ThesoapberrybugsofFlorida,Jaderahaematoloma,havebeenundertheclose

watchofthescientificcommunityeversincetheintroductionofacertainforeign
invadingspeciescalledgoldenraintree,K.elegans.Thisforeigninvaderhasasmaller
seedpodthanthenativeballoonvineC.corindum.Thishaselicitedachangein
averagebeaklengthamongpopulationsofsoapberrybugswherethisforeignplantis
presentandisnowanovelfoodsourceforthesebugs.Therapidchangein
phenotypesamongpopulationsofJ.haematolomaoverashortperiodoftimehas
provedtobealikelycandidateforreal-timeevolutionamongspecies.ScottCarroll,
hasbeenaleadingresearcherofthesebugsandtheirpopulationssincethe1990s
andhastrackedtheprogressionandchangesinthephenotypesofthesebugsdueto
theinvasionoftheK.elegans.
Therewasaparticularpaperthatwascitedinthebookthatregardedthe
possiblegeneticcomponentthatcouldbetheunderlyingfactorinthechangeinbeak
lengthseeninthebugs.ThisislikelyduetothesmallerseedpodsonK.elegans.This
paperwaswrittenin1997andtitledGeneticdifferentiationoffitness-associatedtraits
amongrapidlyevolvingpopulationsofthesoapberrybug.Itaddressedthisspecific
questionbycomparingthephenotypesofparentsinrelationtotheiroffspring.1
Theresearcherstooksoapberrybugsfromeithernativehostplants(C.
corindum)orinvasivehostplants(K.elegans).Offspringfromeachparentalgroupwere
rearedoneitherthenativehostortheinvasivehost.Measurementsweretakenfrom
theserearedindividualsoncetheyreachedadulthood.Thiswastofurtherunderstand
whetheritwasaheritablegenethatwascausingthevariationinbeaklength,aswellas
developmenttime,orifitwasmerelyduetothehostthattheywererearedon
themselves.
Theresultsshowedthattherewasadefinitetrendbetweenparentalphenotype
andoffspringphenotype,regardlessoftheplanttheindividualwasrearedon.There
wassomevariancedependingonthehostplant,butitseffectwasnotasgreatasthis
heritablecomponent.Thistrendwasapplicabletobothbeaklengthanddevelopment
time.Individualsthathadparentsfromtheinvasivehostwereshowntohaveamuch
smallerbeaklengthonaveragecomparedtothoserearedonnativehosts.Likewise,
dataalsosuggestedthatdevelopmenttimeforeachofthetestgroupswaslowest
whenrearedonplantsofthesamespeciesastheirparents.Ashorterdevelopment
timegenerallyindicatesabettersurvivalrateamongnymphsastheyarevulnerablefor
ashorteramountoftime.1Thisindicatesthateachspeciesisattunedtotheirlocal
environmentmostlydependendingontheirparentsphenotype.
Thereisanoverallshorterdevelopmenttimeontheinvasivehostthanthenative
host.Theresearchersseemtothinkthiscouldbebecausegoldenraintreehasavery
transientlifecycle.Bugswereselectedforfasterdevelopmenttimethanthoseraised
onnativeballoonvineforthisreason.
 Overall,thisresearchpapershowedthattherewasadistinctgeneticcomponent
thatwaschangingamongpopulationsofsoapberrybugsinFlorida.Thisislargelydue
totheintroductionofthegoldenraintreeintothearea.Thislookstobeavery
convincingmodelforcurrentevolutionarychangeinapopulation.Thepapersuggests
thatthiscurrentchangeinageneticallyheritablephenotypeisinfactanobservable
andtangibleexampleofevolutionarychangewithinapopulationoverashortperiodof
time.

AfterinvestigatingtheoriginalpaperbyCarroll,WebofScienceshowedthatit
hadbeencited124separatetimes.Asaresult,thefocusofthisprojectwasshiftedto
amorerecentpaper,publishedin2016,titledAdaptationtoaninvasivehostisdriving
thelostofanativeecotypebyMeredithL.Cenzer,inwhichthe1997publicationwas
cited.Itsprimaryfocuswastoexaminelocallyadaptedsoapberrybugpopulationsthat
wereusedinoneofCarrollsoriginalstudiesin1988inanefforttodeterminewhether
thehostraceshavecontinuedtodivergeorarecollapsingbacktogether.2
TheresearchersconductedanexperimentthatwasextremelysimilartoCarrolls
studyin1988.3ThesoapberrybugswereeitherrearedonC.corindumorK.elegans
andwerethencomparedtotheparentalphenotypesandthehostplant.Thereared
bugsthemselvesweremeasuredforbeaklengthandbodylength,aswellastheseed
podradiiinordertocomparetheresultstothosefoundin1988.Additionally,
developmenttimewasdocumentedanddefinedasthetimefromthedayofhatching
tothedayanindividualmoltedintoadulthood.2
 Althoughtheconditionsoftheoriginalstudywerenotpossibletorecreate
identically,aftercontactingCarroll,rearingconditionsanddatacollectionwere
designedinamannerastoavoiderrorduetohumanmisjudgement.Therefore,itwas
reportedthattherewerenochangestothemethodsbetweenyearsthatcouldhave
influencedtheseedsofoneofthehostplantorbugsinfavorofoneparticularhost
race.
Theresultswentontoshowthatchangesinthepatternsofbeaklength
demonstratedasignificantreductionindifferentiationduringthe26yearspanbetween
thetwostudies.Thegraph,depictedbelow,showedthattherewasacleardistinction
betweenC.corindumandK.elegansin1988.Priortothisstudy,itwouldhavebeen
suggestedthattheancestralphenotypewouldprevailwhilethederivedphenotype
wouldbecomelesscommon.However,thedifferencesbetweenthetwospecies
convergedintooneby2015.

Similarly,podsizesbecamemeasurablymoresimilarsincetheoriginalstudy,
withanincreaseinthemeasuredpodsizeonK.elegansandadecreaseinpodsizeon
C.corindum.Additionally,thestudyalsofoundthatthephenotypeofthebugsraised
ontheinvasivehostwasgoingtowinout.Thisthenshowsashiftinwhichphenotype
hasbeenfavoredsincethe1988discovery.Likewise,theexperimentsindicatedthat
thecontemporarypopulationswerelessdifferentiatedthanhistorically.Whenreared
onK.elegans,changesindevelopmentwereconsistentwithdecreaseddifferentiation.
ThiswasassociatedwithaprofounddecreaseindevelopmenttimeinC.corindum
populations,thepopulationthatreportedlyhadalongerdevelopmenttimethanthatof
K.elegan-associatedpopulations.ThisfactwasthereforeabsentintheK.elegan
populations.Infact,thepatternofreduced,butdetectable,differentiationwas
consistentacrosstheeightpopulationsmeasuredintherecentstudy,demonstrating
howthedevelopmenttimeofthenativeplantandtheinvasiveplantevolvedtobecome
similartooneanother.2
Thenewstudyverifiedtheresultsoftheoriginalstudy;therewasagenetic
componentthatwaschangingamongpopulationsofsoapberrybugsinFlorida,butit
alsoprovedthatthegeneticcomponentiscontinuouslychanging,whichiswhythis
studyisaperfectexampleastosupportinghowevolutioniscurrentlyatwork.
However,incomparisontotheoriginalstudy,therewasadefinitechangein
performancebetweenthedifferentphenotypesthanwhatwasfoundintheoriginal
study.Since1988,aconvergenceofbeaklengthanddevelopmenttimewasfound
thatshowedthatthehostraceshaveessentiallystoppeddiverging.Additionally,there
hasbeenadecreaseinsurvivalonthenativehostandashifttowardstheinvasive
host.Bugsraisedontheinvasivehostwerenowshowntohaveadistinctadvantage
overthoseonthehost,adiscoverythatwentagainstthedataoriginallycollectedby
Carroll.
Overall,therecentstudyverifiedthattherewasadistinctgeneticcomponentat
worksimilartowhatCarrollhadconcluded,however,thehostraceshavestopped
divergingandarenowconvergingtogetheringasdemonstratedthroughbeaklength
anddevelopmenttime,aswellasseedpodsize.Thesediscoverieswereextremely
significantinthatthisshowsevolutionarychangethroughoutapopulation.Cenzers
papergoeshandinhandwithCarrollsideathatthesechangesinphenotypeare
observableexamplesofevolutionswithinasinglepopulationthroughoutarelatively
shortamountoftime.


References:

1
Carroll,S.P.,H.Dingle,andS.P.Klassen.1997.Geneticdifferentiationof
fitness-associatedtraitsamongrapidlyevolvingpopulationsofsoapberrybug.
Evolution51:1182-1188

2
Cenzer,MeredithL.2016.Adaptationtoaninvasivehostisdrivingthelossofanative
ecotype.Evolution.70(10),2296-2307

3
Carroll,S.P.,S.T.P.Klassen,andH.Dingle.1998.Rapidlyevolvingadaptationsto
hostecologyandnutritioninthesoapberrybug.Evol.Ecol.12:955968.