10.5061/DRYAD.2J3C8
Pallarés, Susana
University of Murcia
Arribas, Paula
Spanish National Research Council
Bilton, David T.
Plymouth University
Millán, Andrés
University of Murcia
Velasco, Josefa
University of Murcia
Ribera, Ignacio
Pompeu Fabra University
Data from: The chicken or the egg? Adaptation to desiccation and salinity
tolerance in a lineage of water beetles
Dryad
dataset
2017
Lumetus
Hydrophilidae
Enochrus
Comparative Physiology
2017-08-03T16:05:18Z
2017-08-03T16:05:18Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.14334
32755 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Transitions from fresh to saline habitats are restricted to a handful of
insect lineages, as the colonization of saline waters requires specialized
mechanisms to deal with osmotic stress. Previous studies have suggested
that tolerance to salinity and desiccation could be mechanistically and
evolutionarily linked, but the temporal sequence of these adaptations is
not well established for individual lineages. We combined molecular,
physiological and ecological data to explore the evolution of desiccation
resistance, hyporegulation ability (i.e., the ability to osmoregulate in
hyperosmotic media) and habitat transitions in the water beetle genus
Enochrus subgenus Lumetus (Hydrophilidae). We tested whether enhanced
desiccation resistance evolved before increases in hyporegulation ability
or vice versa, or whether the two mechanisms evolved in parallel. The most
recent ancestor of Lumetus was inferred to have high desiccation
resistance and moderate hyporegulation ability. There were repeated shifts
between habitats with differing levels of salinity in the radiation of the
group, those to the most saline habitats generally occurring more rapidly
than those to less saline ones. Significant and accelerated changes in
hyporegulation ability evolved in parallel with smaller and more
progressive increases in desiccation resistance across the phylogeny,
associated with the colonization of meso- and hypersaline waters during
global aridification events. All species with high hyporegulation ability
were also desiccation-resistant, but not vice versa. Overall, results are
consistent with the hypothesis that desiccation resistance mechanisms
evolved first and provided the physiological basis for the development of
hyporegulation ability, allowing these insects to colonize and diversify
across meso- and hypersaline habitats.
AlignmentsAlignments of the mitochondrial and nuclear genes (or gene
fragments) sequenced to obtain the phylogeny of the subgenus Lumetus
(genus Enochrus, family Hydrophilidae, order Coleoptera) in FASTA
formatalignments.rar