Skip Navigation



MBE Advance Access published online on March 10, 2004
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msh093
Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2004; all rights reserved
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Figure 4--color version
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/6/1032    most recent
msh093v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Watts, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by Arnold, S. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Watts, R. A.
Right arrow Articles by Arnold, S. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Accepted January 5, 2004
© 2004 Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2004; all rights reserved.

Original Articles

Stabilizing Selection on Behavior and Morphology Masks Positive Selection on the Signal in a Salamander Pheromone Signaling Complex

Richard A. Watts 1*, Catherine A. Palmer 1, Richard C. Feldhoff 2, Pamela W. Feldhoff 2, Lynne D. Houck 1, Adam G. Jones 3, Michael E. Pfrender 4, Stephanie M. Rollmann 5, and Stevan J. Arnold 1

1 Dept Zoology, 3029 Cordley Hall, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331 USA
2 Dept Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, 319 Abraham Flexner Way, Louisville, KY, 40292 USA
3 School of Biology, 310 Ferst Dr. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332 USA
4 Dept Biology, 5305 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322 USA
5 Dept Zoology, Campus Box 7617, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695 USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: wattsri{at}science.oregonstate.edu.


  Abstract

Natural selection maintains the integration and coordination of sets of phenotypic characters that collectively perform a task. In functional complexes in which characters span molecular to behavioral levels of organization, we might then expect similar modes of selection to produce similar patterns in evolutionary divergence at each level. To test this expectation, we diagnosed selection at behavioral, morphological and molecular levels for courtship pheromone signaling by plethodontid salamanders. At the levels of morphology and behavior tens of millions of years of stasis (stabilizing selection) occur on each side of a transition from vaccination to olfactory delivery modes. As a proxy for the molecular level we used Plethodontid Receptivity Factor (PRF), a protein that is an active component of the pheromone. We cloned PRF from 12 Plethodon spp. spanning the delivery transition and obtained multiple alleles from each individual surveyed. Analyses of 61 alleles for PRF identified elevated non-synonymous over synonymous substitution rates along lineages in a molecular phylogeny, and at 8% of sites in the protein, indicating positive (directional) selection has acted on this vertebrate pheromone gene. Structural models showed PRF is in a family of cytokines characterized by a four {alpha}-helix bundle. Positive selection in PRF was associated with receptor binding sites that are under stabilizing selection in other cytokines of that family. The evolutionary dynamics of the plethodontid pheromone delivery complex consists of stabilizing selection on morphological and behavioral aspects of signal delivery, but positive selection on the signal mediated by receptors. Thus, different selection modes prevail at different levels in this reproductive functional complex. Evolutionary studies of integrated sets of characters therefore require separate analyses of selective action at each level.

Key Words: positive selection, pheromone, plethodontid receptivity factor, cytokine, pheromone delivery


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Chem SensesHome page
L. D. Houck, R. A. Watts, S. J. Arnold, K. E. Bowen, K. M. Kiemnec, H. A. Godwin, P. W. Feldhoff, and R. C. Feldhoff
A Recombinant Courtship Pheromone Affects Sexual Receptivity in a Plethodontid Salamander
Chem Senses, September 1, 2008; 33(7): 623 - 631.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 GeneticsHome page
A. Sanchez-Gracia and J. Rozas
Unusual Pattern of Nucleotide Sequence Variation at the OS-E and OS-F Genomic Regions of Drosophila simulans
Genetics, April 1, 2007; 175(4): 1923 - 1935.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Integr. Comp. Biol.Home page
J. L. Leonard
Sexual selection: lessons from hermaphrodite mating systems
Integr. Comp. Biol., August 1, 2006; 46(4): 349 - 367.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
C. A. Palmer, R. A. Watts, R. G. Gregg, M. A. McCall, L. D. Houck, R. Highton, and S. J. Arnold
Lineage-Specific Differences in Evolutionary Mode in a Salamander Courtship Pheromone
Mol. Biol. Evol., November 1, 2005; 22(11): 2243 - 2256.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
J. G. Bishop
Directed Mutagenesis Confirms the Functional Importance of Positively Selected Sites in Polygalacturonase Inhibitor Protein
Mol. Biol. Evol., July 1, 2005; 22(7): 1531 - 1534.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.