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Microbes as manipulators of egg size and developmental evolution.

Matthew C Kustra1,2,3, Tyler J Carrier4,5

  • 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA.

Mbio
|April 17, 2025
PubMed
Summary

Microbial manipulators may drive evolutionary shifts in marine invertebrate reproduction by creating sperm limitation, favoring larger eggs and non-feeding larvae. Losing these microbes can revert development to ancestral feeding larvae.

Keywords:
Wolbachiaevolutionmarine invertebratesmathematical modelmicrobiomesymbiosis

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Marine Biology
  • Microbial Ecology

Background:

  • Marine invertebrates exhibit two main reproductive strategies: energy-poor eggs developing into feeding larvae, or energy-rich eggs into non-feeding larvae.
  • Evolutionary transitions between these developmental modes are known, but the driving factors remain unclear.
  • Microbial manipulators influencing host reproduction are common in terrestrial systems and increasingly found in marine taxa that have undergone developmental transitions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the potential role of microbes in driving evolutionary transitions in marine invertebrate development.
  • To present theoretical models demonstrating how microbial manipulation could alter reproductive strategies.
  • To provide a framework for comparing marine and terrestrial microbe-host evolutionary dynamics.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical modeling of host-microbe interactions.
  • Analysis of sex ratio shifts and egg size selection.
  • Identification of marine invertebrate genera potentially fitting the model.

Main Results:

  • Microbial manipulators can induce a sperm-limited environment by shifting host sex ratios toward female dominance.
  • This sperm limitation selects for larger eggs, facilitating a transition to non-feeding larvae.
  • Loss of microbial manipulation can lead to the recovery of ancestral egg size and feeding larval development.

Conclusions:

  • Microbial manipulators are a plausible factor driving evolutionary transitions in marine invertebrate developmental modes.
  • This mechanism offers a new perspective on invertebrate developmental evolution and parallels with terrestrial systems.
  • Further research is needed to confirm these microbial influences and compare mechanisms across environments.