Focus Group Flashcards
Figs/Wasps: What hypotheses have been proposed to explain this pattern?
Ovipositors too short (disproved) Insufficient eggs (if female egg limited, she will lay eggs where resources are most available) – disproved Unbeatable seeds – no data, disproved Optimal foraging / profitability. If ovaries in different positions in synconium differ in profitability, then wasps will lay eggs in different positions
Figs/Wasps: What is the main result of this paper and what is its broader significance?
Greater probability of parasitism if larva oviposited closer to synconium wall
Parasitism is greater on short ovules -> reduces profitability.
Eusociality: What are the alternative hypotheses that this study was designed to test?
H1:Close relatedness was a pre-requisite for the evolution of eusociality.
H2:Close relatedness was a consequence of eusociality
Eusociality: Which hypothesis does the phylogenetic tree support and why?
High relatedness was a pre-requisite. Phylogeny shows that monogamy was the ancestral state of all eusocial lineages. Polyandry only evolved in recently derived lineages.
Eusociality: The authors state: “Inclusive fitness theory predicts that polyandry in eusocial taxa will normally evolve only after workers have lost reproductive totipotency.” Why is this so? Do their results support this prediction?
Polyandry would weaken kin selection for eusocial behavior because it reduces relatedness among sisters. Therefore, polyandry should only appear in lineages that are “stuck” as eusocial.
Yes, high polyandrous species have non-totipotent workers.
Aphids: What are some hypotheses for where aphids get their carotenoids? What is the evidence for and against these hypotheses?
- Sequestered from diet. But no carotenoids in phloem sap. And they are different than aphid carotenoids.
- Endosymbionts. But bacteria don’t have right genes. Aphids do not lose color when endosymbionts are eliminated. Color does not show strict maternal inheritance.
Aphids: What do these figures suggest is the source of the carotenoids?
Aphids got carotenoids from fungi. Fungi got carotenoids from bacteria. Plants got carotenoids from bacteria independent from aphids or fungi.
Aphids: If all aphids inherited the same carotenoid genes, why are some aphids red and some green?
Mutation, then maintenance via frequency-dependnet selection. One mutation form green to red. Another spontaneous mutation in lab .
Bark beetles: What is the evidence for “temperature driven range expansion?
With warming climates, MPB moves up in elevation, encounters new host. CHanges lifecycle from univoltine (one generation per year) to multivoltine (multiple generations per year)
Bark beetles: what is the evidence for “weakly coevolved plant defenses?
Ancestral host was better defended against MPB than WBP. Defenses include monoterpenes and resin.
Bark beetles: what is the evidence for the latter heightening the former
There is correlation but saying causation may be too strong. Used logic/speculation.
Bark beetles: How can the information from this study be used to control mountain pine beetle outbreaks and expansion?
Exploit natural enemies, induced plant defenses. Limit global climate change. Finding WBP genotypes with better defenses.
Wolbacchia: In a nutshell, what is the big result here and what is it significance for human health?
Wolbacchia caused reduction in disease transmission potential. Wolbacchia was an intentionally induced strain into a naive host. Reaches fixation due to perfect maternal transmission.
Wolbacchia: The authors never address why the trajectories of infection differed with different initial infection frequencies. Why do you think?
Positive frequency dependence due to cytoplasmic incompatibility.
Wolbacchia: Why did they use two control groups (LIS and LBT) to assess the effect of Wolbachia on Plasmodium development?
LB1 was wolbachia positive, LBT was wolbachia negative.
COntrols for other differences between LIS and LB1 strains that are not related to Wolbachia
