Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/N010434/1
How do sex ratio distorting symbionts affect the evolution of their host?
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor G Hurst, University of Liverpool, Institute of Integrative Biology
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor N Wedell, University of Exeter, Biosciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Professor IJ Saccheri, University of Liverpool, Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour
- Grant held at:
- University of Liverpool, Institute of Integrative Biology
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Panel E
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Science Topics:
- Behavioural Ecology
- Mating systems
- Animal developmental biology
- Evolution & populations
- Population Genetics/Evolution
- Environmental Microbiology
- Abstract:
- The biology of animals is in part a function of the microbes they interact with. During digestion, for instance, food is broken down both by enzymes secreted by our digestive system and those secreted by the microbes that live within the gut. In many insects, microbe-host interactions are even more developed. Bacterial symbionts live inside the cells of the insect body, and these are passed from a female to her offspring via her eggs: heritable symbiosis. We know a lot about how these symbionts affect the individual they infect. One particularly interesting impact is male-killing, where the bacterium passes from a female to her eggs, and kills those which develop as males. We know male-killing bacteria are common: they are present in many species, and, where they are present, can be present in the majority of individuals - this produces insect populations where males are rare. However, we know little about how these bacteria affect insect ecology or evolution. A variety of researchers believe these symbionts may drive changes in the way male and female insects are formed during development, sex determination. The hypothesis is simple - where symbionts target males only, natural selection counteracts this by favouring new ways of making a male that escape male-killing. This study will examine this theory for a recent case of evolution of the blue moon butterfly to avoid the action of male-killing bacterium called Wolbachia. We have documented the spread of a mutation that rescues male blue moon butterflies from Wolbachia-induced death. This project will establish what this mutation is, whether it involves changes in a gene called 'doublesex', which defines male and female characteristics in insects. A second aspect of male-killers is that they may drive very strong natural selection to rescue males. The intensity of selection is such that the changes that occur to rescue males may be otherwise deleterious. A second aim of the project is to establish if this is true, and whether the mutation (beyond rescuing males) degrades male and female function. In completing this project, we will present the first direct test of the theory that the processes that make males/females different can be driven by microbes. This is an enigmatic link that would make clear the interdependence of insect and microbe evolution.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/N010434/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grant FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Standard Grant
This grant award has a total value of £458,273
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DI - Staff | DA - Estate Costs | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £50,712 | £122,619 | £48,863 | £152,187 | £48,117 | £25,974 | £9,801 |
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