Biology subjects

Notton, D. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Notton, D. G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Responses of the hyper-diverse community of canopy-dwelling Hymenoptera to oak decline

O_LIForest decline and dieback are growing phenomena worldwide, resulting in severe, large-scale degradation of the canopy. This can profoundly alter the provision of trophic resources and microhabitats for canopy-dwelling arthropods. C_LIO_LIIn 2019, we assessed the effect of oak decline on the community of canopy-dwelling Hymenoptera. We selected 21 oak stands, and 42 plots, located in three forests in France, presenting contrasting levels of decline. Insects were sampled at the canopy level with green multi-funnel and flight-interception traps. C_LIO_LIWe collected a particularly diverse community of 19,289 insect individuals belonging to 918 taxa, ten larval trophic guilds and five nesting guilds. C_LIO_LIOak decline had no effect on the abundance or richness of the overall community, but significantly reshaped the community assemblages. Decline had contrasting effects depending on the taxa and guilds considered. Specialist parasitoids were more abundant at intermediate levels of decline severity while generalists were negatively affected. Taxa depending on ground-related resources and microhabitats were promoted. Saproxylic taxa were more abundant while xylophagous insects were negatively impacted. C_LIO_LIReduced leaf area index promoted several guilds, and the diversity of the overall community. While an increasing tree mortality rate enhanced the abundance and diversity of deadwood resources, it had negative impacts on several Hymenoptera guilds. Our results suggest that micro-environmental changes at the ground-level due to canopy decline have major cascading effects on the communities of canopy-dwelling Hymenoptera. C_LIO_LIOur study highlights the relevance of studying Hymenoptera communities to investigate the outcomes of disturbances on forest biodiversity. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Endo-parasitoid lifestyle promotes endogenization and domestication of dsDNA viruses

The accidental endogenization of viral elements within eukaryotic genomes can occasionally provide significant evolutionary benefits, giving rise to their long-term retention, that is, to viral domestication. For instance, in some endoparasitoid wasps (whose immature stages develop inside their hosts), the membrane-fusion property of double-stranded DNA viruses has been repeatedly domesticated following ancestral endogenizations. The endogenized genes provide female wasps with a delivery tool to inject virulence factors that are essential to the developmental success of their offspring. Because all known cases of viral domestication involve endoparasitic wasps, we hypothesized that this lifestyle, relying on a close interaction between individuals, may have promoted the endogenization and domestication of viruses. By analyzing the composition of 124 Hymenoptera genomes, spread over the diversity of this clade and including free-living, ecto- and endoparasitoid species, we tested this hypothesis. Our analysis first revealed that double-stranded DNA viruses, in comparisons with other viral genomic structures (ssDNA, dsRNA, ssRNA), are more often endogenized and domesticated (that is, retained by selection) than expected from their estimated abundance in insect viral communities. Secondly, our analysis indicates that the rate at which dsDNA viruses are endogenized is higher in endoparasitoids than in ectoparasitoids or free-living hymenopterans, which also translates into more frequent events of domestication. Hence, these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the endoparasitoid lifestyle has facilitated the endogenization of dsDNA viruses, in turn increasing the opportunities of domestications that now play a central role in the biology of many endoparasitoid lineages.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

A validated workflow for rapid taxonomic assignment and monitoring of a national fauna of bees (Apiformes) using high throughput barcoding

Improved taxonomic methods are needed to quantify declining populations of insect pollinators. This study devises a high-throughput DNA barcoding protocol for a regional fauna (United Kingdom) of bees (Apiformes), consisting of reference library construction, a proof-of-concept monitoring scheme, and the deep barcoding of individuals to assess potential artefacts and organismal associations. A reference database of Cytochrome Oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) sequences including 92.4% of 278 bee species known from the UK showed high congruence with morphological taxon concepts, but molecular species delimitations resulted in numerous split and (fewer) lumped entities within the Linnaean species. Double tagging permitted deep illumina sequencing of 762 separate individuals of bees from a UK-wide survey. Extracting the target barcode from the amplicon mix required a new protocol employing read abundance and phylogenetic position, which revealed 180 molecular entities of Apiformes identifiable to species. An additional 72 entities were ascribed to mitochondrial pseudogenes based on patterns of read abundance and phylogenetic relatedness to the reference set. Clustering of reads revealed a range of secondary Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) in almost all samples, resulting from traces of insect species caught in the same traps, organisms associated with the insects including a known mite parasite of bees, and the common detection of human DNA, besides evidence for low-level cross-contamination in pan traps and laboratory steps. Custom scripts were generated to conduct critical steps of the bioinformatics protocol. The resources built here will greatly aid DNA-based monitoring to inform management and conservation policies for the protection of pollinators.

molecular biology↗