0000000000424646
AUTHOR
David Berger
Mixed support for an alignment between phenotypic plasticity and genetic differentiation in damselfly wing shape
The relationship between genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity can provide information on whether plasticity generally facilitates or hinders adaptation to environmental change. Here, we studied wing shape variation in a damselfly (Lestes sponsa) across a latitudinal gradient in Europe that differed in time constraints mediated by photoperiod and temperature. We reared damselflies from northern and southern populations in the laboratory using a reciprocal transplant experiment that simulated time-constrained (i.e. northern) and unconstrained (southern) photoperiods and temperatures. After emergence, adult wing shape was analysed using geometric morphometrics. Wings from individu…
Natural selection mediated by seasonal time constraints increases the alignment between evolvability and developmental plasticity
Abstract Phenotypic plasticity can either hinder or promote adaptation to novel environments. Recent studies that have quantified alignments between plasticity, genetic variation, and divergence propose that such alignments may reflect constraints that bias future evolutionary trajectories. Here, we emphasize that such alignments may themselves be a result of natural selection and do not necessarily indicate constraints on adaptation. We estimated developmental plasticity and broad sense genetic covariance matrices (G) among damselfly populations situated along a latitudinal gradient in Europe. Damselflies were reared at photoperiod treatments that simulated the seasonal time constraints ex…
High variation in last male sperm precedence and genital morphology in the emerald damselfly, Lestes sponsa
Abstract In organisms in which individuals mate multiply, knowledge of the proportion of offspring sired by the last male to mate (P2) under field conditions is important for a thorough understanding of how sexual selection works in nature. In many insect groups, pronounced intraspecific variation in P2 is commonplace. Interestingly, however, in stark contrast to these observations, compilation of P2 data in dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) indicates that a high P2, seldom below 0.95, is a feature of this taxon. Here we used double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing to generate a panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with which we could determine paternity and …
Additional file 2 of Sexual conflict drives micro- and macroevolution of sexual dimorphism in immunity
Additional file 2: Supplement 1. Optimization of PO-activity assays. Figure S1. Test kinetics of the phenoloxidase assays. Table S1. PO-activity after preincubation of frozen homogenate with different activators. Supplement 2. Mating status and phenotypic plasticity of PO-activity in females. Table S2. ANOVA on the effects of mating treatment and egg laying on PO-activity. Supplement 3. Experimental Evolution of PO-activity. Table S3a. Effects of mating treatment and mating regime on adult weight. Table S3b. Analysis of differences in offspring production between evolution regimes. Table S3c. Effects of mating treatment and mating regime on male PO-activity. Supplement 4. Responses to bacte…
Sexual conflict drives micro- and macroevolution of sexual dimorphism in immunity
Abstract Background Sexual dimorphism in immunity is believed to reflect sex differences in reproductive strategies and trade-offs between competing life history demands. Sexual selection can have major effects on mating rates and sex-specific costs of mating and may thereby influence sex differences in immunity as well as associated host–pathogen dynamics. Yet, experimental evidence linking the mating system to evolved sexual dimorphism in immunity are scarce and the direct effects of mating rate on immunity are not well established. Here, we use transcriptomic analyses, experimental evolution and phylogenetic comparative methods to study the association between the mating system and sexua…
Additional file 1 of Sexual conflict drives micro- and macroevolution of sexual dimorphism in immunity
Additional file 1: Table S1. Sex-specific regulation of gene expression related to the proPO activating system.