Although widely thought to be aggressive, solitary,and potentially cannibalistic, some spider species have evolved group-living behaviors. The distinct transition provides the framework to uncover groupliving evolutio...Although widely thought to be aggressive, solitary,and potentially cannibalistic, some spider species have evolved group-living behaviors. The distinct transition provides the framework to uncover groupliving evolution. Here, we conducted a comparative transcriptomic study and examined patterns of molecular evolution in two independently evolved group-living spiders and twelve solitary species. We report that positively selected genes among groupliving spider lineages are significantly enriched in nutrient metabolism and autophagy pathways. We also show that nutrient-related genes of group-living spiders convergently experience amino acid substitutions and accelerated relative evolutionary rates. These results indicate adaptive convergence of nutrient metabolism that may ensure energy supply in group-living spiders. The decelerated evolutionary rate of autophagy-related genes in group-living lineages is consistent with an increased constraint on energy homeostasis as would be required in a group-living environment. Together, the results show that energy metabolic pathways play an important role in the transition to group-living in spiders.展开更多
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDB31000000) to S.Q.L。
文摘Although widely thought to be aggressive, solitary,and potentially cannibalistic, some spider species have evolved group-living behaviors. The distinct transition provides the framework to uncover groupliving evolution. Here, we conducted a comparative transcriptomic study and examined patterns of molecular evolution in two independently evolved group-living spiders and twelve solitary species. We report that positively selected genes among groupliving spider lineages are significantly enriched in nutrient metabolism and autophagy pathways. We also show that nutrient-related genes of group-living spiders convergently experience amino acid substitutions and accelerated relative evolutionary rates. These results indicate adaptive convergence of nutrient metabolism that may ensure energy supply in group-living spiders. The decelerated evolutionary rate of autophagy-related genes in group-living lineages is consistent with an increased constraint on energy homeostasis as would be required in a group-living environment. Together, the results show that energy metabolic pathways play an important role in the transition to group-living in spiders.
