Featured
-
-
Article
| Open AccessPredator selection on phenotypic variability of cryptic and aposematic moths
Selection is expected to act differently on aposematic and cryptic species. Analysis of wing images revealed that camouflaged moths exhibit higher wing pattern variability than aposematic moths, supporting the theory that camouflaged species display more variability, consistent with anti-predator strategy.
- Ossi Nokelainen
- , Sanni A. Silvasti
- & Johanna Mappes
-
Article
| Open AccessCompetition-driven eco-evolutionary feedback reshapes bacteriophage lambda’s fitness landscape and enables speciation
Niche theory is often invoked to explain biodiversity, but it does not explain how species evolve to exploit unique niches. Using a combination of experimental and computational approaches, this study shows that resource competition can deform fitness landscapes, opening new pathways that promote ecological speciation.
- Michael B. Doud
- , Animesh Gupta
- & Justin R. Meyer
-
Article
| Open AccessLife-history stage determines the diet of ectoparasitic mites on their honey bee hosts
Varroa and Tropilaelaps mites threaten honeybee health. This study finds that mites alter feeding habits depends on their own, and hosts’, life history stage. Mites feed on the host hemolymph when parasitizing pupae during their reproductive stage but consume fat body during their dispersal stage.
- Bin Han
- , Jiangli Wu
- & Shufa Xu
-
Article
| Open AccessThe angiosperm radiation played a dual role in the diversification of insects and insect pollinators
Interactions with angiosperms are thought to have had a significant impact on insect diversification. Here, the authors use a Bayesian process-based approach to find that angiosperm radiation played a dual role that changed through time, mitigating insect extinction in the Cretaceous and promoting insect origination in the Cenozoic.
- David Peris
- & Fabien L. Condamine
-
Article
| Open AccessEvolutionary modelling indicates that mosquito metabolism shapes the life-history strategies of Plasmodium parasites
Little is known about how malaria parasites adapt the speed of their development to their mosquito vectors. Using an evolutionary modelling framework, this study predicts that the metabolic status of mosquitoes shapes the parasites’ life-history strategies and transmission dynamics.
- Paola Carrillo-Bustamante
- , Giulia Costa
- & Elena A. Levashina
-
Article
| Open AccessOngoing shuffling of protein fragments diversifies core viral functions linked to interactions with bacterial hosts
Proteins are composed of distinct functional domains, each serving a specific role. Here, Smug et al. show that phages are able to shuffle fragments of their proteins and this predominantly occurs in proteins involved in bacterial host interactions.
- Bogna J. Smug
- , Krzysztof Szczepaniak
- & Rafał J. Mostowy
-
Article
| Open AccessUnistrand piRNA clusters are an evolutionarily conserved mechanism to suppress endogenous retroviruses across the Drosophila genus
To control transposable elements, fruit flies rely on distinct genomic regions called piRNA clusters. Here, new piRNA clusters were identified across diverse Drosophila species, displaying a conserved and specialised role in the control of endogenous retroviruses in ovarian somatic cells.
- Jasper van Lopik
- , Azad Alizada
- & Benjamin Czech Nicholson
-
Article
| Open AccessA fungal sesquiterpene biosynthesis gene cluster critical for mutualist-pathogen transition in Colletotrichum tofieldiae
Plant-associated fungi range from pathogens to mutualists. Here the authors identify a gene cluster in a Colletotrichum tofieldiae strain that is required to allow the fungus to transition from a mutualist to a pathogen depending on the nutritional status of the host.
- Kei Hiruma
- , Seishiro Aoki
- & Yusuke Saijo
-
Article
| Open AccessEvolutionary selection of proteins with two folds
Most globular proteins are selected to fold into one unique structure. Schafer and Porter demonstrate that some proteins are selected to assume two stable folds; they leverage this information to predict two structures from one sequence.
- Joseph W. Schafer
- & Lauren L. Porter
-
Article
| Open AccessDistinct genomic routes underlie transitions to specialised symbiotic lifestyles in deep-sea annelid worms
Annelid worms have colonised extreme ecological niches, such as hydrothermal vents and whale falls thanks to symbiotic bacteria. This study finds that Osedax worms and the related Vestimentifera have evolved different genomic adaptations to sustain their bacterial symbioses and exploit different resources, such as decaying bone.
- Giacomo Moggioli
- , Balig Panossian
- & José M. Martín-Durán
-
Article
| Open AccessMultistep diversification in spatiotemporal bacterial-phage coevolution
Bacteria and their viruses coexist and coevolve in nature, but maintaining them together in the lab is challenging. Here, a spatially structured environment allowed prolonged coevolution, with bacteria and phage diversifying into multiple ecotypes, uncovering gene mechanisms affecting phage-bacteria interactions.
- Einat Shaer Tamar
- & Roy Kishony
-
Article
| Open AccessHost biology, ecology and the environment influence microbial biomass and diversity in 101 marine fish species
In this study, the microbiota of multiple body sites from 101 marine fish species from Southern California were sampled and analysed. The authors compared diversity measures while also establishing a method to estimate microbial biomass. Body site is shown to be the strongest driver of microbial diversity and patterns of phylosymbiosis are observed across the gill, skin and hindgut.
- Jeremiah J. Minich
- , Andreas Härer
- & Eric E. Allen
-
Article
| Open AccessSpatially structured eco-evolutionary dynamics in a host-pathogen interaction render isolated populations vulnerable to disease
The ecological and evolutionary impacts of disease vary in spatially structured populations. Here, the authors study ~4000 populations of Plantago lanceolata and find that resistance evolution depends on both disease history and population structure, with isolated populations more susceptible to fungal disease.
- Layla Höckerstedt
- , Elina Numminen
- & Anna-Liisa Laine
-
Article
| Open AccessTwo modes of evolution shape bacterial strain diversity in the mammalian gut for thousands of generations
Here, the authors show that a colonizing bacterial strain evolves in the gut by either generating ecotypes or continuously fixing beneficial mutations. They associate the first mode to metabolic mutations and the second to domestication of bacteriophages that are incorporated into the bacterial genome.
- N. Frazão
- , A. Konrad
- & I. Gordo
-
Article
| Open AccessOn maternity and the stronger immune response in women
Women generally mount a stronger immune response to infections than men do, resulting in a higher impact of autoimmune diseases. Here, the authors show that pathogen transmission from mother-to-child during pregnancy drives the co-evolution of a stout defence against harmless pathogens in women.
- Evan Mitchell
- , Andrea L. Graham
- & Geoff Wild
-
Article
| Open AccessOxidative metabolisms catalyzed Earth’s oxygenation
How Earth’s atmosphere became oxygenated remains enigmatic. Here the authors use mathematical and phylogenetic analyses to find that Earth’s oxygenation is induced by the interactions of microbial oxidative metabolites with sediment minerals.
- Haitao Shang
- , Daniel H. Rothman
- & Gregory P. Fournier
-
Article
| Open AccessObligate mutualistic cooperation limits evolvability
Cooperative mutualisms are widespread in many ecosystems but how they affect the ability of organisms to adapt to changing conditions was unclear. This study experimentally demonstrates that members of obligate cooperative mutualisms are less able to adapt evolutionarily to external selection pressures and are more likely to return to metabolic autonomy than their free-living counterparts.
- Benedikt Pauli
- , Leonardo Oña
- & Christian Kost
-
Article
| Open AccessA plant virus satellite RNA directly accelerates wing formation in its insect vector for spread
The cucumber mosaic virus is accompanied by short RNA molecules, satellite RNAs. This study shows that leaves infected with Y-satellite RNA preferentially attract aphids and manipulate aphid physiology to promote their spread to neighbouring plants.
- Wikum H. Jayasinghe
- , Hangil Kim
- & Chikara Masuta
-
Article
| Open AccessInsecticide resistance by a host-symbiont reciprocal detoxification
Insect acquisition of insecticide resistance represents a serious problem for agriculture. Here, authors reveal an insect symbiotic bacteria that degrades insecticide fenitrothion into a non-insecticidal but bactericidal compound, which is subsequently excreted by the insect host.
- Yuya Sato
- , Seonghan Jang
- & Yoshitomo Kikuchi
-
Article
| Open AccessCaptivity and the co-diversification of great ape microbiomes
Here the authors sequence 16S rRNA and the more variable gyrase B protein-coding gene to profile the gut microbiome of captive great apes, which together with analysis of wild apes and humans, reveal a displacement of bacterial strains normally restricted to their wild conspecifics with those that are otherwise restricted to humans.
- Alex H. Nishida
- & Howard Ochman
-
Article
| Open AccessSocial transmission in the wild can reduce predation pressure on novel prey signals
Many species learn through social transmission, which can alter co-evolutionary selection pressures. Experiments involving artificial prey and social networks show that wild birds can learn about unpalatable food by watching others, which helps explain the persistence of costly prey defences despite influxes of naïve juvenile predators.
- Liisa Hämäläinen
- , William Hoppitt
- & Rose Thorogood
-
Article
| Open AccessToxoplasma gondii infections are associated with costly boldness toward felids in a wild host
The parasite causing toxoplasmosis can manipulate prey to behave in ways that promote transmission to the parasite’s definitive feline hosts. The first study consistent with this extended phenotype in the wild finds that infected hyena cubs approach lions more closely than uninfected peers and have higher rates of lion mortality.
- Eben Gering
- , Zachary M. Laubach
- & Thomas Getty
-
Article
| Open AccessRelaxed selection underlies genome erosion in socially parasitic ant species
Many obligate symbionts, including parasites, have reduced genomes. A comparison of leaf-cutter ant genomes reveals parallel gene losses, particularly in olfactory receptors, in socially parasitic species compared to their closely-related hosts, consistent with relaxed selection for cooperative colony life in the parasites.
- Lukas Schrader
- , Hailin Pan
- & Christian Rabeling
-
Article
| Open AccessCoevolutionary transitions from antagonism to mutualism explained by the Co-Opted Antagonist Hypothesis
While there is strong evidence that many mutualisms evolved from antagonism, how or why remains unclear. A study combining theory and a data-based model sheds light on how mutualisms evolve without extremely tight host fidelity and how ecological context affects evolutionary outcomes and vice-versa.
- Christopher A. Johnson
- , Gordon P. Smith
- & Régis Ferrière
-
Article
| Open AccessCommunity composition of microbial microcosms follows simple assembly rules at evolutionary timescales
Evolution affects microbial community composition, but it is still unknown how commonly compositions change, and how predictable such changes are. Using experimental evolution, Meroz et al. show that compositional changes typically occur within ~400 generations, and are predictable by a bottom-up approach.
- Nittay Meroz
- , Nesli Tovi
- & Jonathan Friedman
-
Article
| Open AccessSugar transporters enable a leaf beetle to accumulate plant defense compounds
The herbivorous horseradish flea beetle sequesters plant toxins to defend against predators. Here the authors identify glucosinolate transporters expressed in the beetle Malpighian tubules and provide evidence that these reabsorb glucosinolates from the tubule lumen to prevent their loss by excretion.
- Zhi-Ling Yang
- , Hussam Hassan Nour-Eldin
- & Franziska Beran
-
Article
| Open AccessSight of parasitoid wasps accelerates sexual behavior and upregulates a micropeptide gene in Drosophila
Parasitoids exploit host bodies for reproduction, selecting for host defences. A new host defence is reported, in which adult Drosophila accelerate mating behaviour at the sight of certain parasitoid wasps, mediated by the upregulation of a nervous system gene that encodes a 41-amino acid micropeptide.
- Shimaa A. M. Ebrahim
- , Gaëlle J. S. Talross
- & John R. Carlson
-
Article
| Open AccessGenomic evidence of prevalent hybridization throughout the evolutionary history of the fig-wasp pollination mutualism
Figs and their wasp pollinators are a classic example of coevolution. By assembling and analysing genomes from across the Ficus clade, authors suggest that fig hybridization driven by pollinator host-switching in this obligate pollination system, is more common than previously thought.
- Gang Wang
- , Xingtan Zhang
- & Jin Chen
-
Article
| Open AccessEcological uncertainty favours the diversification of host use in avian brood parasites
Nearly 17% of all bird species are hosts to obligate brood parasites like the common cuckoo. Antonson et al. show that parasite species hedge their reproductive bets by outsourcing parental care to a greater variety of host species when the rearing environment for their young is more unpredictable.
- Nicholas D. Antonson
- , Dustin R. Rubenstein
- & Carlos A. Botero
-
Article
| Open AccessMutually stabilizing interactions between proto-peptides and RNA
Cooperative relationships are widespread among different classes of biopolymers and are predicted to have existed during emergence of life. This study shows that proto-peptides engage in mutually stabilizing interactions with RNA, providing support for the co-evolution of these molecules.
- Moran Frenkel-Pinter
- , Jay W. Haynes
- & Luke J. Leman
-
Article
| Open AccessTrophic innovations fuel reef fish diversification
Both geography and ecology can drive the origins of new species. Siqueira et al. show how geological changes in the structure of Miocene reefs and the concurrent evolution of new feeding strategies combine to explain why coral reefs contain such a diversity of fish species.
- Alexandre C. Siqueira
- , Renato A. Morais
- & Peter F. Cowman
-
Article
| Open AccessFood sources for the Ediacara biota communities
Complex macroscopic organisms are first found in the Ediacaran period, but their ecology during this time is not well understood. Here, Bobrovskiy et al. analyse biomarkers from Ediacaran sediments hosting macrofossils and find evidence for abundant algal food sources available for these organisms.
- Ilya Bobrovskiy
- , Janet M. Hope
- & Jochen J. Brocks
-
Article
| Open AccessRelaxed sequence constraints favor mutational freedom in idiosyncratic metazoan mitochondrial tRNAs
Bilaterian mitochondria-encoded tRNA genes accumulate mutations at higher rates than their cytoplasmic tRNA counterparts, resulting in idiosyncratic structures. Here the authors suggest an evolutionary basis for the observed mutational freedom of mitochondrial (mt) tRNAs and reveal the associated co-adaptive structural and functional changes in mt aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases.
- Bernhard Kuhle
- , Joseph Chihade
- & Paul Schimmel
-
Matters Arising
| Open AccessConvergent and divergent selection drive plumage evolution in woodpeckers
- Gregory F. Grether
-
Matters Arising
| Open AccessReply to “Convergent and divergent selection in sympatry drive plumage evolution in woodpeckers”
- Eliot T. Miller
- , Gavin M. Leighton
- & Russell A. Ligon
-
Article
| Open AccessSymbiont population control by host-symbiont metabolic interaction in Symbiodiniaceae-cnidarian associations
The relationship between the coral animal and symbiotic algae is essential to coral health, and researchers are turning to Exaiptasia, a model cnidarian system, to study this relationship mechanistically. Here the authors find that endosymbiotic algae become limited by nitrogen at high population densities and provide the host with high levels of fixed carbon.
- Tingting Xiang
- , Erik Lehnert
- & Arthur R. Grossman
-
Article
| Open AccessCoevolution of male and female mate choice can destabilize reproductive isolation
Models of mate choice have mainly focused on the implications of female mate choice for reproductive isolation. Here, Aubier et al. develop a population genetic model of coevolution between female and male mate choice, which can lead the population to oscillate between assortative and random mating.
- Thomas G. Aubier
- , Hanna Kokko
- & Mathieu Joron
-
Article
| Open AccessBacterial predator-prey coevolution accelerates genome evolution and selects on virulence-associated prey defences
Predator-prey coevolution is expected to hasten evolutionary rates, but this is difficult to test in long-lived species. Here, the authors report consequences of experimental coevolution between bacterial predators and prey, including accelerated molecular evolution and parallel genomic and phenotypic adaptation.
- Ramith R. Nair
- , Marie Vasse
- & Gregory J. Velicer
-
Article
| Open AccessThe structure of a polygamous repressor reveals how phage-inducible chromosomal islands spread in nature
Staphylococcus aureus pathogenicity islands (SaPIs) encode the master repressor Stl and after bacteriophage infection Stl interacts with specific phage proteins leading to a derepression of SaPIs. Here the authors provide structural insights into this family of repressors by determining the crystal structures of SaPIbov1 Stl alone and in complex with two structurally unrelated phage dUTPases.
- J. Rafael Ciges-Tomas
- , Christian Alite
- & Alberto Marina
-
Article
| Open AccessEvolution of metazoan oxygen-sensing involved a conserved divergence of VHL affinity for HIF1α and HIF2α
Paralogs HIF1α and HIF2α are important modulators regulating cellular transcriptional profile following hypoxia. Here, the authors investigate evolutionary substitutions that fine tune the interaction between HIFα and their regulator VHL in the vertebrate and invertebrate lineages.
- Daniel Tarade
- , Jeffrey E. Lee
- & Michael Ohh
-
Article
| Open AccessCoevolution of vocal signal characteristics and hearing sensitivity in forest mammals
Sensory drive theory predicts that vocal signalling coevolves with auditory sensitivity, but empirical evidence is limited. Here, Charlton et al. show that vocal characteristics and hearing have coevolved in forest mammals, due to constraints imposed by the local signalling environment.
- Benjamin D. Charlton
- , Megan A. Owen
- & Ronald R. Swaisgood
-
Review Article
| Open AccessThe reach of gene–culture coevolution in animals
The reciprocal interaction between genetic and cultural evolution is well recognised in humans. Here, Whitehead and colleagues review the growing body of evidence that culture is also a major driver of both neutral and adaptive genetic evolution in non-human animals.
- Hal Whitehead
- , Kevin N. Laland
- & Andrew Whiten
-
Article
| Open AccessHost diet and evolutionary history explain different aspects of gut microbiome diversity among vertebrate clades
Host phylogeny and diet are major explanatory factors of animal gut microbiome diversity, but our understanding of these associations is limited by a focus on captive animals and a narrow taxonomic scope. Here, the authors isolate evolutionary and ecological drivers of gut microbiomes from wild mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
- Nicholas D. Youngblut
- , Georg H. Reischer
- & Andreas H. Farnleitner
-
Article
| Open AccessContemporaneous radiations of fungi and plants linked to symbiosis
Plants and fungi interact widely and in diverse ways, from mutualism to parasitism and decomposition. Here, Lutzoni et al. analyse the timing of plant and fungal evolutionary radiations and identify four major periods in which plant-fungal interactions likely drove lineage diversification.
- François Lutzoni
- , Michael D. Nowak
- & Susana Magallón
-
Article
| Open AccessUnifying host-associated diversification processes using butterfly–plant networks
Herbivorous insects could diversify through radiations after major host switches or through constant variability in new host use. With phylogenetic and network analyses, Braga et al. show that variability in host use supports most butterfly diversification, while rare radiations can further boost diversity.
- Mariana P. Braga
- , Paulo R. Guimarães Jr
- & Niklas Janz
-
Article
| Open AccessCoral-associated bacteria demonstrate phylosymbiosis and cophylogeny
Associations between corals and symbiotic microorganisms could be driven by the environment or shared evolutionary history. Here, the authors examine relationships between coral phylogenies and associated microbiomes, finding evidence of phylosymbiosis in microbes from coral skeleton and tissue, but not mucus.
- F. Joseph Pollock
- , Ryan McMinds
- & Jesse R. Zaneveld
-
Article
| Open AccessChitin-based barrier immunity and its loss predated mucus-colonization by indigenous gut microbiota
The coevolution of the animal gut mucosa and the gut microbiota is poorly understood. Here, Nakashima et al. identify intestinal chitinous membranes in basal chordates and ray-finned fish, and propose that the loss of this chitin barrier allowed mucus layers to become colonized by microbes in mammals.
- Keisuke Nakashima
- , Satoshi Kimura
- & Noriyuki Satoh
-
Article
| Open AccessCollapse and rescue of cooperation in evolving dynamic networks
The evolution of cooperation depends on social structure, which may evolve in response. Here, Akçay models coevolution between cooperation and social network formation strategies, showing that coevolutionary feedbacks lead cooperation to collapse unless constrained by costs of social connections.
- Erol Akçay
-
Article
| Open AccessDynamical trade-offs arise from antagonistic coevolution and decrease intraspecific diversity
How a trait evolves depends on the shape of its fitness trade-off. Here, Huang et al. demonstrate evolution of trade-off shape in an experimental predator-prey system and develop a mathematical model of trait evolution when the underlying trade-off can also evolve.
- Weini Huang
- , Arne Traulsen
- & Lutz Becks