Article
Biology
Isabella Loughland, Alexander Little, Frank Seebacher
Summary: The study reveals that DNMT3a plays a key role in regulating developmental thermal plasticity, and the phenotypic effects of different DNMT3a isoforms are additive. However, DNMT3a interacts with other mechanisms, such as histone (de)acetylation, induced during short-term acclimation to buffer phenotypes from environmental change. These interactions make phenotypic compensation for climate change more efficient.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Aidan M. C. Couzens, Karen E. Sears, Martin Rucklin
Summary: The study investigates how development influenced the early dental evolution in placental mammals, focusing on the transition from a triangular upper molar to a more complex upper molar with a rectangular cusp pattern. Through simulations, researchers found that increased self-regulation of molecular activator led to accelerated evolutionary increases in enamel knot number, creating a lateral knot arrangement. They also suggest that relatively small changes in activation superimposed on ancestral molar growth pattern could recreate key changes in cusps, influencing the divergence of placental molar dentition.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Brunno F. Oliveira, Wendtwoin I. G. Yogo, Daniel A. Hahn, Jiang Yongxing, Brett R. Scheffers
Summary: The study demonstrates that thermal tolerances of mosquito communities change with seasonal shifts in temperature, with lowest heat tolerances in summer. The temporal dichotomy in thermal tolerances shows temperate organisms' thermal breadths reflecting those of tropical regions, sandwiched between temperate and tropical conditions in spring and autumn. As summers lengthen and winter nighttime temperatures increase, species' thermal tolerances are expected to become more tropicalized in both space and time.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Shen Tian, Antonia Monteiro
Summary: Organisms in regions with alternating seasons develop different phenotypes in each season, which are adaptations to the environment. This study investigates how gene expression, alternative splicing, and miRNA-mediated gene silencing vary in Bicyclus anynana butterfly hindwing tissue at different developmental timepoints and rearing temperatures. The results suggest that developmental transitions and hormone pulses have a greater impact on transcriptomic patterns than rearing temperatures. The study also identifies differentially expressed genes, differentially spliced genes, and miRNA-regulated genes between the seasonal forms.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jorge L. Turriago, Miguel Tejedo, Julio M. Hoyos, Agustin Camacho, Manuel H. Bernal
Summary: The study found that the thermal environment affects the changes in the critical thermal maximum (CTmax) and its acclimation rate in neotropical anuran larvae. The hot treatment resulted in higher CTmax values at earlier times, leading to faster acclimation rates, while thermal fluctuations led to higher CTmax values but slower acclimation rates. These effects varied across different species.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Michael Collins, Manuela Truebano, John Spicer
Summary: This study investigates the effects of thermal acclimation on hypoxia performance in four closely-related amphipod species. The results show that thermal acclimation can improve hypoxic performance for some species, but not all.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biology
Mey Jerbi-Elayed, Kevin Tougeron, Kaouthar Grissa-Lebdi, Thierry Hance
Summary: This study investigated the effects of different rearing temperatures on the behavior and traits of the parasitoid Aphidius colemani. The results showed that longer developmental time at lower temperatures resulted in bigger emerging parasitoids with higher egg-loads. Parasitoids developed at 20 degrees C exhibited the highest parasitism rates, emergence rates, and survival at high temperatures. When exposed to 28 degrees C, parasitoids reared at 20 degrees C showed higher host-foraging behaviors. The study highlighted the importance of thermal developmental plasticity in insect behavioral responses to temperature variations.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Peter Klepsatel, Martina Galikova
Summary: Animals in their natural environments need to adapt to fluctuations in various factors, and phenotypic plasticity can help them survive under changing conditions. A study on fruit flies found that developmental temperature affects the thermal performance curve for locomotor activity, influencing factors such as maximum performance, thermal optimum, and performance breadth. However, it did not consistently affect circadian rhythms. This sensitivity to developmental conditions may be important for the fitness of fruit flies in changing environments.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Tim Burton, Irja Ida Ratikainen, Sigurd Einum
Summary: This article examines the rate at which reversible phenotypic plasticity (RPP) occurs and its potential impact on how organisms overcome environmental challenges. The study suggests that current theoretical models do not consider the evolutionary potential of RPP rates. If the rate of plasticity itself can evolve, it may alter the organism's perception of environmental predictability and influence the slope of the evolved reaction norm. The optimization of phenotypic plasticity rates, their evolutionary dynamics in different environments, and the costs associated with them warrant further exploration in future research.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Mylene M. Mariette, David F. Clayton, Katherine L. Buchanan
Summary: Conditions experienced prenatally have lifelong effects on individual phenotypes and fitness, ultimately influencing population dynamics. Prenatal acoustic signals can program individual phenotypes for predicted postnatal environmental conditions, improving fitness. Embryos across taxonomic groups have shown immediate adaptive responses to external sounds and vibrations, indicating direct developmental effects of sound and noise.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biology
B. L. Coggins, C. E. Anderson, R. Hasan, A. C. Pearson, M. N. Ekwudo, J. R. Bidwell, L. Y. Yampolsky
Summary: The study found that heat tolerance differences in Daphnia magna may be related to metabolic compensation rather than genetics. Additionally, D. magna acclimated at 25 degrees Celsius showed a greater ability to slow down respiration at high temperatures compared to those acclimated at 10 degrees Celsius.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Esther M. Sundermann, Martin J. Lercher, David Heckmann
Summary: The regulation of resource allocation in biological systems today is a result of natural selection in ancestral and recent environments. Research suggests that C-4 plants require more nitrogen re-allocation between photosynthetic components to adapt to new environments, indicating that resource distribution patterns still reflect optimality in ancestral environments.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Hubert R. Dinse
Summary: Compared to adults, children's learning process is different and more efficient. A recent study reveals that children experience a rapid increase in inhibition during learning, leading to better retention of learned information by reducing retrograde interference.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Matthias Schmid, Freddy Guiheneuf, Udo Nitschke, Dagmar B. Stengel
Summary: Different commercially valuable macroalgae show varied responses to future North Atlantic Ocean temperature and light conditions. Some algae are more sensitive to light in terms of growth rates and biochemical composition, while others are more influenced by temperature.
ALGAL RESEARCH-BIOMASS BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Patrice Pottier, Samantha Burke, Rose Y. Zhang, Daniel W. A. Noble, Lisa E. Schwanz, Szymon M. Drobniak, Shinichi Nakagawa
Summary: Understanding the factors affecting thermal tolerance is crucial for predicting the impact of climate change on ectotherms. Developmental plasticity plays an important role in helping individuals cope with extreme temperatures, but its mechanisms are still unclear. By meta-analyzing data from 150 experimental studies on 138 ectothermic species, we found that early thermal environments have some influence on thermal tolerance, but with significant variation. Aquatic ectotherms are more plastic than terrestrial ones. The persistent effects of developmental temperatures on thermal tolerance are under-studied, and the embryonic stage may be a critical vulnerable period to environmental changes.
Article
Zoology
W. Leo Smith, Elizabeth Everman, Clara Richardson
Article
Entomology
E. R. Everman, P. J. Freda, M. Brown, A. J. Schieferecke, G. J. Ragland, T. J. Morgan
ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Ecology
Elizabeth R. Everman, Theodore J. Morgan
Editorial Material
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Theodore J. Morgan, Michael A. Herman, Loretta C. Johnson, Bradley J. C. S. Olson, Mark C. Ungerer
Article
Zoology
Caroline M. Williams, James R. Rocca, Arthur S. Edison, David B. Allison, Theodore J. Morgan, Daniel A. Hahn
INTEGRATIVE ZOOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Biology
Alison R. Gerken, Olivia C. Eller-Smith, Theodore J. Morgan
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elizabeth R. Everman, Jennifer L. Delzeit, F. Kate Hunter, Jennifer M. Gleason, Theodore J. Morgan
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Elizabeth R. Everman, Casey L. McNeil, Jennifer L. Hackett, Clint L. Bain, Stuart J. Macdonald
Article
Ecology
Philip J. Freda, Zainab M. Ali, Nicholas Heter, Gregory J. Ragland, Theodore J. Morgan
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jennifer M. Gleason, Paula R. Roy, Elizabeth R. Everman, Terry C. Gleason, Theodore J. Morgan
Article
Ecology
Suegene Noh, Lauren Christopher, Joan E. Strassmann, David C. Queller
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2020)
Article
Microbiology
Suegene Noh, Benjamin J. Capodanno, Songtao Xu, Marisa C. Hamilton, Joan E. Strassmann, David C. Queller
Summary: The three symbiotic species of D. discoideum present a unique opportunity to study a naturally occurring symbiosis in a laboratory model protist. The reduced genomes of P. bonniea and P. hayleyella display characteristics indicative of genome streamlining rather than deterioration during adaptation to their protist hosts. Sets of genes present in all three amoeba-symbiont genomes are potentially used for host-symbiont interactions.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Elizabeth R. Everman, Kristen M. Cloud-Richardson, Stuart J. Macdonald
Summary: The release of heavy metals poses a threat to organisms, and resistance to copper toxicity is genetically complex, influenced by allelic and expression variation at multiple loci.