Sexual signal conspicuity is correlated with tail autotomy in an anoline lizard.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wuthrich KL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8836338 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Sexual signal conspicuity is correlated with tail autotomy in an anoline lizard.
Wuthrich Kelly Lin KL Stock Derek D Talavera Janelle B JB Putman Breanna J BJ Swierk Lindsey L
Current zoology 20210730 1
Similar Datasets
Project description:Autotomy refers to the voluntary shedding of a body part; a renowned example is tail loss among lizards as a response to attempted predation. Although many aspects of lizard tail autotomy have been studied, the detailed morphology and mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we showed that tail shedding by the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) and the associated extracellular matrix (ECM) rupture were independent of proteolysis. Instead, lizard caudal autotomy relied on biological adhesion facilitated by surface microstructures. Results based on bio-imaging techniques demonstrated that the tail of Gekko gecko was pre-severed at distinct sites and that its structural integrity depended on the adhesion between these segments.
| S-EPMC3526639 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Caudal autotomy in lizards has intrigued scientists for more than 100 years. Because of the relative lack of literature under natural conditions, the complicated association among field autotomy rate, real predation pressure, the long-term cost of tail loss, and the benefit of regeneration remains equivocal. In this study, we conducted a 7-year capture-mark-recapture (CMR) programme with a wild population of a sexually dichromatic lizard, Takydromus viridipunctatus We used autotomy indexes and a contemporary bird census mega-dataset of four predatory birds as predictors to examine the association between tail loss and predation pressure. We further estimated the survival cost of tail loss and alleviation by regeneration under natural conditions through CMR modelling. We found that large and small avian predators affect lizard survival through the following two routes: the larger-sized cattle egret causes direct mortality while the smaller shrikes and kestrels are the major causes of autotomy. Following autotomy, the survival rate of tailless individuals over the next month was significantly lower than that of tailed individuals, especially males during the breeding season, which showed a decline of greater than 30%. This sex-related difference further demonstrated the importance of reproductive costs for males in this sexually dichromatic species. However, the risk of mortality returned to baseline after the tails were fully grown. This study indicates the benefit of tail regeneration under natural conditions, which increases our understanding of the cost-benefit dynamics of caudal autotomy and further explains the maintenance of this trait as an evolutionarily beneficial adaption to long-term predator-prey interactions.
| S-EPMC5310044 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The sensory drive hypothesis predicts the correlated evolution of signaling traits and sensory perception in differing environments. For visual signals, adaptive divergence in both color signals and visual sensitivities between populations may contribute to reproductive isolation and promote speciation, but this has rarely been tested or shown in terrestrial species. We tested whether opsin protein expression differs between divergent lineages of the tawny dragon (Ctenophorus decresii) that differ in the presence/absence of an ultraviolet sexual signal. We measured the expression of four retinal cone opsin genes (SWS1, SWS2, RH2, and LWS) using droplet digital PCR. We show that gene expression between lineages does not differ significantly, including the UV wavelength sensitive SWS1. We discuss these results in the context of mounting evidence that visual sensitivities are highly conserved in terrestrial systems. Multiple competing requirements may constrain divergence of visual sensitivities in response to sexual signals. Instead, signal contrast could be increased via alternative mechanisms, such as background selection. Our results contribute to a growing understanding of the roles of visual ecology, phylogeny, and behavior on visual system evolution in reptiles.
| S-EPMC6822044 | biostudies-other
Project description:Autotomy, the voluntary shedding or detachment of a body part at a determined cleavage plane, is a common anti-predation defense mechanism in several animal taxa, including arthropods. Among arachnids, autotomy has been observed in harvestmen, mites, and spiders, always involving the loss of legs. Autotomy of the opisthosoma (abdomen) was recently reported in a single species of the Neotropical buthid scorpion genus Ananteris Thorell, 1891, but few details were revealed. Based on observations in the field and laboratory, examination of material in museum collections, and scanning electron microscopy, we document autotomy of the metasoma (the hind part of the opisthosoma, or 'tail') in fourteen species of Ananteris. Autotomy is more common in males than females, and has not been observed in juveniles. When the scorpion is held by the metasoma, it is voluntarily severed at the joints between metasomal segments I and II, II and III, or III and IV, allowing the scorpion to escape. After detachment, the severed metasoma moves (twitches) automatically, much like the severed tail of a lizard or the severed leg of a spider, and reacts to contact, even attempting to sting. The severed surface heals rapidly, scar tissue forming in five days. The lost metasomal segments and telson cannot be regenerated. Autotomy of the metasoma and telson results in permanent loss of the posterior part of the scorpion's digestive system (the anus is situated posteriorly on metasomal segment V) and the ability to inject venom by stinging. After autotomy, scorpions do not defecate and can only capture small prey items. However, males can survive and mate successfully for up to eight months in the laboratory. In spite of diminished predation ability after autotomy, survival allows males to reproduce. Autotomy in Ananteris therefore appears to be an effective, adaptive, anti-predation escape mechanism.
| S-EPMC4309614 | biostudies-literature
Project description:(1) Background: Lizard tail regeneration provides a unique model of blastema-based tissue regeneration for large-scale appendage replacement in amniotes. Green anole lizard (Anolis carolinensis) blastemas contain fibroblastic connective tissue cells (FCTCs), which respond to hedgehog signaling to create cartilage in vivo. However, an in vitro model of the blastema has not previously been achieved in culture. (2) Methods: By testing two adapted tissue dissociation protocols and two optimized media formulations, lizard tail FCTCs were pelleted in vitro and grown in a micromass blastema organoid culture. Pellets were analyzed by histology and in situ hybridization for FCTC and cartilage markers alongside staged original and regenerating lizard tails. (3) Results: Using an optimized serum-free media and a trypsin- and collagenase II-based dissociation protocol, micromass blastema organoids were formed. Organoid cultures expressed FCTC marker CDH11 and produced cartilage in response to hedgehog signaling in vitro, mimicking in vivo blastema and tail regeneration. (4) Conclusions: Lizard tail blastema regeneration can be modeled in vitro using micromass organoid culture, recapitulating in vivo FCTC marker expression patterns and chondrogenic potential.
| S-EPMC8883911 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mitochondria constantly fuse and divide for mitochondrial inheritance and functions. Here, we identified a distinct type of naturally occurring fission, tail-autotomy fission, wherein a tail-like thin tubule protrudes from the mitochondrial body and disconnects, resembling autotomy. Next, utilizing an optogenetic mitochondria-specific mechanostimulator, we revealed that mechanical tensile force drives tail-autotomy fission. This force-induced fission involves DRP1/MFF and endoplasmic reticulum tubule wrapping. It redistributes mitochondrial DNA, producing mitochondrial fragments with or without mitochondrial DNA for different fates. Moreover, tensile force can decouple outer and inner mitochondrial membranes, pulling out matrix-excluded tubule segments. Subsequent tail-autotomy fission separates the matrix-excluded tubule segments into matrix-excluded mitochondrial-derived vesicles (MDVs) which recruit Parkin and LC3B, indicating the unique role of tail-autotomy fission in segregating only outer membrane components for mitophagy. Sustained force promotes fission and MDV biogenesis more effectively than transient one. Our results uncover a mechanistically and functionally distinct type of fission and unveil the role of tensile forces in modulating fission and MDV biogenesis for quality control, underscoring the heterogeneity of fission and mechanoregulation of mitochondrial dynamics.
| S-EPMC10998583 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionHuman cartilage is an avascular tissue with limited capacity for repair. By contrast, certain lizards are capable of musculoskeletal tissue regeneration following tail loss throughout all stages of their lives. This extraordinary ability is the result of a complex process in which a blastema forms and gives rise to the tissues of the regenerate. Blastemal cells have been shown to originate either from dedifferentiated tissues or from existing progenitor cells in various species, but their origin has not been determined in lizards. As reptiles, lizards are the closest relatives to mammals with enhanced regenerative potential, and the origin of blastemal cells has important implications for the regenerative process. Hence, the aim of this study is to determine the cellular origin of regenerated cartilage and muscle tissues in reptiles using the mourning gecko lizard as the regenerative model.MethodsTo trace the fate and differentiation potential of cartilage during tail regeneration, cartilage cells pre-labeled with the fluorescent tracer Dil were injected into lizard tails, and the contribution of cartilage cells to regenerated tail tissues was assessed by histologic examination at 7, 14, and 21 days post-tail amputation. The contribution of muscle cells to regenerated tail tissues was evaluated using muscle creatine kinase promoter-driven Cre recombinase in conjunction with the Cre-responsive green-to-red fluorescence shift construct CreStoplight. 21 days after amputation, tail tissues were analyzed by histology for red fluorescent protein (RFP)-positive cells.ResultsAt 7 days post-amputation, Dil-labeled cartilage cells localized to the subapical space contributing to the blastema. At 14 and 21 days post-amputation, Dil-labeled cells remained in the subapical space and colocalized with Collagen type II (Col2) staining in the cartilage tube and myosin heavy chain (MHC) staining in regenerated muscle. Lineage tracing of myocytes showed colocalization of RFP with Col2 and MHC in differentiated tissues at 21 days post-amputation.ConclusionThis study demonstrates that differentiated cartilage cells contribute to both regenerated muscle and cartilage tissues following tail loss, and in turn, differentiated muscle cells contribute to both tissue types as well. These findings suggest that dedifferentiation and/or transdifferentiation are at least partially responsible for the regenerative outcome in the mourning gecko.
| S-EPMC5673626 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Colors are important vehicles for social signals in many taxa. In Squamata, previous studies have linked color characteristics and chromatic diversity to sexual selection and, particularly, species showing male-biased body size dimorphism also showed male-biased dichromatism and color diversity. Sexual dichromatism may occur in body regions used for conspecific communication and it may be expressed at wavelengths, such as ultraviolet, easily perceivable by conspecifics. We tested this prediction in a social lizard model, Tropidurus spinulosus, using spectrophotometry and visual modelling which enable colors to be interpreted as the individuals of the same taxon see them. Our results indicate that sexual dichromatism occurs in the ventral regions and the flanks, which are the body regions involved in sexual displays. Males show greater color diversity, having larger color volumes and more contrasting colors. These findings reinforce the idea that sexual selection towards males is coupled with the evolution of male-biased, diverse, coloration which could act as a signal in social reproductive contexts.
| S-EPMC6776660 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Lizards are amniotes with the remarkable ability to regenerate amputated tails. The early regenerated lizard tail forms a blastema, and the regenerated skeleton consists of a cartilage tube (CT) surrounding the regenerated spinal cord. The proximal, but not distal, CT undergoes hypertrophy and ossifies. We hypothesized that differences in cell sources and signaling account for divergent cartilage development between proximal and distal CT regions. Exogenous spinal cord implants induced ectopic CT formation in lizard (Anolis carolinensis) blastemas. Regenerated spinal cords expressed Shh, and cyclopamine inhibited CT induction. Blastemas containing vertebrae with intact spinal cords formed CTs with proximal hypertrophic regions and distal non-hypertrophic regions, whereas removal of spinal cords resulted in formation of proximal CT areas only. In fate-mapping studies, FITC-labeled vertebra periosteal cells were detected in proximal, but not distal, CT areas. Conversely, FITC-labeled blastema cells were restricted to distal CT regions. Proximal cartilage formation was inhibited by removal of periosteum and could be recapitulated in vitro by periosteal cells treated with Ihh and BMP-2. These findings suggest that proximal CTs are directly derived from vertebra periosteal cells in response to BMP and Ihh signaling, whereas distal CTs form from blastema cells in response to Shh signals from regenerated spinal cords.
| S-EPMC5004880 | biostudies-other
Project description:Lizards cannot naturally regenerate limbs but are the closest known relatives of mammals capable of epimorphic tail regrowth. However, the mechanisms regulating lizard blastema derivation and chondrogenesis remain unclear. We utilized single-cell RNA sequencing analyses of regenerating lizard tails throughout the course of regeneration to assess diversity and heterogeneity in regeneating tail cell populations.
2023-06-20 | GSE234876 | GEO