School of BioSciences - Research Publications

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    Functional potential and evolutionary response to long-term heat selection of bacterial associates of coral photosymbionts
    Maire, J ; Philip, GK ; Livingston, J ; Judd, LM ; Blackall, LL ; van Oppen, MJH ; Wilkins, LGE (AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY, 2023-12-21)
    Symbiotic microorganisms are crucial for the survival of corals and their resistance to coral bleaching in the face of climate change. However, the impact of microbe-microbe interactions on coral functioning is mostly unknown but could be essential factors for coral adaption to future climates. Here, we investigated interactions between cultured dinoflagellates of the Symbiodiniaceae family, essential photosymbionts of corals, and associated bacteria. By assessing the genomic potential of 49 bacteria, we found that they are likely beneficial for Symbiodiniaceae, through the production of B vitamins and antioxidants. Additionally, bacterial genes involved in host-symbiont interactions, such as secretion systems, accumulated mutations following long-term exposure to heat, suggesting symbiotic interactions may change under climate change. This highlights the importance of microbe-microbe interactions in coral functioning.
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    Current extent and future opportunities for living shorelines in Australia.
    Morris, RL ; Campbell-Hooper, E ; Waters, E ; Bishop, MJ ; Lovelock, CE ; Lowe, RJ ; Strain, EMA ; Boon, P ; Boxshall, A ; Browne, NK ; Carley, JT ; Fest, BJ ; Fraser, MW ; Ghisalberti, M ; Gillanders, BM ; Kendrick, GA ; Konlechner, TM ; Mayer-Pinto, M ; Pomeroy, AWM ; Rogers, AA ; Simpson, V ; Van Rooijen, AA ; Waltham, NJ ; Swearer, SE (Elsevier BV, 2024-03-20)
    Living shorelines aim to enhance the resilience of coastlines to hazards while simultaneously delivering co-benefits such as carbon sequestration. Despite the potential ecological and socio-economic benefits of living shorelines over conventional engineered coastal protection structures, application is limited globally. Australia has a long and diverse coastline that provides prime opportunities for living shorelines using beaches and dunes, vegetation, and biogenic reefs, which may be either natural ('soft' approach) or with an engineered structural component ('hybrid' approach). Published scientific studies, however, have indicated limited use of living shorelines for coastal protection in Australia. In response, we combined a national survey and interviews of coastal practitioners and a grey and peer-reviewed literature search to (1) identify barriers to living shoreline implementation; and (2) create a database of living shoreline projects in Australia based on sources other than scientific literature. Projects included were those that had either a primary or secondary goal of protection of coastal assets from erosion and/or flooding. We identified 138 living shoreline projects in Australia through the means sampled starting in 1970; with the number of projects increasing through time particularly since 2000. Over half of the total projects (59 %) were considered to be successful according to their initial stated objective (i.e., reducing hazard risk) and 18 % of projects could not be assessed for their success based on the information available. Seventy percent of projects received formal or informal monitoring. Even in the absence of peer-reviewed support for living shoreline construction in Australia, we discovered local and regional increases in their use. This suggests that coastal practitioners are learning on-the-ground, however more generally it was stated that few examples of living shorelines are being made available, suggesting a barrier in information sharing among agencies at a broader scale. A database of living shoreline projects can increase knowledge among practitioners globally to develop best practice that informs technical guidelines for different approaches and helps focus attention on areas for further research.
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    A supermatrix phylogeny of the world's bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila)
    Henriquez-Piskulich, P ; Hugall, AF ; Stuart-Fox, D (ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE, 2024-01)
    The increasing availability of large molecular phylogenies has provided new opportunities to study the evolution of species traits, their origins and diversification, and biogeography; yet there are limited attempts to synthesise existing phylogenetic information for major insect groups. Bees (Hymenoptera: Anthophila) are a large group of insect pollinators that have a worldwide distribution, and a wide variation in ecology, morphology, and life-history traits, including sociality. For these reasons, as well as their major economic importance as pollinators, numerous molecular phylogenetic studies of family and genus-level relationships have been published, providing an opportunity to assemble a bee 'tree-of-life'. We used publicly available genetic sequence data, including phylogenomic data, reconciled to a taxonomic database, to produce a concatenated supermatrix phylogeny for the Anthophila comprising 4,586 bee species, representing 23% of species and 82% of genera. At family, subfamily, and tribe levels, support for expected relationships was robust, but between and within some genera relationships remain uncertain. Within families, sampling of genera ranged from 67 to 100% but species coverage was lower (17-41%). Our phylogeny mostly reproduces the relationships found in recent phylogenomic studies with a few exceptions. We provide a summary of these differences and the current state of molecular data available and its gaps. We discuss the advantages and limitations of this bee supermatrix phylogeny (available online at beetreeoflife.org), which may enable new insights into long standing questions about evolutionary drivers in bees, and potentially insects more generally.
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    The broccoli-derived antioxidant sulforaphane changes the growth of gastrointestinal microbiota, allowing for the production of anti-inflammatory metabolites
    Marshall, SA ; Young, RB ; Lewis, JM ; Rutten, EL ; Gould, J ; Barlow, CK ; Giogha, C ; Marcelino, VR ; Fields, N ; Schittenhelm, RB ; Hartland, EL ; Scott, NE ; Forster, SC ; Gulliver, EL (ELSEVIER, 2023-08)
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    A high-throughput KASP assay provides insights into the evolution of multiple resistant mutations in populations of the two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae across China
    Shen, X-J ; Zhang, Y-J ; Wang, S-Y ; Chen, J-C ; Cao, L-J ; Gong, Y-J ; Pang, B-S ; Hoffmann, AA ; Wei, S-J (Wiley, 2023-05)
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    Testing for adaptive changes linked to range expansion following a single introduction of the fall webworm
    Dai, J-X ; Cao, L-J ; Chen, J-C ; Yang, F ; Shen, X-J ; Ma, L-J ; Hoffmann, AA ; Chen, M ; Wei, S-J (WILEY, 2023-06-05)
    Adaptive evolution following colonization can affect the impact of invasive species. The fall webworm (FWW) invaded China 40 years ago through a single introduction event involving a severe bottleneck and subsequently diverged into two genetic groups. The well-recorded invasion history of FWW, coupled with a clear pattern of genetic divergence, provides an opportunity to investigate whether there is any sign of adaptive evolution following the invasion. Based on genome-wide SNPs, we identified genetically separated western and eastern groups of FWW and correlated spatial variation in SNPs with geographical and climatic factors. Geographical factors explained a similar proportion of the genetic variation across all populations compared with climatic factors. However, when the two population groups were analysed separately, environmental factors explained more variation than geographical factors. SNP outliers in populations of the western group had relatively stronger response to precipitation than temperature-related variables. Functional annotation of SNP outliers identified genes associated with insect cuticle protein potentially related to desiccation adaptation in the western group and genes associated with lipase biosynthesis potentially related to temperature adaptation in the eastern group. Our study suggests that invasive species may maintain the evolutionary potential to adapt to heterogeneous environments despite a single invasion event. The molecular data suggest that quantitative trait comparisons across environments would be worthwhile.
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    Scientists' warning on climate change and insects
    Harvey, JA ; Tougeron, K ; Gols, R ; Heinen, R ; Abarca, M ; Abram, PK ; Basset, Y ; Berg, M ; Boggs, C ; Brodeur, J ; Cardoso, P ; de Boer, JG ; De Snoo, GR ; Deacon, C ; Dell, JE ; Desneux, N ; Dillon, ME ; Duffy, GA ; Dyer, LA ; Ellers, J ; Espindola, A ; Fordyce, J ; Forister, ML ; Fukushima, C ; Gage, MJG ; Garcia-Robledo, C ; Gely, C ; Gobbi, M ; Hallmann, C ; Hance, T ; Harte, J ; Hochkirch, A ; Hof, C ; Hoffmann, AA ; Kingsolver, JG ; Lamarre, GPA ; Laurance, WF ; Lavandero, B ; Leather, SR ; Lehmann, P ; Le Lann, C ; Lopez-Uribe, MM ; Ma, C-S ; Ma, G ; Moiroux, J ; Monticelli, L ; Nice, C ; Ode, PJ ; Pincebourde, S ; Ripple, WJ ; Rowe, M ; Samways, MJ ; Sentis, A ; Shah, AA ; Stork, N ; Terblanche, JS ; Thakur, MP ; Thomas, MB ; Tylianakis, JM ; Van Baaren, J ; Van de Pol, M ; Van der Putten, WH ; Van Dyck, H ; Verberk, WCEP ; Wagner, DL ; Weisser, WW ; Wetzel, WC ; Woods, HA ; Wyckhuys, KAG ; Chown, SL (WILEY, 2023-02)
    Abstract Climate warming is considered to be among the most serious of anthropogenic stresses to the environment, because it not only has direct effects on biodiversity, but it also exacerbates the harmful effects of other human‐mediated threats. The associated consequences are potentially severe, particularly in terms of threats to species preservation, as well as in the preservation of an array of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity. Among the most affected groups of animals are insects—central components of many ecosystems—for which climate change has pervasive effects from individuals to communities. In this contribution to the scientists' warning series, we summarize the effect of the gradual global surface temperature increase on insects, in terms of physiology, behavior, phenology, distribution, and species interactions, as well as the effect of increased frequency and duration of extreme events such as hot and cold spells, fires, droughts, and floods on these parameters. We warn that, if no action is taken to better understand and reduce the action of climate change on insects, we will drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems. We discuss perspectives on relevant ways to conserve insects in the face of climate change, and we offer several key recommendations on management approaches that can be adopted, on policies that should be pursued, and on the involvement of the general public in the protection effort.
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    HBO1 (KAT7) Does Not Have an Essential Role in Cell Proliferation, DNA Replication, or Histone 4 Acetylation in Human Cells
    Kueh, AJ ; Eccles, S ; Tang, L ; Garnham, AL ; May, RE ; Herold, MJ ; Smyth, GK ; Voss, AK ; Thomas, T (American Society for Microbiology, 2020-02-01)
    HBO1 (MYST2/KAT7) is essential for histone 3 lysine 14 acetylation (H3K14ac) but is dispensable for H4 acetylation and DNA replication in mouse tissues. In contrast, previous studies using small interfering RNA (siRNA) knockdown in human cell lines have suggested that HBO1 is essential for DNA replication. To determine if HBO1 has distinctly different roles in immortalized human cell lines and normal mouse cells, we performed siRNA knockdown of HBO1. In addition, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate 293T, MCF7, and HeLa cell lines lacking HBO1. Using both techniques, we show that HBO1 is essential for all H3K14ac in human cells and is unlikely to have a direct effect on H4 acetylation and only has minor effects on cell proliferation. Surprisingly, the loss of HBO1 and H3K14ac in HeLa cells led to the secondary loss of almost all H4 acetylation after 4 weeks. Thus, HBO1 is dispensable for DNA replication and cell proliferation in immortalized human cells. However, while cell proliferation proceeded without HBO1 and H3K14ac, HBO1 gene deletion led to profound changes in cell adhesion, particularly in 293T cells. Consistent with this phenotype, the loss of HBO1 in both 293T and HeLa principally affected genes mediating cell adhesion, with comparatively minor effects on other cellular processes.
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    Generation and analysis of Siah2 mutant mice
    Frew, IJ ; Hammond, VE ; Dickins, RA ; Quinn, JMW ; Walkley, CR ; Sims, NA ; Schnall, R ; Della, NG ; Holloway, AJ ; Digby, MR ; Janes, PW ; Tarlinton, DM ; Purton, LE ; Gillespie, MT ; Bowtell, DDL (AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY, 2003-12)
    Siah proteins function as E3 ubiquitin ligase enzymes to target the degradation of diverse protein substrates. To characterize the physiological roles of Siah2, we have generated and analyzed Siah2 mutant mice. In contrast to Siah1a knockout mice, which are growth retarded and exhibit defects in spermatogenesis, Siah2 mutant mice are fertile and largely phenotypically normal. While previous studies implicate Siah2 in the regulation of TRAF2, Vav1, OBF-1, and DCC, we find that a variety of responses mediated by these proteins are unaffected by loss of Siah2. However, we have identified an expansion of myeloid progenitor cells in the bone marrow of Siah2 mutant mice. Consistent with this, we show that Siah2 mutant bone marrow produces more osteoclasts in vitro than wild-type bone marrow. The observation that combined Siah2 and Siah1a mutation causes embryonic and neonatal lethality demonstrates that the highly homologous Siah proteins have partially overlapping functions in vivo.
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    The evolution of nest site use and nest architecture in modern birds and their ancestors
    Mainwaring, MC ; Medina, I ; Tobalske, BW ; Hartley, IR ; Varricchio, DJ ; Hauber, ME (ROYAL SOC, 2023-08-28)
    The evolution of nest site use and nest architecture in the non-avian ancestors of birds remains poorly understood because nest structures do not preserve well as fossils. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that the earliest dinosaurs probably buried eggs below ground and covered them with soil so that heat from the substrate fuelled embryo development, while some later dinosaurs laid partially exposed clutches where adults incubated them and protected them from predators and parasites. The nests of euornithine birds-the precursors to modern birds-were probably partially open and the neornithine birds-or modern birds-were probably the first to build fully exposed nests. The shift towards smaller, open cup nests has been accompanied by shifts in reproductive traits, with female birds having one functioning ovary in contrast to the two ovaries of crocodilians and many non-avian dinosaurs. The evolutionary trend among extant birds and their ancestors has been toward the evolution of greater cognitive abilities to construct in a wider diversity of sites and providing more care for significantly fewer, increasingly altricial, offspring. The highly derived passerines reflect this pattern with many species building small, architecturally complex nests in open sites and investing significant care into altricial young. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolutionary ecology of nests: a cross-taxon approach'.