Biology subjects

Koner, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Koner, A..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Exposure to traffic noise can impact multiple insect fitness components

Noise pollution is a significant environmental stressor that affects organisms physiology and behavior. Due to its wide occurrence and range of component frequencies, traffic noise is a major culprit in this context. Although well-studied in vertebrate systems, the effects of traffic noise on invertebrates remain relatively less explored. This study uses Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to examine the impact of traffic noise on insects. Exposure to traffic noise reduced fecundity in both freshly mated and pre-mated flies, with a more pronounced effect in the former. Additionally, traffic noise increased mating latency but did not affect mating duration. The impact on locomotor activity was sex-specific: while the females remained unaffected, the male flies showed reduced activity regardless of their mating status. Desiccation resistance remained unaffected in both sexes. These findings indicate that traffic noise can decrease fitness in Drosophila melanogaster, which aligns with some (but not all) previous observations on other insect species. The long-term ecological implications of such noise include potential disruptions in insect-mediated ecosystem services, which can threaten the overall ecological balance. Summary StatementTraffic noise impairs fruit-flys fecundity, extends mating latency, and reduces male locomotor activity, suggesting that such noise can potentially reduce fitness and risk insect-driven ecosystem services.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Costs of dispersal evolution under larval malnutrition

Dispersal is a key eco-evolutionary process, and the causes and consequences of its evolution have been well-studied. However, although dispersal depends critically on the nutritional status of organisms, it is unclear how malnutrition affects the evolution of life history and the behavior of organisms under selection for increased dispersal. To address this issue, we used four replicate laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster previously selected for increased dispersal for 66-67 generations on a protein-poor larval diet. Compared to the unselected controls, the selected populations had lower female body weight, fecundity, male desiccation resistance and mating propensity, but greater male locomotor activity and mating latency. There were no significant differences in aggression. We also compared our results qualitatively with those from a previous study on dispersal selection under a standard larval diet. Barring desiccation resistance, locomotor activity, and rest duration, all other traits investigated responded differently to dispersal selection between the poor and the standard larval nutritional regimes. These results show that the evolution of traits associated with dispersal can differ markedly depending on the nutrition available for the dispersing populations.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Experimental evolution of Drosophila without its microbiome

In single-generation experiments, microbiome removal often affects multiple host traits. However, relatively little is understood about the long-term implications of living in a microbe-free environment. To address this question, we evolved four replicate laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster without microbes and compared their traits with corresponding control populations that were reared with microbiota. This comparison was done under two assay environments: with-microbes and microbe-free. Prior single-generation experiments on our populations had revealed that microbiota removal significantly affects multiple traits, which suggested that the flies were under strong selection pressure to adapt to the absence of microbes. However, contrary to our expectations, the selected populations underwent very modest changes even after 54-57 generations of selection. Moreover, the magnitude of change in trait values across the with- and without- microbe environments was less for the selected populations than for the controls. RNA-Seq on one of the evolutionary replicates revealed that compared to the control, some anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) in the selected population were up-regulated, while several heat shock proteins (HSPs) were down-regulated. These results suggest that robust host-microbiome integrations on short timescales can nevertheless be labile on longer timescales. We situate these results in the context of the "evolutionary addiction hypothesis" and the "hygiene hypothesis".

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Adaptation to yeast restriction through the evolution of resource acquisition, macronutrient reserve, and ovarian function

Optimization of reproduction under dietary adversity is an important aspect of diet-dependent adaptation. Yet, little is known about the mechanism of such adaptive evolution. Here, we investigated a set of experimentally evolved populations of Drosophila melanogaster where early-life fecundity evolved as an adaptation to chronic protein restriction. We tested the role of resource acquisition and macronutrient storage, and changes in ovarian function that could have allowed such reproductive adaptation. We show that higher early-life fecundity was associated with the increased larval feeding rate, aiding in accumulation of higher protein content at the time of eclosion. Further evidence also suggests increase in reproductively allocated lipid content. Evolved females were found to have larger ovaries that also had a higher number of mature, post-vitellogenic oocytes that seem to readily allow the attainment of higher fecundity. Our results further show the evolution of plasticity in ovariole count (depending on mating status) and total egg-chamber count in females. These results are important in understanding the putative role of genetic variance and covariances that aid or limit the evolution of reproductive optimization, especially under nutritional adversity.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Selection for dispersal under larval malnutrition results in a non-monotonic kernel in Drosophila melanogaster

Dispersal is a key strategy for organisms to track favorable conditions and a shifting global climate has necessitated its closer investigation. While the distribution of dispersal distances (i.e. dispersal kernel) influences several aspects of population ecology, it remains unclear how kernel features are themselves affected by environmental factors. The current study addresses this question using laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster selected for greater dispersal under a protein-deficient larval diet. Our results reveal that dispersal-selected populations initiate dispersal more often and travel further on average than unselected controls. Although there is a significant change in the overall kernel shape, selection has not led to a greater tendency for long-distance dispersal (LDD). This is contrary to the results from a previous study on dispersal evolution under standard nutrition. We also find that dispersal evolution under larval malnutrition leads to a non-monotonic dispersal kernel, with the highest frequencies at intermediate distances. The evolved shape of the dispersal kernel and the limited LDD phenotype therefore point to significant qualitative shifts in the evolution of the dispersal kernel due to a change in larval nutrition. Our results thus provide a starting point for further investigation of such context dependence in dispersal evolution.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Cellular metabolic activity marker via selective turn-ON detection of serum albumin using an NBD-based fluoroprobe

A nitrobenzoxadiazole-based fluoroprobe (NBD-Bu) is designed to probe cellular metabolic activity in cancer and normal cells. NBD-Bu shows a significant fluorescence enhancement upon selective binding to serum albumin. The site specificity of NBD-Bu has been explored through a competitive displacement assay in the presence of site-specific markers such as warfarin and ibuprofen. Subsequently, high-resolution fluorescence microscopy results consolidated the potential of NBD-Bu for cellular imaging and detection of abnormal cellular metabolic activity.

cancer biology↗