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How well populations can cope with global warming will often depend on the evolutionary potential and plasticity of their temperature-sensitive, fitness-relevant traits. In Bechstein's bats (Myotis bechsteinii), body size has increased over the last decades in response to warmer summers. If this trend continues it may threaten populations as larger females exhibit higher mortality. To assess the evolutionary potential of body size, we applied a Bayesian ‘animal model’ to estimate additive genetic variance, heritability and evolvability of body size, based on a 25-year pedigree of 332 wild females. Both heritability and additive genetic variance were reduced in hot summers compared to average and cold summers, while evolvability of body size was generally low. This suggests that the observed increase in body size was mostly driven by phenotypic plasticity. Thus, if warm summers continue to become more frequent, body size likely increases further and the resulting fitness loss could threaten populations.
Whether species can cope with environmental change depends considerably on their life history. Bats have long lifespans and low reproductive rates which make them vulnerable to environmental changes. Global warming causes Bechstein’s bats (Myotis bechsteinii) to produce larger females that face a higher mortality risk. Here, we test whether these larger females are able to offset their elevated mortality risk by adopting a faster life history. We analysed an individual-based 25-year dataset from 331 RFID-tagged wild bats and combine genetic pedigrees with data on survival, reproduction and body size. We find that size-dependent fecundity and age at first reproduction drive the observed increase in mortality. Because larger females have an earlier onset of reproduction and shorter generation times, lifetime reproductive success remains remarkably stable across individuals with different body sizes. Our study demonstrates a rapid shift to a faster pace of life in a mammal with a slow life history.
Relative importance of plastic and genetic responses to weather conditions in long-lived bats
(2022)
In the light of the accelerating pace of environmental change, it is imperative to understand how populations and species can adapt to altered environmental conditions. This is a crucial step in predicting current and future population persistence and limits thereof. Genetic adaption and phenotypic plasticity are two main mechanisms that can mediate the process of adaptation and are of particular importance for non-dispersing species. While phenotypic plasticity may enable individuals to cope with short term environmental changes, genetic adaptation will often be required for populations to survive in situ over longer time spans. However, a rapid genetic response is expected particularly in species with fast life histories or large population sizes, leaving species with slow life histories potentially at higher extinction risk. The Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii) is a mammal of 10 g weight that - despite its small size - is characterized by a slow life history, with low reproductive output and long lifespan, and is already considered to be of high conservation concern. Past work demonstrated body size to be a highly fitness-relevant trait in Bechstein’s bats. Body size is further known to be a pivotal trait shaping the pace of life histories in numerous species. Simultaneously, many studies reported noteworthy changes in body size as a response to shifting environments across different taxa. This suggested a potential for high plasticity in this trait in Bechstein’s bats as well; however, changes in body size could have vital impacts on demographic rates.
Therefore, this dissertation investigated the following questions: firstly, what shapes the fundamental development of body size in M. bechsteinii, and, specifically, is there an impact of weather conditions on body size? If so, in what form and magnitude? Secondly, how does body size subsequently influence the pace of life in females? What is the cost of a faster or slower pace of life, and how does fitness compare across individuals with slow and fast life histories? And finally, to what extent can changes in body size be attributed to either phenotypic plasticity or genetic adaptation? What is the evolutionary potential of body size in the populations? And, consequently, what implications can we draw regarding population persistence of these colonies?
To answer these questions, we analyzed a long-term dataset of over two decades collected from four wild Bechstein’s bat colonies. We used individual-based data on survival, reproduction and body size, built multi-generational pedigrees, and combined everything with meteorological data. In Manuscript 1 we found that, in contrast to the declining body size observed in many species, body size in Bechstein’s bats increased significantly over the last decades. We demonstrated that ambient temperature was linked to the development of body size and identified a sensitive time period in the prenatal growth phase, in which body size was most susceptible to the impact of temperature. We established that warmer summers resulted in larger bats, but that these large bats had higher mortality risks throughout their lives. Manuscript 2 then revealed the influence of body size on the pace of life in Bechstein’s bats and demonstrated high plasticity in intraspecific life history strategies. Large females were characterized by a faster pace of life and shorter lifespans, but surprisingly, lifetime reproductive success remained remarkably stable across individuals with different body sizes. The acceleration of their pace of life means that larger females compensated for their reduced longevity by an earlier reproduction and higher fecundity to reach similar overall fitness. Ultimately, differences in body size resulted in changes in population growth rate via the impact of size on generation times. Results of Manuscript 3 were then able to clarify the extent to which changes in body size were founded on either phenotypic plasticity or genetic adaptation. We demonstrated a particularly low heritability in hot summers, indicating that variance in body size was mostly driven by phenotypic plasticity, with few genetic constraints. During cold summers, behavioural adaptations by reproducing bats seem to be able to mitigate negative effects of cold temperatures. These behaviours, such as social aggregation or preference for warm roosts, are, however, essentially irrelevant in hot environments. In addition, a low evolvability of forearm length points to a low capacity to respond to selection pressures associated with the trait.
We can conclude that body size in M. bechsteinii has increased over the last two decades as a response to global warming and is only slightly constrained by its genetic underpinnings. We can further demonstrate a direct link between body size and the pace of life histories in the Bechstein’s bat populations and how changes in body size impact demographic rates via this linkage. In the context of climate change and hotter summers, our findings consequently suggest that body size will likely increase further if warm summers continue to become more frequent. Whether this plastic response of body size proves to be adaptive in the long term, however, remains to be seen. While, up to this point, switching to a faster life history has been successful in compensating fitness losses, this strategy requires sufficient habitat quality and is likely risky in times when extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, as predicted by most climate change scenarios.
Sexual selection favours traits that confer a competitive advantage in access to mates and to their gametes. This results in males evolving a wide array of adaptations that may be conflictual with female’s interests and even to collateral negative effects on female’s lifespan or reproductive success. Harmful male adaptations are diverse and can be extreme. For example, males of various species evolved adaptations that incur physical damage to the female during copulation, referred to as traumatic mating. Most of these adaptations provide males with a competitive fertilization advantage due to the injection of sperm or non-sperm compounds through the wound. In the spider taxonomical literature, alterations of external genital structures have been reported in females and may result from male inflicted damage during copulation. Contrarily to other cases of traumatic mating, the transfer of sperm or non-sperm compounds does not seem to be the target of selection for external female genital mutilation (EFGM) to evolve. Therefore, investigating EFGM may provide valuable information to extend our understanding of the evolution of harmful male adaptations. In this thesis, I explore this newly discovered phenomenon and combine empirical and theoretical approaches to investigate the causes and consequences of EFGM evolution from male and female perspectives. My findings suggest that EFGM is a natural phenomenon and is potentially widespread throughout spider taxa. I demonstrate the proximal mechanism by which the male copulatory organ mutilates the external female genitalia during genital coupling and show that the mutilation results in full monopolization of the female as mutilated females are unable to remate. Using a theoretical approach, I investigated the conditions for the evolution of EFGM. The model developed suggests that EFGM evolution is favoured for last male sperm precedence and for costs to females that can be relatively high as the male-male competition increases. I present the results of physiological measurements that suggest there is no physiological cost of genital mutilation resulting from healing and immune responses for the female. Finally, I report the results of a behavioural experiment that suggest that females have control over the mutilation and selectively allow or avoid mutilation. These findings suggest that EFGM benefits males by securing paternity, that males and females may have evolved to reduce the costs incurred by the female and that female choice may also play a role in EFGM evolution.
Changes in food characteristics reveal indirect effects of lake browning on zooplankton performance
(2020)
Abstract
Browning caused by colored dissolved organic matter is predicted to have large effects on aquatic ecosystems. However, there is limited experimental evidence about direct and indirect effects of browning on zooplankton in complex field settings. We used a combination of an ecosystem‐scale enclosure experiment and laboratory incubations to test how prolonged browning affects physiological and life‐history traits of the water flea Daphnia longispina, a key species in lake food webs, and whether any such effects are reversible. Daphnids and water were collected from enclosures in a deep clear‐water lake, where the natural plankton community had been exposed for 10 weeks to browning or to control conditions in clear water. Daphnid abundance was much lower in the brown than in the clear enclosure. Surprisingly, however, daphnids continuously kept in brown enclosure water in the laboratory showed increased metabolic performance and survival, and also produced more offspring than daphnids kept in clear enclosure water. This outcome was related to more and higher‐quality seston in brown compared to clear water. Moreover, daphnids transferred from clear to brown water or vice versa adjusted their nucleic acid and protein contents, as indicators of physiological state, to similar levels as individuals previously exposed to the respective recipient environment, indicating immediate and reversible browning effects on metabolic performance. These results demonstrate the importance of conducting experiments in settings that capture both indirect effects (i.e., emerging from species interactions in communities) and direct effects on individuals for assessing impacts of browning and other environmental changes on lakes.
Background
Hibernation allows species to conserve energy and thereby bridge unfavorable environmental conditions. At the same time, hibernation imposes substantial ecological and physiological costs. Understanding how hibernation timing differs within and between species can provide insights into the underlying drivers of this trade-off. However, this requires individualized long-term data that are often unavailable. Here, we used automatic monitoring techniques and a reproducible analysis pipeline to assess the individualized hibernation phenology of two sympatric bat species. Our study is based on data of more than 1100 RFID-tagged Daubenton’s bats (Myotis daubentonii) and Natterer’s bats (Myotis nattereri) collected over seven years at a hibernaculum in Germany. We used linear mixed models to analyze species-, sex- and age-specific differences in entrance, emergence and duration of the longest continuous period spent in the hibernaculum.
Results
Overall, Daubenton’s bats entered the hibernaculum earlier and emerged later than Natterer’s bats, resulting in a nearly twice as long hibernation duration. In both species, adult females entered earlier and emerged from hibernation later than adult males. Hibernation duration was shorter for juveniles than adults with the exception of adult male Natterer’s bats whose hibernation duration was shortest of all classes. Finally, hibernation timing differed among years, but yearly variations in entrance and emergence timing were not equally shifted in both species.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that even in sympatric species, and across sex and age classes, hibernation timing may be differentially affected by environmental conditions. This highlights the necessity of using individualized information when studying the impact of changing environments on hibernation phenology.
Soja gehört aufgrund seines hohen Proteingehaltes seit Jahrtausenden zu den Grundnahrungsmitteln des Menschen. Daneben wird Soja sowohl in Europa als auch in Asien als Ergänzungsfutter in der Tierernährung verwendet. Die enthaltenen Isoflavone verursachen in vivo möglicherweise positive, systemische Effekte, was aus erhöhten Geburtsgewichten sowie dem verbesserten postnatalen Wachstum von Ferkeln abgeleitet wurde. In weiteren Studien, in denen nach Fütterung im Blut der Tiere eine Daidzeinmenge von ca. 1 µmol/l zirkulierte, wurde das Wachstum der Ferkel nicht beeinflusst. Ferner zeigten die Isoflavone Genistein und Daidzein in vitro häufig ambivalente Effekte auf das Wachstum von Maus oder Ratte abgeleiteten Muskelzellkulturen in Abhängigkeit von der Dosis und Einwirkzeit. Die direkte Wirkung der Isoflavone auf das Wachstum und die Differenzierung von Skelettmuskelzellen wurde bisher für das Hausschwein nicht untersucht, obgleich es über sojahaltiges Futter einer kontinuierlichen Zufuhr von Isoflavonen ausgesetzt und eine Beeinflussung des Wachstums aufgrund der zuvor genannten Studien denkbar ist. Zudem wurde bisher die Expression der Östrogenrezeptoren, als mögliche Bindungsorte für Isoflavone, weder auf Protein- noch auf mRNA-Ebene im Skelettmuskel des Schweins beschrieben. Die vorliegende Arbeit verfolgte daher das Ziel, ein in vitro-Modell in Form einer Satellitenzellkultur aus dem M. semimembranosus für die Untersuchung des Muskelwachstums beim Hausschwein zu etablieren. Erstmals sollte daran die direkte Wirkung der Isoflavone Genistein und Daidzein in physiologischen sowie nicht-physiologischen Konzentrationen auf Basisprozesse des exponentiellen Wachstums und der Differenzierung unter Berücksichtigung möglicher wachstumsfaktorvermittelter Regulations¬mechanismen beschrieben werden. Die Isoflavonwirkung auf die DNA-Synthese der Muskelzellen wurde im Vergleich mit den Östrogenen 17beta-Östradiol und Östron sowie in weiteren Versuchen in Kombination mit den Wachstumsfaktoren IGF-I und EGF betrachtet. Für die Bestimmung der Einflüsse von Genistein und Daidzein auf die Proliferation porciner Skelettmuskelzellen wurden die DNA-Syntheserate, der Zellzyklus, Zelltod sowie DNA-Schäden und deren Reparatur nach Entzug der Isoflavone gemessen. Um den Einfluss der genutzten Isoflavone und 17beta-Östradiol auf die Differenzierung der Skelettmuskelzellen zu untersuchen, erfolgte die Bestimmung des Fusionsgrades sowie die Messung der Creatinkinase-Aktivität. Zusätzlich wurde der Proteinmetabolismus als Einbau bzw. Freisetzung von [3H]-Phenylalanin betrachtet. Ferner erfolgte die Untersuchung der Expression der Östrogen- und Tyrosinkinaserezeptoren, EGF-R und IGF-1R, mithilfe der RT-PCR, des Immunoblots und der Immunhistochemie während der Proliferations- und/oder der Differenzierungsphase. Aus dem porcinen M. semimembranosus wurde erfolgreich ein Satellitenzellpool etabliert und erstmals die Expression der Östrogenrezeptoren alpha und beta im porcinen Skelettmuskel und dem davon abgeleiteten Zellpool gezeigt. Die Ergebnisse lassen weiterhin negative Wirkungen der getesteten Isoflavone auf das Muskelzellwachstum in Ferkeln vor allem ab zirkulierenden Serumkonzentrationen von > 1 µmol/l, jedoch keine Effekte der Östrogene auf die Zellproliferation erwarten. IGF-I und EGF erwiesen sich als wirkungsvolle Stimulatoren des porcinen Muskelzellwachstums, was für EGF in der Zellkultur mit serum- und wachstumsfaktorfreiem Medium erstmals gezeigt wurde. Darüber hinaus wirken IGF-I und EGF scheinbar den toxischen Effekten hoher Isoflavondosen entgegen. Dennoch erniedrigte Genistein (100 µmol/l) deutlich die wachstumsfaktorvermittelte DNA-Synthese in porcinen Satellitenzellkulturen. Interessanterweise war unter dem Einfluss nahrungstypischer Daidzeinkonzentrationen (1 und 10 µmol/l) in Kombination mit IGF-I eine signifikante Erhöhung der Zellzahl zu beobachten. In der differenzierenden porcinen Muskelzellkultur verringerten sowohl Östrogene als auch Isoflavone dosisabhängig die Proteinabbaurate. Obgleich Östrogene allgemein beim Schwein nicht als Förderer des Muskelwachstums gelten, haben Östrogene und nahrungstypische Isoflavonkonzentrationen das Potential, den Protein¬metabolismus des porcinen Skelettmuskels zu beeinflussen. Auf der anderen Seite führten hohe Isoflavonkonzentrationen (20; 100 µmol/l) zu einer Abnahme der Proteinmenge und wirkten als Toxine auf die differenzierenden Skelettmuskelzellen. Da das Schwein eine dem Menschen ähnliche Physiologie und einen für die Isoflavone vergleichbaren Metabolismus besitzt, sind die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit nicht nur für die Tierernährung bedeutsam, sondern ebenso für die Beurteilung der Auswirkungen sojabasierter Babynahrung auf Entwicklungsprozesse beim menschlichen Neugeborenen, was in zukünftigen Untersuchungen zu den Wirkungen der Sojaisoflavone berücksichtigt werden sollte.
Abstract
The two important mechanisms influencing the response of phytoplankton communities to alterations of abiotic factors in their environment are difficult to distinguish: species sorting resulting from a change in interspecific competitive pressure, and phenotypic plasticity (here explicitly physiological plasticity i.e. species‐specific physiological adjustment). A shift in species composition as well as physiological adjustments in species can lead to changes in fatty acid composition that determine the food quality for zooplankton consumers.
We used phytoplankton communities consisting of five species and exposed them to two different light intensities, two light conditions (constant and variable), and two levels of phosphorus supply. Changes in fatty acid and species composition were analyzed. We compared community pairs differing in one factor by calculating the Bray‐Curtis similarity index for the composition of both variables. Comparing the Bray‐Curtis similarity index of the species composition with the index of the fatty acid composition was used to estimate the effects of species sorting and physiological plasticity.
Changes in nutrient supply influenced fatty acid responses based on species sorting and physiological plasticity the most. On one hand, the relevance of physiological plasticity was highest at cultivation in different nutrient supplies but the same light environment. Conversely with low nutrients species sorting appeared to dominate the response to changes in light, while at high nutrients physiological plasticity appeared to influence the response. Overall, under low phosphorus supply the communities showed a lower total fatty acid content per carbon and had increased proportions of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. Instead, communities in low light produced more of eicosapentaenoic acid.
Our results suggest that the relevance of species sorting and physiological plasticity in shaping the community response highly depends on the environmental factors that influence the system. Nutrient supply had the largest effect, while light had more limited conditional effects. However, all of these factors are important in shaping the food quality of the phytoplankton community for higher trophic levels.
In a changing world, phytoplankton communities face a large variety of challenges including altered light regimes. These alterations are caused by more pronounced stratification due to rising temperatures, enhanced eutrophication, and browning of lakes. Community responses toward these effects can emerge as alterations in physiology, biomass, biochemical composition, or diversity. In this study, we addressed the combined effects of changes in light and nutrient conditions on community responses. In particular, we investigated how light intensity and variability under two nutrient conditions influence (1) fast responses such as adjustments in photosynthesis, (2) intermediate responses such as pigment adaptation and (3) slow responses such as changes in community biomass and species composition. Therefore, we exposed communities consisting of five phytoplankton species belonging to different taxonomic groups to two constant and two variable light intensity treatments combined with two levels of phosphorus supply. The tested phytoplankton communities exhibited increased fast reactions of photosynthetic processes to light variability and light intensity. The adjustment of their light harvesting mechanisms via community pigment composition was not affected by light intensity, variability, or nutrient supply. However, pigment specific effects of light intensity, light variability, and nutrient supply on the proportion of the respective pigments were detected. Biomass was positively affected by higher light intensity and nutrient concentrations while the direction of the effect of variability was modulated by light intensity. Light variability had a negative impact on biomass at low, but a positive impact at high light intensity. The effects on community composition were species specific. Generally, the proportion of green algae was higher under high light intensity, whereas the cyanobacterium performed better under low light conditions. In addition to that, the diatom and the cryptophyte performed better with high nutrient supply while the green algae as well as the cyanobacterium performed better at low nutrient conditions. This shows that light intensity, light variability, and nutrient supply interactively affect communities. Furthermore, the responses are highly species and pigment specific, thus to clarify the effects of climate change a deeper understanding of the effects of light variability and species interactions within communities is important.
Haematophagous leeches express a broad variety of secretory proteins in their salivary glands, among them are hirudins and hirudin-like factors. Here, we describe the identification, molecular and initial functional characterization of Tandem-Hirudin (TH), a novel salivary gland derived factor identified in the Asian medicinal leech, Hirudinaria manillensis. In contrast to the typical structure of hirudins, TH comprises two globular domains arranged in a tandem-like orientation and lacks the elongated C-terminal tail. Similar structures of thrombin inhibitors have so far been identified only in kissing bugs and ticks. Expression of TH was performed in both cell-based and cell-free bacterial systems. A subsequent functional characterization revealed no evidence for a thrombin-inhibitory potency of TH.
Innerhalb der Proteinfamilien der Antistasine und der Hirudine konnte ein breites Spektrum von Faktoren identifiziert werden. Obwohl die Funktionen dieser Hirudin-ähnlichen Faktoren (HLF) aus Hirudo sp. und Hirudinaria manillensis, sowie des Antistasin-ähnlichen Faktors (ALF) aus Hirudo verbana, bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt unbekannt waren, könnte der hohe Grad an Übereinstimmung zu den Antistasinen bzw. Hirudinen bezüglich ihrer Genstruktur und Aminosäuresequenzen auf eine Anpassung der Blutegel auf ihr Wirtsspektrum hindeuten. So ist es mit der funktionellen Charakterisierung von rekombinanten Formen dieser Speicheldrüsenproteine möglich, die Frage zu beantworten, weshalb der Blutegel nicht nur einen potenten Inhibitor für die jeweiligen Faktoren der Blutgerinnung in seinen Speicheldrüsen sekretiert, sondern wohl möglich eine Vielzahl variierender Faktoren vorliegen.
Evolutionäre Morphologie ist nie nur beschreibend, sondern versucht morphologische Vielfalt immer auch zu erklären. Spermien im Allgemeinen und Spinnenspermien im Besonderen sind für ihre enorme morphologische Vielfalt bekannt. Spinnenspermien werden eingerollt und von einer Sekrethülle umschlossen übertragen. Außerdem werden Spinnenspermien sowohl als individuelle Spermien, aber auch als Spermienkonjugate übertragen. Synspermien, wo mehrere Spermien vollständig Sicherung am Ende der Spermiogenese sind charakteristisch für eine bestimmte Spinn Taxon, der sogenannten Synspermiata. Die vorliegende Arbeit fokussiert auf die evolutionäre Morphologie der Spermien der Dysderoidea, einem gut definierten Taxon innerhalb der Synspermiata. Das Taxon Dysderoidea besteht aus vier Familien, den Segestriidae, Dysderidae, Orsolobidae und Oonopidae. Die kleine Familie der Caponiidae ist die vermutete Schwestergruppe der Dysdeoidea. Interessanterweise werden Spermienkonjugate bestimmter Arten der Orsolobidae und Oonopidae, sowie eines Vertreters der Caponiidae, nicht von einer Sekrethülle umgeben. Die Funktion der Sekrethülle ist bislang noch nicht klar. Jedoch muss die Sekrethülle vor der Aktivierung der Spermien innerhalb des weiblichen Genitalsystems zunächst wieder entfernt werden. Dieser Prozess wird vermutlich vom Weibchen gesteuert und kann dem Weibchen unter anderem die gezielte Wahl der zu aktivierenden Spermien ermöglichen. Die nicht von einer Sekrethülle umschlossenen Spermienkonjugate könnten daher eine hoch spezialisierte männliche Paarungsstrategie darstellen, um den Einfluss des Weibchens und damit der gezielten postkopulatorischen Weibchenwahl zu umgehen. Innerhalb der Dysderoidea ist die morphologische Diversität der Spermien der Oonopidae besonders hoch. Hier werden in bestimmten Arten z.B. aflagellate Spermien, oder nicht eingerollte Spermien übertragen. Die Anzahl der fusionieren Spermien, sowie die Größe und Form der Spermienkonjugate ist innerhalb der Dysderoidea sehr variabel. Basierend auf der traditionell angewandten, zweidimensionalen (2D) Mikroskopie allein wird eine detaillierte Analyse der oftmals enorm komplexen Spermienkonjugate jedoch oft erschwert. Für das Verständnis von (ultra)struktureller Komplexität sind dreidimensionale (3D) Rekonstruktionen oftmals besonders hilfreich. Doch dies unweigerlich erfordert Serienbilder, die durch verschiedene Methoden erreicht werden können. Traditionell werden diese seriellen Bilder durch serielle Ultradünnschnittmikrotomie, gefolgt von der Analyse mittels Transmissionselektronenmikroskopie (ssTEM), erstellt. Allerdings ist ssTEM höchst anspruchsvoll, zeitaufwendig und sehr anfällig für Artefakte, wie zB der Verlust von Einzelschnittbildern, oder Bildverzerrungen. Neuere Methoden, wie Serial-Block-Face Rasterelektronenmikroskopie (SBFSEM) überwinden diese Einschränkungen, aber die Bildqualität, und das Signal-zu-Rausch-Verhältnis sind stark abhängig von den vorausgehenden Fixier- und Kontrastiereigenschaften. Spinnenspermien sind hoch komplex und daher besonders nützlich, um die Anwendbarkeit der SBFSEM mit der traditionellen ssTEM zu vergleichen. Obwohl SBFSEM in hochwertigen Bilddaten des somatischen Gewebes resultierte, konnten aufgrund der hohen Elektronendichten bestimmter Spermienzellkomponenten keine detaillierten Analysen der Spinnenspermien erfolgen. Somit bleibt ssTEM bislang die einzig Methode für die Generierung der seriellen Schnittbilder für die Rekonstruktion der Spinnenspermien. Serienschnitte und 3D Rekonstruktionen im Allgemeinen sind nicht nur sinnvoll um ultrastrukturelle Details zu visualisieren, sondern auch für das allgemeine Verständnis von komplexen Strukturen besonders hilfreich. Nichtsdestotrotz gehen Informationen über die natürliche Kohärenz durch den Schneidprozess in der Regel verloren. Non-destruktive Methoden, wie die Röntgenstrahlen Mikrocomputertomografie (Mikro-CT) überwinden diese Beschränkungen und haben sich als ein wertvolles Werkzeug für das Verständnis und die Visualisierung inneren Anatomie einer Vielzahl von Taxa, einschließlich Arthropoden, erwiesen. Dennoch ist nur wenig über die Anwendbarkeit dieses Verfahrens zur Analyse von Weichgewebe bekannt. Um das Potential und auch die Grenzen dieses Verfahrens zu analysieren wurden daher wurden die männlichen Kopulationsorgane von Spinnen, die Pedipalpen, sowie die Anatomie des Gehirns von drei Vertretern der Hexapoda analysiert, und mit den Ergebnissen vorangegangener histologischer und immunhistochemischer Untersuchungen vergleichen. Basierend auf diesen Daten wurde ein Protokoll für die Mikro-CT Analyse von Weichgewebe entwickelt und evaluiert
Decision making in everyday purchase situations requires mental processing of factors that are related to the items on display. These influencing factors – called persuasive information – can take various forms, like the price level, the design of the package or the display of certain product attributes. Despite the existence of persuasive information trying to influence our buying behavior, almost nothing is known about the underlying neural mechanisms responsible for processing this information. In this thesis functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to investigate neural activity correlated with product related persuasive information. As persuasive information organic, light and regular labeled food was chosen. The 1st experiment investigated the neural correlates of visually inspected organic and regular labeled food and the influence on willingness to pay (WTP) for the displayed items. It was hypothesized that organic compared to regular labeled food will be perceived as more rewarding which should be visible by an increased activity in the ventral striatum as a central area for reward processing and by a heightened WTP. As organic label information the national German eco emblem 'Bio-Siegel' was chosen (for stimuli details see 2.1). As there is no emblem indicating regular food, an artificially created logo was used for indicating a conventional product. 40 well- known food products (e.g. milk, bread, eggs etc.) were presented to the subjects. These products were marked with the organic emblem and the same 40 products with the regular label. We found that visual inspection of organic labeled food indeed led to an increase in neural activity in the ventral striatum and to a heightened WTP, suggesting a higher subjective value for these products. The 2nd experiment investigated the neural correlates of actually administered food stimuli labeled organic, light or regular and the influence on expected and experienced taste. For organic compared to regular labeled food we hypothesized an increase in expected and experienced taste pleasantness. Furthermore, light compared to regular labeled food should lead to a decrease in expected and perceived pleasantness and intensity ratings. During the active tasting process this should be accompanied by an increase in reward-related (e.g. organic vs. regular; regular vs. light) areas like the ventral striatum medial orbitofrontal cortex or aversion-related (e.g. regular vs. organic; light vs. regular) areas as the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) and operculum/insula. As organic label information the national German eco emblem 'Bio-Siegel' was chosen. Light label information was issued in form of the internationally used 'Bewusst-Wählen®' ('Healthy Choice') label (for stimuli details see 2.2). However, inside the scanner the written forms 'Bio', 'Light' or 'Normal' (indicating regular food) were chosen. Subjects were randomly assigned in two groups and were either confronted with the organic or the regular label (organic group) or with the light or the regular label (light group) but otherwise identical milk drink. The results show that organic compared to regular labeling of identical food stimuli indeed led to an increase in expected and experienced taste pleasantness for organic labeled food. Light compared to regular labeling of identical food stimuli led to a decrease in expected and experienced taste pleasantness and intensity for light labeled food. Moreover, taste-related activity was found in aversion related areas like the operculum insula and the lOFC for food labeled regular compared to organic and in reward-related areas like the ventral striatum for food labeled regular compared to light. The results show that persuasive food-related information influences human cognition on the behavioral and neural level; the effects were shown during visual and gustatory evaluation of the stimuli. Taken together the results demonstrate that the same stimulus can vary dramatically in personal valuation depending on the applied information.
Species are the basic units of evolution and biodiversity, and the process of speciation has been one of the most important questions in biology. The evolution of species with common descent is considered to be mainly driven by natural and sexual selection. The material basis and mechanical cause of organismic evolution were recognized during the formation of the modern synthesis of the evolutionary theory in the early 20th century, providing the framework for speciation studies. During this period, the biological species concept was developed in the frame of population genetics, putting emphasis on the reproductive isolation between populations. The phylogenetic species concept developed in the 1980s, on the other hand, does not make any particular assumption about evolutionary or speciation processes. It defines species via their unique combination of character states which are compatible with phylogenetic practices. However, the aforementioned two species concepts are difficult to apply in alpha-taxonomy, where newly discovered species are largely described by the morphological (typological) species concept for practical reasons. Nevertheless, the description of morphological species provides the basis for further assessments of species delimitation via other species concepts and approaches. One of the tools for assisting the identification and discovery of animal species is DNA barcoding, which uses a standard region of mitochondrial DNA sequence as a universal DNA barcode. However, its assumption of intraspecific genetic distances being smaller than interspecific genetic distances does not always hold. Species-level poly-/paraphyly is prevalent due to the discrepancy between the phylogenies of mitochondrial DNA and species. This suggests that the application of DNA barcodes must be combined with an integrative taxonomic approach. Beside the application as a tool for assisting species identification, the information from mitochondrial DNA sequences opens up a window for looking into the complex history of species.
Sexual selection is a potential mechanism driving the evolution of species. It favors traits that increase mating probability and mating success. It can result from intrasexual competition, female preference or sexual conflict. However, previous comparative studies using the degree of sexual dimorphism as a proxy for the strength of sexual selection have yielded inconsistent results as to the relationship between sexual selection and species richness. A possible cause of the inferred low association are factors other than sexual selection, which can also lead to the evolution of sexual dimorphism, such as selection for increased female fecundity. In order to assess the effect of sexual selection on speciation, the lability and evolvability of traits need to be studied that are clearly under sexual selection.
The aim of this thesis is to improve the knowledge about dwarf spider (Erigoninae, Linyphiidae) diversity and taxonomy, and to assess the evolutionary patterns of dimorphic traits that are under sexual selection. I focused on the abundant and diverse male prosomal modifications in dwarf spiders that are linked to the transfer of secretions from the male to the female during courtship and mating (gustatory courtship). This approach explores the process of speciation and the role of sexual selection on species diversification. I described new erigonine species and revised the classification of known species based on phylogenetic analyses. I also applied X-ray micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to investigate the distribution and evolutionary pattern of the gustatory glands to tease apart the evolution of prosomal shape and glandular equipment.
This cumulative thesis consists of three publications:
Publication 1: This publication aimed at contributing to the knowledge of erigonine diversity. The genus Shaanxinus previously contained only two species from China. I collected dwarf spiders from multiple locations in Taiwan from above-ground vegetations with a seldom applied collecting method. Inspection of the collected material resulted in the discovery of 13 Shaanxinus species. An additional species from Vietnam was described from a museum collection. I provided a revision of the genus Shaanxinus. A phylogenetic analysis using morphological characters was conducted for determining the possible generic synamomorphies. I also reconstructed the glandular distribution associated with male prosomal modifications, as well as the detailed structure of a male secondary sexual organ (pedipalp) by micro-CT. Furthermore, I conducted phylogenetic analyses based on sequences from two mitochondrial and one nuclear loci, and assessed the efficacy of different criteria in species identification using DNA barcoding. Distinction of morphologically similar species have been assisted by molecular data. The species level poly-/paraphyly found in mitochondrial DNA sequences caused the low efficacy of many distance- and tree-based species identification methods, while the nearest neighbor method showed high identification success. The non-monophyly is likely caused by instances of interspecific hybridization and recent parapatric speciation. The genus Shaanxinus thus lend itself as an ideal group for congeneric phylogeographic studies addressing the interactions between closely related species. Published in: Lin, S.-W., Lopardo, L., Haase, M. & Uhl, G. 2019. Taxonomic revision of the dwarf spider genus Shaanxinus Tanasevitch, 2006 (Araneae, Linyphiidae, Erigoninae), with new species from Taiwan and Vietnam. Organism Diversity & Evolution, 19, 211-276.
Publication 2: Sexually dimorphic prosomal modifications that are related to gustatory courtship occur in many dwarf spider species. These features evolved in the context of sexual selection, which has a potential effect on species diversification. In contrast to many
erigonine genera which present little variability in male prosomal traits, the genus Oedothorax presents higher diversity in male prosomal structures among species not only in the position and shapes of the modifications, but also in the degree of modification, ranging from absent to highly elaborated. This genus thus lends itself as a suitable target group for studying the effect of gustatory-courtship-related traits on species diversification. I conducted a revision of the 82 species previously belonging to this genus. Based on the result of a phylogenetic analysis, this genus was re-delimited with 10 species as Oedothorax sensu stricto, while taxonomic decisions were made for other species including synonymization with species from other genera and transferring species to other existing and newly defined genera. 25 species were deemed as “Oedothorax” incertae sedis. The reconstruction of character state evolution suggested multiple origins of specific prosomal modification types. Convergent evolution of these traits among different lineages suggests that sexual selection has played an important role in the species diversification of dwarf spiders. Published in: Lin, S.-W., Lopardo, L. & Uhl, G. 2021. Evolution of nuptial-gift-related male prosomal structures: taxonomic revision and cladistic analysis of the genus Oedothorax (Araneae: Linyphiidae: Erigoninae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, XX, 1-168.
Publication 3: Although sexually dimorphic traits have inspired the concept of sexual selection as the driving force of their evolution, they might also have evolved due to other ecological factors. These factors include the sexual signal adaptation to the environment as well as sexual differences in ecological relations and parental investment. In contrast, the gustatory courtship in dwarf spiders is associated with sexually dimorphic male prosomal modifications, which have clearly evolved in the context of sexual selection. Multiple origins of various external prosomal modifications have been shown in erigonine phylogeny, but the evolutionary pattern of the associated glands has not been investigated. Our phylogenetic analysis incorporated the characters related to the glandular distribution in the male prosoma as well as the external shapes yielded from X-ray micro-computed-tomography showed a single origin of gland among the investigated erigonine taxa. The internal anatomy revealed previously undetected trait lability in attachments of muscles to the cuticular structures, as well as the presence/absence and differences in glandular distribution even in species without external modification. Our finding further supports that erigonine male prosomal traits are under divergent selection, and corroborates the argument that erigonines are a suitable group for investigating the effect of sexual selection on speciation. Published in: Lin, S.-W., Lopardo, L. & Uhl, G. 2021. Diversification through gustatory courtship: an X‑ray micro‑computed tomography study on dwarf spiders. Frontiers in Zoology, 18: 51.
The results of this thesis corroborate the importance of applying phylogenetic methods and an integrative approach in the description of new species, as well as in revising taxa which might not be monophyletic. Overall, the studies contributed to a more comprehensive knowledge about erigonine species diversity, phylogeny and the possible diversifying effect of sexual selection on male traits associated with gustatory courtship.
Der Speichel des medizinischen Blutegels, H. verbana enthält eine Vielzahl von Proteinen und Peptiden mit deren Hilfe das Tier bei seinen Wirten parasitiert. Die bioaktiven Speichelinhaltsstoffe sind in den einzelligen Speicheldrüsenzellen des Tieres lokalisiert und werden während des Saugaktes über die Ausführgänge einer jeden Zelle in die Bisswunde des Wirtes transferiert. Die Proteine ermöglichen es dem Parasiten das Blut des Wirtes optimal aufzunehmen und es bis zu einem Jahr im Speichermagen zu bevorraten. In den letzten Jahrzehnten wurden einige Speichelproteine identifiziert und rekombinant hergestellt. Aufgrund schmerzstillender, gefäßerweiternder, gerinnungshemmender und vermutlich auch thromobolytischer Eigenschaften sind diese Substanzen in der Humanmedizin und -prophylaxe von potenzieller Bedeutung. Seit Jahrhunderten wird die klassische Blutegeltherapie durch das Ansetzen lebender Egel an die Haut des Menschen von Heilpraktikern und Ärzten erfolgreich durchgeführt. Gleichwohl sind die Funktionen der meisten sekretorischen Speichelproteine weiter ungeklärt und die Mechanismen, die zur Freisetzung der Proteine aus den Vorratsbehältern führen, unbekannt. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit konnte im Zuge der Quantifizierung der Speichelproteine und -peptide von H. medicinalis und H. verbana festgestellt werden, dass es keine globalen Unterschiede im Expressionsmuster beider Arten gibt. Es ist anzunehmen, dass der ohnehin in den letzten Jahren vermutlich zumeist, wenngleich vom Therapeuten unbewusst, eingesetzte H. verbana ähnliche Speichelproteine wie der tatsächlich medizinisch zugelassene H. medicinalis besitzt. Darüber hinaus wurde in dieser Arbeit mit gelfreien und gelbasierten Methoden erstmals das sekretorische Speichelproteom eines einzelnen Blutegels dargestellt. Dieses wird es zukünftig erlauben, Speichelproteine zu identifizieren und auf deren Funktion zu testen. Mit Hilfe der 3D-Rekonstruktion von Speicheldrüsenzellen konnte ermittelt werden, dass ein adulter Blutegel der Art H. verbana etwa 36.960 Speicheldrüsenzellen mit einem mittleren Volumen von 67.048 ± 38.935 µm³ besitzt. Aus den Daten und dem ermittelten Proteingehalt einer Speicheldrüsenzelle wurde geschlussfolgert, dass ein Blutegel über 1,2 ± 0,7 mg Protein in seinen Speicheldrüsenzellen verfügt. Sollte die gesamte Proteinmenge in den Wirt transferiert werden, könnten individuelle Komponenten des Egelspeichels in einem extrazellulären Verteilungsvolumen von 5 l (Mensch) maximale Konzentrationen zwischen 3 und 236 pmol/l erreichen. Gleichwohl ergaben histologische Studien, die eine Reduktion der Speicheldrüsenzellflächen nach der Nahrungsaufnahme anzeigen und auf eine Entleerung der Speicheldrüsen im Zuge des Saugaktes schließen lassen, dass die Zellflächen in gesogenen Tieren gegenüber den Zellflächen in ungesogen Egel nur um etwa 40 % reduziert sind. Die sich ergebene Frage, ob die Entleerung der Drüsenzellen dementsprechend auch nur anteilig erfolgt, kann derzeit aufgrund nur lückenhafter Erkenntnisse zur inneren Struktur der Speichelsekretionszelle noch nicht beantwortet werden. Mit Verweis auf das einzige pharmakokinetisch umfangreich untersuchte Speichelprotein Hirudin (Ki 2,3 pmol/l) kann jedoch gemutmaßt werden, dass selbst unter der Annahme einer nur 40 %igen Speicheldrüsen-Entleerung die in den Wirt transferierte Menge an individuellen Speichelproteinen eines einzelnen Tieres ausreichend hoch sein könnte, um pharmakologisch wirksame Konzentrationen im Organismus zu erreichen. Interessanterweise gelang es in dieser Arbeit erstmals zu zeigen, dass die Neusynthese der Speichelproteine, obgleich die Tiere von dem Nahrungsblut einer Mahlzeit bis zu einem Jahr leben, bereits innerhalb der ersten beiden Wochen nach der Nahrungsaufnahme stattfindet. Die Mechanismen, die zur Freisetzungen des Materials aus den einzelligen Drüsen führen, sind bislang weitestgehend ungeklärt. Innerhalb dieser Arbeit konnten erste Beiträge geleistet werden, indem elektronenmikroskopisch nachgewiesen wurde, dass die Speicheldrüsenzellen Vesikel enthalten, in denen wahrscheinlich die sekretorischen Speichelinhaltsstoffe vorliegen. Zudem wurde gezeigt, dass Na+/K+-ATPase-Moleküle in nur sehr geringer Abundanz in den Drüsenzellen vorkommen, V-ATPase-Moleküle, die sekundäre Ionentransporte energetisieren (Erhöhung der intrazellulären Osmolyt-Konzentration) und zur Freisetzung des sekretorischen Materials (Platzen der Vesikel) führen könnten, jedoch sehr prominent sind.
Species persistence in the face of rapidly progressing environmental change requires adaptive responses that allow organisms to either cope with the novel conditions in their habitat or to follow their environmental niche in space. A poleward range shift due to global warming induced habitat loss in the south has been predicted for the lesser horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus hipposideros. Theoretical as well as numerous empirical studies link range expansion success to increased dispersal and reproduction rates due to spatial sorting and r-selection resulting from low population densities at the expansion front. R. hipposideros females however are highly philopatric and the species’ life history reflects a K- rather than an r-strategy, encompassing a long life span and limited individual annual reproductive output. I therefore investigated if adaptations in these traits determining range expansion success (dispersal and reproduction) can be observed in this bat species of high conservation concern. Genetic diversity presents a critical factor for adaptive responses to global change, both for range expansion and for coping with novel environmental conditions. I hence explored the genetic diversity levels of European R. hipposideros leading edge populations and their drivers for an assessment of these populations’ evolutionary potential and the development of conservation recommendations.
Comparing range expansion traits between an expanding R. hipposideros metapopulation in Germany and a non-expanding one in France revealed that range expansion was associated with an increase in juvenile survival and fecundity, and no decrease in adult survival. These results demonstrate than an increase in reproduction and growth rates is generally possible in R. hipposideros, indicating a potential adaptation (sensu lato) to range expansion. A positive correlation between adult and juvenile survival in the expanding metapopulation suggests higher resource acquisition in the expanding metapopulation, giving rise to the question if the observed demographic changes have a genetic basis or if they are rather induced by differences in environmental conditions between the two metapopulations. Long-term range expansion success requires adaptive evolutionary changes. The relative contribution of the former and that of undirected changes resulting e.g. from differences in resource availability therefore will have to be investigated in more detail in the future to allow predictions about range expansion dynamics in R. hipposideros.
The number of individuals within a radius of approximately 60 to 90 km around a population (as a measure of connectivity) was identified as the main positive driver of the studied populations’ genetic diversity. Overall genetic diversity levels in German R. hipposideros populations were found to be reduced compared to populations in France as a legacy of demographic bottlenecks resulting from severe population declines in the mid-20th century. This finding is alarming as future range expansion can be expected to entail a further decrease in genetic diversity. The resulting loss of genetic diversity can be expected to be particularly strong in R. hipposideros due to the detected dependence of genetic diversity on connectivity, because range expansion often results in small and patchy populations.
Protecting and ideally re-installing genetic diversity in R. hipposideros leading edge populations therefore presents a conservation goal of utmost importance. To achieve this endeavour, conservation efforts should target the protection of extensive networks of well-connected populations. Geographical concentration of individuals should be avoided and populations in key locations that connect clusters must be protected particularly well to prevent populations from becoming isolated. Continuous, regular monitoring of population trends is also important for a quick registration of disturbances or threats, and the subsequent rapid development of countermeasures to preclude further demographic declines.
The reduced levels of genetic diversity in the German metapopulation precluded a reliable quantification of dispersal rates due to the reduced power of discrimination between individuals. While ongoing re-colonization and the establishment of new maternity colonies provide evidence for increased dispersal in the expanding metapopulation, evaluating the expected range expansion velocity of R. hipposideros in relation to the estimated velocity of global warming induced habitat loss will require the confirmation of the existing preliminary dispersal data by employing more genetic markers.
How organisms that are part of the same trophic network respond to environmental variability over small spatial scales has been studied in a multitude of systems. Prevailing theory suggests a large role for plasticity in key traits among interacting species that allows matching of life cycles or life‐history traits across environmental gradients, for instance insects tracking host‐plant phenology across variable environments (Posledovich et al. 2018). A key aspect that remains understudied is the extent of intrapopulation variability in plasticity and whether stressful conditions canalize plasticity to an optimal level, or alternatively if variation in plasticity indeed could increase fitness in itself via alternative strategies. In a From the Cover article in this issue of Molecular Ecology, Kahilainen et al. (2022) investigate this issue in a classical insect study system, the metapopulation of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitea cinxia) in the Åland archipelago of Finland. The authors first establish how a key host plant responds to water limitation, then quantify among‐family variation in larval growth and development across control and water‐limited host plants. Finally, they use RNA sequencing to gain mechanistic insights into some of these among‐family differences in larval performance in response to host‐plant variation, finding results suggesting the existence of heritable, intrapopulation variability in ecologically relevant plasticity. This final step represents a critically important and often overlooked component of efforts to predict sensitivity of biological systems to changing environmental conditions, since it provides a key metric of adaptive resilience present in the system.
In mandibulate arthropods, the primary olfactory centers, termed olfactory lobes in crustaceans, are typically organized in distinct fields of dense synaptic neuropils called olfactory glomeruli. In addition to olfactory sensory neuron terminals and their postsynaptic efferents, the glomeruli are innervated by diverse neurochemically distinctive interneurons. The functional morphology of the olfactory glomeruli is understudied in crustaceans compared with insects and even less well understood and described in a particular crustacean subgroup, the Peracarida, which embrace, for example, Amphipoda and Isopoda. Using immunohistochemistry combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy, we analyzed the neurochemistry of the olfactory pathway in the amphipod Parhyale hawaiensis. We localized the biogenic amines serotonin and histamine as well as the neuropeptides RFamide, allatostatin, orcokinin, and SIFamide. As for other classical neurotransmitters, we stained for γ-aminobutyric acid and glutamate decarboxylase and used choline acetyltransferase as indicator for acetylcholine. Our study is another step in understanding principles of olfactory processing in crustaceans and can serve as a basis for understanding evolutionary transformations of crustacean olfactory systems.