The Origin of a Mutualism: A Morphological Trait Promoting the Evolution of Ant-Aphid Mutualisms

Shingleton, Alexander W.; Stern, David L.; Foster, William A.

doi:10.1554/04-584

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…1b, c). Past work comparing tended and untended aphid species demonstrates a number of features associated with ant mutualism, including longer mouthparts (Oliver et al 2008;Shingleton and Stern 2003;Shingleton et al 2005), shorter cornicles (Mondor et al 2002) and winglessness (Stadler et al 2003). Yet each of these adaptations is more likely associated with a loss of predator avoidance traits than with an increase in attractiveness to ants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetically based population variation in aphid association with ants and predators

Mooney

2010

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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A species' genotype can have extended consequences for the structure of the surrounding community, but few studies have investigated the extended consequences of genetic variation in animals. Accordingly, I examined the importance of genetically based variation among five populations of the ant-tended aphid Aphis asclepiadis for its interactions with both ants and predators. In a common environment, aphid source population accounted for 23 and 17% of the variation in the occurrence of ants and predators, respectively. Ant exclusion increased predator abundance, accounting for 25% of variation, but there was no detectable influence of ants on aphid abundance. There was an indication that aphid source populations varied in honeydew quality, but this was uncorrelated with rates of ant attendance. This study provides the first evidence for genetic variation in aphids for attractiveness to ants, and underscores the important link between intra-specific genetic variation in aphids and the processes governing arthropod community structure.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetically based population variation in aphid association with ants and predators

Mooney

2010

Arthropod-Plant Interactions

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“…and behavioural (e.g., decreased dispersal responses, altered honeydew excretion patterns, etc.) adaptations to facilitate tending (Nault et al 1976;Mondor et al 2002;Shingleton et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do exaptations facilitate mutualistic associations between invasive and native species?

Mondor

Addicott

2006

Biol Invasions

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As invasive species are key threats to ecosystem structure and function, it is essential to understand the factors underlying their success. Enigmatically, mutualistic organisms are often successful in colonizing novel environments even though they commonly persist only through intricate relationships with other species. Mutualistic ants, for example, protect aphids from natural enemies while collecting carbohydrate-rich honeydew. To facilitate this interaction, ants have evolved aggressive responses to aphid alarm pheromone emissions. As invasive and native mutualists have not evolved together, however, it is unclear if this form of cross-species communication exists between these two parties thereby facilitating these novel interactions. We address this hypothesis by assessing whether the invasive Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, responds to native poplar aphid, Chaitophorus populicola, alarm signals. Here, we show that interspecific signalling does exist in this newly established mutualistic interaction. Argentine ant workers exhibit increased aggression and double the number of visits to an aphid colony after an aphid alarm signal is emitted. We suggest that pre-adaptations may facilitate the emergence of mutualistic associations between many invasive and native species.

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“…Some adaptations arising early in mutualistic associations from preexisting traits have been identified through comparative analyses, a common approach to studying evolution (10,11). Empirical data on the evolutionary and ecological dynamics giving rise to these adaptations are scarce, however, because the original populations and ecological conditions are unknown.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rapid evolution of stability and productivity at the origin of a microbial mutualism

Hillesland

Stahl²

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

222

236

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Mutualistic interactions are taxonomically and functionally diverse. Despite their ubiquity, however, the basic ecological and evolutionary processes underlying their origin and maintenance are poorly understood. A major reason for this is the lack of an experimentally tractable model system. We examine the evolution of an experimentally imposed obligate mutualism between sulfatereducing and methanogenic microorganisms that have no known history of previous interaction. Twenty-four independent pairings (cocultures) of the bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris and the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis were established and followed for 300 community doublings in two environments, one allowing for the development of a heterogeneous distribution of resources and the other not. Evolved cocultures grew up to 80% faster and were up to 30% more productive (biomass yield per mole of substrate) than the ancestors. The evolutionary process was marked by periods of significant instability leading to extinction of two of the cocultures, but it resulted in more stable, efficient, and productive mutualisms for most replicated pairings. Comparisons of evolved cocultures with those assembled from one evolved mutualist and one ancestral mutualist showed that evolution of both species contributed to improved productivity. Surprisingly, however, overall improvements in growth rate and yield were less than the sum of the individual contributions, suggesting antagonistic interactions between mutations from the coevolved populations. Physical constraints on the transfer of metabolites in the evolution environment affected the evolution of M. maripaludis, but not of D. vulgaris. Together, these results demonstrate that challenges can imperil nascent obligate mutualisms and demonstrate the evolutionary responses that enable their persistence and future evolution.adaptation | experimental evolution | environmental heterogeneity | syntrophy | methanogenesis

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The Origin of a Mutualism: A Morphological Trait Promoting the Evolution of Ant-Aphid Mutualisms

Cited by 18 publications

References 27 publications

Genetically based population variation in aphid association with ants and predators

Genetically based population variation in aphid association with ants and predators

Do exaptations facilitate mutualistic associations between invasive and native species?

Rapid evolution of stability and productivity at the origin of a microbial mutualism

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