40 research outputs found
The developmental basis of caste evolution in ants
No full textPhenotypic plasticity is the ability for a single genotype to give rise to alternative adaptive phenotypes in response to environmental conditions facilitating their survival. In some cases, environmental conditions can influence the course of development of an organism, leading to the induction of novel phenotypic variation, the raw materials for selection in evolution. Although this fact has the potential to unify the disparate fields of ecology, development and evolution, we have only begun to investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms that translate the environment into phenotypic diversity. Ants are highly plastic; during development a single genotype can give rise to an array of alternative phenotypes related to dramatic differences in morphology, longevity, reproduction and behavior. This environmental sensitivity is the basis for the diversity of complex ant caste systems. Here, I used ant development of the hyperdiverse genera Pheidole and Camponotus as models to investigate my major goal, which is to understand how ecology (environment) acts on development, generating morphological variation, which can then lead to morphological diversification and evolution. The first specific goal (Chapter 2) of my thesis is to investigate the hormonal and developmental genetic basis underlying the evolution of novel worker ant subcastes. Specifically, the genus Pheidole is composed of over 1000 species, all of which comprise a complex worker caste system of minor workers and soldiers. In a hand full of these species, there exists an additional novel worker subcaste, the supersoldier. Through phylogenetic and developmental genetic analysis, I determined that this subcaste has evolved in parallel in different species. I then discovered through field observations and hormonal manipulations that there exists an ancestral developmental potential in this group: all Pheidole species have the hidden capacity to produce supersoldiers through environmental induction, the recurrence of which can lead to their evolution. The second specific goal of my thesis (Chapter 4) is to investigate the epigenetic mechanisms that translate environmental conditions into morphological variation within castes. Specifically, I investigated the involvement of DNA methylation in generating continuous sizing in the worker caste of the genus Camponotus. I discovered that DNA methylation is responsible for generating a continuous distribution of worker size and that one of its primary targets is the gene Egfr. Furthermore, the methylation level of Egfr is associated with quantitative variation in worker size and pharmacological inhibition of EGFR signaling demonstrated that this pathway is capable of generating the continuous distribution of size found within this caste. DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism that is known to cause transgenerational inheritance and therefore it can facilitate the evolution of environmentally generated quantitative variation. Collectively, the results of my thesis show how the environment acts on development through the integration of hormones, genes and epigenetic mechanisms to generate phenotypic variation for selection to act on. Perhaps we are coming closer to a point in time in evolutionary theory when we can say that the environment is as important in generating phenotypic variation as it is in the process of selection.La plasticité phénotypique est l'habileté d'un génotype unique de produire des phénotypes adaptatifs alternes en réponse à des conditions environnementales facilitant leur survie. Dans certains cas, les conditions environnementales peuvent influencer le cours du développement d'un organisme, menant à l'induction d'une variation phénotypique nouvelle, qui est la matière brute pour la sélection en évolution. Bien que ce fait ait le potentiel d'unifier les champs distincts de l'écologie, du développement et de l'évolution, on commence seulement à étudier les mécanismes moléculaires fondamentaux qui traduisent l'environnement en diversité phénotypique. Les fourmis démontrent une grande plasticité phénotypique; durant le développement, un génotype unique peut produire une diversité de phénotypes adaptatifs qui démontrent des différences dramatiques de morphologie, de longévité, de reproduction et de comportement. Cette sensibilité environnementale est à la base de la diversité des systèmes complexes de castes chez les fourmis. Ici, j'ai utilisé le développement des genres hyperdiversifiés Pheidole et Camponotus comme modèles pour investiguer mon but principal, qui est de comprendre comment l'écologie (l'environnement) agit sur le développement, en générant de la variation morphologique qui peut par la suite mener à une évolution morphologique. Le premier objectif spécifique de ma thèse (Chapitre 2) est d'investiguer les bases hormonales et du développement des nouvelles sous-castes ouvrières chez les fourmis. Plus spécifiquement, le genre Pheidole est composé de plus de 1000 espèces, toutes démontrant un système de castes ouvrières complexe comprenant des ouvrières mineurs et des soldates. Chez un petit groupe de ces espèces, il existe une caste ouvrière additionnelle, la supersoldate. En utilisant des analyses phylogénétiques et de génétique du développement, j'ai déterminé que cette sous-caste a évolué en parallèle chez les différentes espèces. J'ai par la suite découvert, par des observations sur le terrain et des manipulations hormonales, qu'il existe un potentiel ancestral de développement dans ce groupe: toutes les espèces de Pheidole ont une capacité cachée de produire des supersoldates par induction environnementale, cette récurrence pouvant mener à leur évolution. Le second objectif spécifique de ma thèse (Chapitre 4) est d'investiguer les mécanismes épigénétiques qui traduisent les conditions environnementales en variation morphologique entre les castes. Plus spécifiquement, j'ai investigué le rôle de la méthylation de l'ADN dans l'élaboration d'une distribution de taille continue chez la caste ouvrière de Camponotus. J'ai découvert que la méthylation de l'ADN génère une distribution continue de taille chez la caste ouvrière et que l'une de ses cibles principales est le gène Egfr. D'ailleurs, le niveau de méthylation de Egfr est associé à une variation quantitative de la taille des ouvrières et une inhibition pharmacologique de la signalisation EGFR a démontré que cette voie de signalisation est capable de générer la distribution continue des tailles dans cette caste. La méthylation de l'ADN est un mécanisme épigénétique qui est connu pour causer une héritabilité transgénérationelle et donc, elle peut faciliter l'évolution d'une variation quantitative générée par l'environnement. Collectivement, les résultats de ma thèse montrent comment l'environnement agit sur le développement par l'intégration des hormones, des gènes et des mécanismes épigénétiques pour générer de la variation phénotypique sur laquelle la sélection naturelle peut agir par la suite. Peut-être que nous nous rapprochons d'un moment où la théorie de l'évolution peut proposer que l'environnement soit également important pour générer de la variation phénotypique qu'il peut l'être au cours du processus de sélection
How a growing organismal perspective is adding new depth to integrative studies of morphological evolution
No full textLack of interruption of the gene network underlying wing polyphenism in an early‐branching ant genus
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Characterisation of a recombinant plasmid encoding leptospiral antigen
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Angiotensin II induces soluble fms-Like tyrosine kinase-1 release via calcineurin signaling pathway in pregnancy
No full textMaternal endothelial dysfunction in preeclampsia is associated with increased soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), a circulating antagonist of vascular endothelial growth factor and placental growth factor. Angiotensin II (Ang II) is a potent vasoconstrictor that increases concomitant with sFlt-1 during pregnancy. Therefore, we speculated that Ang II may promote the expression of sFlt-1 in pregnancy. Here we report that infusion of Ang II significantly increases circulating levels of sFlt-1 in pregnant mice, thereby demonstrating that Ang II is a regulator of sFlt-1 secretion in vivo. Furthermore, Ang II stimulated sFlt-1 production in a dose- and time-dependent manner from human villous explants and cultured trophoblasts but not from endothelial cells, suggesting that trophoblasts are the primary source of sFlt-1 during pregnancy. As expected, Ang II-induced sFlt-1 secretion resulted in the inhibition of endothelial cell migration and in vitro tube formation. In vitro and in vivo studies with losartan, small interfering RNA specific for calcineurin and FK506 demonstrated that Ang II-mediated sFlt-1 release was via Ang II type 1 receptor activation and calcineurin signaling, respectively. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized regulatory role for Ang II on sFlt-1 expression in murine and human pregnancy and suggest that elevated sFlt-1 levels in preeclampsia may be caused by a dysregulation of the local renin/angiotensin system
Real-Time Water Quality Modeling with Ensemble Kalman Filter for State and Parameter Estimation in Water Distribution Networks
No full textThis study presents a novel approach to real-time water quality state (chlorine concentration) and reaction parameter estimation in water distribution systems (WDSs) using ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF)-based data assimilation techniques. Two different types of EnKF-based methods are used in this study: noniterative restart-EnKF (NIR-EnKF) and iterative restart-EnKF (IR-EnKF). The use of these data assimilation frameworks for addressing key uncertainties in water quality models, such as uncertainty in the source or initial concentration of chlorine and uncertainty in the wall reaction parameter, is studied. The effect of ensemble size, number and location of measurement nodes, measurement error, and noise are also studied extensively in this work. The performance of the proposed methodology is tested on two different water networks: a brushy plains network and a large, citywide WDS, the Bangalore inflow network. The results of the simulation study show that both the NIR-EnKF and IR-EnKF methods are appropriate for dealing with uncertainty in source chlorine concentration, but the IR-EnKF method performs better than the NIR-EnKF method in the case of reaction parameter uncertainty
Interruption points in the wing gene regulatory network underlying wing polyphenism evolved independently in male and female morphs in Cardiocondyla ants
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Limberg flap for reconstruction after excision of multiple conglomerate epidermoid cysts
No full textEpidermoid cysts are common, subepidermal, keratin containing nodules, found anywhere on the body in 3rd and 4th decade of life. Surgical treatment is by complete excision with wall of cyst intact. Author presents a 40-year-old male with multiple sebaceous cysts in close proximity to one another on his left thigh. Individual cyst excision would have lead to a difficult primary closure, need for multiple incisions, with contracture and poor cosmesis due to the close proximity of the cysts. instead, the cysts were excised in mass and limberg flap was used for reconstruction and primary closure. Patient was followed up for 6 months. The objective of this study was to prove that limberg flap yields superior cosmesis and healing by primary intention in reconstruction after excision of multiple epidermoid cysts
