Adaptation or physiological constraint [Elektronische Ressource] : temperature-mediated plasticity in reproduction / vorgelegt von Marc Johan Steigenga

Isa Joke

Sujets

• Biologie

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• Publié par: universitat_bayreuth
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 35
• Langue: Deutsch

Extrait

Adaptation or physiological constraint:
Temperature-mediated plasticity in
reproduction








Marc Johan Steigenga



Adaptation or physiological constraint:
Temperature-mediated plasticity in
reproduction






vorgelegt von
Marc Johan Steigenga

Bayreuth
Juli 2008
Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde in der Zeit von April 2003 bis Februar 2007 unter
Leitung von Prof. Dr. Klaus Fischer am Lehrstuhl Tierökologie I der Universität
Bayreuth angefertigt.

Die Untersuchungen wurden im Rahmen der Emmy-Noether-Nachwuchsgruppe
,,Adaption oder Zwang: Wie kann man Variabilität von Eigröße bei Arthropoden
erklären?’’ durchgeführt und durch Mittel der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft
(DFG Fi 846/1-2 und 1-3) gefördert.

Vollständiger Abdruck der Fakultät Biologie, Chemie und Geowissenschaften der
Universität Bayreuth genehmigten Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen
Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. Nat.)





Promotionsgesuch eingereicht am 16. 07. 2008

Tag des wissenschaftlichen Kolloqiums 21.11.2008




Prüfungsausschuss

Prof. Dr. Klaus H. Hoffmann (Erstgutachter)
Prof. Dr Klaus Fischer (Zweitgutachter)

Prof. Dr. Gerhard Rambold (Vorsitzender)
Prof. Dr. Ingolf Steffan-Deventer
PD Dr. Matthias W. Lorenz












Meinen Eltern und Freunden gewidmet Contents

1. Introduction 1
1.1. Introduction 2
1.2. Why study reproduction? 4
1.3. Rationale of this thesis 5
1.4. Study organism - the tropical butterfly Bicyclus anynana 6


2. Synopsis 8
2.1. The evolutionary genetics of egg size plasticity in a butterfly 9
2.2. Within- and between-generation effects of temperature on
life-history traits 11
2.3. Effects of the juvenile hormone mimic pyriproxyfen on
female reproduction and longevity 14
2.4. Ovarian dynamics, egg size and egg number in relation
to temperature and mating status 17


3. Summary 20
3.1. Summary 21
3.2. Zusammenfassung 23


4. References 26
5. The genetic background of temperature mediated
reproductive plasticity 35
5.1. The evolutionary genetics of egg size plasticity in a butterfly 36
5.2. Within- and between-generation effects of temperature on
lifehistory traits in a butterfly 56


6. The mechanistic background of temperature
mediated reproductive plasticity 81
6.1. Effects of the juvenile hormone mimic pyriproxyfen on female
reproduction and longevity in the butterfly Bicyclus anynana 82
6.2. Ovarian dynamics, egg size and egg number in relation to
temperature and mating status in a butterfly 105


7. Publication list 124


8. Contributions 125


9. Acknowledgements 127


10. Curriculum Vitae 128 1








Introduction Introduction 2
1.1. Introduction
Investigating interactions between organisms and their environment has been at
the forefront of biological research ever since Darwin’s realisation (1859) that the
latter plaid an important role in shaping the former (Barnes & Partridge 2003). It has
been recognised that all existing organisms are the results of a long evolutionary
history in which natural selection is believed to play the main part in shaping the
organisms phenotypes (Barnes & Partridge 2003). Life history theory (e.g. the age-
specific schedule of fecundity and mortality, Barnes & Partridge 2003) relates an
individual’s phenotype to its fitness and lies therefore at the heart of biology, and is
further needed to understand the action of natural selection. It also helps us to
understand how the other central element, genetic variation, impacts on phenotypes.
Life history traits figure directly in reproduction and survival and include - amongst
many others - growth trajectories, age and size at maturity, number and size of
offspring, age and size specific reproductive investment and mortality schedules
(Stearns 1992). For natural selection to act on these traits, two prerequisites are
necessary. First, heritable variability for the trait in question determines whether there
will be a response to selection and second, individuals (phenotypes) must vary in
fitness (Scheiner & Lyman 1991; Stearns 1992; Falconer & Mackay 1996; Ernande et
al. 2004).

Two sources of phenotypic variation in life-history traits have long been recognized,
namely genetic differentiation and effects of different environments on the expression
of the phenotype (Schmalhausen 1949; Endler 1986). The latter source of variation,
called phenotypic plasticity refers to cases when a single genotype can produce
alternative phenotypes. Such plastic changes may merely represent a biochemical or
physiological interaction of the organism with its environment, or it may be an
adaptation to spatially heterogeneous or temporarily varying environments (adaptive
phenotypic plasticity) (Levins 1963; Bradshaw 1965: Nylin & Go tthard 1998).

Phenotypic plasticity has two important roles in evolution. First, by modifying the
relationship among traits and trait fitness, it changes the selection pressures on traits
across environments. Second, by modulating the expression of genetic variation and
of genetic covariation it shields the genotype from the effects of selection (Stearns
1992; Falconer & Mackay 1996). However, phenotypic plasticity is also a property of Introduction 3
the genotype and there is genetic variation for plastic responses (Pigliucci 2005).
While selective forces were presumed to be omnipotent in shaping phenotypes, the
evolution of traits or their combinations may only be partially realised due to
counteracting properties or mechanisms limiting or channelling responses to
selection (Stearns 1992; Roff 2002; Barnes & Partridge 2003). The general
consensus is that life histories must involve compromises between what selection
can achieve (adaptation) and what selection is prevented from achieving (constraints;
reviewed in Barnes & Partridge 2003). These constraints are often due to lack of
sufficient genetic variation in plasticity and costs associated with phenotypic plasticity
(e.g. maintenance, production, pleiotropy, epistasis, De Witt et al. 1998).

However, in recent years it has become evident that the individual phenotype is
often also affected by the environmental experience of other individuals (Mousseau &
Dingle 1991; Mousseau & Fox 1998). In general inter-individual interactions occur
most frequently between parents (primarily mothers) and their offspring (Mousseau &
Fox 1998; Weigensberg et al. 1998; Wolf et al. 1998; Amarillo-Suárez & Fox 2006).
In many organisms, a female’s environment may provide a reliable indicator of the
environmental conditions their offspring will encounter. In such cases, maternal
effects may evolve as mechanisms for ‘trans-generational’ phenotypic plasticity
(Mousseau & Dingle 1991; Fox & Mousseau 1998; Rossiter 1996) whereby in
response to a predictive environmental cue a mother can tune her offspring’s
phenotype for that environment (i.e. adaptive phenotypic plasticity; Fox et al. 1997;
Wolf et al. 1998; Gilchrist & Huey 2001).

Such non-genetic influences of parental phenotype or environment on progeny
phenotype are of evolutionary importance not only because they influence short-term
responses to selection (Kirkpatrick & Lande 1989), but also because they are
potentially adaptive (Mousseau & Dingle 1991; Rossiter 1996; Fox et al. 1997).
Environmental experience can be transmitted to offspring via cytoplasmic egg
factors, e.g. yolk amount, egg composition, hormones or mRNA (Fox & Mousseau
1998; Mousseau & Fox 1998; Sakwinska 2004).


Introduction 4
1.2. Why study reproduction?
Phenotypic correlations between egg size and number among species, among
populations within species, and among individuals within populations generally
indicate a trade-off between egg size and number in arthropods (Fox & Czesak
2000). Larger offspring were found to have a higher juvenile survivorship, faster
maturation, increased survival under stressful conditions and improved competitive
abilities as compared to small offspring (Azevedo et al. 1997; Fox & Czesak 2000;
Czesak & Fox 2003; Fischer et al. 2003a). At the same time the fitness of the mother
increases with increasing progeny num