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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Postmating sexual selection: allopatric evolution of sperm competition mechanisms and genital morphology in calopterygid damselflies (Insecta: Odonata).

Postmating sexual selection theory predicts that in allopatry reproductive traits diverge rapidly and that the resulting differentiation in these traits may lead to restrictions to gene flow between populations and, eventually, reproductive isolation. In this paper we explore the potential for this premise in a group of damselflies of the family Calopterygidae, in which postmating sexual mechanisms are especially well understood. Particularly, we tested if in allopatric populations the sperm competition mechanisms and genitalic traits involved in these mechanisms have indeed diverged as sexual selection theory predicts. We did so in two different steps. First, we compared the sperm competition mechanisms of two allopatric populations of Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis (one Italian population studied here and one Spanish population previously studied). Our results indicate that in both populations males are able to displace spermathecal sperm, but the mechanism used for sperm removal between both populations is strikingly different. In the Spanish population males seem to empty the spermathecae by stimulating females, whereas in the Italian population males physically remove sperm from the spermathecae. Both populations also exhibit differences in genital morphometry that explain the use of different mechanisms: the male lateral processes are narrower than the spermathecal ducts in the Italian population, which is the reverse in the Spanish population. The estimated degree of phenotypic differentiation between these populations based on the genitalic traits involved in sperm removal was much greater than the differentiation based on a set of other seven morphological variables, suggesting that strong directional postmating sexual selection is indeed the main evolutionary force behind the reproductive differentiation between the studied populations. In a second step, we examined if a similar pattern in genital morphometry emerge in allopatric populations of this and other three species of the same family (Calopteryx splendens, C. virgo and Hetaerina cruentata). Our results suggest that there is geographic variation in the sperm competition mechanisms in all four studied species. Furthermore, genitalic morphology was significantly divergent between populations within species even when different populations were using the same copulatory mechanism. These results can be explained by probable local coadaptation processes that have given rise to an ability or inability to reach and displace spermathecal sperm in different populations. This set of results provides the first direct evidence of intraspecific evolution of genitalic traits shaped by postmating sexual selection.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Assessing the odd secondary structural properties of nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA sequences (18S) of the twisted-wing parasites (Insecta: Strepsiptera).

We report the entire sequence (2864 nts) and secondary structure of the nuclear small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene (18S) from the twisted-wing parasite Caenocholax fenyesi texensis Kathirithamby & Johnston (Strepsiptera: Myrmecolacidae). The majority of the base pairings in this structural model map on to the SSU rRNA secondary and tertiary helices that were previously predicted with comparative analysis. These regions of the core rRNA were unambiguously aligned across all Arthropoda. In contrast, many of the variable regions, as previously characterized in other insect taxa, had very large insertions in C. f. texensis. The helical base pairs in these regions were predicted with a comparative analysis of a multiple sequence alignment (that contains C. f. texensis and 174 published arthropod 18S rRNA sequences, including eleven strepsipterans) and thermodynamic-based algorithms. Analysis of our structural alignment revealed four unusual insertions in the core rRNA structure that are unique to animal 18S rRNA and in general agreement with previously proposed insertion sites for strepsipterans. One curious result is the presence of a large insertion within a hairpin loop of a highly conserved pseudoknot helix in variable region 4. Despite the extraordinary variability in sequence length and composition, this insertion contains the conserved sequences 5'-AUUGGCUUAAA-3' and 5'-GAC-3' that immediately flank a putative helix at the 5'- and 3'-ends, respectively. The longer sequence has the potential to form a nine base pair helix with a sequence in the variable region 2, consistent with a recent study proposing this tertiary interaction. Our analysis of a larger set of arthropod 18S rRNA sequences has revealed possible errors in some of the previously published strepsipteran 18S rRNA sequences. Thus we find no support for the previously recovered heterogeneity in the 18S molecules of strepsipterans. Our findings lend insight to the evolution of RNA structure and function and the impact large insertions pose on genome size. We also provide a novel alignment template that will improve the phylogenetic placement of the Strepsiptera among other insect taxa.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Two intracellular symbiotic bacteria from the mulberry psyllid Anomoneura mori (Insecta, Homoptera).

We characterized the intracellular symbiotic bacteria of the mulberry psyllid Anomoneura mori by performing a molecular phylogenetic analysis combined with in situ hybridization. In its abdomen, the psyllid has a large, yellow, bilobed mycetome (or bacteriome) which consists of many round uninucleated mycetocytes (or bacteriocytes) enclosing syncytial tissue. The mycetocytes and syncytium harbor specific intracellular bacteria, the X-symbionts and Y-symbionts, respectively. Almost the entire length of the bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) was amplified and cloned from the whole DNA of A. mori, and two clones, the A-type and B-type clones, were identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. In situ hybridization with specific oligonucleotide probes demonstrated that the A-type and B-type 16S rDNAs were derived from the X-symbionts and Y-symbionts, respectively. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rDNA sequences showed that these symbionts belong to distinct lineages in the gamma subdivision of the Proteobacteria. No 16S rDNA sequences in the databases were closely related to the 16S rDNA sequences of the X- and Y-symbionts. However, the sequences that were relatively closely related to them were the sequences of endosymbionts of other insects. The nucleotide compositions of the 16S rDNAs of the X- and Y-symbionts were highly AT biased, and the sequence of the X-symbiont was the most AT-rich bacterial 16S rDNA sequence reported so far.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Endosymbiotic microbiota of the bamboo pseudococcid Antonina crawii (Insecta, Homoptera).

We characterized the intracellular symbiotic microbiota of the bamboo pseudococcid Antonina crawii by performing a molecular phylogenetic analysis in combination with in situ hybridization. Almost the entire length of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene was amplified and cloned from A. crawii whole DNA. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis revealed that the clones obtained included three distinct types of sequences. Nucleotide sequences of the three types were determined and subjected to a molecular phylogenetic analysis. The first sequence was a member of the gamma subdivision of the division Proteobacteria (gamma-Proteobacteria) to which no sequences in the database were closely related, although the sequences of endosymbionts of other homopterans, such as psyllids and aphids, were distantly related. The second sequence was a beta-Proteobacteria sequence and formed a monophyletic group with the sequences of endosymbionts from other pseudococcids. The third sequence exhibited a high level of similarity to sequences of Spiroplasma spp. from ladybird beetles and a tick. Localization of the endosymbionts was determined by using tissue sections of A. crawii and in situ hybridization with specific oligonucleotide probes. The gamma- and beta-Proteobacteria symbionts were packed in the cytoplasm of the same mycetocytes (or bacteriocytes) and formed a large mycetome (or bacteriome) in the abdomen. The spiroplasma symbionts were also present intracellularly in various tissues at a low density. We observed that the anterior poles of developing eggs in the ovaries were infected by the gamma- and beta-Proteobacteria symbionts in a systematic way, which ensured vertical transmission. Five representative pseudococcids were examined by performing diagnostic PCR experiments with specific primers; the beta-Proteobacteria symbiont was detected in all five pseudococcids, the gamma-Proteobacteria symbiont was found in three, and the spiroplasma symbiont was detected only in A. crawii.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Variation and life strategies of the Trichoptera (Insecta) larvae community in a first order tributary of the Paquequer River, southeastern Brazil.

The Trichoptera fauna was sampled in a first order tributary of Paquequer River, in the district of Teresópolis, Rio de Janerio State. Quantitative samples of litter from pools, litter from riffles, sand, and stones were taken on each season from February 1991 to February 1992. The life cycles of common genera were categorized into three groups of biological strategies. The largest group represented the general profile of the community, in which ultimate instar larvae were predominant in spring and the younger ones in summer. Probably, emergence and oviposition occur in spring.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Ephemera strigata (Insecta: Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae) is the intermediate host of the nematodes Rhabdochona denudata honshuensis and Rhabdochona coronacauda in Japan.

Juvenile freshwater parasitic nematodes Rhabdochona denudata honshuensis Moravec and Nagasawa, 1989 and Rhabdochona coronacauda Belouss, 1965 (Spirurida: Thelazioidea: Rhabdochonidae) were found in mayfly nymphs collected in a mountain stream in Japan. Considering the relative density of mayfly nymphs, nematode prevalence, and intensity of parasitism, Ephemera strigata Eaton and Potamanthus formosus Ulmer (Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae) are frequent natural intermediate hosts for R. d. honshuensis in this locality. The intermediate host of R. coronacauda also is the E. strigata nymph.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

A description of the second species of the family Dipteromimidae (Insecta, Ephemeroptera), and genetic relationship of two dipteromimid mayflies inferred from mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene sequences.

A new mayfly species, Dipteromimus flavipterus sp. nov., of the family Dipteromimidae is described on the basis of specimens of males, females and mature nymphs collected from Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. This new Dipteromimus species is characterized by a large body size, a yellowish body color (especially the frontal border of the forewings), short penis lobes, a slight elongation backwards of the female 7th abdominal sternum, and a rounded backward projection of the female 9th abdominal sternum, etc., in comparison with another known dipteromimid mayfly Dipteromimus tipuliformis McLachlan, 1875. Full descriptions of males, females, mature nymphs and eggs of this new species have been provided. We also examined and discussed the genetic relationship of two dipteromimid mayflies to settle the taxonomic status, inferred from the partially sequenced large mitochondrial ribosomal subunit (16S rRNA) genes. Consequently, phenetic and molecular phylogenetic analyses agreed in terms of clustering.

Animal Structures↗
PubMed2006

A new species of Thraulus from Nanjing (eastern China) with single first gill (Insecta: Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae).

Thraulus femoratus sp. nov., a new species found in eastern China, is described from imagos, subimagos, nymphs, and eggs. The nymphs are unique in the genus as well as in the Thraulus group because of their single lanceolate gills 1. The imagos can be differentiated from those of related species by the following combination of characters: slightly robust hindwing with a bluntly rounded costal projection that is situated over half the distance from wing base to apex, darkly pigmented basal portion of hindwing, and subapical dark band on hind femur. Subimagos resemble the imagos in color pattern. Eggs have eight pairs of long threads on the polar portion and slight ridges on the surface. The reduced gills 1 in combination with entirely fringed gills 2-7 represent a new evolutionary lineage and ecological type in the Thraulus group, but provide limited information regarding phylogenetic relationships.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Automictic and apomictic parthenogenesis in psocids (Insecta: Psocoptera).

Karyotypes and meiosis patterns in three obligatory thelytokous Psocoptera species have been studied for the first time. Females of Aaroniella badonneli (Danks) display 9 chiasmatic bivalents in oocyte metaphase I (2n = 18), hence meiosis is of the automictic type. Females of Ectopsocus meridionalis Ribaga and Valenzuela sp. display 3n = 27, and 27 univalent chromosomes are present in oocyte metaphase I. Thus, meiosis in these species is of the apomictic type.

Animals↗