Biology subjects

Van Stappen, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Van Stappen, G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

The origin of asexual brine shrimps

Determining how and how often asexual lineages emerge within sexual species is central to our understanding of sex-asex transitions and the long-term maintenance of sex. Asexuality can arise "by transmission" from an existing asexual lineage to a new one, through different types of crosses. The occurrence of these crosses, cryptic sex, variation in ploidy and recombination within asexuals greatly complicates the study of sex-asex transitions, as they preclude the use of standard phylogenetic methods and genetic distance metrics. In this study we show how to overcome these challenges by developing new approaches to investigate the origin of the various asexual lineages of the brine shrimp Artemia parthenogenetica. We use a large sample of asexuals, including all known polyploids, and their sexual relatives. We combine flow cytometry with mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data. We develop new genetic distance measures and methods to compare various scenarios describing the origin of the different lineages. We find that all diploid and polyploid A. parthenogenetica likely arose within the last 80,000 years through successive and nested hybridization events that involved backcrosses with different sexual species. All A. parthenogenetica have the same common ancestor and therefore likely carry the same asexuality gene(s) and reproduce by automixis. These findings radically change our view of sex-asex transitions in this group, and show the importance of considering asexuality "by transmission" scenarios. The methods developed are applicable to many other asexual taxa.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Strong transgenerational effects but no genetic adaptation in zooplankton 24 years after an abrupt +10°C climate change

The climate is currently warming fast, threatening biodiversity all over the globe. Adaptation is often rapid when the environment changes quickly, but for climate warming very little evidence is available. Here, we investigate the pattern of adaptation to an extreme +10{degrees}C climate change in the wild, following the introduction of brine shrimp Artemia franciscana from San Francisco Bay, USA, to Vinh Chau saltern in Vietnam. We use a resurrection ecology approach, hatching diapause eggs from the ancestral population and the introduced population after 13 and 24 years (resp. ~54 and ~100 generations). In a series of coordinated experiments, we determined whether the introduced Artemia show increased tolerance to higher temperatures, and the extent to which genetic adaptation, developmental plasticity, transgenerational effects, and local microbiome differences contributed to this tolerance. We find that introduced brine shrimp do show increased phenotypic tolerance to warming. Yet strikingly, these changes do not have an additive genetic component, are not caused by mitochondrial genetic variation, and are not caused by epigenetic marks set by adult parents exposed to warming. Further, we do not find any developmental plasticity in response to warming, nor any protective effect of heat-tolerant local microbiota. We conclude that the evolution of shrimps extreme thermal tolerance is only due to transgenerational (great)grandparental effects, possibly epigenetic marks set by parents who were exposed to high temperatures as juveniles. This finding challenges standard models of genetic and plastic adaptive responses, and our conception of how species may cope with climate warming. Significance statementAdaptation is often rapid when environments change quickly, but for climate warming little evidence is available. Many studies report no genetic responses due to pre-existing plasticity, while others point towards epigenetics and microbiota effects. In this study, we take advantage of a natural experiment to study all of these effects. We use a set of coordinated experiments and a resurrection ecology approach, reviving resting eggs of brine shrimp up to100 generations after their introduction from a temperate to a tropical saltern. We find that heat adaptation occurs, but heritability is fully "missing". Plasticity and microbiota play no role either, indicating that only transgenerational (great)grandmaternal effects are involved. This finding prompts us to reconsider the relative importance of the different possible mechanisms by which phenotypic change can occur, especially in response to temperature variation.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Purple bacteria as added-value protein ingredient in shrimp feed: Litopenaeus vannamei growth performance, and tolerance against Vibrio and ammonia stress

Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) biomass is an emerging alternative protein source, yet research of PNSB as added-value protein ingredient is limited. This research aimed to study the use of PNSB as protein source for shrimp and investigate the shrimps tolerance against Vibrio and ammonia stress. A 28-day shrimp feeding trial was performed with Rhodopseudomonas palustris, Rhodobacter capsulatus and a mixed PNSB culture. PNSB contained in feed (5-10% protein substitution) resulted in 5-26% higher individual weights, better feed conversions ratios (1.2-1.7) compared to commercial feed (1.7) and tolerance against ammonia. In parallel, the effect of PNSB on the growth of Vibrio pathogens was tested in vitro. The species Rps. palustris, Rb. capsulatus, Rb. sphaeroides, Rhodospirillum rubrum and Afifella marina suppressed the growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus TW01 and V. campbellii LMG 21363. Overall, this study demonstrated the potential of PNSB as nutritious feed ingredient for shrimp. This can contribute to circular economy, as PNSB enable resource recovery from wastewater. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=76 SRC="FIGDIR/small/964007v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (20K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@13773acorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@18b24e7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@23df69org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1208e93_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG Graphical abstract C_FIG HighlightsO_LIPurple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) enhance the growth performance of shrimp C_LIO_LIPNSB-fed shrimp has better feed conversion ratio, growth rate and weight gain C_LIO_LIShrimp fed with Rhodopseudomonas are more resistance against ammonia stress C_LIO_LIFreeze-dried and live PNSB inhibit Vibrio pathogens in vitro C_LI

bioengineering↗