What factors limit adaptation?
How is constraint on adaptation released?
To what extent are evolutionary paths predictable?
...... ......
One way to study adaptation is to examine cases of parallel evolution, where only a limited number of evolutionary trajectories can be taken, indicating adaptation is constrained.
How is constraint on adaptation released?
To what extent are evolutionary paths predictable?
...... ......
One way to study adaptation is to examine cases of parallel evolution, where only a limited number of evolutionary trajectories can be taken, indicating adaptation is constrained.
Plants and herbivores, prey and predator, are tightly locked in food chains, and hence provide sources for parallel evolution. In my case, I'll focus on the repeated adaptations seen in:
1) multiple insect orders to feeding on cardenolide-containing plants, or lucibufagin-producing insects
2) amphibians and reptiles to feeding on Bufo toads which produce poison bufadienolides
Na+, K+-ATPase is the common target of cardenolides, lucibufagins, and bufadienolides, and we can see high level of parallelism of the toxin-resistance mechanism across invertebrates and vertebrates.
(I think this is a super cool project! Let me know if you're interested or have questions.)
1) multiple insect orders to feeding on cardenolide-containing plants, or lucibufagin-producing insects
2) amphibians and reptiles to feeding on Bufo toads which produce poison bufadienolides
Na+, K+-ATPase is the common target of cardenolides, lucibufagins, and bufadienolides, and we can see high level of parallelism of the toxin-resistance mechanism across invertebrates and vertebrates.
(I think this is a super cool project! Let me know if you're interested or have questions.)
