| 1. |
- Boman, Jesper, et al.
(författare)
-
Environmental stress during larval development induces DNA methylation shifts in the migratory painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui)
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 32:13, s. 3513-3523
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Seasonal environmental fluctuations provide formidable challenges for living organisms, especially small ectotherms such as butterflies. A common strategy to cope with harsh environments is to enter diapause, but some species avoid unsuitable conditions by migrating. Despite a growing understanding of migration in the life cycles of some butterfly species, it remains unknown how individuals register and store environmental cues to determine whether and where to migrate. Here, we explored how competition and host plant availability during larval development affect patterns of DNA methylation in the migratory painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly. We identify a set of potentially functional methylome shifts associated with differences in the environment, indicating that DNA methylation is involved in the response to different conditions during larval development. By analysing the transcriptome for the same samples used for methylation profiling, we also uncovered a non-monotonic relationship between gene body methylation and gene expression. Our results provide a starting point for understanding the interplay between DNA methylation and gene expression in butterflies in general and how differences in environmental conditions during development can trigger unique epigenetic marks that might be important for behavioural decisions in the adult stage.
|
|
| 2. |
- Garcia-Berro, Aurora, et al.
(författare)
-
Migratory behaviour is positively associated with genetic diversity in butterflies
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 32:3, s. 560-574
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Migration is typically associated with risk and uncertainty at the population level, but little is known about its cost–benefit trade-offs at the species level. Migratory insects in particular often exhibit strong demographic fluctuations due to local bottlenecks and outbreaks. Here, we use genomic data to investigate levels of heterozygosity and long-term population size dynamics in migratory insects, as an alternative to classical local and short-term approaches such as regional field monitoring. We analyse whole-genome sequences from 97 Lepidoptera species and show that individuals of migratory species have significantly higher levels of genome-wide heterozygosity, a proxy for effective population size, than do nonmigratory species. Also, we contribute whole-genome data for one of the most emblematic insect migratory species, the painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui), sampled across its worldwide distributional range. This species exhibits one of the highest levels of genomic heterozygosity described in Lepidoptera (2.95 ± 0.15%). Coalescent modelling (PSMC) shows historical demographic stability in V. cardui, and high effective population size estimates of 2–20 million individuals 10,000 years ago. The study reveals that the high risks associated with migration and local environmental fluctuations do not seem to decrease overall genetic diversity and demographic stability in migratory Lepidoptera. We propose a “compensatory” demographic model for migratory r-strategist organisms in which local bottlenecks are counterbalanced by reproductive success elsewhere within their typically large distributional ranges. Our findings highlight that the boundaries of populations are substantially different for sedentary and migratory insects, and that, in the latter, local and even regional field monitoring results may not reflect whole population dynamics. Genomic diversity patterns may elucidate key aspects of an insect's migratory nature and population dynamics at large spatiotemporal scales.
|
|
| 3. |
- Sanudo-Restrepo, Claudia P., et al.
(författare)
-
Biogeography and systematics of Aricia butterflies (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. - : Elsevier BV. - 1055-7903 .- 1095-9513. ; 66:1, s. 369-379
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Butterflies of the Aricia species group represent a paradigm of unresolved taxonomy, both at the genus and species levels. We studied phylogenetic relationships, biogeography, and systematics based on genetic - nuclear and mitochondrial - and morphometric - external (wings) and internal (genitalia) data. We show that Aricia is a monophyletic genus comprising the taxa Pseudoaricia, Ultraaricia and Umpria, which are here considered junior synonyms of Aricia. The taxa allous, inhonora, issekutzi, mandzhuriana, myrmecias and transalaica, which have often been raised to species rank, are shown to probably represent subspecies or synonyms. We show that montensis is likely a good species that is sister to all A. artaxerxes populations across the Palearctic region. The species A. anteros and A. morronensis are shown to display deep intraspecific divergences and they may harbor cryptic species. We also discovered that A. cramera and A. agestis exhibit a pattern of mutual exclusion on islands, and a parapatric distribution in mainland with a narrow contact zone where potential hybrids were detected. The lack of a prezygotic barrier that prevents their coexistence could explain this phenomenon. This study will hopefully contribute to the stability of the systematics of Aricia, a group with potential for the study of the link between speciation and biogeography.
|
|
| 4. |
- Shipilina, Daria, et al.
(författare)
-
Linkage mapping and genome annotation give novel insights into gene family expansions and regional recombination rate variation in the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Genomics. - : Elsevier. - 0888-7543 .- 1089-8646. ; 114:6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Characterization of gene family expansions and crossing over is crucial for understanding how organisms adapt to the environment. Here, we develop a high-density linkage map and detailed genome annotation of the painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) -a non-diapausing, highly polyphagous species famous for its long-distance migratory behavior and almost cosmopolitan distribution. Our results reveal a complex interplay between regional recombination rate variation, gene duplications and transposable element activity shaping the genome structure of the painted lady. We identify several lineage specific gene family expansions. Their functions are mainly associated with protein and fat metabolism, detoxification, and defense against infection -critical pro-cesses for the painted lady's unique life-history. Furthermore, the detailed recombination maps allow us to characterize the regional recombination landscape, data that reveal a strong effect of chromosome size on the recombination rate, a limited impact of GC-biased gene conversion and a positive association between recom-bination and short interspersed elements.
|
|
| 5. |
- Talavera, Gerard, et al.
(författare)
-
Factors affecting species delimitations with the GMYC model : insights from a butterfly survey
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Methods in Ecology and Evolution. - 2041-210X. ; 4:12, s. 1101-1110
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The generalized mixed Yule-coalescent (GMYC) model has become one of the most popular approaches for species delimitation based on single-locus data, and it is widely used in biodiversity assessments and phylogenetic community ecology. We here examine an array of factors affecting GMYC resolution (tree reconstruction method, taxon sampling coverage/taxon richness and geographic sampling intensity/geographic scale). We test GMYC performance based on empirical data (DNA barcoding of the Romanian butterflies) on a solid taxonomic framework (i.e. all species are thought to be described and can be determined with independent sources of evidence). The data set is comprehensive (176 species), and intensely and homogeneously sampled (1303 samples representing the main populations of butterflies in this country). Taxonomy was assessed based on morphology, including linear and geometric morphometry when needed. The number of GMYC entities obtained constantly exceeds the total number of morphospecies in the data set. We show that c.80% of the species studied are recognized as entities by GMYC. Interestingly, we show that this percentage is practically the maximum that a single-threshold method can provide for this data set. Thus, the c.20% of failures are attributable to intrinsic properties of the COI polymorphism: overlap in inter- and intraspecific divergences and non-monophyly of the species likely because of introgression or lack of independent lineage sorting. Our results demonstrate that this method is remarkably stable under a wide array of circumstances, including most phylogenetic reconstruction methods, high singleton presence (up to 95%), taxon richness (above five species) and the presence of gaps in intraspecific sampling coverage (removal of intermediate haplotypes). Hence, the method is useful to designate an optimal divergence threshold in an objective manner and to pinpoint potential cryptic species that are worth being studied in detail. However, the existence of a substantial percentage of species wrongly delimited indicates that GMYC cannot be used as sufficient evidence for evaluating the specific status of particular cases without additional data. Finally, we provide a set of guidelines to maximize efficiency in GMYC analyses and discuss the range of studies that can take advantage of the method.
|
|
| 6. |
- Valencia-Montoya, Wendy A., et al.
(författare)
-
Evolutionary trade-offs between male secondary sexual traits revealed by a phylogeny of the hyperdiverse tribe Eumaeini (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae)
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. - : The Royal Society. - 1471-2954 .- 0962-8452. ; 288:1950
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Male butterflies in the hyperdiverse tribe Eumaeini possess an unusually complex and diverse repertoire of secondary sexual characteristics involved in pheromone production and dissemination. Maintaining multiple sexually selected traits is likely to be metabolically costly, potentially resulting in trade-offs in the evolution of male signals. However, a phylogenetic framework to test hypotheses regarding the evolution and maintenance of male sexual traits in Eumaeini has been lacking. Here, we infer a comprehensive, time-calibrated phylogeny from 379 loci for 187 species representing 91% of the 87 described genera. Eumaeini is a monophyletic group that originated in the late Oligocene and underwent rapid radiation in the Neotropics. We examined specimens of 818 of the 1096 described species (75%) and found that secondary sexual traits are present in males of 91% of the surveyed species. Scent pads and scent patches on the wings and brush organs associated with the genitalia were probably present in the common ancestor of Eumaeini and are widespread throughout the tribe. Brush organs and scent pads are negatively correlated across the phylogeny, exhibiting a trade-off in which lineages with brush organs are unlikely to regain scent pads and vice versa. In contrast, scent patches seem to facilitate the evolution of scent pads, although they are readily lost once scent pads have evolved. Our results illustrate the complex interplay between natural and sexual selection in the origin and maintenance of multiple male secondary sexual characteristics and highlight the potential role of sexual selection spurring diversification in this lineage.
|
|
