits was significantly correlated with species’ elevational midpoint, their maximum and minimum elevations, as well as the maximum air temperature and the maximum operative temperature as measured across this gradient. Both thermal limits showed substantial variation, but CTmin exhibited relatively faster rates of change than CTmax, as observed in other taxa. Nonetheless, our findings call for caution in assuming inflexibility of upper thermal limits and underscore the value of collecting additional empirical data on species’ thermal physiology across elevational gradients.
A widely held assumption is that climatic niches have not changed along the history of species, both within and among closely related species. Using a phylogenetic framework, this study documents high variability in both elevational distribution and tolerance to heat among closely related species. Our findings suggest that thermal traits in ectotherms can adjust rapidly and so cannot be simply extrapolated from relatives.
The consequences of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are devastating to individuals and society, yet few treatments are currently available. To identify genes regulating the behavioral effects of ...ethanol, we conducted a genetic screen in
Drosophila and identified a mutant,
happyhour (
hppy), due to its increased resistance to the sedative effects of ethanol. Hppy protein shows strong homology to mammalian Ste20 family kinases of the GCK-1 subfamily. Genetic and biochemical experiments revealed that the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-signaling pathway regulates ethanol sensitivity in
Drosophila and that Hppy functions as an inhibitor of the pathway. Acute pharmacological inhibition of the EGF receptor (EGFR) in adult animals altered acute ethanol sensitivity in both flies and mice and reduced ethanol consumption in a preclinical rat model of alcoholism. Inhibitors of the EGFR or components of its signaling pathway are thus potential pharmacotherapies for AUDs.
Population-level comparative analyses can link microevolutionary processes within populations to marcroevolutionary patterns of diversification. We used the comparative method to study the evolution ...of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) among populations of side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana). Uta stansburiana is polymorphic for different male mating and female life-history strategies in some populations, but monomorphic in others. We tested whether intrasexual selection among males, fecundity selection on females, and the presence of polymorphic strategies affected levels of SSD. We first resolved a phylogeny for 41 populations across the range of the species and documented a substantial regional structure. Our intraspecific data had significant phylogenetic signal, and correcting for phylogeny using independent contrasts had large effects on our results. Polymorphic populations had male-biased SSD and changes in male body size, levels of tail breaks, and SSD consistent with the intrasexual selection hypothesis. Monomorphic populations had changes in female size, clutch size, and SSD consistent with the fecundity selection hypothesis. Fecundity selection is a likely cause of some monomorphic populations having no SSD or female-biased SSD. Our results suggest that changes in mating strategies are associated with phenotypic diversification and multiple evolutionary forces can shape SSD.
Both frugivores and nectarivores are potentially exposed to dietary ethanol produced by fermentative yeasts which metabolize sugars. Some nectarivorous mammals exhibit a preference for ...low-concentration ethanol solutions compared to controls of comparable caloric content, but behavioural responses to ethanol by nectar-feeding birds are unknown. We investigated dietary preference by Anna's Hummingbirds (
) for ethanol-enhanced sucrose solutions. Via repeated binary-choice experiments, three adult male hummingbirds were exposed to sucrose solutions containing 0%, 1% or 2% ethanol; rates of volitional nectar consumption were measured over a 3 h interval. Hummingbirds did not discriminate between 0% and 1% ethanol solutions, but exhibited significantly reduced rates of consumption of a 2% ethanol solution. Opportunistic measurements of ethanol concentrations within hummingbird feeders registered values peaking at about 0.05%. Ethanol at low concentrations (i.e. up to 1%) is not aversive to Anna's Hummingbirds and may be characteristic of both natural and anthropogenic nectars upon which they feed. Given high daily amounts of nectar consumption by hummingbirds, chronic physiological exposure to ethanol can thus be substantial, although naturally occurring concentrations within floral nectar are unknown.
Abstract
Migration is one of the most physical and energetically demanding periods in an individual bird’s life. The composition of the bird’s gut or cloacal microbiota can temporarily change during ...migration, likely due to differences in diets, habitats and other environmental conditions experienced
en route
. However, how physiological condition, migratory patterns, and other drivers interact to affect microbiota composition of migratory birds is still unclear. We sampled the cloacal bacterial microbiota of a long-distance migrant, the steppe buzzard (
Buteo buteo vulpinus
), at an important spring stopover bottleneck in Eilat, Israel, after crossing the ca. 1800 km Sahara Desert. We examined whether diversity and composition of the cloacal microbiota varied with body condition, sex, movement patterns (i.e., arrival time and migration distance), and survival. Early arrival to Eilat was associated with better body condition, longer post-Eilat spring migration distance, higher microbial α-diversity, and differences in microbiota composition. Specifically, early arrivals had higher abundance of the phylum Synergistota and five genera, including
Jonquetella
and
Peptococcus
, whereas the phylum Proteobacteria and genus
Escherichia-Shigella
(as well as three other genera) were more abundant in later arrivals. While the differences in α-diversity and
Escherichia-Shigella
seem to be mainly driven by body condition, other compositional differences associated with arrival date could be indicators of longer migratory journeys (e.g., pre-fueling at wintering grounds or stopover habitats along the way) or migratory performance. No significant differences were found between the microbiota of surviving and non-surviving individuals. Overall, our results indicate that variation in steppe buzzard microbiota is linked to variation in migratory patterns (i.e., capture/arrival date) and body condition, highlighting the importance of sampling the microbiota of GPS-tracked individuals on multiple occasions along their migration routes to gain a more detailed understanding of the links between migration, microbiota, and health in birds.
The relationship between alcohol consumption, sensitivity, and tolerance is an important question that has been addressed in humans and rodent models. Studies have shown that alcohol consumption and ...risk of abuse may correlate with (1) increased sensitivity to the stimulant effects of alcohol, (2) decreased sensitivity to the depressant effects of alcohol, and (3) increased alcohol tolerance. However, many conflicting results have been observed. To complement these studies, we utilized a different organism and approach to analyze the relationship between ethanol consumption and other ethanol responses. Using a set of 20 Drosophila melanogaster mutants that were isolated for altered ethanol sensitivity, we measured ethanol-induced hyperactivity, ethanol sedation, sedation tolerance, and ethanol consumption preference. Ethanol preference showed a strong positive correlation with ethanol tolerance, consistent with some rodent and human studies, but not with ethanol hyperactivity or sedation. No pairwise correlations were observed between ethanol hyperactivity, sedation, and tolerance. The evolutionary conservation of the relationship between tolerance and ethanol consumption in flies, rodents, and humans indicates that there are fundamental biological mechanisms linking specific ethanol responses.
Social aggregation is a common behavioral phenomenon thought to evolve through adaptive benefits to group living. Comparing fitness differences between aggregated and solitary individuals in ...nature--necessary to infer an evolutionary benefit to living in groups--has proven difficult because communally-living species tend to be obligately social and behaviorally complex. However, these differences and the mechanisms driving them are critical to understanding how solitary individuals transition to group living, as well as how and why nascent social systems change over time. Here we demonstrate that facultative aggregation in a reptile (the Desert Night Lizard, Xantusia vigilis) confers direct reproductive success and survival advantages and that thermal benefits of winter huddling disproportionately benefit small juveniles, which can favor delayed dispersal of offspring and the formation of kin groups. Using climate projection models, however, we estimate that future aggregation in night lizards could decline more than 50% due to warmer temperatures. Our results support the theory that transitions to group living arise from direct benefits to social individuals and offer a clear mechanism for the origin of kin groups through juvenile philopatry. The temperature dependence of aggregation in this and other taxa suggests that environmental variation may be a powerful but underappreciated force in the rapid transition between social and solitary behavior.
Studies in both humans and model organisms suggest that the microbiome may play a significant role in host health, including digestion and immune function. Microbiota can offer protection from ...exogenous pathogens through colonization resistance, but microbial dysbiosis in the gastrointestinal tract can decrease resistance and is associated with pathogenesis. Little is known about the effects of potential pathogens, such as
Salmonella
, on the microbiome in wildlife, which are known to play an important role in disease transmission to humans. Culturing techniques have traditionally been used to detect pathogens, but recent studies have utilized high throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize host-associated microbial communities (i.e., the microbiome) and to detect specific bacteria. Building upon this work, we evaluated the utility of high throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing for potential bacterial pathogen detection in barn swallows (
Hirundo rustica
) and used these data to explore relationships between potential pathogens and microbiota. To accomplish this, we first compared the detection of
Salmonella
spp. in swallows using 16S rRNA data with standard culture techniques. Second, we examined the prevalence of
Salmonella
using 16S rRNA data and examined the relationship between
Salmonella
-presence or -absence and individual host factors. Lastly, we evaluated host-associated bacterial diversity and community composition in
Salmonella
-present vs. -absent birds. Out of 108 samples, we detected
Salmonella
in six (5.6%) samples based on culture, 25 (23.1%) samples with unrarefied 16S rRNA gene sequencing data, and three (2.8%) samples with both techniques. We found that sex, migratory status, and weight were correlated with
Salmonella
presence in swallows. In addition, bacterial community composition and diversity differed between birds based on
Salmonella
status. This study highlights the value of 16S rRNA gene sequencing data for monitoring pathogens in wild birds and investigating the ecology of host microbe-pathogen relationships, data which are important for prediction and mitigation of disease spillover into domestic animals and humans.
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