4 Material und Umwelt
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- Immune gene family (3)
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- 4.6 Molekulare und angewandte Entomologie (7) (entfernen)
Zahlreiche Insektenarten unter den Käfern und Schmetterlingen besitzen die ökologische Potenz, trockene Materialien pflanzlichen und tierischen Ursprungs als Nahrungs- und Brutsubstrat zu nutzen. Daher findet man diese Tiere auch an und in vom Menschen angelegten Nahrungsvorräten wie z. B. Getreidespeicher, an Kleidungs- und an Gebrauchsgegenständen aus Wolle, Pelzen oder Fellen sowie an oder in natürlichen Baumaterialien wie Holz. Aus wirtschaftlicher Sicht werden sie dann als Vorrats- bzw. Materialschädlinge bezeichnet.
Vorrats- und Materialschädlinge haben sehr ähnliche Lebensstrategien. Sie verfügen über eine breite Toleranz gegenüber abiotischen Umweltparametern und sind in der Regel Nahrungsopportunisten. Sie können längere Zeit ohne Nahrungsaufnahme überdauern und haben unter optimalen Bedingungen hohe Reproduktionsraten.
Es stellt sich die Frage, ob die auffälligen Anpassungen von Vorrats- und Materialschädlingen an einen menschennahen Lebensraum das Resultat von Prädispositionen und Selektion hin zu einem Lebensformtyp „Lager- oder Materialschädling“ sind, oder ob die synanthropen künstlichen (Öko)Systeme nur als überdimensionierte natürliche Reservoire fungieren.
Ökologische und ethologische Prädispositionen und Adaptationen sowie Verbreitungs- und Fortpflanzungsstrategien von Schadinsekten werden hier diskutiert, um phylogenetische und evolutionsbiologische Szenarien beim Übergang von ursprünglichen, also natürlichen Lebensräumen auf relativ jungzeitliche, von Menschen geprägte Habitate, zu rekonstruieren. Die angeführten Beispiele werden im kritischen Bezug zu publizierten Informationen über autökologische, faunistische sowie archäologische und historische Indizien über Ursprung und Ausbreitung von ausgewählten Schadinsekten (Hausbockkäfer, Textilmotten, Kornkäfer) begründet.
Woodworms, carpet beetles, clothes moths and termites are well known pests on artifacts of cultural importance. Lately also silverfish have gained importance. Protection of our cultural heritage for future generations is not a new task but the methods have changed. Conventional use of pesticides in the past has preserved precious objects up to the presence, which otherwise probably would have been lost over time due to the destruction by insects and microbes. However, several of the objects were contaminated with poisons in such a manner that they became unsafe to be handled and thus are useless for exhibitions or scientific studies.
Today, the concept of Integrated Museum Pest Management (IMPM) provides guidance for non-residue treatments of infested objects, followed by save storage or display under pest free (or maximum pest reduced) environments. Inert fumigants, physical and biological control measure, precise monitoring, threshold evaluations and detailed knowledge of the pest`s biology are key elements within IMPM.
Woodworms, clothes moths and termites, however, are not always considered as only pests. Some professionals have also used them to produce new pieces of art or for the installation of ephemeral displays. Under more or less controlled conditions, the insects´ destructive nature on wood or textiles has been turned around to a process of creation with aesthetic or philosophical messages.
Destructive or creative - it just depends on the point of view!
The phylogeny of the Blattodea boasts a wide degree of sociality spanning from solitary cockroaches to advanced ecosystem-dominating higher termite societies. The emergence of sociality in the termites was associated with the acquisition of a diverse range of social structures and differential expression of specific gene network. Previous work has found evidence for a caste-specific social defence system in termites leading to an immune system that may favour group over individual defence. While preliminary work suggests a correlation between social transitions and a reduction of immune gene family diversity, the lack of available high-quality termite genomes hampers complete knowledge of the true diversity of immune gene evolution across termite phylogeny. Here, we report on the sequencing and assembly of 50 high-quality long-read-based genomes and 180 caste- and sex-specific brain transcriptomes across major termite and cockroach sister-branch lineage. We investigate the diversity and evolutionary history of immune genes across genomes, and the potential gene networks that have evolved with the emergence of termite sociality and some aspect of immune related behaviours.
Adipokinetic hormone (AKH) is a neuropeptide produced in the insect corpora cardiaca that plays an essential role in mobilizing carbohydrates and lipids from the fat body to the hemolymph. AKH acts by binding to a rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), the adipokinetic hormone receptor (AKHR). In this study, we tackle AKH ligand and receptor gene evolution as well as the evolutionary origins of AKH gene paralogues from the order Blattodea (termites and cockroaches). Phylogenetic analyses of AKH precursor sequences point to an ancient AKH gene duplication event in the common ancestor of Blaberoidea, yielding a new group of putative decapeptides. In total, 16 different AKH peptides from 90 species were obtained. Two octapeptides and seven putatively novel decapeptides are predicted for the first time. AKH receptor (AKHRs) sequences from 18 species, spanning solitary cockroaches and subsocial woodroaches as well as lower and higher termites, were subsequently acquired using classical molecular methods and in silico approaches employing transcriptomic data. Aligned AKHR open reading frames revealed 7 highly conserved transmembrane regions, a typical arrangement for GPCRs. Phylogenetic analyses based on AKHR sequences support accepted relationships among termite and cockroach lineages to a large extent, while putative post-translational modification sites do not greatly differ between solitary and subsocial roaches and social termites. This study provides important information not only for AKH and AKHR functional research but also for further analyses interested in their development as potential candidates for biorational pest control agents against invasive termites and cockroaches.
Insecta is one of the most diverse phyla in the animal kingdom, with species living in all types of habitats encountering an even greater diversity of pathogens and parasites. Defence strategies against such harmful threats led to a variety of molecular mechanisms, ecological shifts, and genetic innovations. Gene families underlying the molecular basis of the immune responses have evolved within the boundaries given by the species ecology. Here, we explore the evolution of some emblematic immune gene families throughout the Insecta phylum shedding light on remarkable genetic events such as gene duplication or gene loss. We followed a workflow based on the Hidden Markov model to search for immune genes in 55 high-quality genomes of insects. We highlight the emergence of group defence in social species as an ecological shift that released selection pressure on immune gene families notably in Blattodea. Further, we draw attention to certain gene families and the link between their diversity and the specificities of the species’ microbiota. Overall, we report data on immune gene diversity in insects.
Harnessing near-chromosome level quality genomes to explore the evolution of termite immunity
(2023)
The phylogeny of the Blattodea boasts a wide degree of sociality spanning from solitary cockroaches to advanced ecosystem-dominating higher termite societies. The emergence of sociality in termites was associated with the acquisition of a diverse range of social structures. Previous work has found evidence for a caste-specific social defence system in termites leading to an immune system that may favour group over individual defence. While preliminary work suggests a correlation between social transitions and a reduction of immune gene family diversity, the lack of available high-quality termite genomes hampers complete knowledge of the true diversity of immune gene evolution across termite phylogeny. Here, we report on the sequencing and near-chromosome level assembly of 48 high-quality long-read-based genomes across major termite and cockroach sister-branch lineages. We investigate the diversity and evolutionary history of immune genes across genomes, focusing particular attention on correlations between immune gene evolution and transitions in sociality over termite phylogeny.