More taxa or more characters revisited: combining data from nuclear protein-encoding genes for phylogenetic analyses of Noctuoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera)

A central question concerning data collection strategy for molecular phylogenies has been, is it better to increase the number of characters or the number of taxa sampled to improve the robustness of a phylogeny estimate? A recent simulation study concluded that increasing the number of taxa sampled is preferable to increasing the number of nucleotide characters, if taxa are chosen specifically to break up long branches. We explore this hypothesis by using empirical data from noctuoid moths, one of the largest superfamilies of insects. Separate studies of two nuclear genes, elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1 alpha) and dopa decarboxylase (DDC), have yielded similar gene trees and high concordance with morphological groupings for 49 exemplar species. However, support levels were quite low for nodes deeper than the subfamily level. We tested the effects on phylogenetic signal of (1) increasing the taxon sampling by nearly 60%, to 77 species, and (2) combining data from the two genes in a single analysis. Surprisingly, the increased taxon sampling, although designed to break up long branches, generated greater disagreement between the two gene data sets and decreased support levels for deeper nodes. We appear to have inadvertently introduced new long branches, and breaking these up may require a yet larger taxon sample. Sampling additional characters (combining data) greatly increased the phylogenetic signal. To contrast the potential effect of combining data from independent genes with collection of the same total number of characters from a single gene, we simulated the latter by bootstrap augmentation of the single-gene data sets. Support levels for combined data were at least as high as those for the bootstrap-augmented data set for DDC and were much higher than those for the augmented EF-1 alpha data set. This supports the view that in obtaining additional sequence data to solve a refractory systematic problem, it is prudent to take them from an independent gene.     

Pancrustacean phylogeny: hexapods are terrestrial crustaceans and maxillopods are not monophyletic

Recent molecular analyses indicate that crustaceans and hexapods form a clade (Pancrustacea or Tetraconata), but relationships among its constituent lineages, including monophyly of crustaceans, are controversial. Our phylogenetic analysis of three protein-coding nuclear genes from 62 arthropods and lobopods (Onychophora and Tardigrada) demonstrates that Hexapoda is most closely related to the crustaceans Branchiopoda (fairy shrimp, water fleas, etc.) and Cephalocarida + Remipedia, thereby making hexapods terrestrial crustaceans and the traditionally defined Crustacea paraphyletic. Additional findings are that Malacostraca (crabs, isopods, etc.) unites with Cirripedia (barnacles, etc.) and they, in turn, with Copepoda, making the traditional crustacean class Maxillopoda paraphyletic. Ostracoda (seed shrimp)--either all or a subgroup--is associated with Branchiura (fish lice) and likely to be basal to all other pancrustaceans. A Bayesian statistical (non-clock) estimate of divergence times suggests a Precambrian origin for Pancrustacea (600 Myr ago or more), which precedes the first unambiguous arthropod fossils by over 60 Myr.     

Experimental evaluation of the relationship between lethal or non-lethal virulence and transmission success in malaria parasite infections

Background

Theoretical studies suggest that direct and indirect selection have the potential to cause substantial evolutionary change in female mate choice. Similarly, sexual selection is considered a strong force in the evolution of male attractiveness and the exaggeration of secondary sexual traits. Few studies have, however, directly tested how female mate choice and male attractiveness respond to selection. Here we report the results of a selection experiment in which we selected directly on female mating preference for attractive males and, independently, on male attractiveness in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. We measured the direct and correlated responses of female mate choice and male attractiveness to selection and the correlated responses of male ornamental traits, female fecundity and adult male and female survival.

Results

Surprisingly, neither female mate choice nor male attractiveness responded significantly to direct or to indirect selection. Fecundity did differ significantly among lines in a way that suggests a possible sexually-antagonistic cost to male attractiveness.

Conclusions

The opportunity for evolutionary change in female mate choice and male attractiveness may be much smaller than predicted by current theory, and may thus have important consequences for how we understand the evolution of female mate choice and male attractiveness. We discuss a number of factors that may have constrained the response of female choice and male attractiveness to selection, including low heritabilities, low levels of genetic (co)variation in the multivariate direction of selection, sexually-antagonistic constraint on sexual selection and the "environmental covariance hypothesis".

     

Haptoglobin and CCR2 receptor expression in ovarian cancer cells that were exposed to ascitic fluid: Exploring a new role of haptoglobin in the tumoral microenvironment

Haptoglobin (Hp) is an acute-phase protein that is produced by the liver to capture the iron that is present in the blood circulation, thus avoiding its accumulation in the blood. Moreover, Hp has been detected in a wide variety of tissues, in which it performs various functions. In addition, this protein is considered a potential biomarker in many diseases, such as cancer, including ovarian carcinoma; however, its participation in the cancerous processes has not yet been determined. The objective of this work was to demonstrate the expression of Hp and its receptor CCR2 in the ovarian cancer cells and its possible involvement in the process of cell migration through changes in the rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton using western blot and wound-healing assays and confirming by confocal microscopy. Ovarian cancer cells express both Hp and its receptor CCR2 but only after exposure to ascitic fluid, inducing moderated cell migration. However, when the cells are exposed to exogenous Hp, the expression of CCR2 is induced together with drastic changes in the actin cytoskeleton rearrangement. At the same time, Hp induced cell migration in a much more efficient manner than did ascitic fluid. These effects were blocked when the CCR2 synthetic antagonist RS102895 was used to pretreat the cells. These results suggest that Hp-induced changes in the cell morphology, actin cytoskeleton structure, and migration ability of tumor cells, is possibly “preparing” these cells for the potential induction of the metastatic phenotype.     

First report of Phytopythium vexans causing the “Avocado sadness” in Michoacan,Mexico

Mexico is the main producer, consumer and exporter of avocado in the world, being Michoacan the main producer state contributing more than 80% of the national production. There are phytopathogens that decimate the production causing the death of the tree. Root samples were collected in avocado trees that showed the characteristic symptomatology of the disease known as avocado sadness, the sampling was carried out in four of the main avocado producing towns, in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. The isolation consisted in sowing root tissue in Petri dishes with V8^®-PARPH culture medium, subsequently they were identified morphologically and for species level it was determined by molecular biology, with the PCR-ITS technique. Pathogenicity tests were performed in triplicate with avocado seedlings with more than six leaves. After 24 hours, the inoculated plants expressed decay in the apical part, after 120 hours the leaves showed yellowing and after 15 days there was a generalized wilt on the stem and leaves, re-isolating the phytopathogen Phytopythium vexans. This study confirms the first report of the oomycete P. vexans affecting avocado trees in the most important producing region of the Mexican Republic.