Relationships between taxonomic and functional components of diversity: implications for conservation of tropical freshwater fishes

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Song‐based species discrimination in a rapid Neotropical radiation of grassland seedeaters

Acoustic signals among newly diverged taxa have the potential to convey species identity, information that is key to reducing hybridization. Capuchino seedeaters constitute a remarkable example of recently radiated endemic species from the grasslands of South America. They are sexually dimorphic and show striking differences in male plumage coloration and song. Contrasting with this divergence in phenotype most species show extremely low neutral genetic differentiation and lack of reciprocal monophyly, which is interpreted to be a product of recent common ancestry and hybridization. Here we use field‐based playback experiments to test for the first time if males of two species, Sporophila hypoxantha and S. palustris, discriminate between conspecific and heterospecific song. Using various measures of behavior we find that both species react more strongly to their own songs. The response to playback from another southern capuchino cannot be differentiated from that of a control song from a more distantly related Sporophila species. Additionally, we did not find evidence for reinforcement as the response of S. hypoxantha did not differ between individuals that co‐occur with S. palustris and those that do not. Our finding suggests that song, a culturally inherited trait, may help maintain reproductive isolation between species in the rapid and explosive capuchino radiation.     

Distinguishing noise from signal in patterns of genomic divergence in a highly polymorphic avian radiation

Recently diverged taxa provide the opportunity to search for the genetic basis of the phenotypes that distinguish them. Genomic scans aim to identify loci that are diverged with respect to an otherwise weakly differentiated genetic background. These loci are candidates for being past targets of selection because they behave differently from the rest of the genome that has either not yet differentiated or that may cross species barriers through introgressive hybridization. Here we use a reduced‐representation genomic approach to explore divergence among six species of southern capuchino seedeaters, a group of recently radiated sympatric passerine birds in the genus Sporophila. For the first time in these taxa, we discovered a small proportion of markers that appeared differentiated among species. However, when assessing the significance of these signatures of divergence, we found that similar patterns can also be recovered from random grouping of individuals representing different species. A detailed demographic inference indicates that genetic differences among Sporophila species could be the consequence of neutral processes, which include a very large ancestral effective population size that accentuates the effects of incomplete lineage sorting. As these neutral phenomena can generate genomic scan patterns that mimic those of markers involved in speciation and phenotypic differentiation, they highlight the need for caution when ascertaining and interpreting differentiated markers between species, especially when large numbers of markers are surveyed. Our study provides new insights into the demography of the southern capuchino radiation and proposes controls to distinguish signal from noise in similar genomic scans.     

ADP Ribosylation Factor 6 (ARF6) Promotes Acrosomal Exocytosis by Modulating Lipid Turnover and Rab3A Activation

Regulated secretion is a central issue for the specific function of many cells; for instance, mammalian sperm acrosomal exocytosis is essential for egg fertilization. ARF6 (ADP-ribosylation factor 6) is a small GTPase implicated in exocytosis, but its downstream effectors remain elusive in this process. We combined biochemical, functional, and microscopy-based methods to show that ARF6 is present in human sperm, localizes to the acrosomal region, and is required for calcium and diacylglycerol-induced exocytosis. Results from pulldown assays show that ARF6 exchanges GDP for GTP in sperm challenged with different exocytic stimuli. Myristoylated and guanosine 5′-3-O-(thio)triphosphate (GTPγS)-loaded ARF6 (active form) added to permeabilized sperm induces acrosome exocytosis even in the absence of extracellular calcium. We explore the ARF6 signaling cascade that promotes secretion. We demonstrate that ARF6 stimulates a sperm phospholipase D activity to produce phosphatidic acid and boosts the synthesis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate. We present direct evidence showing that active ARF6 increases phospholipase C activity, causing phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate hydrolysis and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-dependent intra-acrosomal calcium release. We show that active ARF6 increases the exchange of GDP for GTP on Rab3A, a prerequisite for secretion. We propose that exocytic stimuli activate ARF6, which is required for acrosomal calcium efflux and the assembly of the membrane fusion machinery. This report highlights the physiological importance of ARF6 as a key factor for human sperm exocytosis and fertilization.     

Indirect and direct effects of salinity on the quantity and quality of total amino acids in Ulva ohnoi (Chlorophyta)

Salinity can affect the quantity and quality of total amino acids (TAAs) in seaweeds indirectly by altering growth rates and thereby diluting or concentrating the amino acid content of the biomass, or directly by altering the synthesis of specific amino acids and osmolytes. This study attempted to partition the indirect and direct effects of salinity on the quantity and quality of TAAs in the green seaweed Ulva ohnoi by culturing it under a range of salinities without nutrient limitation. Both the quantity and quality of TAAs varied across the salinity treatments. Quantity was most strongly related to the growth rate of the seaweed and was highest in the slowest growing seaweed. In contrast, the quality of TAAs (individual amino acids as a proportion of total content) was most strongly related to salinity for all amino acids, although this varied substantially among individual amino acids. Increases in salinity were positively correlated with the proportion of proline (46% increase), tyrosine (36% increase), and histidine (26% increase), whereas there was a negative correlation with alanine (29% decrease). The proportion of methionine, with strong links to the synthesis of the osmolyte dimethylsulfoniopropionate, did not correlate linearly with salinity and instead was moderately higher at the optimal salinities for growth. These results show that salinity simultaneously affects the quantity and quality of TAAs in seaweed through both indirect and direct mechanisms, with growth rates playing the overarching role in determining the quantity of TAAs.