Article
Biology
Neetika Ahlawat, Komal Maggu, Jigisha, Manas Geeta Arun, Abhishek Meena, Amisha Agarwala, Nagaraj Guru Prasad
Summary: This study investigated the costs associated with evolved traits in a host-pathogen coevolution system. The results suggest that increased host immunity and pathogen virulence may not incur additional costs.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Neetika Ahlawat, Manas Geeta Arun, Komal Maggu, Nagaraj Guru Prasad
Summary: Hosts evolving with pathogens in a coevolutionary scenario show higher survivorship against the pathogen and the pathogen evolves greater mortality induction ability. The evolved traits in the host and pathogen under coevolution differ from one-sided adaptation, indicating certain general mechanisms at play in the coevolving host-pathogen interactions.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Devin Kirk, Megan Greischar, Nicole Mideo, Martin Krkosek
Summary: The costs of immune response can lead to trade-offs with other physiological functions such as reproduction, and these trade-offs are influenced by environmental variability. Higher environmental variability results in increased investment in the immune system at the cost of decreased reproduction, showing that optimal strategies are contingent on environmental conditions. This has implications for various aspects of infectious disease dynamics and evolution.
Article
Biology
Hala Tamim El Jarkass, Calvin Mok, Michael R. Schertzberg, Andrew G. Fraser, Emily R. Troemel, Aaron W. Reinke
Summary: This study identified a secreted protein used by microsporidia to promote host invasion and found that this intestinal protein plays a crucial role in the infection of microsporidia. The results also suggest that there may be evolutionary trade-offs in host defense against multiple classes of pathogens.
Article
Ecology
Neetika Ahlawat, Manas Geeta Arun, Komal Maggu, Jigisha, Aparajita Singh, Nagaraj Guru Prasad
Summary: Our study showed sex-specific adaptation in the coevolving hosts where female hosts had a broader response against allopatric coevolving pathogens with no cost in fecundity. Thus, our results might suggest a novel mechanism that can maintain variation in susceptibility in spatially structured populations.
BMC ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Parasitology
Winka Le Clec'h, Frederic D. Chevalier, Kathrin Jutzeler, Timothy J. C. Anderson
Summary: This study investigated the trade-off between propagative fitness in the intermediate snail host and reproductive fitness in the definitive vertebrate host of the trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni. The results showed that high propagative fitness of the parasite in the snail host had a detrimental impact on snail physiology, but resulted in higher reproductive fitness and transmission in the definitive host. Therefore, the trade-off hypothesis was rejected, and it was found that selected parasite lines exhibited low and high shedding phenotype regardless of the snail host genetic background.
PARASITES & VECTORS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yue He, Yujie Dai, Huanhuan Li, Menghan Li, Sheng Zhang
Summary: This study investigated the plant growth, photosynthetic physiology, and leaf metabolome of female and male Salix myrtillacea under drought, low temperature, and their combined conditions. The results showed that different stresses had a profound negative impact on growth performance and photosynthetic apparatus in both sexes. Female willows exhibited greater tolerance to stress, with improved growth performance and higher abundance of amino acids and sugar alcohols. In contrast, male plants had a richer diversity and abundance of flavonoids. The formation of stress memory significantly enhanced the resistance of male willows at the metabolic level. This study highlights the trade-off between growth and defense in enhancing the resistance of female and male plants.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Juliano Morimoto, Pedro Conceicao, Christen Mirth, Mathieu Lihoreau
Summary: Animals regulate their food intake to maximize fitness traits, but they must trade off optimal expression of some traits due to differences in nutrient requirements. Previous methods to measure nutritional trade-offs were subjective, conceptually difficult, computationally expensive, and sometimes inaccurate. This study presents a simple trigonometric model, nutrigonometry, to measure nutritional trade-offs in multidimensional landscapes, which is easier to understand and use than previous approaches. The results show that polynomial (Bayesian) regressions can accurately predict peaks and valleys in performance landscapes, irrespective of data structure. Nutrigonometry enables fast, reliable, and reproducible quantification of nutritional trade-offs, broadening the potential for evolutionary nutrition research.
AMERICAN NATURALIST
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Fabio Sporchia, Marianne Thomsen, Dario Caro
Summary: Rice production worldwide saw slight growth in water and land use as well as CH4 emissions from 2000 to 2016, but significant improvements in production efficiency led to substantial savings in water resources, land, and emissions. Domestic consumption covered the majority share (94%) while international trade played a less significant role (6%), although it was relevant for some Asian and African countries. Increasing yield by 0.5 tonnes/ha resulted in a global reduction of about 10% for each environmental stressor, suggesting potential trade-offs among them.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Biological
Collin J. Horn, Lien T. Luong
Summary: The study highlights a trade-off between reproduction and parasite resistance in a host-macroparasite system, showing that mating increases susceptibility to mite infection among female flies and reduces their anti-parasitic defenses.
PHYSIOLOGY & BEHAVIOR
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Juliano Morimoto
Summary: Animals regulate their nutrient consumption to maximize fitness traits, but current experimental designs may not fully explore the performance landscape. This study tested alternative designs in the Geometric Framework for nutrition and found that they provided more accurate reconstructions of the performance landscape, enabling reliable biological insights.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Fisheries
Jousepth Gallardo-Hidalgo, Agustin Barria, Grazyella M. Yoshida, Jose M. Yanez
Summary: Artificial selection can enhance the adaptability of fish to temperature changes induced by climate change. However, attention to the genetic relationship between growth and robustness-related traits is necessary to avoid potential trade-offs.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jie Chen, Yuantai Huang, Guojun Qi
Summary: This study reveals the regulatory role of insulin receptor-associated lncRNA (IRAR) in the expression of insulin receptor transcripts under stress conditions in Drosophila melanogaster. The results also indicate the importance of IRAR in the sensitivity to environmental nutritional changes and its ability to affect the development of Drosophila through direct regulation of insulin receptor transcripts.
INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Entomology
Kathleen E. Gordon, Mariana F. Wolfner, Brian P. Lazzaro
Summary: In many species, female reproductive investment comes at a cost to immunity and resistance to infection. Mated Drosophila melanogaster females are more susceptible to bacterial infection than unmated females. Transfer of the male seminal fluid protein Sex Peptide reduces female post-mating immune defense. This study investigates whether females can recover to unmated levels of immunity and whether repeated mating causes progressive reduction in defense capacity. It is found that the immune capacity of mated females does not recover regardless of the length of time between mating and infection, and a single mating event is sufficient to persistently suppress the female immune system. Interestingly, induced levels of expression of genes encoding antimicrobial peptides decrease with age. The establishment of a suppressed immune status in reproductively active females can inform our understanding of the regulation of immune defense and the mechanisms of physiological trade-offs.
JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Estela Ynes Valencia, Jackeline Pinheiro Barros, Thomas Ferenci, Beny Spira
Summary: A trade-off between reproduction and survival is common in many organisms, with Escherichia coli featuring RpoS as a key factor in this balance. Studying strains in a natural environment, it was found that RpoS levels vary widely, leading to a diverse range of stress resistance responses in E. coli strains.
Article
Entomology
Aurelie Babin, Severine Lemauf, Christian Rebuf, Marylene Poirie, Jean-Luc Gatti
Summary: The study explores the potential chronic effects of Btk bioinsecticide on two Drosophila larval endoparasitoids, indicating that Btk may affect non-target parasitoids indirectly through host exposure and directly through food poisoning. Different species of closely related parasitoids may respond differently to bioinsecticide exposure, requiring species-specific studies when combining these natural enemies with Btk in IPM strategies.
ENTOMOLOGIA GENERALIS
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Alexia L. Carboni, Mark A. Hanson, Scott A. Lindsay, Steven A. Wasserman, Bruno Lemaitre
Summary: Cecropins are small helical secreted peptides with antimicrobial activity that play an important role in host defense. Experimental studies have shown that Cecropins play a role in defense against Gram-negative bacteria and fungi in fruit flies.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Preeti Sharma, Anjali Vijaykumar, Jayashree Vijaya Raghavan, Supriya Rajendra Rananaware, Alakesh Alakesh, Janhavi Bodele, Junaid Ur Rehman, Shivani Shukla, Virta S. Wagde, Savitha Nadig, Sveta Chakrabarti, Sandhya S. Visweswariah, Dipankar Nandi, Balasubramanian Gopal, Siddharth Jhunjhunwala
Summary: This study demonstrates that the uptake of non-stimulatory cargo-free particles enhances the phagocytic ability of immune cells. The increased phagocytosis is driven by changes in cell membrane fluidity and cellular compliance, and it leads to faster neutralization of pathogens and clearance in mice.
JOURNAL OF CONTROLLED RELEASE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Roshan Kumar Vijendravarma, Sunitha Narasimha, Elsa Steinfath, Jan Clemens, Pierre Leopold
Summary: Symmetry plays a crucial role in sexual selection, as it can be used as a signal of potential mates' quality through nonvisual cues. Researchers discovered that altering gravity can increase asymmetry in Drosophila, and symmetry-based discrimination was observed in both male and female mate-choice tests.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Roshan Kumar Vijendravarma, Pierre Leopold
Summary: The postulates of developmental instability-sexual selection hypothesis are being actively debated, and this article aims to examine the plausibility of animals perceiving symmetry and subsequently discriminating against asymmetric mates. It emphasizes the importance of considering non-visual perception of asymmetry and discusses methodological challenges in testing multimodal cues for detecting mate asymmetry.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Florent Masson, Samuel Rommelaere, Fanny Schupfer, Jean-Philippe Boquete, Bruno Lemaitre
Summary: The abundance and amino acid composition of a protein called Spiralin B (SpiB) plays a crucial role in the nutritional interactions between insects and their endosymbionts. Increasing SpiB levels disrupts the localization of endosymbionts in insect eggs and decreases vertical transmission. This protein ensures the durability of the interaction in a variable environment.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biology
M. A. Hanson, S. Kondo, B. Lemaitre
Summary: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play a crucial role in defending against infection in plants and animals. A study on Drosophila has revealed that the Drosocin gene encodes two prominent host defense peptides with different specificities against distinct pathogens.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Mark Hanson, Bruno Lemaitre
Summary: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are host-encoded antibiotics that not only combat invading pathogens, but also have roles in neurological contexts. The evolutionary history of Baramicin genes reveals how they have adapted for either immune-specific or neurological roles, providing a case study for how AMP-encoding genes might play dual roles in both immune and non-immune processes via their multiple peptide products.
Article
Microbiology
Aurelie Babin, Frank Schurr, Marie-Pierre Riviere, Marie-Pierre Chauzat, Eric Dubois
Summary: This study developed three quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) methods and validated their accuracy and specificity in various bee samples. These methods can be used for the diagnosis of nosemosis and for studying the eco-dynamics of parasites in bees.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PROTISTOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Roshan Kumar Vijendravarma
Summary: Intraspecific predation is a common phenomenon in prey-predator systems, where predators within the same species provide benefits to conspecifics such as eliminating competitors for resources and mates. This review categorically summarizes the diverse forms of intraspecific predation and the strategies animals use to deter it, raising intriguing questions about their evolutionary significance for future research.
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Cell Biology
Mark A. Hanson, Bruno Lemaitre
Summary: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play important roles in host defense and have been implicated in the clearance of aberrant cells and neurodegenerative syndromes. AMPs are produced in Drosophila downstream of Toll and Imd NF-κB pathways and have antimicrobial properties. Aging leads to upregulation of AMPs, potentially contributing to age-associated inflammatory diseases. However, the individual effects of AMPs on lifespan have been inconclusive. In this study, the researchers found no significant effect of individual AMPs on lifespan, except for Defensin. However, flies lacking seven AMP gene families displayed a reduced lifespan due to microbiome dysbiosis, and germ-free conditions extended their lifespan. Overall, AMPs collectively impact lifespan by preventing dysbiosis during aging.
DISEASE MODELS & MECHANISMS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Martin Kapun, Esra Durmaz Mitchell, Tadeusz J. Kawecki, Paul Schmidt, Thomas Flatt
Summary: Since the pioneering work of Dobzhansky in the 1930s and 1940s, multiple chromosomal inversions have been identified, but their role in adaptation is still poorly understood. In this study, the researchers investigated the population genomics of the inversion polymorphism In(3R)Payne in Drosophila melanogaster on four continents. Their results indicate that the inversion originated in sub-Saharan Africa and spread globally, with divergent evolution in non-African populations. The inversion was found to be associated with differential gene expression and higher inversion frequency in warm climates.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Fanny Cavigliasso, Loriane Savary, Jorge E. Spangenberg, Hector Gallart-Ayala, Julijana Ivanisevic, Tadeusz J. Kawecki
Summary: Periodic food shortage drives physiological and metabolic adaptations in animals, particularly in juvenile individuals. A study on Drosophila melanogaster populations revealed wide-ranging changes in metabolite abundance as a response to nutrient shortage. Adapted larvae showed lower levels of amino acids but grew faster, indicating increased use of amino acids for energy generation. The study also highlighted the trade-off between acquisition of dietary amino acids and carbohydrates and the unique depletion pattern of branched-chain amino acids.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. A. Hanson, L. Grollmus, B. Lemaitre
Summary: Antimicrobial peptides, encoded by the host, play a crucial role in combating pathogens and shaping the microbiome in plants and animals. This study focuses on the Diptericin antimicrobial peptide family of Diptera and reveals the specific roles of DptA and DptB in Drosophila melanogaster, demonstrating how they interact with different bacteria. The findings also highlight the correlation between the presence of DptA- or DptB-like genes and the presence of specific bacteria across Diptera.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Kriti Gupta, Sveta Chakrabarti, Vishnu Janardan, Nishita Gogia, Sanghita Banerjee, Swarna Srinivas, Deepthi Mahishi, Sandhya S. Visweswariah
Summary: This article describes the multiple roles of a previously uncharacterized metallophosphodiesterase in Drosophila, including regulation of immune pathways, lifespan, perception ability, and sensitivity to odorants. Further studies revealed similarities between this gene product and the mammalian gene MPPED2, which is associated with WAGR syndrome.
