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opencc-by-4.0Aug 2023View details →

Thermal plasticity of the sea urchin Salmacis sphaeroides

Data of metabolic rates of sea urchin acclimated to two different temperatures.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

Data for: Ocean acidification has a strong effect on communities living on plastic in mesocosms

We conducted a mesocosm experiment to examine how ocean acidification (OA) affects communities of prokaryotes and eukaryotes growing on single-use drinking bottles in subtropical eutrophic waters of the East China Sea. Based on 16S rDNA gene sequencing, simulated high CO2 significantly altered the prokaryotic community, with the relative abundance of the phylum Planctomycetota increasing by 49 % under high CO2. Under high CO2, prokaryotes in plastisphere significantly enhanced nitrogen dissimilation and ureolysis, raising the possibility that elevated CO2 may modify nutrient cycling in subtropical eutrophic waters. The relative abundance of pathogenic and animal parasite bacteria also increased under simulated high CO2. Our results show that simulated high CO2 significantly affected some secondary producers based on 18S rDNA gene sequencing. For example, Mayorella amoebae were highly resistant to OA whereas labyrinthulids were sensitive to high CO2. This shows that OA may alter plastisphere food chains in subtropical eutrophic waters.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

Polymer characterization of submerged plastic litter from Lake Tahoe, United States

Monitoring plastic litter in the environment is critical to understanding the amount, sources, transport, fate, and environmental impact of this pollutant. However, few studies have monitored plastic litter on lakebeds which are potentially important environments for determining the fate and transport of plastic litter in freshwater basins. In this study, self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was used for litter collection at the lakebed along transects at five locations in Lake Tahoe, United States. Litter was brought to the surface and characterized by litter type. Plastic litter was subsampled for polymer determination using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform InfraRed (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The average plastic litter recovered from the lakebed for the five dive sites was 83 ±49 items per kilometer. The top plastic litter categories were other plastic litter (i.e. plastic litter that did not fall in another category), followed by food containers, plastic bags, toys, and bottles <2 L. These results are in line with prior studies on submerged litter, supporting that intervention approaches or ongoing education is needed. The six polymers most frequently detected in the subsamples were polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene/expanded polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate/polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyamide. These observations generally reflect the global plastic production trend and global compilations of microplastic studies from lake surface water and sediments. We found that some litter subcategories were primarily comprised of a single polymer type, therefore, in studies where the polymer type cannot be measured but litter is categorized, these results could provide an estimate of the total polymer composition for select subcategories.

Dataset for: Plasticity and genetic effects contribute to different axes of neural divergence in a community of mimetic Heliconius butterflies

Changes in ecological preference, often driven by spatial and temporal variation in resource distribution, can expose populations to environments with divergent information content. This can lead to adaptive changes in the degree to which individuals invest in sensory systems and downstream processes, to optimize behavioural performance in different contexts. At the same time, environmental conditions can produce plastic responses in nervous system development and maturation, providing an alternative route to integrating neural and ecological variation. Here, we explore how these two processes play out across a community of Heliconius butterflies. Heliconius communities exhibit multiple Mullerian mimicry rings, associated with habitat partitioning across environmental gradients. These environmental differences have previously been linked to heritable divergence in brain morphology in parapatric species pairs. They also exhibit a unique dietary adaptation, known as pollen feeding, that relies heavily on learning foraging routes, or trap-lines, between resources, which implies an important environmental influence on behavioural development. By comparing brain morphology across 133 wild-caught and insectary reared individuals from seven Heliconius species, we find strong evidence for interspecific variation in patterns of neural investment. These largely fall into two distinct patterns of variation; first, we find consistent patterns of divergence in the size of visual brain components across both wild and insectary reared individuals, suggesting genetically encoded divergence in the visual pathway. Second, we find interspecific differences in mushroom body size, a central component of learning and memory systems, but only among wild caught individuals. The lack of this effect in common-garden individuals suggests an extensive role for developmental plasticity in interspecific variation in the wild. Finally, we illustrate the impact of relatively small-scale spatial effects on mushroom body plasticity by performing experiments altering the cage size and structure experienced by individual H. hecale. Our data provide a comprehensive survey of community level variation in brain structure, and demonstrate that genetic effects and developmental plasticity contribute to different axes of interspecific neural variation.

Data for: Plastic maternal effects of social density on reproduction and fitness in the least killifish, Heterandria formosa

Environmental parental effects, also known as transgenerational plasticity, are widespread in plants and animals. Less well known is whether those effects contribute to maternal fitness in the same manner in different populations. We carried out a multi-generational laboratory experiment with females drawn from two populations of the Least Killifish, Heterandria formosa, to assess transgenerational plasticity in reproductive traits in response to differences in social density and its effects on maternal fitness. In the first and second generations, increased density decreased reproductive rate and increased offspring size in females from both populations. There were complicated patterns of transgenerational plasticity on maternal fitness that differed between females from different populations. Females from a population with historically low densities whose mothers experienced lower density had higher fitness than females whose mothers experienced higher density, regardless of their own density. The opposite pattern emerged in females from the population with historically high densities: females whose mothers experienced higher density had higher fitness than females whose mothers experienced lower density. This transgenerational plasticity is not anticipatory but might be considered adaptive in both populations if providing those "silver spoons" enhances offspring fitness in all environments.

opencc-by-4.0May 2023View details →

Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectra of the paper "Untangling the role of biotic and abiotic ageing of various environmental plastics toward the sorption of metals"

The dataset include Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) spectra of UV aged and biofouled environmental plastics, used for the publication "Untangling the role of biotic and abiotic ageing of various environmental plastics toward the sorption of metals" (the paper is available at the following link: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164807">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164807</a>). The dataset is organized as follows: -All samples contains metadata considering polymer type (polylactic acid (PLA), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE)), the type of ageing treatment (UV ageing, biofouling and UV ageing-biofouling), the amount of time (in hours) of treatment and the number of replicate sample analyzed. -for every sample the raw data (scaled for the maximum absorbance value) of the FT-IR spectrum is given. Further experimental details are listed in the manuscript text.

Sirtuin3 ensures the metabolic plasticity of neurotransmission during glucose deprivation

Neurotransmission is an energetically expensive process that underlies cognition. During intense electrical activity or dietary restrictions, glucose levels in the brain plummet, forcing neurons to utilize alternative fuels. However, the molecular mechanisms of neuronal metabolic plasticity remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that glucose-deprived neurons activate the CREB and PGC1α transcriptional program that induces the expression of the mitochondrial deacetylase Sirtuin 3 (Sirt3) both in vitro and in vivo. We show that Sirt3 localizes to axonal mitochondria and stimulates mitochondrial oxidative capacity in hippocampal nerve terminals. Sirt3 plays an essential role in sustaining synaptic transmission in the absence of glucose by powering the retrieval of synaptic vesicles after release. These results demonstrate that the transcriptional induction of Sirt3 ensures the metabolic plasticity of synaptic transmission.

Extraradical hyphae exhibit more plastic nutrient-acquisition strategies than roots under nitrogen enrichment in ectomycorrhiza-dominated forests

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) functional traits related to nutrient acquisition are impacted by nitrogen (N) deposition. However, less is known about whether these nutrient-acquisition traits associated with roots and hyphae differentially respond to increased N deposition in ECM-dominated forests with different initial N status. We conducted a chronic N addition experiment (25 kg N ha-1 yr-1) in two ECM-dominated forests with contrasting initial N status, i.e. a Pinus armandii forest (with relatively low N availability) and a Picea asperata forest (with relatively high N availability), to assess nutrient-mining and -foraging strategies associated with roots and hyphae under N addition. We show that nutrient-acquisition strategies of roots and hyphae differently respond to increased N addition. Root nutrient-acquisition strategies showed a consistent response to N addition, regardless of initial forest nutrient status, shifting from organic N mining toward inorganic N foraging. In contrast, the hyphal nutrient-acquisition strategy showed diverse responses to N addition depending on initial forest N status. In the Pinus armandii forest, trees increased belowground carbon (C) allocation to ECM fungi thus enhancing hyphal N-mining capacity under increased N availability. By comparison, in the Picea asperata forest, ECM fungi enhanced both capacities of P foraging and P mining in response to N-induced P limitation. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that ECM fungal hyphae exhibit greater plasticity in nutrient-mining and -foraging strategies than roots do in response to changes in nutrient status induced by N deposition. This study highlights the importance of ECM associations in tree acclimation and forest function stability under changing environments.

opencc-zeroJun 2023View details →

Data for: Sex-specific transgenerational plasticity: Developmental temperatures of mothers and fathers have different effects on sons and daughters

Each parent can influence offspring phenotypes via provisioning of the zygote or sex-specific DNA methylation. Transgenerational plasticity may therefore depend on environmental conditions experienced by each parent. We tested this hypothesis by conducting a fully factorial experiment across three generations of guppies (Poecilia reticulata), determining the effects of warm (28°C) and cold (21°C) thermal backgrounds of mothers and fathers on mass and length, and thermal performance (sustained [Ucrit] and sprint swimming speeds, citrate synthase and lactate dehydrogenase activities; 18, 24, 28, 32 and 36°C test temperatures) of sons and daughters. Offspring sex was significant for all traits except for sprint speed. Warmer mothers produced sons and daughters with reduced mass and length, and warmer fathers produced shorter sons. Ucrit of male offspring was greatest when both parents were raised at 28°C, and warmer fathers produced daughters with greater Ucrit. Similarly, warmer fathers produced sons and daughters with greater metabolic capacities. We show that thermal variation experienced by parents can modify offspring phenotypes, and that predicting the impacts of environmental change on populations would require knowledge of the thermal background of each mothers and fathers, particularly where sexes are spatially segregated.

opencc-zeroJun 2023View details →

Data for: Adaptive plasticity to drought of Grime's CSR strategies

Grime's strategies (Competitor, Stress tolerator, Ruderal; CSR) represent viable trait combinations with which species deal with environmental conditions. CSR strategies are broadly used to understand plant adaptation to the environment, yet their plastic responses have received little attention. A globally-calibrated tool (StrateFy) estimates CSR strategies using specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and leaf area (LA) data, but these three traits can hardly characterise whole-plant responses to the environment individually. CSR strategies reflect trade-offs among growth, survival and reproduction, at both leaf and whole-plant levels, thus integrating several functions. We hypothesised that CSR strategies and the three constituent traits would show independent plasticity patterns, and that CSR strategies would be more likely to show adaptive responses, i.e., to fit expected functional responses to environmental gradients. We compared phenotypic plasticity to drought in single traits (SLA, LDMC and LA) with the integrated plasticity of the resulting CSR strategy. The study species was the invasive plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, which is distributed in arid and semiarid Chile. We found that trait plasticity was rather idiosyncratic and contrary to what would be expected from a functional adjustment to drought: LDMC did not change (expected response: increase) and SLA increased (expected response: decrease). Conversely, plastic responses of CSR strategy and LA were consistent with functionally adaptive responses to drought in all populations: S-strategy increased, while C-strategy and LA decreased. We advocate the use of Grime's CSR theory as an integrative approach to further our understanding of adaptive plasticity in plants.

Historical Mark Release Recapture (MRR) studies of selection and plasticity in butterflies

Historical data on plasticity, selection and evolution of phenotypic traits in the wild provide an important resource for understanding how populations are responding to ongoing anthropogenic environmental changes. We provide the datasets associated with a series of Mark Release Recapture (MRR) studies that quantified seasonal variation in plasticity and phenotypic selection in a natural population of Pontia occidentalis butterflies in southcentral WA USA between 1989–1996. The studies examined both natural and experimentally-generated variation in two types of traits: wing melanin pattern on each wing surface; and wing and body size and shape. Papers published during the 1990s that summarized the results of these studies demonstrated phenotypic plasticity and directional selection on some of the traits that varied with seasonal weather conditions. Here we present the original, underlying data for each of the nine studies. These data may be valuable for exploring newer statistical approaches for modeling MRR studies of selection and plasticity, and for evaluating historical changes in selection and evolution of traits related to climate adaptation in response to ongoing climate and other environmental changes.

Data from: Phenotypic plasticity of antibiotic resistance, metabolism byproduct utilization and the evolution of mutually beneficial cooperation in Escherichia coli

Although tag-based donation and recognition have well explained how the cooperative individuals are positively assorted if the cooperative individuals possess some signals and are also able to detect such signals, an additional mechanism is required to explain why some individuals pay the costs of evolving such a tag that may not be rewarded subsequently, and how such tag-based cooperative individuals will meet other similar individuals with a very low mutation rate. Here, we show that many and even all Escherichia coli bacteria cells in the increased antibiotic concentration will plastically evolve to be antibiotic resistant individuals who could protect antibiotic sensitive strain from the attack of antibiotics, and the antibiotic resistant strain could reversibly evolve to be antibiotic sensitive in non-antibiotic supplement medium but in a harsher environment with low glucose. A further experiment showed that antibiotic-sensitive E. coli strain could in turn help reduce the concentration of indole produced by the resistant strain. This metabolic product is harmful to the growth of the antibiotic-resistant strain but benefits the antibiotic-sensitive strain by helping turn on the multi-drug exporter to discharge the antibiotic. The utilization of metabolism byproduct indole produced by antibiotic-resistant cells benefits antibiotic-sensitive cells, while the indole-absorbing service of antibiotic sensitive cells unconsciously help in nullifying the indole side effect on antibiotic resistant strain, and a mutual benefit cooperation could therefore evolve.

Data for: Developmental plasticity in anurans: meta-analysis reveals effects of larval environments on size at metamorphosis and timing of metamorphosis

Many anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) rely on aquatic habitats during their larval stage. The quality of this environment can significantly impact the overall lifetime fitness and dynamics of the population. Over 450 studies have been published on the impact of the environment on anuran developmental plasticity, yet we lack a synthesis of these effects across different environments. We conducted a meta-analysis and used a comparative approach to understand whether developmental plasticity in response to different larval environments produces predictable changes in metamorphic phenotypes. We analyzed data from 124 studies spanning 80 anuran species and six larval environments and showed that interspecific variation in mass at metamorphosis and the duration of the larval period is partly explained by the type of environment experienced during the larval period. Phylogenetic relationships among species were not associated with variation in mass at metamorphosis plasticity or duration of the larval period plasticity. Larval environments tended to reduce mass at metamorphosis relative to control conditions, with the degree of change depending on the identity and severity of environmental change. Higher temperatures and lower water levels shortened the duration of the larval period, whereas less food and higher densities increased the duration of the larval period. Our results provide a foundation for future studies on developmental plasticity, especially in response to global changes. This study provides motivation for additional work that links developmental plasticity with fitness consequences within and across life stages, as well as how the outcomes described here are altered in compounding environments.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2023View details →

Supplementary data to "What are the effects of temperature on plasticity, shape symmetry and seasonal variation in freshwater benthic green microalga Micrasterias thomasiana?"

The supplementary data consist of the files including the landmark coordinates of Micrasterias thomasiana semicells used for the analyses described in the manuscript submitted to Aquatic Ecology. The coordinates are presented in the TPS format.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2023View details →

Supporting information from Integrating a Chemicals Perspective into the Global Plastic Treaty

Supporting Information (open data) Integrating a Chemicals Perspective into the Global Plastic Treaty

Microglia modulate TNFα‐mediated synaptic plasticity

The pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) tunes the capacity of neurons to express synaptic plasticity. It remains, however, unclear how TNFα mediates synaptic positive (=change) and negative (=stability) feedback mechanisms. We assessed effects of TNFα on microglia activation and synaptic transmission onto CA1 pyramidal neurons of mouse organotypic entorhino–hippocampal tissue cultures. TNFα mediated changes in excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission in a concentration-dependent manner, where low concentration strengthened glutamatergic neurotransmission via synaptic accumulation of GluA1-only-containing AMPA receptors and higher concentration increased inhibition. The latter induced the synaptic accumulation of GluA1-only-containing AMPA receptors as well. However, activated, pro-inflammatory microglia mediated a homeostatic adjustment of excitatory synapses, that is, an initial increase in excitatory synaptic strength at 3 h returned to baseline within 24 h, while inhibitory neurotransmission increased. In microglia-depleted tissue cultures, synaptic strengthening triggered by high levels of TNFα persisted and the impact of TNFα on inhibitory neurotransmission was still observed and dependent on its concentration. These findings underscore the essential role of microglia in TNFα-mediated synaptic plasticity. They suggest that pro-inflammatory microglia mediate synaptic homeostasis, that is, negative feedback mechanisms, which may affect the ability of neurons to express further plasticity, thereby emphasizing the importance of microglia as gatekeepers of synaptic change and stability.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

Biological links between personality and plasticity: testing some alternative hypotheses

When organisms respond behaviorally to a stimulus, they exhibit plasticity, but some individuals respond to the same stimulus consistently differently than others, thereby also exhibiting personality differences. Parent house sparrows express individual differences in how often they feed offspring and how that feeding rate changes with nestling age. Mean feeding rate and its slope with respect to nestling age were positively correlated at median nestling ages but not at hatching, indicating that individuality is primarily in plasticity. Individual differences could arise due to 1) interactions between environmental variables, 2) differences in underlying state or 'quality', or 3) differences in the ability to update cues of changing nestling demand. Individual slopes were modestly repeatable across breeding attempts, hinting at the likely action of additional environmental variables, but only brood size was important. I also found few correlates suggesting quality differences. I used short-term brood size manipulations at two nestling ages to test divergent predictions between the three hypotheses. The pattern of correlations between response to the manipulation and individual slope did not fit any single hypothesis. Patterns of sparrow parental care reveal that personality and plasticity are not cleanly separable, and their biology is likely intertwined. New thinking may be needed about the factors parents use in decisions about care and the relevant fitness consequences.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

You are what your host eats: The trophic structure and food chain length of a symbiont community are coupled with the plastic diet of the host ant

Food chain length provides key information on the flow of nutrients and energy in ecosystems. Variation in food chain length has primarily been explained by environmental drivers such as ecosystem size and productivity. Most insights are obtained from theory or aquatic systems, but the importance of these drivers remains largely untested in terrestrial systems. We exploited red wood ant nests markedly differing in size as natural experiments to quantify the drivers of trophic structure and food chain length of their symbiont arthropod communities. Using stable isotopes, we explored the variation in the trophic positions of four symbiont species with the trophic position of the top predator as a proxy for food chain length of the symbiont community. Nest size did not affect food chain length, nor trophic distance between the symbionts. Instead, food chain length and the trophic positions of the symbionts were strongly affected by the host's foraging decisions. When the host diet shifted from predominantly herbivorous to more predacious, the trophic position of the symbionts and food chain length strongly increased. We show for the first time that a food web can be structured by biotic interactions with an engineering species rather than by abiotic environmental variable

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2023View details →

Fig. 8 in Sex-ratio and body size plasticity in two cold-adapted ground beetles co-occurring in a periglacial area of the European Alps (Coleoptera: Carabidae)

Fig. 8 – Linear regression graph between elytra width of Nebria castanea females and the soil pH.