Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

An alternative water transport system in land plants
The evolution of vascular tissue is a key innovation enabling plants to inhabit terrestrial environments. Here, we demonstrate extra-vascular water transport in a giant, prop-rooted monocot from Lord Howe Island. Pandanus forsteri (Pandanaceae) produces gutter-like leaves that capture rainwater, which is then couriered along a network of channels to the tips of aerial roots, where it is stored by absorptive tissue. This passive mechanism of water acquisition, transport and storage is critical to the growth of aerial prop roots that cannot yet attain water via vascular conduction. This species therefore sheds light on the e...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - August 1, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Biddick, M., Hutton, I., Burns, K. C. Tags: plant science, ecology, evolution Source Type: research

Phylogenetic and functional evidence suggests that deep-ocean ecosystems are highly sensitive to environmental change and direct human disturbance
An understanding of the balance of interspecific competition and the physical environment in structuring organismal communities is crucial because those communities structured primarily by their physical environment typically exhibit greater sensitivity to environmental change than those structured predominantly by competitive interactions. Here, using detailed phylogenetic and functional information, we investigate this question in macrofaunal assemblages from Northwest Atlantic Ocean continental slopes, a high seas region projected to experience substantial environmental change through the current century. We demonstrate...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - August 1, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Ashford, O. S., Kenny, A. J., Barrio Frojan, C. R. S., Bonsall, M. B., Horton, T., Brandt, A., Bird, G. J., Gerken, S., Rogers, A. D. Tags: ecology, environmental science Source Type: research

Biparental care is more than the sum of its parts: experimental evidence for synergistic effects on offspring fitness
Despite an extensive body of theoretical and empirical literature on biparental cooperation, it is still unclear whether offspring fare equally, better or worse when receiving care by two parents versus a single parent. Some models predict that parents should withhold the amount of care they provide due to sexual conflict, thereby shifting as much of the workload as possible to their partner. This conflict should lead to offspring faring worse with two parents. Yet, other models predict that when parents care for their offspring together, their individual contributions can have synergistic (more than additive) effects on o...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - August 1, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Pilakouta, N., Hanlon, E. J. H., Smiseth, P. T. Tags: behaviour, ecology, evolution Source Type: research

Evidence for sexual conflict over major histocompatibility complex diversity in a wild songbird
Sex differences in parasite load and immune responses are found across a wide range of animals, with females generally having lower parasite loads and stronger immune responses than males. Intrigued by these general patterns, we investigated if there was any sign of sex-specific selection on an essential component of adaptive immunity that is known to affect fitness, the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) genes, in a 20-year study of great reed warblers. Our analyses on fitness related to MHC-I diversity showed a highly significant interaction between MHC-I diversity and sex, where males with higher, and fema...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - August 1, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Roved, J., Hansson, B., Tarka, M., Hasselquist, D., Westerdahl, H. Tags: genetics, ecology, evolution Source Type: research

Ecological conditions alter cooperative behaviour and its costs in a chemically defended sawfly
The evolution of cooperation and social behaviour is often studied in isolation from the ecology of organisms. Yet, the selective environment under which individuals evolve is much more complex in nature, consisting of ecological and abiotic interactions in addition to social ones. Here, we measured the life-history costs of cooperative chemical defence in a gregarious social herbivore, Diprion pini pine sawfly larvae, and how these costs vary under different ecological conditions. We ran a rearing experiment where we manipulated diet (resin content) and attack intensity by repeatedly harassing larvae to produce a chemical...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - August 1, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Lindstedt, C., Miettinen, A., Freitak, D., Ketola, T., Lopez-Sepulcre, A., Mäntylä, E., Pakkanen, H. Tags: behaviour, ecology, evolution Source Type: research

Bt rice plants may protect neighbouring non-Bt rice plants against the striped stem borer, Chilo suppressalis
In this study, we examined the oviposition preference of the target pest of Bt rice, Chilo suppressalis, for Bt versus non-Bt rice plants as influenced by previous damage caused by C. suppressalis larvae. The results showed that C. suppressalis females had no oviposition preference for undamaged Bt or non-Bt plants but were repelled by conspecific-damaged plants whether Bt or non-Bt. Consequently, C. suppressalis egg masses were more numerous on Bt plants than on neighbouring non-Bt plants both in greenhouse and in field experiments due to the significantly greater caterpillar damage on non-Bt plants. We also found evidenc...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Jiao, Y., Hu, X., Peng, Y., Wu, K., Romeis, J., Li, Y. Tags: behaviour, biotechnology, ecology Source Type: research

Community-wide scan identifies fish species associated with coral reef services across the Indo-Pacific
Determining whether many functionally complementary species or only a subset of key species are necessary to maintain ecosystem functioning and services is a critical question in community ecology and biodiversity conservation. Identifying such key species remains challenging, especially in the tropics where many species co-occur and can potentially support the same or different processes. Here, we developed a new community-wide scan (CWS) approach, analogous to the genome-wide scan, to identify fish species that significantly contribute, beyond the socio-environmental and species richness effects, to the biomass and coral...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Maire, E., Villeger, S., Graham, N. A. J., Hoey, A. S., Cinner, J., Ferse, S. C. A., Aliaume, C., Booth, D. J., Feary, D. A., Kulbicki, M., Sandin, S. A., Vigliola, L., Mouillot, D. Tags: ecology Source Type: research

No detectable effect of Wolbachia wMel on the prevalence and abundance of the RNA virome of Drosophila melanogaster
We examined the effect of Wolbachia on viral abundance by comparing the total transcriptome of wMel-positive and wMel-negative D. melanogaster populations sampled from six locations in Australia. In addition, we examined the impact of wMel on individual flies by obtaining transcriptome data from 20 wMel-positive and 20 wMel-negative D. melanogaster from the location (Melbourne) with highest density of wMel. These data revealed high viral abundance in both Wolbachia-positive and -negative populations and individuals. Notably, none of the viral species identified, representing RNA viruses from at least nine families/floating...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Shi, M., White, V. L., Schlub, T., Eden, J.-S., Hoffmann, A. A., Holmes, E. C. Tags: microbiology, evolution Source Type: research

Trophic interactions among vertebrate guilds and plants shape global patterns in species diversity
Trophic interactions play critical roles in structuring biotic communities. Understanding variation in trophic interactions among systems provides important insights into biodiversity maintenance and conservation. However, the relative importance of bottom-up versus top-down trophic processes for broad-scale patterns in biodiversity is poorly understood. Here, we used global datasets on species richness of vascular plants, mammals and breeding birds to evaluate the role of trophic interactions in shaping large-scale diversity patterns. Specifically, we used non-recursive structural equation models to test for top-down and ...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Zhang, J., Qian, H., Girardello, M., Pellissier, V., Nielsen, S. E., Svenning, J.-C. Tags: ecology Source Type: research

A trade-off between thickness and length in the zebra finch sperm mid-piece
The sperm mid-piece has traditionally been considered to be the engine that powers sperm. Larger mid-pieces have therefore been assumed to provide greater energetic capacity. However, in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata, a recent study showed a surprising negative relationship between mid-piece length and sperm energy content. Using a multi-dimensional approach to study mid-piece structure, we tested whether this unexpected relationship can be explained by a trade-off between mid-piece length and mid-piece thickness and/or cristae density inside the mitochondrial helix. We used selective plane illumination microscopy to...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Mendonca, T., Birkhead, T. R., Cadby, A. J., Forstmeier, W., Hemmings, N. Tags: behaviour, cellular biology, evolution Source Type: research

Risky business: linking Toxoplasma gondii infection and entrepreneurship behaviours across individuals and countries
Disciplines such as business and economics often rely on the assumption of rationality when explaining complex human behaviours. However, growing evidence suggests that behaviour may concurrently be influenced by infectious microorganisms. The protozoan Toxoplasma gondii infects an estimated 2 billion people worldwide and has been linked to behavioural alterations in humans and other vertebrates. Here we integrate primary data from college students and business professionals with national-level information on cultural attitudes towards business to test the hypothesis that T. gondii infection influences individual- as well ...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Johnson, S. K., Fitza, M. A., Lerner, D. A., Calhoun, D. M., Beldon, M. A., Chan, E. T., Johnson, P. T. J. Tags: behaviour, environmental science, health and disease and epidemiology Source Type: research

Recent prey capture experience and dynamic habitat quality mediate short-term foraging site fidelity in a seabird
Foraging site fidelity allows animals to increase their efficiency by returning to profitable feeding areas. However, the mechanisms underpinning why animals ‘stay’ or ‘switch’ sites have rarely been investigated. Here, we explore how habitat quality and prior prey capture experience influence short-term site fidelity by the little penguin (Eudyptula minor). Using 88 consecutive foraging trips by 20 brooding penguins, we found that site fidelity was higher after foraging trips where environmental conditions were favourable, and after trips where prey capture success was high. When penguins exhibited...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Carroll, G., Harcourt, R., Pitcher, B. J., Slip, D., Jonsen, I. Tags: behaviour, ecology Source Type: research

Self-limiting population genetic control with sex-linked genome editors
In male heterogametic species the Y chromosome is transmitted solely from fathers to sons, and is selected for based only on its impacts on male fitness. This fact can be exploited to develop efficient pest control strategies that use Y-linked editors to disrupt the fitness of female descendants. With simple population genetic and dynamic models we show that Y-linked editors can be substantially more efficient than other self-limiting strategies and, while not as efficient as gene drive approaches, are expected to have less impact on non-target populations with which there is some gene flow. Efficiency can be further augme...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Burt, A., Deredec, A. Tags: synthetic biology, genetics, ecology Genetics and genomics Source Type: research

A lipocalin protein, Neural Lazarillo, is key to social interactions that promote termite soldier differentiation
Social communication among castes is a crucial component of insect societies. However, the genes involved in soldier determination through the regulation of inter-individual interactions are largely unknown. In an incipient colony of the damp-wood termite Zootermopsis nevadensis, the first larva to develop into a third instar always differentiates into a soldier via frequent trophallactic feeding from the reproductives. Here, by performing RNA-seq analysis of third instar larvae, a homologue of Neural Lazarillo (named ZnNLaz1) was found to be the most differentially expressed gene in these soldier-destined larvae, compared...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Yaguchi, H., Shigenobu, S., Hayashi, Y., Miyazaki, S., Toga, K., Masuoka, Y., Maekawa, K. Tags: behaviour, ecology, evolution Source Type: research

The evolution of constitutive and induced defences to infectious disease
In response to infectious disease, hosts typically mount both constitutive and induced defences. Constitutive defence prevents infection in the first place, while induced defence typically shortens the infectious period. The two routes to defence, therefore, have very different implications not only to individuals but also to the epidemiology of the disease. Moreover, the costs of constitutive defences are likely to be paid even in the absence of disease, while induced defences are likely to incur the most substantial costs when they are used in response to infection. We examine theoretically the evolutionary implications ...
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences - July 25, 2018 Category: Biology Authors: Boots, M., Best, A. Tags: theoretical biology, evolution, health and disease and epidemiology Source Type: research