Attack and defense in a gamasid-oribatid mite predator-prey experiment – sclerotization outperforms chemical repellency

Brückner, Adrian; Wehner, Katja; Neis, Marina; Heethoff, Michael

doi:10.1051/acarologia/20164135

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…However, there are cases where a diet switch is not enough to meet nitrogen demands or is not desirable because of prey defenses (Brückner et al., 2016; Pachl et al., 2012; Sperfeld et al., 2017). A diet switch would not be enough if the lowest C:N ratio prey species still leaves the predator with a nitrogen deficiency.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stoichiometric and structural uncertainty in soil food web models

Buchkowski

Lindo

2020

Functional Ecology

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1. Soil food web models are a powerful tool for calculating the carbon and nitrogen mineralized by different soil organisms. Two limitations of the current models are that they use (a) fixed parameters for determining the relative efficiency of carbon and nitrogen conversion and (b) a generic set of trophic species (i.e. nodes). 2. We propose a new method for analysing soil food webs that varies production efficiency and diet mechanistically with resource stoichiometry. Then, we calculated how the lumping or splitting of trophic species affects carbon and nitrogen mineralization for both net mineralization rates as well as the distribution of mineralization (i.e. sources of mineralization). Our models with additional stoichiometric details better represent organisms that consume basal resources with high C:N ratios. 3. This is important because we show that lumping together trophic species at low trophic levels, which often differ in C:N ratios (i.e. microbial taxa), causes the largest deviations in estimates of carbon and nitrogen mineralization. One reason for the large effect of C:N ratio is that it impacts diet and production efficiency in our stoichiometric model. Conversely, lumping together species at higher trophic levels causes the largest errors when those species have different production and assimilation efficiencies. Finally, we demonstrate that differences in death rate and biomass are mostly important when lumping species that have different diets. 4. We suggest that C:N ratios are especially important when grouping microbial taxa because microbial C:N ratios vary widely and microbes feed at low trophic levels where differences in C:N ratio mattered the most. Conversely lumping higher consumers will be most problematic when they have differences in the conversion efficiencies. We provide an approach to calculate structural error and report it with parameter uncertainty. Then, we demonstrate, using oribatid mites as an example, that considering the life history of different taxa can help us group organisms more efficiently into trophic species. In doing so, we provide a way to reduce and report the uncertainty in soil food web models and to stimulate future empirical work measuring key life history parameters.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stoichiometric and structural uncertainty in soil food web models

Buchkowski

Lindo

2020

Functional Ecology

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“…Their large number of offspring enables mass cultures of hundreds of thousands of individuals, and their cuticular transparency during juvenile stages, and weak sclerotization as adults are general assets of an amenable model system (33,(85)(86)(87). In the past 10 years, Archegozetes also received attention as a model system for chemical ecology (27,85,86,(88)(89)(90)(91). Some of these studies focusing on the Archegozetes gland revealed basic insights into the chemical ecology and biochemical capabilities of arthropods (27,89,91).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since it meets the most desirable requirements for model organisms (Thomas 2002), that is a rapid development under laboratory conditions, a dedicated laboratory strain was named Archegozetes longisetosus ran in reference to its founder Roy A. Norton (Heethoff et al 2013, Figure 1b-c). Their large number of offspring enables mass cultures of hundreds of thousands of individuals, and their cuticular transparency during juvenile stages, and weak sclerotization as adults are general assets of an amenable model system (Brückner et al 2018c; Brückner et al 2016; Heethoff et al 2013; Heethoff and Raspotnig 2012). In the past 10 years, Archegozetes also received attention as a model system for chemical ecology (Brückner and Heethoff 2018; Brückner et al 2020; Brückner et al 2016; Heethoff and Rall 2015; Heethoff and Raspotnig 2012; Raspotnig et al 2011; Thiel et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Their large number of offspring enables mass cultures of hundreds of thousands of individuals, and their cuticular transparency during juvenile stages, and weak sclerotization as adults are general assets of an amenable model system (Brückner et al 2018c; Brückner et al 2016; Heethoff et al 2013; Heethoff and Raspotnig 2012). In the past 10 years, Archegozetes also received attention as a model system for chemical ecology (Brückner and Heethoff 2018; Brückner et al 2020; Brückner et al 2016; Heethoff and Rall 2015; Heethoff and Raspotnig 2012; Raspotnig et al 2011; Thiel et al 2018). Some of these studies focusing on the Archegozetes gland revealed basic insights into the chemical ecology and biochemical capabilities of arthropods (Brückner et al 2020; Heethoff and Rall 2015; Thiel et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular evolutionary trends and biosynthesis pathways in the Oribatida revealed by the genome ofArchegozetes longisetosus

Brückner

Barnett

Antoshechkin

et al. 2020

Preprint

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BackgroundOribatid mites are a specious order of microarthropods within the subphylum Chelicerata, compromising about 11,000 described species. They are ubiquitously distributed across different microhabitats in all terrestrial ecosystems around the world and were among the first animals colonizing terrestrial habitats as decomposers and scavengers. Noted for their biosynthesis capacities and biochemical diversity, the majority of oribatid mites possess a pair of exocrine opisthonotal oil-glands used for chemical defense and communication. Genomic resources are lacking for oribatids despite their species richness and ecological importance.ResultsWe used a comparative genomic approach to investigate the developmental, sensory and glandular biosynthetic gene repertoire of the clonal, all-female oribatid mite species Archegozetes longisetosus Aoki, a model species used by numerous laboratories for the past 30 years. Here, we present a 190-Mb genome assembly constructed from Nanopore MinION and Illumina sequencing platforms with 23,825 predicted protein-coding genes. Genomic and transcriptional analyses revealed patterns of reduced body segmentation and loss of segmental identity gene abd-A within Acariformes, and unexpected expression of key eye development genes in these eyeless mites across developmental stages. Consistent with the soil dwelling lifestyle, investigation of the sensory genes revealed a species-specific expansion of gustatory receptors, the largest chemoreceptor family in the genome used in olfaction, and evidence of horizontally transferred enzymes used in cell wall degradation of plant and fungal matter, both components of the Archegozetes longisetosus diet. Using biochemical and genomic data, we were able to delineate the backbone biosynthesis of monoterpenes, an important class of compounds found in the major exocrine gland system of Oribatida – the oil glands.ConclusionsWith the Archegozetes longisetosus genome, we now have the first high-quality, annotated genome of an oribatid mite genome. Given the mite’s strength as an experimental model, the new sequence resources provided here will serve as the foundation for molecular research in Oribatida and will enable a broader understanding of chelicerate evolution.

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“…In such scenarios with pronounced predation pressure, oribatid mites developed diverse and effective defensive strategies ([35, 37] and references within), and consequently they are assumed to live in a largely ‘enemy-free space’ [41]. The glandulate Oribatida use chemical defenses that work through the release of secretions by the opisthonotal glands (or ‘oil glands’; [9, 18, 21, 23]) like for example neryl formate, neral, geranial, 2-hydroxy-6-methyl-benzaldehyde (2,6-HMBD; [44]), δ-acaridial [24], and even hydrogen cyanide [10]. Morphological defenses of oribatid mites include a thick, hardened, and in some cases biomineralized cuticle [3, 38, 39], wing-like tecta protecting the legs (pteromorphs; [45, 55]), and erectile setae [36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Under pressure: force resistance measurements in box mites (Actinotrichida, Oribatida)

Schmelzle

Blüthgen

2019

Front Zool

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Background Mechanical defenses are very common and diverse in prey species, for example in oribatid mites. Here, the probably most complex form of morphological defense is known as ptychoidy, that enables the animals to completely retract the appendages into a secondary cavity and encapsulate themselves. The two groups of ptychoid mites constituting the Ptyctima, i.e. Euphthiracaroidea and Phthiracaroidea, have a hardened cuticle and are well protected against similar sized predators. Euphthiracaroidea additionally feature predator-repelling secretions. Since both taxa evolved within the glandulate group of Oribatida, the question remains why Phthiracaroidea lost this additional protection. In earlier predation bioassays, chemically disarmed specimens of Euphthiracaroidea were cracked by the staphylinid beetle Othius punctulatus , whereas equally sized specimens of Phthiracaroidea survived. We thus hypothesized that Phthiracaroidea can withstand significantly more force than Euphthiracaroidea and that the specific body form in each group is key in understanding the loss of chemical defense in Phthiracaroidea. To measure force resistance, we adapted the principle of machines applying compressive forces for very small animals and tested the two ptyctimous taxa as well as the soft-bodied mite Archegozetes longisetosus . Results Some Phthiracaroidea individuals sustained about 560,000 times their body weight. Their mean resistance was about three times higher, and their mean breaking point in relation to body weight nearly two times higher than Euphthiracaroidea individuals. The breaking point increased with body weight and differed significantly between the two taxa. Across taxa, the absolute force resistance increased sublinearly (with a 0.781 power term) with the animal’s body weight. Force resistance of A. longisetosus was inferior in all tests (about half that of Euphthiracaroidea after accounting for body weight). As an important determinant of mechanical resistance in ptychoid mites, the individuals’ cuticle thickness increased sublinearly with body diameter and body mass as well and did not differ significantly between the taxa. Conclusion We showed the feasibility of the force resistance measurement method, and our results were consistent with the hypothesis that Phthiracaroidea compensated its lack of chemical secretions by a heavier mechanical resistance based on a different body form and associated build-up of hemolymph pressure (defensive trade-off). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12983-019-0325-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Attack and defense in a gamasid-oribatid mite predator-prey experiment – sclerotization outperforms chemical repellency

Cited by 10 publications

References 46 publications

Stoichiometric and structural uncertainty in soil food web models

Stoichiometric and structural uncertainty in soil food web models

Molecular evolutionary trends and biosynthesis pathways in the Oribatida revealed by the genome ofArchegozetes longisetosus

Under pressure: force resistance measurements in box mites (Actinotrichida, Oribatida)

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