Extracts and Steroids from the Edible Mushroom Hypholoma lateritium Exhibit Anti‐Inflammatory Properties by Inhibition of COX‐2 and Activation of Nrf2

Hypholoma lateritium is an edible macrofungus with a common distribution in Europe, North America, and the Far East. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential anti‐inflammatory effects of H. lateritium extracts and its isolated steroids: fasciculic acid B, fasciculol E, fasciculol C, lanosta‐7,9(11)‐diene‐12β,21α‐epoxy‐2α,3β,24β,25‐tetraol, fasciculol F, and demethylincisterol A2. Organic (hexane, chloroform and 50 % methanol) and water extracts of H. lateritium were subjected to in vitro assays to determine pro‐inflammatory protein levels, such as cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2), cytosolic prostaglandin E2 synthase (cPGES), and antioxidant nuclear factor (erythroid‐derived 2)‐like 2 (Nrf2). Fungal extracts demonstrated significant activities on pro‐inflammatory protein levels with minor differences among the activities of the fractions of different polarities. All the compounds proved to exert notable inhibitory properties on COX‐2 and were capable to stimulate the Nrf2 pathway. Fungal extracts and the compounds exerted no cytotoxic activities on RAW 264.7 cells.     

Does operational sex ratio influence relative strength of purging selection in males versus females?

According to theory, sexual selection in males may efficiently purge mutation load of sexual populations, reducing or fully compensating ‘the cost of males’. For this to occur, mutations not only need to be deleterious to both sexes, they also must affect males more than females. A frequently overlooked problem is that relative strength of selection on males versus females may vary between environments, with social conditions being particularly likely to affect selection in males and females differently. Here, we induced mutations in red flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum) and tested their effect in both sexes under three different operational sex ratios (1:2, 1:1 and 2:1). Induced mutations decreased fitness of both males and females, but their effect was not stronger in males. Surprisingly, operational sex ratio did not affect selection against deleterious mutations nor its relative strength in the sexes. Thus, our results show no support for the role of sexual selection in the evolutionary maintenance of sex.     

Female‐driven intersexual coevolution in beetle genitalia

Genital coevolution is a pervasive phenomenon as changes in one sex tend to impose fitness consequences on the other, generating sexual conflict. Sexual conflict is often thought to cause stronger selection on males due to the Darwin–Bateman's anisogamy paradigm. However, recent studies have demonstrated that female genitalia may be equally elaborated and perform diverse extra‐copulatory functions. These characteristics suggest that female genitals can also be primary targets of selection, especially where natural selection acts on female‐exclusive functions such as oviposition. Here, we test this hypothesis in a statistical phylogenetic framework across the whole beetle (Coleoptera) phylogeny, investigating whether coevolution of specific genital traits may be triggered by changes in females. We focus on traits of the proctiger, which composes part of the male terminalia and the female ovipositor. Our results present a comprehensive case of male–female genital coevolution and provide solid statistical evidence for a female‐initiated coevolutionary process where the vast majority of evolutionary transitions in males have occurred only after changes in females. We corroborate the hypothesis that female traits may change independently and elicit counter‐adaptations in males. Furthermore, by showing a consistent pattern across the phylogeny of the most diverse group of animals, our results suggest that this female‐driven dynamics may persist through long time scales.     

In a comfort zone and beyond—Ecological plasticity of key marine mediators

Copepods of the genus Calanus are the key components of zooplankton. Understanding their response to a changing climate is crucial to predict the functioning of future warmer high‐latitude ecosystems. Although specific Calanus species are morphologically very similar, they have different life strategies and roles in ecosystems. In this study, C. finmarchicus and C. glacialis were thoroughly studied with regard to their plasticity in morphology and ecology both in their preferred original water mass (Atlantic vs. Arctic side of the Polar Front) and in suboptimal conditions (due to, e.g., temperature, turbidity, and competition in Hornsund fjord). Our observations show that “at the same place and time,” both species can reach different sizes, take on different pigmentation, be in different states of population development, utilize different reproductive versus lipid accumulation strategies, and thrive on different foods. Size was proven to be a very mutable morphological trait, especially with regard to reduced length of C. glacialis. Both species exhibited pronounced red pigmentation when inhabiting their preferred water mass. In other domains, C. finmarchicus individuals tended to be paler than C. glacialis individuals. Gonad maturation and population development indicated mixed reproductive strategies, although a surprisingly similar population age structure of the two co‐occurring species in the fjord was observed. Lipid accumulation was high and not species‐specific, and its variability was due to diet differences of the populations. According to the stable isotope composition, both species had a more herbivorous diatom‐based diet in their original water masses. While the diet of C. glacialis was rather consistent among the domains studied, C. finmarchicus exhibited much higher variability in its feeding history (based on lipid composition). Our results show that the plasticity of both Calanus species is indeed impressive and may be regulated differently, depending on whether they live in their “comfort zone” or beyond it.     

An Experimental Test of Adaptive Introgression in Locally Adapted Populations of Splash Pool Copepods

As species struggle to keep pace with the rapidly warming climate, adaptive introgression of beneficial alleles from closely related species or populations provides a possible avenue for rapid adaptation. We investigate the potential for adaptive introgression in the copepod, Tigriopus californicus, by hybridizing two populations with divergent heat tolerance limits. We subjected hybrids to strong heat selection for 15 generations followed by whole-genome resequencing. Utilizing a hybridize evolve and resequence (HER) technique, we can identify loci responding to heat selection via a change in allele frequency. We successfully increased the heat tolerance (measured as LT₅₀) in selected lines, which was coupled with higher frequencies of alleles from the southern (heat tolerant) population. These repeatable changes in allele frequencies occurred on all 12 chromosomes across all independent selected lines, providing evidence that heat tolerance is polygenic. These loci contained genes with lower protein-coding sequence divergence than the genome-wide average, indicating that these loci are highly conserved between the two populations. In addition, these loci were enriched in genes that changed expression patterns between selected and control lines in response to a nonlethal heat shock. Therefore, we hypothesize that the mechanism of heat tolerance divergence is explained by differential gene expression of highly conserved genes. The HER approach offers a unique solution to identifying genetic variants contributing to polygenic traits, especially variants that might be missed through other population genomic approaches.