Modifications of the morphology and acoustic properties of the ossicular chain are among the major changes that accompanied the adaptation of Cetacea to the aquatic environment. Thus, data on the middle ear ossicles of early whales are crucial clues to understand the first steps of the emblematic terrestrial/aquatic transition that occurred in that group. Yet, the delicate nature and very small size of these bones make their preservation in the fossil record extremely rare. Due to the scarcity of available data, major questions remain concerning the sound transmission pathways in early non-fully aquatic whales. Virtual reconstruction of a partially complete ossicular chain of an Eocene protocetid whale documents for the first time the three ossicles of a semi-aquatic archaeocete. Contrary to previous hypotheses, these ossicles present different evolutionary patterns, showing that the ossicular chain does not act as a single morphological module. Functional analyses of the different middle ear units highlight a mosaic pattern of terrestrial and aquatic signatures. This integrative anatomical and functional study brings strong evidence that protocetids were adapted to their dual acoustic environment with efficient hearing in both air and water.
{"title":"Early evolution of the ossicular chain in Cetacea: into the middle ear gears of a semi-aquatic protocetid whale","authors":"Mickaël J. Mourlam, M. Orliac","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1417","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1417","url":null,"abstract":"Modifications of the morphology and acoustic properties of the ossicular chain are among the major changes that accompanied the adaptation of Cetacea to the aquatic environment. Thus, data on the middle ear ossicles of early whales are crucial clues to understand the first steps of the emblematic terrestrial/aquatic transition that occurred in that group. Yet, the delicate nature and very small size of these bones make their preservation in the fossil record extremely rare. Due to the scarcity of available data, major questions remain concerning the sound transmission pathways in early non-fully aquatic whales. Virtual reconstruction of a partially complete ossicular chain of an Eocene protocetid whale documents for the first time the three ossicles of a semi-aquatic archaeocete. Contrary to previous hypotheses, these ossicles present different evolutionary patterns, showing that the ossicular chain does not act as a single morphological module. Functional analyses of the different middle ear units highlight a mosaic pattern of terrestrial and aquatic signatures. This integrative anatomical and functional study brings strong evidence that protocetids were adapted to their dual acoustic environment with efficient hearing in both air and water.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74330674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Assessing life-history traits of parasites on resistant hosts is crucial in evolutionary ecology. In the particular case of sporulating pathogens with growing lesions, phenotyping is difficult because one needs to disentangle properly pathogen spread from sporulation. By considering Phytophthora infestans on potato, we use mathematical modelling to tackle this issue and refine the assessment of pathogen response to quantitative host resistance. We elaborate a parsimonious leaf-scale model by convolving a lesion growth model and a sporulation function, after a latency period. This model is fitted to data obtained on two isolates inoculated on three cultivars with contrasted resistance level. Our results confirm a significant host–pathogen interaction on the various estimated traits, and a reduction of both pathogen spread and spore production, induced by host resistance. Most interestingly, we highlight that quantitative resistance also changes the sporulation function, the mode of which is significantly time-lagged. This alteration of the infectious period distribution on resistant hosts may have strong impacts on the dynamics of parasite populations, and should be considered when assessing the durability of disease control tactics based on plant resistance management. This inter-disciplinary work also supports the relevance of mechanistic models for analysing phenotypic data of plant–pathogen interactions.
{"title":"Assessing the effects of quantitative host resistance on the life-history traits of sporulating parasites with growing lesions","authors":"M. Leclerc, J. Clément, D. Andrivon, F. Hamelin","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1244","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1244","url":null,"abstract":"Assessing life-history traits of parasites on resistant hosts is crucial in evolutionary ecology. In the particular case of sporulating pathogens with growing lesions, phenotyping is difficult because one needs to disentangle properly pathogen spread from sporulation. By considering Phytophthora infestans on potato, we use mathematical modelling to tackle this issue and refine the assessment of pathogen response to quantitative host resistance. We elaborate a parsimonious leaf-scale model by convolving a lesion growth model and a sporulation function, after a latency period. This model is fitted to data obtained on two isolates inoculated on three cultivars with contrasted resistance level. Our results confirm a significant host–pathogen interaction on the various estimated traits, and a reduction of both pathogen spread and spore production, induced by host resistance. Most interestingly, we highlight that quantitative resistance also changes the sporulation function, the mode of which is significantly time-lagged. This alteration of the infectious period distribution on resistant hosts may have strong impacts on the dynamics of parasite populations, and should be considered when assessing the durability of disease control tactics based on plant resistance management. This inter-disciplinary work also supports the relevance of mechanistic models for analysing phenotypic data of plant–pathogen interactions.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74762039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
V. Marasco, W. Boner, Kate Griffiths, B. Heidinger, P. Monaghan
Offspring produced by older parents often have reduced longevity, termed the Lansing effect. Because adults usually have similar-aged mates, it is difficult to separate effects of maternal and paternal age, and environmental circumstances are also likely to influence offspring outcomes. The mechanisms underlying the Lansing effect are poorly understood. Variation in telomere length and loss, particularly in early life, is linked to longevity in many vertebrates, and therefore changes in offspring telomere dynamics could be very important in this context. We examined the effect of maternal age and environment on offspring telomere length in zebra finches. We kept mothers under either control (ad libitum food) or more challenging (unpredictable food) circumstances and experimentally minimized paternal age and mate choice effects. Irrespective of the maternal environment, there was a substantial negative effect of maternal age on offspring telomere length, evident in longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons (average of 39% shorter). Furthermore, in young mothers, sons reared by challenged mothers had significantly shorter telomere lengths than sons reared by control mothers. This effect disappeared when the mothers were old, and was absent in daughters. These findings highlight the importance of telomere dynamics as inter-generational mediators of the evolutionary processes determining optimal age-specific reproductive effort and sex allocation.
{"title":"Intergenerational effects on offspring telomere length: interactions among maternal age, stress exposure and offspring sex","authors":"V. Marasco, W. Boner, Kate Griffiths, B. Heidinger, P. Monaghan","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1845","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1845","url":null,"abstract":"Offspring produced by older parents often have reduced longevity, termed the Lansing effect. Because adults usually have similar-aged mates, it is difficult to separate effects of maternal and paternal age, and environmental circumstances are also likely to influence offspring outcomes. The mechanisms underlying the Lansing effect are poorly understood. Variation in telomere length and loss, particularly in early life, is linked to longevity in many vertebrates, and therefore changes in offspring telomere dynamics could be very important in this context. We examined the effect of maternal age and environment on offspring telomere length in zebra finches. We kept mothers under either control (ad libitum food) or more challenging (unpredictable food) circumstances and experimentally minimized paternal age and mate choice effects. Irrespective of the maternal environment, there was a substantial negative effect of maternal age on offspring telomere length, evident in longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons (average of 39% shorter). Furthermore, in young mothers, sons reared by challenged mothers had significantly shorter telomere lengths than sons reared by control mothers. This effect disappeared when the mothers were old, and was absent in daughters. These findings highlight the importance of telomere dynamics as inter-generational mediators of the evolutionary processes determining optimal age-specific reproductive effort and sex allocation.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90643948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Segmentation is fundamental to the arthropod body plan. Understanding the evolutionary steps by which arthropods became segmented is being transformed by the integration of data from evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), Cambrian fossils that allow the stepwise acquisition of segmental characters to be traced in the arthropod stem-group, and the incorporation of fossils into an increasingly well-supported phylogenetic framework for extant arthropods based on genomic-scale datasets. Both evo-devo and palaeontology make novel predictions about the evolution of segmentation that serve as testable hypotheses for the other, complementary data source. Fossils underpin such hypotheses as arthropodization originating in a frontal appendage and then being co-opted into other segments, and segmentation of the endodermal midgut in the arthropod stem-group. Insights from development, such as tagmatization being associated with different modes of segment generation in different body regions, and a distinct patterning of the anterior head segments, are complemented by palaeontological evidence for the pattern of tagmatization during ontogeny of exceptionally preserved fossils. Fossil and developmental data together provide evidence for a short head in stem-group arthropods and the mechanism of its formation and retention. Future breakthroughs are expected from identification of molecular signatures of developmental innovations within a phylogenetic framework, and from a focus on later developmental stages to identify the differentiation of repeated units of different systems within segmental precursors.
{"title":"Developing an integrated understanding of the evolution of arthropod segmentation using fossils and evo-devo","authors":"A. Chipman, G. Edgecombe","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1881","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1881","url":null,"abstract":"Segmentation is fundamental to the arthropod body plan. Understanding the evolutionary steps by which arthropods became segmented is being transformed by the integration of data from evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), Cambrian fossils that allow the stepwise acquisition of segmental characters to be traced in the arthropod stem-group, and the incorporation of fossils into an increasingly well-supported phylogenetic framework for extant arthropods based on genomic-scale datasets. Both evo-devo and palaeontology make novel predictions about the evolution of segmentation that serve as testable hypotheses for the other, complementary data source. Fossils underpin such hypotheses as arthropodization originating in a frontal appendage and then being co-opted into other segments, and segmentation of the endodermal midgut in the arthropod stem-group. Insights from development, such as tagmatization being associated with different modes of segment generation in different body regions, and a distinct patterning of the anterior head segments, are complemented by palaeontological evidence for the pattern of tagmatization during ontogeny of exceptionally preserved fossils. Fossil and developmental data together provide evidence for a short head in stem-group arthropods and the mechanism of its formation and retention. Future breakthroughs are expected from identification of molecular signatures of developmental innovations within a phylogenetic framework, and from a focus on later developmental stages to identify the differentiation of repeated units of different systems within segmental precursors.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76465821","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There is evidence that human activities are reducing the population genetic diversity of species worldwide. Given the prediction that parasites better exploit genetically homogeneous host populations, many species could be vulnerable to disease outbreaks. While agricultural studies have shown the devastating effects of infectious disease in crop monocultures, the widespread nature of this diversity–disease relationship remains unclear in natural systems. Here, we provide broad support that high population genetic diversity can protect against infectious disease by conducting a meta-analysis of 23 studies, with a total of 67 effect sizes. We found that parasite functional group (micro- or macroparasite) affects the presence of the effect and study setting (field or laboratory-based environment) influences the magnitude. Our study also suggests that host genetic diversity is overall a robust defence against infection regardless of host reproduction, parasite host range, parasite diversity, virulence and the method by which parasite success was recorded. Combined, these results highlight the importance of monitoring declines of host population genetic diversity as shifts in parasite distributions could have devastating effects on at-risk populations in nature.
{"title":"Host genetic diversity limits parasite success beyond agricultural systems: a meta-analysis","authors":"A. Ekroth, Charlotte Rafaluk-Mohr, K. King","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1811","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1811","url":null,"abstract":"There is evidence that human activities are reducing the population genetic diversity of species worldwide. Given the prediction that parasites better exploit genetically homogeneous host populations, many species could be vulnerable to disease outbreaks. While agricultural studies have shown the devastating effects of infectious disease in crop monocultures, the widespread nature of this diversity–disease relationship remains unclear in natural systems. Here, we provide broad support that high population genetic diversity can protect against infectious disease by conducting a meta-analysis of 23 studies, with a total of 67 effect sizes. We found that parasite functional group (micro- or macroparasite) affects the presence of the effect and study setting (field or laboratory-based environment) influences the magnitude. Our study also suggests that host genetic diversity is overall a robust defence against infection regardless of host reproduction, parasite host range, parasite diversity, virulence and the method by which parasite success was recorded. Combined, these results highlight the importance of monitoring declines of host population genetic diversity as shifts in parasite distributions could have devastating effects on at-risk populations in nature.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85700651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Belyk, B. Schultz, J. Correia, D. Beal, S. Kotz
Most human communication is carried by modulations of the voice. However, a wide range of cultures has developed alternative forms of communication that make use of a whistled sound source. For example, whistling is used as a highly salient signal for capturing attention, and can have iconic cultural meanings such as the catcall, enact a formal code as in boatswain's calls or stand as a proxy for speech in whistled languages. We used real-time magnetic resonance imaging to examine the muscular control of whistling to describe a strong association between the shape of the tongue and the whistled frequency. This bioacoustic profile parallels the use of the tongue in vowel production. This is consistent with the role of whistled languages as proxies for spoken languages, in which one of the acoustical features of speech sounds is substituted with a frequency-modulated whistle. Furthermore, previous evidence that non-human apes may be capable of learning to whistle from humans suggests that these animals may have similar sensorimotor abilities to those that are used to support speech in humans.
{"title":"Whistling shares a common tongue with speech: bioacoustics from real-time MRI of the human vocal tract","authors":"M. Belyk, B. Schultz, J. Correia, D. Beal, S. Kotz","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1116","url":null,"abstract":"Most human communication is carried by modulations of the voice. However, a wide range of cultures has developed alternative forms of communication that make use of a whistled sound source. For example, whistling is used as a highly salient signal for capturing attention, and can have iconic cultural meanings such as the catcall, enact a formal code as in boatswain's calls or stand as a proxy for speech in whistled languages. We used real-time magnetic resonance imaging to examine the muscular control of whistling to describe a strong association between the shape of the tongue and the whistled frequency. This bioacoustic profile parallels the use of the tongue in vowel production. This is consistent with the role of whistled languages as proxies for spoken languages, in which one of the acoustical features of speech sounds is substituted with a frequency-modulated whistle. Furthermore, previous evidence that non-human apes may be capable of learning to whistle from humans suggests that these animals may have similar sensorimotor abilities to those that are used to support speech in humans.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78584088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P. Chisholm, S. Eigenbrode, R. Clark, Saumik Basu, D. Crowder
Herbivores that transmit plant pathogens often share hosts with non-vector herbivores. These co-occurring herbivores can affect vector fitness and behaviour through competition and by altering host plant quality. However, few studies have examined how such interactions may both directly and indirectly influence the spread of a plant pathogen. Here, we conducted field and greenhouse trials to assess whether a defoliating herbivore (Sitona lineatus) mediated the spread of a plant pathogen, Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV), by affecting the fitness and behaviour of Acrythosiphon pisum, the PEMV vector. We observed higher rates of PEMV spread when infectious A. pisum individuals shared hosts with S. lineatus individuals. Using structural equation models, we showed that herbivory from S. lineatus increased A. pisum fitness, which stimulated vector movement and PEMV spread. Moreover, plant susceptibility to PEMV was indirectly enhanced by S. lineatus, which displaced A. pisum individuals to the most susceptible parts of the plant. Subsequent analyses of plant defence genes revealed considerable differences in plant phytohormones associated with anti-herbivore and anti-pathogen defence when S. lineatus was present. Given that vectors interact with non-vector herbivores in natural and managed ecosystems, characterizing how such interactions affect pathogens would greatly enhance our understanding of disease ecology.
{"title":"Plant-mediated interactions between a vector and a non-vector herbivore promote the spread of a plant virus","authors":"P. Chisholm, S. Eigenbrode, R. Clark, Saumik Basu, D. Crowder","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1383","url":null,"abstract":"Herbivores that transmit plant pathogens often share hosts with non-vector herbivores. These co-occurring herbivores can affect vector fitness and behaviour through competition and by altering host plant quality. However, few studies have examined how such interactions may both directly and indirectly influence the spread of a plant pathogen. Here, we conducted field and greenhouse trials to assess whether a defoliating herbivore (Sitona lineatus) mediated the spread of a plant pathogen, Pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV), by affecting the fitness and behaviour of Acrythosiphon pisum, the PEMV vector. We observed higher rates of PEMV spread when infectious A. pisum individuals shared hosts with S. lineatus individuals. Using structural equation models, we showed that herbivory from S. lineatus increased A. pisum fitness, which stimulated vector movement and PEMV spread. Moreover, plant susceptibility to PEMV was indirectly enhanced by S. lineatus, which displaced A. pisum individuals to the most susceptible parts of the plant. Subsequent analyses of plant defence genes revealed considerable differences in plant phytohormones associated with anti-herbivore and anti-pathogen defence when S. lineatus was present. Given that vectors interact with non-vector herbivores in natural and managed ecosystems, characterizing how such interactions affect pathogens would greatly enhance our understanding of disease ecology.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83083136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jérôme Pinti, T. Kiørboe, U. H. Thygesen, André W. Visser
Diel vertical migration (DVM), the daily movement of organisms through oceanic water columns, is mainly driven by spatio-temporal variations in the light affecting the intensity of predator–prey interactions. Migration patterns of an organism are intrinsically linked to the distribution of its conspecifics, its prey and its predators, each with their own fitness-seeking imperatives. We present a mechanistic, trait-based model of DVM for the different components of a pelagic community. Specifically, we consider size, sensory mode and feeding mode as key traits, representing a community of copepods that prey on each other and are, in turn, preyed upon by fish. Using game-theoretic principles, we explore the optimal distribution of the main groups of a planktonic pelagic food web simultaneously. Within one single framework, our model reproduces a whole suite of observed patterns, such as size-dependent DVM patterns of copepods and reverse migrations. These patterns can only be reproduced when different trophic levels are considered at the same time. This study facilitates a quantitative understanding of the drivers of DVM, and is an important step towards mechanistically underpinned predictions of DVM patterns and biologically mediated carbon export.
{"title":"Trophic interactions drive the emergence of diel vertical migration patterns: a game-theoretic model of copepod communities","authors":"Jérôme Pinti, T. Kiørboe, U. H. Thygesen, André W. Visser","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1645","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1645","url":null,"abstract":"Diel vertical migration (DVM), the daily movement of organisms through oceanic water columns, is mainly driven by spatio-temporal variations in the light affecting the intensity of predator–prey interactions. Migration patterns of an organism are intrinsically linked to the distribution of its conspecifics, its prey and its predators, each with their own fitness-seeking imperatives. We present a mechanistic, trait-based model of DVM for the different components of a pelagic community. Specifically, we consider size, sensory mode and feeding mode as key traits, representing a community of copepods that prey on each other and are, in turn, preyed upon by fish. Using game-theoretic principles, we explore the optimal distribution of the main groups of a planktonic pelagic food web simultaneously. Within one single framework, our model reproduces a whole suite of observed patterns, such as size-dependent DVM patterns of copepods and reverse migrations. These patterns can only be reproduced when different trophic levels are considered at the same time. This study facilitates a quantitative understanding of the drivers of DVM, and is an important step towards mechanistically underpinned predictions of DVM patterns and biologically mediated carbon export.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87908400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Metabolic activity sets the rates of individual resource uptake from the environment and resource allocations. For this reason, the relationship with body size has been heavily documented from ecosystems to cells. Until now, most of the studies used the fluxes of oxygen as a proxy of energy output without knowledge of the efficiency of biological systems to convert oxygen into ATP. The aim of this study was to examine the allometry of coupling efficiency (ATP/O) of skeletal muscle mitochondria isolated from 12 mammal species ranging from 6 g to 550 kg. Mitochondrial efficiencies were measured at different steady states of phosphorylation. The efficiencies increased sharply at higher metabolic rates. We have shown that body mass dependence of mitochondrial efficiency depends on metabolic intensity in skeletal muscles of mammals. Mitochondrial efficiency positively depends on body mass when mitochondria are close to the basal metabolic rate; however, the efficiency is independent of body mass at the maximum metabolic rate. As a result, it follows that large mammals exhibit a faster dynamic increase in ATP/O than small species when mitochondria shift from basal to maximal activities. Finally, the invariant value of maximal coupling efficiency across mammal species could partly explain why scaling exponent values are very close to 1 at maximal metabolic rates.
{"title":"Allometry of mitochondrial efficiency is set by metabolic intensity","authors":"Boël Mélanie, Romestaing Caroline, Voituron Yann, Roussel Damien","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1693","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1693","url":null,"abstract":"Metabolic activity sets the rates of individual resource uptake from the environment and resource allocations. For this reason, the relationship with body size has been heavily documented from ecosystems to cells. Until now, most of the studies used the fluxes of oxygen as a proxy of energy output without knowledge of the efficiency of biological systems to convert oxygen into ATP. The aim of this study was to examine the allometry of coupling efficiency (ATP/O) of skeletal muscle mitochondria isolated from 12 mammal species ranging from 6 g to 550 kg. Mitochondrial efficiencies were measured at different steady states of phosphorylation. The efficiencies increased sharply at higher metabolic rates. We have shown that body mass dependence of mitochondrial efficiency depends on metabolic intensity in skeletal muscles of mammals. Mitochondrial efficiency positively depends on body mass when mitochondria are close to the basal metabolic rate; however, the efficiency is independent of body mass at the maximum metabolic rate. As a result, it follows that large mammals exhibit a faster dynamic increase in ATP/O than small species when mitochondria shift from basal to maximal activities. Finally, the invariant value of maximal coupling efficiency across mammal species could partly explain why scaling exponent values are very close to 1 at maximal metabolic rates.","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86873696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
David Nusbaumer, Lucas Marques da Cunha, Claus Wedekind
Sperm cryopreservation is routinely used in reproductive medicine, livestock production and wildlife management. Its effect on offspring performance is often assumed to be negligible, but this still remains to be confirmed in well-controlled within-subject experiments. We use a vertebrate model that allows us to experimentally separate parental and environmental effects to test whether sperm cryopreservation influences offspring phenotype under stress and non-stress conditions, and whether such effects are male-specific. Wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) were stripped for their gametes, and a portion of each male's milt was cryopreserved. Then, 960 eggs were simultaneously fertilized with either non-cryopreserved or frozen-thawed semen and raised singly in the presence or absence of a pathogen. We found no significant effects of cryopreservation on fertilization rates, and no effects on growth, survival nor pathogen resistance during the embryo stage. However, fertilization by cryopreserved sperm led to significantly reduced larval growth after hatching. Males varied in genetic quality as determined from offspring performance, but effects of cryopreservation on larval growth were not male-specific. We conclude that cryopreservation causes a reduction in offspring growth that is easily overlooked because it only manifests itself at later developmental stages, when many other factors affect growth and survival too.
{"title":"Sperm cryopreservation reduces offspring growth.","authors":"David Nusbaumer, Lucas Marques da Cunha, Claus Wedekind","doi":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1644","DOIUrl":"10.1098/rspb.2019.1644","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sperm cryopreservation is routinely used in reproductive medicine, livestock production and wildlife management. Its effect on offspring performance is often assumed to be negligible, but this still remains to be confirmed in well-controlled within-subject experiments. We use a vertebrate model that allows us to experimentally separate parental and environmental effects to test whether sperm cryopreservation influences offspring phenotype under stress and non-stress conditions, and whether such effects are male-specific. Wild brown trout (<i>Salmo trutta</i>) were stripped for their gametes, and a portion of each male's milt was cryopreserved. Then, 960 eggs were simultaneously fertilized with either non-cryopreserved or frozen-thawed semen and raised singly in the presence or absence of a pathogen. We found no significant effects of cryopreservation on fertilization rates, and no effects on growth, survival nor pathogen resistance during the embryo stage. However, fertilization by cryopreserved sperm led to significantly reduced larval growth after hatching. Males varied in genetic quality as determined from offspring performance, but effects of cryopreservation on larval growth were not male-specific. We conclude that cryopreservation causes a reduction in offspring growth that is easily overlooked because it only manifests itself at later developmental stages, when many other factors affect growth and survival too.</p>","PeriodicalId":20609,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Royal Society B","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6784727/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79301224","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}