Naturally clonal vertebrates are an untapped resource in ecology and evolution research

Laskowski, Kate L.; Doran, Carolina; Bierbach, David; Krause, Jens; Wolf, Max

doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0775-0

Cited by 27 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…Inbred organisms provide a unique opportunity to detangle genetic from epigenetic variation [2,28]. Here, we investigated the relative roles of the genotype and the rearing environment (with or without physical enrichment) in DNA methylation plasticity of two genetically different and naturally inbred self-fertilizing lines of Krytolebias marmoratus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting DNA methylation responses of inbred fish lines to different rearing environments

et al. 2019

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Epigenetic mechanisms generate plastic phenotypes that can become locally adapted across environments. Disentangling genomic from epigenomic variation is challenging in sexual species due to genetic variation among individuals, but it is easier in self-fertilizing species. We analysed DNA methylation patterns of two highly inbred strains of a naturally self-fertilizing fish reared in two contrasting environments to investigate the obligatory (genotype-dependent), facilitated (partially depend on the genotype) or pure (genotype-independent) nature of the epigenetic variation. We found higher methylation differentiation between genotypes than between environments. Most methylation differences between environments common to both strains followed a pattern where the two genotypes (inbred lines) responded to the same environmental context with contrasting DNA methylation levels (facilitated epialleles). Our findings suggest that, at least in part, DNA methylation could depend on the dynamic interaction between the genotype and the environment, which could explain the plasticity of epigenetically mediated phenotypes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrasting DNA methylation responses of inbred fish lines to different rearing environments

et al. 2019

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“…Finally, additional answers will come from comparative studies that provide the opportunity to discern core principles from species-specific patterns [45–47] and from studies of behavioural variation in genetically identical individuals that provide the opportunity to disentangle behavioural from genetic variation [48,49]. As the twentieth century brought hormone measurements to a wide array of species in and outside the laboratory, we are poised to apply RNA-seq and related approaches to diverse species and, thereby, advance evolutionary perspectives on the biological basis of behaviour.…”

Section: Where Do We Go From Here?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Back to the basics? Transcriptomics offers integrative insights into the role of space, time and the environment for gene expression and behaviour

2021

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Fuelled by the ongoing genomic revolution, broadscale RNA expression surveys are fast replacing studies targeting one or a few genes to understand the molecular basis of behaviour. Yet, the timescale of RNA-sequencing experiments and the dynamics of neural gene activation are insufficient to drive real-time switches between behavioural states. Moreover, the spatial, functional and transcriptional complexity of the brain (the most commonly targeted tissue in studies of behaviour) further complicates inference. We argue that a Central Dogma-like ‘back-to-basics’ assumption that gene expression changes cause behaviour leaves some of the most important aspects of gene–behaviour relationships unexplored, including the roles of environmental influences, timing and feedback from behaviour—and the environmental shifts it causes—to neural gene expression. No perfect experimental solutions exist but we advocate that explicit consideration, exploration and discussion of these factors will pave the way toward a richer understanding of the complicated relationships between genes, environments, brain gene expression and behaviour over developmental and evolutionary timescales.

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“…Social spiders (Figure 2A) are highly inbred; and two emerging model organisms are the clonal raider ant Ooceraea biroi (e.g., Ulrich et al, 2018) and the Amazon molly Poecilia Formosa, a small freshwater fish (e.g., Bierbach et al, 2017) (Figures 2D,E). As well as being prime candidates to answer fundamental questions in ecology and evolution (Laskowski et al, 2019), such organisms could provide important bioinspiration to the development of homogeneous swarm controllers that can result in heterogeneity that is adaptive at the swarm-level.…”

Section: The Relevance Of Highly Related and Clonal Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic Plasticity Provides a Bioinspiration Framework for Minimal Field Swarm Robotics

Hunt

2020

Front. Robot. AI

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The real world is highly variable and unpredictable, and so fine-tuned robot controllers that successfully result in group-level "emergence" of swarm capabilities indoors may quickly become inadequate outside. One response to unpredictability could be greater robot complexity and cost, but this seems counter to the "swarm philosophy" of deploying (very) large numbers of simple agents. Instead, here I argue that bioinspiration in swarm robotics has considerable untapped potential in relation to the phenomenon of phenotypic plasticity: when a genotype can produce a range of distinctive changes in organismal behavior, physiology and morphology in response to different environments. This commonly arises following a natural history of variable conditions; implying the need for more diverse and hazardous simulated environments in offline, pre-deployment optimization of swarms. This will generate-indicate the need for-plasticity. Biological plasticity is sometimes irreversible; yet this characteristic remains relevant in the context of minimal swarms, where robots may become mass-producible. Plasticity can be introduced through the greater use of adaptive threshold-based behaviors; more fundamentally, it can link to emerging technologies such as smart materials, which can adapt form and function to environmental conditions. Moreover, in social animals, individual heterogeneity is increasingly recognized as functional for the group. Phenotypic plasticity can provide meaningful diversity "for free" based on early, local sensory experience, contributing toward better collective decision-making and resistance against adversarial agents, for example. Nature has already solved the challenge of resilient self-organisation in the physical realm through phenotypic plasticity: swarm engineers can follow this lead.

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Naturally clonal vertebrates are an untapped resource in ecology and evolution research

Cited by 27 publications

References 106 publications

Contrasting DNA methylation responses of inbred fish lines to different rearing environments

Contrasting DNA methylation responses of inbred fish lines to different rearing environments

Back to the basics? Transcriptomics offers integrative insights into the role of space, time and the environment for gene expression and behaviour

Phenotypic Plasticity Provides a Bioinspiration Framework for Minimal Field Swarm Robotics

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