Fig. 6: The proposed evolutionary scenario of superparasitism avoidance in Leptopilina. | Nature Communications

Fig. 6: The proposed evolutionary scenario of superparasitism avoidance in Leptopilina.

From: Neofunctionalization of an ancient domain allows parasites to avoid intraspecific competition by manipulating host behaviour

Fig. 6

EsGAP proteins are injected into the host along the parasitisation of Leptopilina wasps. The gene encoding this type of proteins was ancestrally originated, from either lateral gene transfer (LGT) from distantly related species or the duplication event of existed paralogs. Since the acquisition, this gene experienced further duplication and rapid evolution. Of duplicated copies, the ones (red) of expression specialisation in the venom were ultimately neofunctionalized. Injected EsGAP proteins induce the ROS accumulation in the host CNS that leads to the escape behaviour of hosts. Through manipulating the escape behaviour of parasitized hosts, parasitoids avoid superparasitism and intraspecific competition. As a long-term effect, intraspecific competition might lead to increased resource use diversity (see refs. 76,77,78 and our ‘Discussion’). The images were crafted using Affinity Designer v1.8.6 and Procreate v4.2.2.

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