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Phylogenetic evidence for a single long-lived clade of crustacean cyclic parthenogens and its implications for the evolution of sex

ABSTRACT: The short-term advantages of sexual reproduction are unclear, but the existence of groups that are capable of producing either meiotic or ameiotic eggs (cyclic parthenogenesis, CP) might indicate that short-term advantages to sex exist. Alternatively, CP might be an unstable transitory stage between asexuality and sex, or a phylogenetically favoured life cycle (i.e. clade selection). The extensive knowledge of breeding systems and population genetics in branchiopod crustaceans makes them a useful group to test phylogenetic predictions of these hypotheses. Several proponents favour the hypothesis that CP has evolved multiple times in five orders of branchiopod crustaceans. We inferred the first robust branchiopod phylogeny from nuclear rRNA sequence (SSU and LSU), morphology, and complex rRNA stem–loop structures to assess the phylogenetic distribution of cyclic parthenogenesis. The sequence-based, structural rRNA and total evidence phylogenies are concordant and suggest that cyclic parthenogenesis arose once in the branchiopods, that this clade is long-lived (at least since the Permian), and that it has radiated extensively into nearly every aqueous habitat without reverting to strict sexuality and only rarely transforming to strict asexuality. These results are consistent with the clade selection hypothesis but inconsistent with the predictions of the hypothesis that CP is a transitory stage that leads to strict sexual reproduction. The evidence also indicates that clade selection for CP is a viable alternative explanation for the maintenance of sex in CP life cycles.

SUBMITTER: Taylor D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1689911 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundThe vertebrate brain is composed of several interconnected, functionally distinct structures and much debate has surrounded the basic question of how these structures evolve. On the one hand, according to the 'mosaic evolution hypothesis', because of the elevated metabolic cost of brain tissue, selection is expected to target specific structures mediating the cognitive abilities which are being favored. On the other hand, the 'concerted evolution hypothesis' argues that developmental constraints limit such mosaic evolution and instead the size of the entire brain varies in response to selection on any of its constituent parts. To date, analyses of these hypotheses of brain evolution have been limited to mammals and birds; excluding Actinopterygii, the basal and most diverse class of vertebrates. Using a combination of recently developed phylogenetic multivariate allometry analyses and comparative methods that can identify distinct rates of evolution, even in highly correlated traits, we studied brain structure evolution in a highly variable clade of ray-finned fishes; the Tanganyikan cichlids.ResultsTotal brain size explained 86% of the variance in brain structure volume in cichlids, a lower proportion than what has previously been reported for mammals. Brain structures showed variation in pair-wise allometry suggesting some degree of independence in evolutionary changes in size. This result is supported by variation among structures on the strength of their loadings on the principal size axis of the allometric analysis. The rate of evolution analyses generally supported the results of the multivariate allometry analyses, showing variation among several structures in their evolutionary patterns. The olfactory bulbs and hypothalamus were found to evolve faster than other structures while the dorsal medulla presented the slowest evolutionary rate.ConclusionOur results favor a mosaic model of brain evolution, as certain structures are evolving in a modular fashion, with a small but non-negligible influence of concerted evolution in cichlid fishes. Interestingly, one of the structures presenting distinct evolutionary patterns within cichlids, the olfactory bulbs, has also been shown to evolve differently from other structures in mammals. Hence, our results for a basal vertebrate clade also point towards a conserved developmental plan for all vertebrates.

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Phylogenetic evidence for a single long-lived clade of crustacean cyclic parthenogens and its implications for the evolution of sex

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