Sex- and developmental-specific transcriptomic analyses of the Antarctic mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus, reveal transcriptional shifts underlying oribatid mite reproduction

Meibers, Hannah; Finch, Geoffrey; Gregg, Robert T.; Glenn, S. Jaecks; Assani, Keavash D.; Jennings, Emily C.; Davies, Benjamin; Rosendale, Andrew J.; Holmes, Christopher J.; Gantz, J. D.; Spacht, Drew E.; Lee, Richard; Denlinger, David L.; Weirauch, Matthew T.; Benoit, Joshua B.

doi:10.1007/s00300-018-2427-x

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…For example, W. asiaticus has transcripts encoding the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1α; Semenza 2007) and the antioxidant thioredoxin protein (Arnér and Holmgren 2000), both of which can promote survival in lowoxygen environments. Oxidative damage accumulates in response to hypoxia (Walker and Benzer 2004) or prolonged chilling (Lalouette et al 2011), and many cold-or hypoxia-tolerant arthropods upregulate antioxidant enzymes in response to, or in anticipation of, low-oxygen stress in order to mitigate the adverse effects of oxidative damage on cellular function (Joanisse and Storey 1998;Meibers et al 2019;Torson et al 2019). We identified more than 100 transcripts in W. asiaticus that encode what appears to be a near-complete complement of antioxidant enzymes (e.g., thioredoxin, catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione transferase, and reductase; Supplementary material, Table S6).…”

Section: Wyochernes Asiaticus Expresses Putative Genes Related To Stress Tolerancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among arachnids, mites are an important component of both Antarctic and Arctic systems (Block and Convey 1995;Coulson 2007), and spiders are the dominant arthropod predators in Arctic tundra (Coulson 2007;Bowden and Buddle 2012). However, to our knowledge, there is only a single polar arachnid transcriptome available, for the Antarctic mite Alaskozetes antarcticus (Sarcoptiformes: Ameronothridae) (Meibers et al 2019). Here, we report a de novo transcriptome for W. asiaticus collected in summer from Yukon Territory, Canada and exposed to a variety of environmental stressors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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De novo assembly and characterisation of the transcriptome of the Beringian pseudoscorpion

et al. 2021

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Pseudoscorpions are microarthropods that are distributed from the equator to beyond the Arctic circle. Wyochernes asiaticus (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones: Chernetidae) is the northernmost species of pseudoscorpion and is broadly distributed in Beringia, an Arctic and sub-Arctic region that remained unglaciated during the last glacial maximum. Wyochernes asiaticus is anoxia tolerant and has moderate cold tolerance, but nothing is known about the molecular basis of their survival in Canadian polar environments. We de novo assembled and characterised the transcriptome of W. asiaticus collected from the Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada. We assembled an approximately 62.6-million base-pair transcriptome with a mean contig length of 1277, which was 76% complete, according to a benchmark universal single copy orthologue (BUSCO) analysis. We identified 1100 transcripts encoding proteins associated with stress tolerance in these pseudoscorpions, including heat shock proteins, antioxidants, ubiquitination and proteosomal proteins, and sirtuins. We also identified transcripts encoding putative venom proteins. We highlight eight transcripts with high sequence similarity to sequences of venom proteins (ctenitoxins and agatoxins) described from other pseudoscorpions. Our study yields the first transcriptome of a Beringian arthropod, providing important sequence information that will allow future investigation of how W. asiaticus survives in Canadian polar environments.

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Section: Wyochernes Asiaticus Expresses Putative Genes Related To Stress Tolerancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

De novo assembly and characterisation of the transcriptome of the Beringian pseudoscorpion

et al. 2021

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“…qPCR analyses were conducted based on previously developed methods (Finch et al, 2020;Hagan et al, 2018;Meibers et al, 2019). RNA was extracted as described previously for independent biological replicates.…”

Section: Rna-seq and Qpcr Analyses Of Male Accessory Proteinsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid stress hardening in the Antarctic midge improves male fertility by increasing courtship success and preventing decline of accessory gland proteins following cold exposure

Ajayi

Gantz

Finch

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Rapid hardening is a process that quickly improves an animal's performance following exposure to a potentially damaging stress. In this study of the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica (Diptera, Chironomidae), we examine how rapid hardening in response to dehydration (RDH) or cold (RCH) improves male pre- and post-copulatory function when the insects are subsequently subjected to a damaging cold exposure. Neither RDH nor RCH improved survival in response to lethal cold stress, but male activity and mating success following sublethal cold exposure was enhanced. Egg viability decreased following direct exposure of the mating males to sublethal cold but improved following RCH and RDH. Sublethal cold exposure reduced expression of four accessory gland proteins, while expression remained high in males exposed to RCH. Though rapid hardening may be cryptic in males, this study shows that it can be revealed by pre- and post-copulatory interactions with females.

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“…qPCR reactions were conducted using an Illumina Eco quantitative PCR system. Reactions were run according to previous studies (Finch et al, 2020;Hagan et al, 2018;Meibers et al, 2019). Three biological replicates were examined for each sex, and two biological replicates were examined for each accessory gland.…”

Section: Fertility Assaymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid stress hardening in the Antarctic midge improves male fertility by increasing courtship success and preventing the decline of accessory gland proteins following cold exposure

Ajayi

Gantz

Finch

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Rapid hardening is a process that quickly improves animal performance following exposure to a potentially damaging stress. Features of reproduction can be improved by rapid hardening, but little is known about how rapid hardening may contribute to physiological responses in the cold environment of Antarctica. In this study of the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica (Diptera, Chironomidae), we examine how rapid hardening in response to dehydration (RDH) or cold (RCH) improves male pre- and post-copulatory function related to fertility when the insects are subsequently subjected to a damaging cold exposure. Neither RDH nor RCH improved survival in response to lethal cold stress, but male activity following sublethal cold exposure was enhanced. Both RCH and RDH improved mating success of males compared to those subjected directly to a sublethal bout of cold. Egg viability decreased following direct exposure to sublethal cold, but improved following RCH and RDH. Sublethal cold exposure reduced expression of four accessory gland proteins, while expression remained high in males exposed to RCH. Though rapid hardening may be cryptic in males, this study shows that it can be revealed by pre- and post-copulatory interactions with females.

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Sex- and developmental-specific transcriptomic analyses of the Antarctic mite, Alaskozetes antarcticus, reveal transcriptional shifts underlying oribatid mite reproduction

Cited by 8 publications

References 92 publications

De novo assembly and characterisation of the transcriptome of the Beringian pseudoscorpion

De novo assembly and characterisation of the transcriptome of the Beringian pseudoscorpion

Rapid stress hardening in the Antarctic midge improves male fertility by increasing courtship success and preventing decline of accessory gland proteins following cold exposure

Rapid stress hardening in the Antarctic midge improves male fertility by increasing courtship success and preventing the decline of accessory gland proteins following cold exposure

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