BMC ecology and evolution最新文献

{"title":"Mutations in the signal peptide of effector gene Pi04314 contribute to the adaptive evolution of the Phytophthora infestans.","authors":"Hai-Bing Ouyang, Yan-Ping Wang, Meng-Han He, E-Jiao Wu, Bin-Hong Hu, Jiasui Zhan, Lina Yang","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02360-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02360-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Effectors are critical in the antagonistic interactions between plants and pathogens. However, knowledge of mutation mechanisms and evolutionary processes of effectors remains fragmented despite its importance for the sustainable management of plant diseases. Here, we used a population genetic approach to explore the evolution of the effector gene Pi04314 in Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of potato blight.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found that Pi04314 gene exhibits a low genetic variation generated by point mutations mainly occurring in the signal peptide. Two of the 14 amino acid isoforms completely abolished the secretion functions of signal peptides. The effector is under purifying selection, supported by the comparative analyses between its population differentiation with that of SSR marker loci as well as by negative Tajima's D (-1.578, p = 0.040) and Fu's FS (-10.485, p = 0.000). Furthermore, we found that the nucleotide diversity of Pi04314 is significantly correlated with the annual mean temperature at the collection sites.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results suggest that the evolution of effector genes could be influenced by local air temperature and signal peptides may contribute to the ecological adaptation of pathogens. The implications of these results for agricultural and natural sustainability are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11907978/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143627186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Short-distance seed and pollen dispersal in both hunted and intact forests in the lower canopy African rainforest tree, Coula edulis Baill. (Coulaceae).","authors":"Narcisse Guy Kamdem, Bonaventure Sonké, Saskia Sergeant, Vincent Deblauwe, Olivier J Hardy","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02356-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02356-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Mammal-dispersed tropical trees can face regeneration problems due to increasing hunting pressure. We studied the case of Coula edulis Baill. (Coulaceae), an African rainforest tree that produces the 'African walnut', an essential food and income resource for rural communities. We compared gene flow and regeneration dynamics in three populations with contrasting levels of human disturbance and mammal abundance. Using 21 nuclear microsatellite markers, we estimated the outcrossing rate and contemporary seed and pollen dispersal distances, and we analyzed the fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) to infer historical gene dispersal distances.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Juveniles were outcrossed while 30% of the seeds from one population were selfed, suggesting the elimination of inbred seeds. The mean dispersal distances were relatively short for seeds (105-219 m) and pollen (173-358 m), both shorter in the most intact forest. Immigration rates were three to four times higher for pollen (33-71%) than for seeds (7-28%), indicating some long-distance pollen dispersal. FSGS was strong in all populations (Sp = 0.023-0.036), suggesting short-range historical gene dispersal distances consistent with contemporary estimates. We detected assortative mating, possibly due to higher flowering synchronicity between related individuals. The most disturbed plots displayed inverted J-shaped trunk diameter structures, typical of continuous regeneration, while the intact forest had diameter structure indicating more limited regeneration.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our results suggest that forest disturbance and mammal hunting do not significantly affect the dispersal distances of seed and pollen for Coula edulis, contrary to other mammals-dispersed trees. We hypothesize that the main dispersers are scatter hoarding rodents that are less impacted, or even facilitated, by hunting pressure. The species appears to regenerate better in disturbed forests, possibly due to a reduction in seed and seedling predators. However, natural populations are threatened by ongoing forest conversion into agriculture.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11905475/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Increased phenotypic diversity as a consequence of ecological opportunity in the island radiation of Sulawesi ricefishes (Teleostei: Adrianichthyidae).","authors":"Jan Möhring, Sebastian Hüllen, Sebastian Martin, Daniel F Mokodongan, Daisy Wowor, Julia Schwarzer, Fabian Herder","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02355-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02355-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ecological opportunity is considered a main driver of adaptive diversification. Colonization of new areas and habitats provides novel opportunities, which may lead to phenotypic change and rapid diversification. The geographically isolated island Sulawesi in Indonesia hosts numerous endemic radiations. The ricefish family Adrianichthyidae is the most speciose of the few exclusively freshwater-dwelling fish lineages that colonized the tropical island. While the family's distribution includes large parts of Asia, the monophyletic lineage endemic to Sulawesi comprises more than half of all species described, with conspicuous morphological diversity. Using shape and size as proxies for phenotypic and ecological diversity, we first test the hypothesis that Sulawesi ricefishes are more diverse than non-Sulawesi species. We then ask if adaptation to alternative macrohabitats, namely rivers and lakes, can explain phenotypic diversification. We find that Sulawesi ricefishes exhibit greater disparity in body and head shape than non-Sulawesi ricefishes. By including phylogenomic data, we demonstrate that shape diversity in Sulawesi evolved along multiple trajectories, with reduced phylogenetic influence. Changes in body depth and head elongation are prominent, indicating distinct ecological drivers. In particular, body depth evolves along the river-lake axis, and lake species are more diverse compared to riverine ricefishes. In some lacustrine species, pronounced changes in head shape, a trait commonly associated with feeding in fishes, suggest trophic adaptation. Rates of phenotype evolution are higher in the Sulawesi lineages, in particular in lacustrine species. Lastly, we identified opposing trends in size evolution, with generally larger bodies in Sulawesi and repeated miniaturization in non-Sulawesi species. Our results indicate that ecological opportunity greatly influenced the observed phenotype diversity. Low diversity of freshwater fish lineages created environments with reduced competition, whereas additional factors, such as the island's complex geological history, created diverse habitats. As reflected in very localized endemism, species diversity is possibly also driven by long-term spatial isolation, which alone however offers insufficient explanation for the increase in phenotypic disparity. Taken together, ecological opportunity was a dominant driver of the phenotypic diversification of Sulawesi ricefishes, potentially complemented by past introgressive hybridization events and small-scale spatial isolation.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"19"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11900528/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143617972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Confronting cultures: northern Madagascar's cultural beliefs and the relationship of owls and humans.","authors":"Manana Oclin Arsene, Xiaoya Shan","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02357-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02357-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Owls are often associated with superstitions and witchcraft in various cultures, leading to conflicts between human communities and these birds. This study, conducted in 2023 across 16 villages in Andapa, a northern district of Madagascar, aimed to investigate the challenges of human-owl coexistence. It specifically explored the cultural beliefs and conflicts driving the motivation to kill owls, particularly during witch-hunting incidents between 2021 and 2022. The findings revealed a prevalent belief among the local population in the close association between witches and owls. Both villagers and witches demonstrated a lack of understanding of environmental laws and regulations, intensifying motivations for owl hunting. The limited awareness of the legal consequences of hunting owls among the local population, combined with a lack of understanding among witches about the law prohibiting the keeping of owls as domestic companions, significantly contributes to this issue. Furthermore, the analysis showed that individuals with strong traditional beliefs or who had encountered dead owls were more likely to engage in owl hunting. Conversely, those more educated, knowledgeable about wildlife protection laws, or aware of the ecological importance of owls were less likely to participate in such practices. This study underscores the urgent need to raise awareness of owls' ecological value, improve understanding of wildlife protection laws, and promote education to reduce owl-hunting behavior in the region.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"18"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11899044/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143607578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phylogeny and species delimitation of ciliates in the genus Spirostomum (class Heterotrichea) using single-cell transcriptomes.","authors":"Shahed Uddin Ahmed Shazib, Auden Cote-L'Heureux, Ragib Ahsan, Sergio A Muñoz-Gómez, JunMo Lee, Laura A Katz, Mann Kyoon Shin","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02353-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02353-3","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Ciliates are single-celled microbial eukaryotes that diverged from other eukaryotic lineages more than a billion years ago. The long evolutionary timespan of ciliates has led to enormous genetic and phenotypic changes, contributing significantly to their high level of diversity. Recent analyses based on molecular data have revealed numerous cases of cryptic species complexes in different ciliate lineages, demonstrating the need for a robust approach to delimit species boundaries and elucidate phylogenetic relationships. Species of the genus Spirostomum are difficult to identify due to the lack of distinctive morphological characters. Previous molecular studies have focused on only a few loci, namely the nuclear ribosomal RNA genes, alpha-tubulin, and mitochondrial CO1, suggesting the presence of several cryptic Spirostomum species. In this study, we increased taxon sampling and obtained single-cell transcriptomes of 25 Spirostomum specimens (representing six morphospecies) sampled from South Korea and the USA. We evaluated the utility of the transcriptomic data by constructing species trees using concatenation and coalescent-based methods. In addition, we used neighbor-net network analysis to visualize and quantify potential phylogenetic conflicts within the concatenated dataset. Furthermore, coalescent-based species delimitation was performed with transcriptomic data to define the species boundaries within the genus Spirostomum.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Phylogenomic analysis of 37 Spirostomum specimens (25 newly generated transcriptomes and 12 from GenBank) and 265 protein-coding genes provides robust insight into the evolutionary relationships among Spirostomum species. Our results confirm that species with moniliform and compact macronucleus each form a distinct monophyletic lineage, with the compact macronucleus likely representing the ancestral state, while the moniliform macronucleus being a derived trait. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that ancestral polymorphism and rapid radiation may have shaped the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of Spirostomum, and the S. minus-like appearance represents the ancestral state of the species with a moniliform macronucleus. Therefore, the S. minus-like species share ancestral morphological traits and cannot be morphologically delimited. The multispecies coalescent (MSC) model suggests that two cryptic species from each of S. minus, S. ambiguum, S. subtilis, S. teres, and S. aff. minus represent distinct lineages within the genus Spirostomum. We also provide a workflow for reconstructing nuclear ribosomal RNA gene sequences from transcriptome sequences using a read mapping approach, and compare different mapping methods to reconstruct reliable contigs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion: &lt;/strong&gt;Our sampling of closely related Spirostomum populations and comprehensive single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data allowed us to reveal the hidden crypticity of specie","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"17"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11866625/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143517631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The oldest continuous association between astigmatid mites and termites preserved in Cretaceous amber reveals the evolutionary significance of phoresy.","authors":"Hemen Sendi, Pavel B Klimov, Vasiliy B Kolesnikov, Júlia Káčerová, Enrico Bonino, Dany Azar, Ninon Robin","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02351-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02351-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Among minute-sized and wingless arthropods, astigmatid mites stand out for their diverse range of symbiotic associations (parasitic, neutral and mutualistic), with both invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. When inhabiting discontinuous and ephemeral environments, astigmatid mites adapt their life cycle to produce a phoretic heteromorphic nymph. When feeding resources are depleted, phoretic nymphs disperse to new habitats through phoresy, attaching to a larger animal which transports them to new locations. This dispersal strategy is crucial for accessing patchy resources, otherwise beyond the reach of these minute arthropods. In Astigmata, the phoretic nymph is highly specialized for dispersal, equipped with an attachment organ and lacking a mouth and pharynx. Despite the common occurrence of phoretic associations in modern mites, their evolutionary origins remain poorly understood. Among Astigmata, the family Schizoglyphidae represents an early derivative lineage with phoretic tritonymphs; however, our knowledge of this family is limited to a single observation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Here, we report the oldest biotic association of arthropods fossilised in amber (~ 130 Ma, Lebanon): an alate termite with 16 phoretic tritonymphs of Schizoglyphidae (Plesioglyphus lebanotermi gen. et sp. n.). The mites are primarily attached to the membranes of the host's hindwings, using their attachment organs, pretarsal claws and tarsal setae. Additionally, we report new modern phoretic tritonymphs of this same family, on one of the earliest lineages of termites. These data collectively indicate that schizoglyphid-termite associations represent the oldest continuous mite-host associations. Notably, phoretic schizoglyphids retain a distinct mouth and pharynx, whereas these structures are absent in the modern phoretic stages of non-schizoglyphid Astigmata.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The discovery of Schizoglyphidae mites in Lebanese amber represents the oldest known continuous association between acariform mites and their hosts. This finding demonstrates the long-term evolutionary significance of phoresy in Astigmata, evidencing a relationship sustained for over 130 Ma. It indicates that these early mites lived inside termite nests as inquilines and used alate termites for dispersal. This ancient association offers key insights into the coevolution of both mites and termites, highlighting a potential for the future discoveries of similar mites. This fossil -a stem-group Astigmata- is important for the accurate calibration of acariform mite phylogenies, advancing our understanding of these mites evolutionary history.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"16"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11853500/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143495027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Come to the dark side - citizen science in nighttime ecology.","authors":"S E Kimmig, F Hölker, S Schroer, A Kassiem, S Kiefer","doi":"10.1186/s12862-025-02352-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-025-02352-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nocturnal ecology has hitherto led a shadowy existence in ecology, which traditionally focuses on diurnal species and functional relationships in the bright light of day. Yet nighttime hides exciting research insights and urgent conservation issues to be addressed. Citizen science is a promising approach to support this urgently needed exploration.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"15"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11827155/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143426771","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inferring the energy cost of resistance to parasitic infection and its link to a trade-off.","authors":"Frédéric Douhard, Carole Moreno-Romieux, Andrea B Doeschl-Wilson","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02340-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02340-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In infected hosts, immune responses trigger a systemic energy reallocation away from energy storage and growth, to fuel a costly defense program. The exact energy costs of immune defense are however unknown in general. Life history theory predicts that such costs underpin trade-offs between host disease resistance and other fitness related traits, yet this has been seldom assessed. Here we investigate immune energy cost induced by infection, and their potential link to a trade-off between host resistance and fat storage that we previously exposed in sheep divergently selected for resistance to a pathogenic helminth.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>To this purpose, we developed a mathematical model of host-parasite interaction featuring individual changes in energy allocation over the course of infection. The model was fitted to data from an experimental infectious challenge in sheep from genetically resistant and susceptible lines to infer the magnitude of immune energy costs. A relatively small and transient immune energy cost in early infection best explained within-individual changes in growth, energy storage and parasite burden. Among individuals, predicted responses assuming this positive energy cost conformed to the observed trade-off between resistance and storage, whereas a cost-free scenario incorrectly predicted no trade-off.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our mechanistic model fitting to experimental data provides novel insights into the link between energy costs and reallocation due to induced resistance within-individual, and trade-offs among individuals of selected lines. These will be useful to better understand the exact role of energy allocation in the evolution of host defenses, and for predicting the emergence of trade-offs in genetic selection.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"14"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11776327/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143061641","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Osteology and functional morphology of a transitional pterosaur Dearc sgiathanach from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Scotland.","authors":"Natalia Jagielska, Michael O'Sullivan, Ian B Butler, Thomas J Challands, Gregory F Funston, Dugald Ross, Amelia Penny, Stephen L Brusatte","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02337-9","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02337-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve active flight. The lack of many well-preserved pterosaur fossils limits our understanding of the functional anatomy and behavior of these flight pioneers, particularly from their early history (Triassic to Middle Jurassic). Here we describe in detail the osteology of an exceptionally preserved Middle Jurassic pterosaur, the holotype of Dearc sgiathanach from the Isle of Skye, Scotland. We identify new autapomorphies of the flight apparatus (humerus and sternum), which further support the distinctiveness of Dearc compared with other early-diverging pterosaurs and describe features, such as the vertebral morphology, shared with later-diverging pterosaurs that probably developed convergently to support a large body size or as a sign of modular evolution. We used extant phylogenetic bracketing to infer the principal cranial and antebrachial musculature, indicating that Dearc had large and anteriorly placed palatal musculature that compensated for weak temporal jaw adductors and wing musculature suggestive of flight style reliant on powerful adduction and protraction of the humerus. Comparisons with other pterosaurs revealed that non-pterodactyloids such as Dearc, despite their overall conservative bauplans, adapted various flight and feeding styles. The osteology and myology of Dearc are indicative of a large predator that flew and hunted above lagoons and nearshore environments of the Middle Jurassic.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"9"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11761736/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143030450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Wing spot in a tropical and a temperate drosophilid: C = C enrichment and conserved thermal response.","authors":"Divita Garg, Harshad Vijay Mayekar, Sanjeev Paikra, Monalisa Mishra, Subhash Rajpurohit","doi":"10.1186/s12862-024-02333-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12862-024-02333-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wings are primarily used in flight but also play a role in mating behaviour in many insects. Drosophila species exhibit a variety of pigmentation patterns on their wings. In some sexually dimorphic Drosophilids, a pigmented spot pattern is found at the top-right edge of the male wings. Our understanding of wing spot thermal plasticity in sexually dimorphic species is limited with wing spots being primarily associated with sexual selection. Here, we investigated the wing pigmentation response of two species with wing spots: D. biarmipes and D. suzukii species to thermal variation. We exposed freshly hatched larvae of both the species to three different growth temperatures and checked for wing pigmentation in adult males. Our results indicate wing pigmentation is a plastic trait in the species studied and that wing pigmentation is negatively correlated with higher temperature. In both species, wings were darker at lower temperature compared to higher temperature. Further, D. suzukii exhibits darker wing pigmentation compared to D. biarmipes. Variation in wing pigmentation in both D. suzukii and D. biarmipes could reflect habitat level differences; indicating a strong G*E interaction. Raman spectral analysis indicated a shift in chemical profiles of pigmented vs. non-pigmented areas of the wing. The wing spot was found enriched with carbon-carbon double-bond compared to the non-pigmented wing area. We report that C = C formation in spotted area is thermally controlled and conserved in two members of the suzukii subgroup i.e. D. biarmipes and D. suzukii. Our study indicated a conserved mechanism of the spot formation in two Drosophila species coming from contrasting distribution ranges.</p>","PeriodicalId":93910,"journal":{"name":"BMC ecology and evolution","volume":"25 1","pages":"13"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11755964/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143030452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}