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Casper J Breuker - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Historical and current patterns of gene flow in the butterfly Pararge aegeria
Journal of Biogeography, 2018Co-Authors: Luca Livraghi, Melanie Gibbs, Peter W H Holland, Leonardo Dapporto, Roger Vila, Tim G. Shreeve, Raluca Vodă, Luke C. Evans, Vlad Dincă, Casper J BreukerAbstract:Aim We have investigated the phylogeography and genetic structure of the Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) across its entire distribution range and studied its dispersal both on mainland and across sea straits. The apparent lack of gene flow between Sardinia and Corsica was further investigated by means of mating experiments. Location Europe and North Africa. Methods We sampled 345 individuals and sequenced one mitochondrial gene (Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I, COI) for all samples and two nuclear genes (wingless and zerknullt) for a subset of the specimens. A total of 22 females from Corsica and Sardinia were used to establish a series of crosses to investigate reproductive compatibility and were screened for the presence of Wolbachia. Bayesian inference (BI) and haplotype networks were employed to infer phylogenetic relationships and a Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was used to represent geographical patterns of genetic diversity. Mating and courtship data were analysed using linear mixed effect models. Results We detected two main COI lineages separated by the Mediterranean Sea and maintained over relatively short sea straits. While nuclear gene variation was generally in agreement with that of COI, this was not the case in all areas (e.g. Iberian Peninsula and Corsica/Sardinia). Mating experiments revealed no evidence of reproductive isolation between the lineages, nor clear relation to Wolbachia infection status. Main conclusions We propose that following the post‐glacial recolonization of Europe, the ancestral COI lineage of P. aegeria was maintained in North Africa and Mediterranean islands, while a new lineage colonized from Eastern Europe, replacing and apparently out‐competing the ancestral variant. Several hypotheses are discussed that may explain the local discordance between the nuclear genes and COI, including sex‐specific dispersal, selection and differential rates of gene evolution.
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Water Stress Affects Development Time but Not Takeoff Performance in the Butterfly Pararge aegeria
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, 2017Co-Authors: Simon P. Lailvaux, Casper J Breuker, Raoul Van DammeAbstract:Most organisms are limited in the amount and type of resources they are able to extract from the environment. The juvenile environment is particularly important in this regard, as conditions over ontogeny can influence the adult phenotype. Whole-organism performance traits, such as locomotion, are susceptible to such environmental effects, yet the specific biotic and abiotic factors driving performance plasticity have received little attention. We tested whether speckled wood Pararge aegeria L. butterflies reared under conditions of water stress exhibited poorer flight morphology and performance than control individuals. Despite large differences in mortality between treatments, we found no effects of water stress treatment on takeoff performance and only minor treatment effects on flight morphology. However, butterflies reared on water-stressed diets exhibited both significantly greater mortality and longer development times than did control individuals. Pararge aegeria larvae may compensate for this stress by prolonging development, resulting in similar realized performance capacities at least in takeoff performance in surviving adult butterflies; other measures of flight performance remain to be considered. Alternatively, the adult phenotype may be insulated from environmental effects at the larval stage in these insects.
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Water Stress Affects Development Time but Not Takeoff Performance in the Butterfly Pararge aegeria.
Physiological and biochemical zoology : PBZ, 2016Co-Authors: Simon P. Lailvaux, Casper J Breuker, Raoul Van DammeAbstract:AbstractMost organisms are limited in the amount and type of resources they are able to extract from the environment. The juvenile environment is particularly important in this regard, as conditions over ontogeny can influence the adult phenotype. Whole-organism performance traits, such as locomotion, are susceptible to such environmental effects, yet the specific biotic and abiotic factors driving performance plasticity have received little attention. We tested whether speckled wood Pararge aegeria L. butterflies reared under conditions of water stress exhibited poorer flight morphology and performance than control individuals. Despite large differences in mortality between treatments, we found no effects of water stress treatment on takeoff performance and only minor treatment effects on flight morphology. However, butterflies reared on water-stressed diets exhibited both significantly greater mortality and longer development times than did control individuals. Pararge aegeria larvae may compensate for ...
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Vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses are found across three insect families and have dynamic interactions with their hosts
2016Co-Authors: Ben Longdon, Casper J Breuker, Melanie Gibbs, Jonathan P. Day, Nora Kristin Elisa Schulz, Philip T. Leftwich, Maaike A. De Jong, Darren J. Obbard, Lena Wilfert, Sophia Cl SmithAbstract:A small number of free-living viruses have been found to be obligately vertically transmitted, but it remains uncertain how widespread vertically transmitted viruses are and how quickly they can spread through host populations. Recent metagenomic studies have found several insects to be infected with sigma viruses (Rhabdoviridae). Here, we report that sigma viruses that infect Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata), Drosophila immigrans, and speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) are all vertically transmitted. We find patterns of vertical transmission that are consistent with those seen in Drosophila sigma viruses, with high rates of maternal transmission, and lower rates of paternal transmission. This mode of transmission allows them to spread rapidly in populations, and using viral sequence data we found the viruses in D. immigrans and C. capitata had both recently swept through host populations. The viruses were common in nature, with mean prevalences of 12% in C. capitata, 38% in D. immigrans and 74% in P. aegeria. We conclude that vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses may be widespread in insects, and that these viruses can have dynamic interactions with their hosts.
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Studying Oogenesis in a Non-model Organism Using Transcriptomics: Assembling, Annotating, and Analyzing Your Data.
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton N.J.), 2016Co-Authors: Jean-michel Carter, Melanie Gibbs, Casper J BreukerAbstract:This chapter provides a guide to processing and analyzing RNA-Seq data in a non-model organism. This approach was implemented for studying oogenesis in the Speckled Wood Butterfly Pararge aegeria. We focus in particular on how to perform a more informative primary annotation of your non-model organism by implementing our multi-BLAST annotation strategy. We also provide a general guide to other essential steps in the next-generation sequencing analysis workflow. Before undertaking these methods, we recommend you familiarize yourself with command line usage and fundamental concepts of database handling. Most of the operations in the primary annotation pipeline can be performed in Galaxy (or equivalent standalone versions of the tools) and through the use of common database operations (e.g. to remove duplicates) but other equivalent programs and/or custom scripts can be implemented for further automation.
Hans Van Dyck - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Ecotypic differentiation matters for latitudinal variation in energy metabolism and flight performance in a butterfly under climate change.
Scientific reports, 2016Co-Authors: Hans Van Dyck, Marie-jeanne HolveckAbstract:Life histories of organisms may vary with latitude as they experience different thermal constraints and challenges. This geographic, intraspecific variation could be of significance for range dynamics under climate change beyond edge-core comparisons. In this study, we did a reciprocal transplant experiment between the temperature-regimes of two latitudes with an ectotherm insect, examining the effects on energy metabolism and flight performance. Pararge aegeria expanded its ecological niche from cool woodland (ancestral) to warmer habitat in agricultural landscape (novel ecotype). Northern males had higher standard metabolic rates than southern males, but in females these rates depended on their ecotype. Southern males flew for longer than northern ones. In females, body mass-corrected flight performance depended on latitude and thermal treatment during larval development and in case of the southern females, their interaction. Our experimental study provides evidence for the role of ecological differentiation at the core of the range to modulate ecophysiology and flight performance at different latitudes, which in turn may affect the climatic responsiveness of the species.
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Kaiser et al. - Adult body mass
2016Co-Authors: Aurélien Kaiser, Thomas Merckx, Hans Van DyckAbstract:Sheet 1 and 2 includes data on adult body mass of Pararge aegeria and Lasiommata megera, respectivel
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a) Butterflies from populations in forest landscapes (F) initiate a linear flight path directed to the target habitat at shorter distances than butterflies from populations in agricultural landscapes (A).
2013Co-Authors: Erik Öckinger, Hans Van DyckAbstract:This holds for butterflies released at both 50 and 100 m. Mean ± SE are shown. b) Male of the Speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria L. (Photo by M. Jacobs, Belgium), c) Examples of observed flight paths. Blue: A butterfly that did not reach the target habitat, Black: A butterfly that was flying towards the target habitat from take-off, Red and grey: Butterflies that were first undertaking different types of search behavior, and eventually flew towards the target habitat.
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Exploring sub-lethal effects of exposure to a nucleopolyhedrovirus in the speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) butterfly
Journal of invertebrate pathology, 2011Co-Authors: Helen Hesketh, Casper J Breuker, Melanie Gibbs, Hans Van Dyck, Emma Turner, Rosemary S. HailsAbstract:This study investigated the sub-lethal effects of larval exposure to baculovirus on host life history and wing morphological traits using a model system, the speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria (L.) and the virus Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus. Males and females showed similar responses to the viral infection. Infection significantly reduced larval growth rate, whilst an increase in development time allowed the critical mass for pupation to be attained. There was no direct effect of viral infection on the wing morphological traits examined. There was, however, an indirect effect of resisting infection; larvae that took longer to develop had reduced resource investment in adult flight muscle mass.
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spermatophore and sperm allocation in males of the monandrous butterfly Pararge aegeria the female s perspective
Ethology, 2011Co-Authors: Lesley Vande Velde, David Damiens, Hans Van DyckAbstract:n insects, spermatophore production represents a non-trivial cost to a male. Non-virgin males have been shown to produce small spermato- phores at subsequent matings. Particularly in monandrous species, it may be an issue to receive a sufficiently large spermatophore at the first and typically only mating. Females of the monandrous Speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria (L.) produce fewer offspring after mating with a non-virgin male. After mating, females spend all their active time select- ing oviposition sites and typically ignore other males. Here, we show that females did not discriminate between a virgin male and a recently mated male in our laboratory experiments. We demonstrate that the number of eupyrene sperm bundles relative to spermatophore mass dif- fered with subsequent male matings. Males transferred a significantly smaller spermatophore after the first copulation, but the spermatophore mass did not decrease further with subsequent matings. However, the number of eupyrene sperm bundles decreased linearly. Therefore, there was proportionally more eupyrene sperm in the male’s second sperma- tophore compared with the first and the later spermatophores. Such a pattern has been shown in polyandrous species. Hence, it suggests that differences in sperm allocation strategy between polyandrous and mon- androus butterflies may be quantitative rather than qualitative. There was also a tendency for females that had mated with a recently mated male to have higher propensity to remate than did females that had mated with a virgin male. We discuss the results relative to the mating system in P. aegeria, including female remating opportunities in the field and male mate-locating behaviour.
Melanie Gibbs - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Historical and current patterns of gene flow in the butterfly Pararge aegeria
Journal of Biogeography, 2018Co-Authors: Luca Livraghi, Melanie Gibbs, Peter W H Holland, Leonardo Dapporto, Roger Vila, Tim G. Shreeve, Raluca Vodă, Luke C. Evans, Vlad Dincă, Casper J BreukerAbstract:Aim We have investigated the phylogeography and genetic structure of the Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) across its entire distribution range and studied its dispersal both on mainland and across sea straits. The apparent lack of gene flow between Sardinia and Corsica was further investigated by means of mating experiments. Location Europe and North Africa. Methods We sampled 345 individuals and sequenced one mitochondrial gene (Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I, COI) for all samples and two nuclear genes (wingless and zerknullt) for a subset of the specimens. A total of 22 females from Corsica and Sardinia were used to establish a series of crosses to investigate reproductive compatibility and were screened for the presence of Wolbachia. Bayesian inference (BI) and haplotype networks were employed to infer phylogenetic relationships and a Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) was used to represent geographical patterns of genetic diversity. Mating and courtship data were analysed using linear mixed effect models. Results We detected two main COI lineages separated by the Mediterranean Sea and maintained over relatively short sea straits. While nuclear gene variation was generally in agreement with that of COI, this was not the case in all areas (e.g. Iberian Peninsula and Corsica/Sardinia). Mating experiments revealed no evidence of reproductive isolation between the lineages, nor clear relation to Wolbachia infection status. Main conclusions We propose that following the post‐glacial recolonization of Europe, the ancestral COI lineage of P. aegeria was maintained in North Africa and Mediterranean islands, while a new lineage colonized from Eastern Europe, replacing and apparently out‐competing the ancestral variant. Several hypotheses are discussed that may explain the local discordance between the nuclear genes and COI, including sex‐specific dispersal, selection and differential rates of gene evolution.
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Sub-lethal viral exposure and growth on drought stressed host plants changes resource allocation patterns and life history costs in the Speckled Wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria
Journal of invertebrate pathology, 2017Co-Authors: Melanie Gibbs, Laura WeirAbstract:This study investigated the interactive effects of growth on drought stressed host plants and pathogen challenge with the baculovirus Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) on survival and fitness-related traits using the Speckled Wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria (L.). Exposure to AcMNPV significantly reduced survival to pupation. For surviving larvae, sub-lethal infection significantly decreased daily mass acquisition rates and pupal mass. Growth on drought stressed plants increased daily mass acquisition rates resulting in heavier pupae, and increased resource allocation to adult reproduction. The interaction between host plant drought and viral exposure resulted in different resource allocation strategies, and thus different growth trajectories, between larvae. This in turn resulted in significantly different allometric relationships between larval mass (at inoculation) and both development time and investment in flight muscles. For larvae with relatively lighter masses there was a cost of resisting infection when growth occurred on drought stressed host plants, both within the larval stage (i.e. longer larval development times) and in the adult stage (i.e. lower investment in flight muscle mass). This multi-factor study highlights several potential mechanisms by which the complex interplay between low host plant nutritional quality due to drought, and pathogen exposure, may differentially influence the performance of P. aegeria individuals across multiple life stages.
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Vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses are found across three insect families and have dynamic interactions with their hosts
2016Co-Authors: Ben Longdon, Casper J Breuker, Melanie Gibbs, Jonathan P. Day, Nora Kristin Elisa Schulz, Philip T. Leftwich, Maaike A. De Jong, Darren J. Obbard, Lena Wilfert, Sophia Cl SmithAbstract:A small number of free-living viruses have been found to be obligately vertically transmitted, but it remains uncertain how widespread vertically transmitted viruses are and how quickly they can spread through host populations. Recent metagenomic studies have found several insects to be infected with sigma viruses (Rhabdoviridae). Here, we report that sigma viruses that infect Mediterranean fruit flies (Ceratitis capitata), Drosophila immigrans, and speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) are all vertically transmitted. We find patterns of vertical transmission that are consistent with those seen in Drosophila sigma viruses, with high rates of maternal transmission, and lower rates of paternal transmission. This mode of transmission allows them to spread rapidly in populations, and using viral sequence data we found the viruses in D. immigrans and C. capitata had both recently swept through host populations. The viruses were common in nature, with mean prevalences of 12% in C. capitata, 38% in D. immigrans and 74% in P. aegeria. We conclude that vertically transmitted rhabdoviruses may be widespread in insects, and that these viruses can have dynamic interactions with their hosts.
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Studying Oogenesis in a Non-model Organism Using Transcriptomics: Assembling, Annotating, and Analyzing Your Data.
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton N.J.), 2016Co-Authors: Jean-michel Carter, Melanie Gibbs, Casper J BreukerAbstract:This chapter provides a guide to processing and analyzing RNA-Seq data in a non-model organism. This approach was implemented for studying oogenesis in the Speckled Wood Butterfly Pararge aegeria. We focus in particular on how to perform a more informative primary annotation of your non-model organism by implementing our multi-BLAST annotation strategy. We also provide a general guide to other essential steps in the next-generation sequencing analysis workflow. Before undertaking these methods, we recommend you familiarize yourself with command line usage and fundamental concepts of database handling. Most of the operations in the primary annotation pipeline can be performed in Galaxy (or equivalent standalone versions of the tools) and through the use of common database operations (e.g. to remove duplicates) but other equivalent programs and/or custom scripts can be implemented for further automation.
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RESEARCH ARTICLE Divergent RNA Localisation Patterns of Maternal Genes Regulating Embryonic Patterning in the Butterfly Pararge aegeria
2016Co-Authors: Jean-michel Carter, Melanie Gibbs, Casper J BreukerAbstract:The maternal effect genes responsible for patterning the embryo along the antero-posterior (AP) axis are broadly conserved in insects. The precise function of these maternal effect genes is the result of the localisation of their mRNA in the oocyte. The main developmental mechanisms involved have been elucidated in Drosophila melanogaster, but recent studies have shown that other insect orders often diverge in RNA localisation patterns. A recent study has shown that in the butterfly Pararge aegeria the distinction between blastodermal embryonic (i.e. germ band) and extra-embryonic tissue (i.e. serosa) is already specified in the oocyte during oogenesis in the ovariole, long before blastoderm cellularisation. To examine the extent by which a female butterfly specifies and patterns the AP axis within the region fated to be the germ band, and whether she specifies a germ plasm, we performed in situ hybridisation experiments on oocytes in P. aegeria ovarioles and on early embryos. RNA localisation of the following key maternal effect genes were investigated: caudal (cad), orthodenticle (otd), hunchback (hb) and four nanos (nos) paralogs, as well as TDRD7 a gene containing a key functional domain (OST-HTH/LOTUS) shared with oskar. TDRD
Christer Wiklund - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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seasonal development and variation in abundance among four annual flight periods in a butterfly a 20 year study of the speckled wood Pararge aegeria
Biological Journal of The Linnean Society, 2011Co-Authors: Christer Wiklund, Magne FribergAbstract:Insects typically spend the winter in a species-specific diapause stage. The speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, is unique in having two alternative diapause stages, hibernating as larvae or ...
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Seasonal development and variation in abundance among four annual flight periods in a butterfly: a 20‐year study of the speckled wood (Pararge aegeria)
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011Co-Authors: Christer Wiklund, Magne FribergAbstract:Insects typically spend the winter in a species-specific diapause stage. The speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, is unique in having two alternative diapause stages, hibernating as larvae or ...
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Phenotypic plasticity in butterfly morphology in response to weather conditions during development
Journal of Zoology, 2010Co-Authors: Melanie Gibbs, Christer Wiklund, H. Van DyckAbstract:In seasonal environments, phenotypic plasticity in response to gradual changes in environmental variables may result in the production of discrete seasonal morphs. Production of the appropriate seasonal morph at the correct time relies on individuals interpreting environmental cues during their development. The speckled wood butterfly Pararge aegeria (L.) has previously been shown to have developmental and phenotypic plasticity across seasons and space (habitats). Here, we examine the developmental sensitivity of different seasonal cohorts of female P. aegeria to changes in local weather conditions over time (1989–1999) and determine how such temporal climatic variation affects adult phenotype development. We observed trait- and cohort-specific changes of adult phenotype development in response to local temporal changes in temperature and rainfall levels. We discuss our findings using current life-history theory and consider the potential for changes in local weather conditions to influence population variability in butterfly morphology and performance.
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Visual mate detection and mate flight pursuit in relation to sunspot size in a woodland territorial butterfly
Animal Behaviour, 2009Co-Authors: Martin Bergman, Christer WiklundAbstract:Territory residency is associated with considerable benefits. In the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, males fight over ownership of large sunspots in open forest habitats; winners become s ...
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Contest behaviour in the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria): seasonal phenotypic plasticity and the functional significance of flight performance
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2005Co-Authors: Darrell J. Kemp, Christer Wiklund, H. Van DyckAbstract:Although contemporary animal contest theory emphasises the importance of physical asymmetries in resolving disputes, such asymmetries do not obviously settle fights in all groups. Territorial male butterflies, for example, compete via elaborate non-contact aerial interactions in which success is determined by relative persistence. Prior research suggests that the resolution of these contests is not clearly related to physical variables such as body size or energy reserves. However, given that the contests involve elaborate aerial manoeuvres, one long-standing suggestion is that asymmetries in flight performance, and thus flight morphology, may be important. We addressed this hypothesis via a manipulative investigation into the biophysical correlates of contest success in the speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria. This species possesses the ability for significant adaptive phenotypic plasticity in relevant flight morphological parameters. We took advantage of this plasticity to rear 90 individuals of markedly varying flight morphologies, which we then pitted against each other in a semi-controlled experimental fashion. Multiple logistic and lognormal analyses provided little evidence for the relevance of morphological parameters, including relative flight musculature, wing loading and wing aspect ratio (wing length relative to area), to the outcome and/or duration of experimental contests. Instead, we found a positive effect of age upon contest success. Given that ability for high acceleration is strongly linked to variation in these morphological parameters, our findings suggest that flight performance is not a strong determinant of resource-holding potential in this notably territorial butterfly.
Jean-michel Carter - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Studying Oogenesis in a Non-model Organism Using Transcriptomics: Assembling, Annotating, and Analyzing Your Data.
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton N.J.), 2016Co-Authors: Jean-michel Carter, Melanie Gibbs, Casper J BreukerAbstract:This chapter provides a guide to processing and analyzing RNA-Seq data in a non-model organism. This approach was implemented for studying oogenesis in the Speckled Wood Butterfly Pararge aegeria. We focus in particular on how to perform a more informative primary annotation of your non-model organism by implementing our multi-BLAST annotation strategy. We also provide a general guide to other essential steps in the next-generation sequencing analysis workflow. Before undertaking these methods, we recommend you familiarize yourself with command line usage and fundamental concepts of database handling. Most of the operations in the primary annotation pipeline can be performed in Galaxy (or equivalent standalone versions of the tools) and through the use of common database operations (e.g. to remove duplicates) but other equivalent programs and/or custom scripts can be implemented for further automation.
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RESEARCH ARTICLE Divergent RNA Localisation Patterns of Maternal Genes Regulating Embryonic Patterning in the Butterfly Pararge aegeria
2016Co-Authors: Jean-michel Carter, Melanie Gibbs, Casper J BreukerAbstract:The maternal effect genes responsible for patterning the embryo along the antero-posterior (AP) axis are broadly conserved in insects. The precise function of these maternal effect genes is the result of the localisation of their mRNA in the oocyte. The main developmental mechanisms involved have been elucidated in Drosophila melanogaster, but recent studies have shown that other insect orders often diverge in RNA localisation patterns. A recent study has shown that in the butterfly Pararge aegeria the distinction between blastodermal embryonic (i.e. germ band) and extra-embryonic tissue (i.e. serosa) is already specified in the oocyte during oogenesis in the ovariole, long before blastoderm cellularisation. To examine the extent by which a female butterfly specifies and patterns the AP axis within the region fated to be the germ band, and whether she specifies a germ plasm, we performed in situ hybridisation experiments on oocytes in P. aegeria ovarioles and on early embryos. RNA localisation of the following key maternal effect genes were investigated: caudal (cad), orthodenticle (otd), hunchback (hb) and four nanos (nos) paralogs, as well as TDRD7 a gene containing a key functional domain (OST-HTH/LOTUS) shared with oskar. TDRD
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Ancient Expansion of the Hox Cluster in Lepidoptera Generated Four Homeobox Genes Implicated in Extra- Embryonic Tissue Formation
2016Co-Authors: Laura Ferguson, Jean-michel Carter, Casper J Breuker, Melanie Gibbs, William R Taylor, Peter W. H. HollAbstract:Gene duplications within the conserved Hox cluster are rare in animal evolution, but in Lepidoptera an array of divergent Hox-related genes (Shx genes) has been reported between pb and zen. Here, we use genome sequencing of five lepidopteran species (Polygonia c-album, Pararge aegeria, Callimorpha dominula, Cameraria ohridella, Hepialus sylvina) plus a caddisfly outgroup (Glyphotaelius pellucidus) to trace the evolution of the lepidopteran Shx genes. We demonstrate that Shx genes originated by tandem duplication of zen early in the evolution of large clade Ditrysia; Shx are not found in a caddisfly and a member of the basally diverging Hepialidae (swift moths). Four distinct Shx genes were generated early in ditrysian evolution, and were stably retained in all descendent Lepidoptera except the silkmoth which has additional duplications. Despite extensive sequence divergence, molecular modelling indicates that all four Shx genes have the potential to encode stable homeodomains. The four Shx genes have distinct spatiotemporal expression patterns in early development of the Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria), with ShxC demarcating the future sites of extraembryonic tissue formation via strikingly localised maternal RNA in the oocyte. All four genes are also expressed in presumptive serosal cells, prior to the onset of zen expression. Lepidopteran Shx genes represent an unusual example of Hox cluster expansion and integration o
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caudal transcript localisation in Pararge aegeria oocytes.
2015Co-Authors: Jean-michel Carter, Melanie Gibbs, Casper J BreukerAbstract:Ovarioles were hybridised with a riboprobe targeting cad RNA (A-H), and a 25 h embryo stained with the same riboprobe (I). Panels C and E show the reverse of ovarioles in panels B and D respectively. Red arrows in F indicate the nucleus, which aligns with the gap in the ‘horseshoe’ (H-shoe) localisation pattern. Green arrows in G and H point to a clearance in the front (‘toe’) of the ‘horseshoe’ shaped pattern, which is exactly opposite to the gap at the back (‘heel’) of the ‘horseshoe’ shape. All times after egg-laying (AEL). Scale bars 200 μm.
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nanos expression and localisation in Pararge aegeria ovarioles and embryos.
2015Co-Authors: Jean-michel Carter, Melanie Gibbs, Casper J BreukerAbstract:Ovarioles were hybridised with a riboprobe targeting nos-like (A-C), nos-M (D-F), nos-O (G-J) and nos-P (K) RNA. Embryo stained for nos-P transcripts (L). Red arrows indicate nos-O transcripts localised in a small ring pattern on the ventral side of the oocytes (G-J). The ovariole in G was overstained compared to H and I. Panel J shows the reverse of ovariole in I. All times after egg-laying (AEL). Scale bars 200 μm.
