Evolving on the Fly - Exel: Drexel University's Research Magazine

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</div> </header>  <div id="top-pad"> </div> <div class="white-section story-section article-news"> <div class="exel-x"> <div class="exel-x-image"> </div> <h3>2023<br/><span class="article-department">_NATURE ENVIRONMENT</span> Evolution</h3> </div> <div class="row-fluid news-header"> <h2 class="news-title">_Evolving on the Fly</h2><div class="news-excerpt">Short-lived pea aphids are giving Drexel researchers a real-time window into how temperature change influences evolution. <span class="article-byline"></span></div> </div>  <div class="row-fluid row-main"> <div class="article-content"> <div class="article-researcher"><div class="article-researcher-image"><img src="https://960cca.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/NatureEnviro-StomachBugs-JacobRussell.png?time=1732092036" alt="" /></div><h3>_Jacob Russell</h3><p>Russell is an associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences. </p></div> <div class="article-content-inner"> <p>A <a href="https://drexel.edu/news/archive/2021/April/aphid-symbiotic-bacteria-evolution">study</a> tracked the prevalence of symbiotic bacteria in pea aphids in order to glean insights into how evolutionary forces — and temperature change — affect biodiversity across generations. </p> <p>Aphids host a symbiotic bacteria, or endosymbiont, called <em>Hamiltonella defensa</em>, in their blood and internal tissues that safeguards pea aphids from parasitoid egg-laying wasps. Females can pass on <em>Hamiltonella defensa</em> to their offspring, yet not all pea aphids inherit the bacteria. </p> <blockquote> <div class="article-main-image" style="display: block;"> <img decoding="async" src="https://960cca.a2cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EXEL2023_Web_sidebars_EvolvingOnTheFly.jpg"></p> <div class="article-main-image-content"> <h3> </h3> <div class="article-main-image-caption"> </div> </div> </div> </blockquote> <p>“Sometimes it just takes a handful of generations for evolution to unfold,” says Professor Jacob A. Russell, senior author of a study that appeared in <em><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.15906">Molecular Ecology</a></em> in 2021. “We were motivated to try to understand why this one endosymbiont is maintained in these populations, why is it never lost and why it doesn’t just go to 100% frequency.” </p> <p>The team — initially led by former student Andrew H. Smith (PhD environmental science ’16) — subjected aphid samples collected from alfalfa fields over the course of six months to routine molecular screening. </p> <p>Although growth in the parasite population modestly increased <em>Hamiltonella</em> prevalence, the team discovered that temperature drove the most notable shifts in the bacteria’s presence and in how it functioned. </p> <p><em>Hamiltonella</em> clearly helped the aphids if the temperature was warm. However, in cooler temperatures, it was estimated that the bacteria harmed them. </p> <p>This work is among the first to show that maternally transmitted microbes — which are found in most insect species — respond to the pendulum-like nature of changing environments across the seasons. Given the longer-term trends in global climate, it is possible, too, that endosymbionts may govern the future success of insect species in our rapidly warming world.</p> <div class="social-button-container"> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://exelmagazine.org/article/evolving-on-the-fly/&t=Evolving on the Fly"><span class="icon icon-facebook-sign"></span></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Currently%20reading%3A%20%40DrexelUniv%27s%20EXEL%20Magazine%20https%3A%2F%2Fexelmagazine.org%2Farticle%2Fevolving-on-the-fly%2F" title="Click to share this post on Twitter"><span class="icon icon-twitter-sign"></span></a> </div> </div> </div> </div>  </div> <script type="text/javascript">;(function(window, document, undefined, $) {$(document).ready(function(){ $('h6').fitText('.3');$(".article-content-inner p:nth-child(1)").initialLetter({ initialLetter: "dropped" });var exel_paras = 1; $(".article-content-inner p").each(function(){ $(this).addClass("article-paragraph-" + exel_paras); exel_paras = exel_paras + 1; });var exel_attachments = []; var i = ""; for (x in exel_attachments){ if (exel_attachments[x]["post_title"].toLowerCase()=="none"){ i = '<div class="article-main-image"><img src="'+exel_attachments[x]["large_image"][0] + '" /></div>'; } else { i = '<div class="article-main-image"><img src="'+exel_attachments[x]["large_image"][0] + '" /><div class="article-main-image-content"><h3>' + exel_attachments[x]["post_title"] + '</h3><p>' + exel_attachments[x]["post_content"] + '</p></div></div>'; } switch(x){ case "1": $(".article-paragraph-3").after(i); break; case "2": $(".article-paragraph-6").after(i); break; case "3": $(".article-paragraph-9").after(i); break; case "4": $(".article-paragraph-12").after(i); break; case "5": $(".article-paragraph-15").after(i); break; case "6": $(".article-paragraph-19").after(i); break; case "7": $(".article-paragraph-22").after(i); break; case "8": $(".article-paragraph-25").after(i); break; case "9": $(".article-paragraph-30").after(i); break; }; }$(".article-main-image").fadeIn("slow");});})(window, document, undefined, jQuery);</script> </div> <footer> <div class="row-fluid row-footer"> <div class="span3 footer-identity-container"> <img src="/wp-content/themes/exel/a/i/drexel-logo-white.png?v=32" alt="Drexel University" id="footer-identity"> </div> <div class="span3"> <dl> <dt>Drexel University</dt> <dd>3141 Chestnut Street</dd> <dd>Philadelphia, PA 19104</dd> <dd>215-895-2000</dd> <dd>© Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.</dd> </dl> </div> <div class="span3"> <dl> <dt>Quick Links</dt> <dd><a href="http://www.drexel.edu">Drexel Homepage</a></dd> <dd><a href="http://www.drexel.edu/research/">Drexel Research & Innovation</a></dd> <dd><a href="http://www.drexel.edu/academics/schools/">Drexel Colleges & Schools</a></dd> <dd><a href="http://drexel.edu/provost/">Drexel Office of the Provost</a></dd> </dl> </div> <div class="span2 exel-links"> <dl> <dt>Exel Magazine</dt> <dd><a href="/about/">About</a></dd> <dd><a href="https://drexel.edu/privacy">Privacy Policy</a></dd> <dd><a href="/letter/">Letter from President</a></dd> <dd><a href="/contact/">Contact</a></dd> </dl> </div> </div> </footer>    <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-TJCKC2" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>   <script type="text/javascript"> (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-33235850-1', 'auto'); ga('send', 'pageview'); </script> </body> </html>

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Evolving on the Fly - Exel: Drexel University's Research Magazine