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42 results for “extended phenotype”
Detritus decorations as the extended phenotype deflect avian predator attack increasing fitness in an orb‐web spider
<ol> <li>A number of strategies that divert attacks of visually guided predators, such as birds, have evolved multiple times in animals. Detritus web decorations built by certain orb-web spider species are thought to deflect avian predator attacks away from spiders and towards their web decorations. Still, empirical evidence for this function and its adaptive significance is lacking. The orb-web spider, <i>Cyclosa monticola</i>,<i> </i>adorns its web using a linear detritus decoration consisting of moults, egg sacs, prey remains, and leaf litters.</li> <li>In the present study, we investigated whether detritus decorations constructed by <i>C. monticola</i> spiders<i> </i>divert attacks of avian predators away from spiders. We first employed colour modelling to compare spider bodies and detritus decoration colouration from the perspective of domestic chicks and blue tits. We then experimentally tested the deflection hypothesis in the laboratory using naïve chicks as predators. We put the chicks in a cage containing a web either with (S+) or without (S-) a spider and either with (D+) or without (D-) detritus decoration (a total of four types of webs: S+D+, S+D-, S-D+, and S-D-) under both natural habitat background and white background. </li> <li>We found that the colour of <i>C. monticola</i> spiders is indistinguishable from that of their detritus decorations for both chicks and blue tits with both backgrounds. Laboratory predation experiments showed that with both backgrounds, chicks attacked the spiders much less frequently when their decorations were present on the webs (S+D+; natural habitat: 20%, white background: 30%) than when their decorations were absent (S+D-; natural habitat: 95%, white background: 85%), resulting in greater spider survival advantage. </li> <li>We also found that the rate of attack of spiders and their decorations was not random; the decorations were more likely to be attacked than spiders, regardless of the ratio of surface area of decorations to spider bodies when both spiders and decorations were presented (S+D+). Therefore, our results support a deflection, rather than concealment hypothesis for web decorations.</li> <li>In conclusion, our study provides evidence that the extended phenotypes beyond the animal bodies, can divert avian predator attacks, therefore, may improve the fitness of animals.</li> </ol>
Data from: Phenotypic integration in an extended phenotype: among‐individual variation in nest‐building traits of the alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata)
Structures such as nests and burrows are an essential component of many organisms' life-cycle and requires a complex sequence of behaviors. Because behaviors can vary consistently among individuals and be correlated with one another, we hypothesized that these structures would 1) show evidence of among-individual variation, 2) be organized into distinct functional modules, and 3) show evidence of trade-offs among functional modules due to limits on energy budgets. We tested these hypotheses using the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata, a solitary bee and important crop pollinator. M. rotundata constructs complex nests by gathering leaf materials to form a linear series of cells in pre-existing cavities. In this study, we examined variation in the following nest construction traits: reproduction (number of cells per nest and nest length), nest protection (cap length and number of leaves per cap), cell construction (cell size and number of leaves per cell), and cell provisioning (cell mass) from 60 nests. We found a general decline in investment in cell construction and provisioning with each new cell built. In addition, we found evidence for both repeatability and plasticity in cell provisioning with little evidence for trade-offs among traits. Instead, most traits were positively, albeit weakly, correlated (r ~ 0.15), and traits were loosely organized into covarying modules. Our results show that individual differences in nest construction are detectable at a level similar to that of other behavioral traits and that these traits are only weakly integrated. This suggests that nest components are capable of independent evolutionary trajectories.
Data from: Genome-wide association studies across environmental and genetic contexts reveal complex genetic architecture of symbiotic extended phenotypes
<p>A goal of modern biology is to develop the genotype-phenotype (G→P) map, a predictive understanding of how genomic information generates trait variation that forms the basis of both natural and managed communities. As microbiome research advances, however, it has become clear that many of these traits are symbiotic extended phenotypes, being governed by genetic variation encoded not only by the host's own genome, but also by the genomes of myriad cryptic symbionts. Building a reliable G→P map therefore requires accounting for the multitude of interacting genes and even genomes involved in symbiosis. Here we use naturally-occurring genetic variation in 191 strains of the model microbial symbiont <em>Sinorhizobium meliloti</em> paired with two genotypes of the host <em>Medicago truncatula</em> in four genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to determine the genomic architecture of a key symbiotic extended phenotype – partner quality, or the fitness benefit conferred to a host by a particular symbiont genotype, within and across environmental contexts and host genotypes. We define three novel categories of loci in rhizobium genomes that must be accounted for if we want to build a reliable G→P map of partner quality; namely, 1) loci whose identities depend on the environment, 2) those that depend on the host genotype with which rhizobia interact, and 3) universal loci that are likely important in all or most environments.</p> <p><span>IMPORTANCE:</span><strong> </strong>Given the rapid rise of research on how microbiomes can be harnessed to improve host health, understanding the contribution of microbial genetic variation to host phenotypic variation is pressing, and will better enable us to predict the evolution of (and select more precisely for) symbiotic extended phenotypes that impact host health. We uncover extensive context-dependency in both the identity and functions of symbiont loci that control host growth, which makes predicting the genes and pathways important for determining symbiotic outcomes under different conditions more challenging. Despite this context-dependency, we also resolve a core set of universal loci that are likely important in all or most environments, and thus, serve as excellent targets both for genetic engineering and future coevolutionary studies of symbiosis.</p>
Dynamic evolution of locomotor performance independent of changes in extended phenotype use in spiders
<p>Many animals utilise self-built structures (extended phenotypes) to enhance body functions, such as thermoregulation, prey capture or defence. Yet, it is unclear whether the evolution of animal constructions supplements or substitutes body functions – with disparate feedbacks on trait evolution. Here, using brown spiders (Araneae: marronoid clade), we explored if the evolutionary loss and gain of silken webs as extended prey capture devices correlates with alterations in traits known to play an important role in predatory strikes – locomotor performance (sprint speed) and leg spination (expression of capture spines on front legs). We found that in this group high locomotor performance, with running speeds of over 100 body lengths per second, evolved repeatedly – both in web building and cursorial spiders. There was no correlation with running speed, and leg spination was only poorly correlated, relative to the use of extended phenotypes, indicating that web use does not reduce selective pressures on body functions involved in prey capture and defence per se. Consequently, extended prey capture devices serve as supplements rather than substitutions to body traits and may only be beneficial in conjunction with certain life history traits, explaining the rare evolution and repeated loss of trapping strategies in predatory animals.</p>
Dynamic evolution of locomotor performance independent of changes in extended phenotype use in spiders
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Parasitic mussels induce upstream movement in their fish hosts: early evidence of extended phenotype
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Data from: Genome-wide association studies across environmental and genetic contexts reveal complex genetic architecture of symbiotic extended phenotypes
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Detritus decorations as the extended phenotype deflect avian predator attack increasing fitness in an orb‐web spider
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Building extended phenotypes using incomplete environmental information compromises their design and efficiency.
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Plasticity in extend phenotype how the cobweb spider <em>Campanicola campanulata</em> altering web architecture and trade-off behavioral investments in response to prey availability variation
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Data from: A potential evolutionary trap for the extended phenotype of a nematomorph parasite
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Data from: Phenotypic integration in an extended phenotype: among‐individual variation in nest‐building traits of the alfalfa leafcutting bee (Megachile rotundata)
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Foraging behavior and extended phenotype independently affect foraging success in spiders
<p>Multiple phenotypic traits often interact with each other to determine an individual's fitness. Behavioral and extended phenotypic traits, such as architectural constructions, can contribute to fitness in an integrated way. The goal of this study was to understand how the interaction between behavioral and extended phenotypic traits can affect foraging success. We tested this question using black widow spiders, where spiders that are aggressive in a foraging context tend to build more gumfooted silk lines that aid in prey capture, while non-aggressive spiders build webs with fewer gumfooted lines. We repeatedly assessed behavior and web structure to quantify relationships between these traits, and then allowed spiders to forage for live prey on their own web or the web of a conspecific that differed in structure. Thus, we assessed how varying combinations of behavior and web structure affect foraging success, and if correlational selection might act on them. We confirmed that aggressiveness and number of gumfooted lines are positively correlated and found that capture success increased with both aggressiveness and the number of gumfooted lines. Yet, we did not find any evidence for correlational selection: aggressiveness and number of gumfooted lines appeared to affect foraging success independently of each other. These findings highlight that a correlation between traits that contribute towards the same ecological function does not necessarily imply correlational selection. Taking advantage of the experimental convenience afforded by extended phenotypic traits can provide insight into the functional consequences of phenotypic variation within and between individuals.</p>
Data belonging to: Lining the nest with more feathers increases offspring recruitment probability: Selection on an extended phenotype in the blue tit
<p>Birds, among various other taxa, construct nests. Nests form an extended phenotype of the individual building it. Nests are used to extend control over the conditions in which offspring develop, and are therefore commonly considered to be shaped by selection. Nevertheless, scarcely any scientific evidence exist that nest composition is under selection. Here, we demonstrate with data from over 400 blue tit (<i>Cyanistes caeruleus</i>) nests collected over eight years that a higher proportion of feathers in the nest lining is positively associated with the probability of offspring to recruit as a breeding adult later in life. Strikingly, the extended phenotype (nest) was associated stronger with recruitment probability than phenotypic traits that have typically been considered important in selection (laying date, and female size and condition). Our findings suggest that the choice of nest material could be a maternal behaviour with potential lifelong effects on her offspring.</p>
Data from: Extended phenotypes and foraging restrictions: ant nest entrances and resource ingress in leaf-cutting ants
Several factors may restrict the acquisition of food to below the levels predicted by the optimization theory. However, how the design of structures that animals build for foraging restrict the entry of food are less known. Using scaling relationships we determined whether the design of the entrances of leaf-cutting ant nests restricts resource input into the colony. We measured nests and foraging parameters in 25 nests of Atta cephalotes in a tropical rain forest. Ant flux was reduced to up to 60% at nest entrances. The width of all entrances per nest increased at similar rates as nest size, but the width of nest entrances increased with the width of its associated trail at rates below those expected by isometry. The fact that entrance widths grow slower than trail widths suggests that the enlargement of entrance holes does not reach the dimensions needed to avoid delays when foraging rates are high and loads are big. The enlargement of nest entrances appears to be restricted by the digging effort required to enlarge nest tunnels, and by increments in the risk of inundation, predator/parasitoid attacks, and microclimate imbalances inside the nest. The design of the extended phenotypes can also restrict the ingress of food into the organisms, offering additional evidence to better understand eventual controversies between empirical data and the foraging theory.
An extended epiphenotype for an extended phenotype in Toxoplasma gondii infected feral house mice
<p>Parasitism of mice by Toxoplasma gondii reduces the host's aversion to cat odors, likely increasing predation and transmission of the parasite to its definitive host. This behavioral change suggests a parasitic manipulation where host behavior becomes an extended phenotype of the parasite. Independently, epigenetic changes within an organism are now known to create behavioral change. The results described here provide an experimental connection between these disparate strands of extended phenotypes and the role of epigenetics in behavioral diversity. Using mice captured on Kangaroo Island in Australia, we demonstrate that Toxoplasma gondii infection leads to specific DNA hypomethylation events in the host brain. Previous laboratory studies have shown that these epigenetic changes underlie the central processing of cat odors. We posit that the concept of extended phenotype can be expanded to extended epiphenotype, thus linking parasite genes to host behavior through epigenesis. This phenomenon has broad implications for inter-species relationships.</p>
Data from: A gene for an extended phenotype
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Data from: Lining the nest with more feathers increases offspring recruitment probability: Selection on an extended phenotype in the blue tit
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Data from: Extended phenotypes and foraging restrictions: ant nest entrances and resource ingress in leaf-cutting ants
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Data from: Extending the concept of diversity partitioning to characterize phenotypic complexity
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