Project description:As a result of increasing thermal fluctuations and mean temperature values, organisms will experience conditions beyond their physiological limits. In situ adaptation to thermal regimes is mediated via directional selection and phenotypic plasticity. The latter involves physiological and morphological adjustments realized by underlying molecular mechanisms. Understanding species' adaptive capacities requires investigating these adjustive processes. Yet, acclimation through phenotypic plasticity remains largely unexplored, especially at the molecular level; For example, whether cold-adapted species inhabiting freshwater spring ecosystems have evolved adaptive mechanisms to cope with warming of freshwater habitats has, to our knowledge, never been investigated. This work reports a comprehensive proteomics study of the stenotopic species Crunoecia irrorata (Curtis, 1834) (Trichoptera: Lepistomatidae) acclimated to 10, 15 and 20 °C for 168 h. A liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based shotgun proteomics approach identified molecular mechanisms underlying acclimation. We constructed a homology-based database by combining genomic and transcriptomic data from related species and quantified 1356 proteins, of which 186 were differentially expressed between temperature treatments. Through functional annotation, we identified candidate proteins facilitating, among others, trehalose accumulation, tracheal system alteration, and heat shock protein regulation, then discuss concomitant ecophysiological implications. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms of adaptive responses to warming of species inhabiting freshwater ecosystems sensitive to climate change. Further, identified candidate proteins will aid in developing targeted experiments to understand their compensatory physiology. To our knowledge, this is the first study utilizing this approach to investigate the nature of phenotypic plasticity of aquatic macroinvertebrates.
Project description:Sixteen new species of microcaddisflies (Trichoptera, Hydroptilidae) from Panama are herein described and illustrated. The majority of these were collected during surveys of Panama's national parks and protected areas during 2017 and 2018, employing both UV and Malaise traps. The new species include: Alisotrichiaeisbergaesp. nov., Angrisanoiabokotasp. nov., Brediniaparaespinosasp. nov., Cerasmatrichiagarfiozasp. nov., Cerasmatrichiaveraguasensissp. nov., Costatrichiacaloveborasp. nov., Metrichiacaloveborasp. nov., Metrichiacascadasp. nov., Metrichiachiriquiensissp. nov., Metrichiaescobillasp. nov., Metrichialeahaesp. nov., Metrichiatatianaesp. nov., Ochrotrichiaconejorejasp. nov., Ochrotrichiaparaflagellatasp. nov., Oxyethirapehrssonaesp. nov., and Zumatrichiaculebrasp. nov. In total, 506 Trichoptera species are now recorded for the Republic of Panama, distributed among 15 families and 56 genera.
Project description:We sequenced three species of genus Himalopsyche (Himalopsyche kuldschensis, Himalopsyche tibetana, Himalopsyche japonica) Genome sequencing and assembly
Project description:A second assessment of Brazilian Trichoptera species records is presented here. A total of 625 species were recorded for Brazil. This represents an increase of 65.34% new species recorded during the last decade. The Hydropsychidae (124 spp.), followed by the Hydroptilidae (102 spp.) and Polycentropodidae (97 spp.), are the families with the greatest richness recorded for Brazil. The knowledge on Trichoptera biodiversity in Brazil is geographically unequal. The majority of the species is recorded for the southeastern region.
Project description:Ten new Neotropical species of Chimarra are described in the subgenera Chimarra, Chimarrita, and Otarrha. New species in the subgenus Chimarra include, in the Chimarra ortiziana group: Chimarra calorisp. n. (southeastern Brazil) and Chimarra onchyrhinasp. n. (Venezuela); in the Chimarra picea group: Chimarra inchoatasp. n. (Venezuela), Chimarra nicehuhsp. n. (Venezuela), and Chimarra sunimasp. n. (Colombia); and in the Chimarra poolei group: Chimarra caucasp. n. (Colombia) and Chimarra desiraesp. n. (Bolivia). New species in the subgenus Chimarrita include, in the Chimarra simpliciforma group: Chimarra curvipenissp. n. (SE Brazil) and Chimarra latiforcepssp. n. (SE Brazil). A single new species in the subgenus Otarrha is also described: Chimarra soroasp. n. (Cuba). Males and females for all of the new species are illustrated, except for Chimarra desirae, for which female specimens were unavailable. Additionally, the female of Chimarra (Chimarrita) camella, which was previously unknown, is illustrated.