Predator strike shapes antipredator phenotype through new genetic interactions in water striders.
How novel genetic interactions evolve, under what selective pressures, and how they shape adaptive traits is often unknown. Here we uncover behavioural and developmental genetic mechanisms that enable water striders to survive attacks by bottom-striking predators. Long midlegs, critical for antipredator strategy, are shaped through a lineage-specific interaction between the Hox protein Ultrabithorax (Ubx) and a new target gene called gilt. The differences in leg morphologies are established through modulation of gilt differential expression between mid and hindlegs under Ubx control. Furthermore, short-legged water striders, generated through gilt RNAi knockdown, exhibit reduced performance in predation tests. Therefore, the evolution of the new Ubx-gilt interaction contributes to shaping the legs that enable water striders to dodge predator strikes. These data show how divergent selection, associated with novel prey-predator interactions, can favour the evolution of new genetic interactions and drive adaptive evolution.
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, CNRS-UMR5242, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Claude Bernard, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
David
D
Armisén
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, CNRS-UMR5242, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Claude Bernard, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
Peter Nagui
PN
Refki
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, CNRS-UMR5242, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Claude Bernard, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
Antonin Jean Johan
AJ
Crumière
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, CNRS-UMR5242, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Claude Bernard, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
Séverine
S
Viala
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, CNRS-UMR5242, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Claude Bernard, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
William
W
Toubiana
Institut de Génomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, CNRS-UMR5242, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Université Claude Bernard, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France.
Abderrahman
A
Khila
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D023761:Beloniformes; D004924:Escape Reaction; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D050862:Oxidoreductases Acting on Sulfur Group Donors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype
D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D050862:Oxidoreductases Acting on Sulfur Group Donors