hoe een watervlo reageert op de geur van gevaar, en wat haar genen onthullen
Stel je voor dat je in een vijver leeft, amper een milimeter groot, zonder ogen die scherp genoeg zijn om een predator te herkennen. Je enige waarschuwing is een zwak chemisch spoor dat door het water drijft: moleculen afgescheiden door een vis ergens in je buurt. Als reactie daarop duik je dieper, mijd je het licht en verander je je manier van zwemmen. Dit is de dagelijkse realiteit van watervlooien, kleine kreeftachtigen die het opmerkelijke vermogen hebben om hun eigen gedrag aan te passen op basis van signalen uit hun omgeving.
Voor mijn thesis onderzocht ik dit flexibele gedrag bij Daphnia magna, een veelvoorkomende watervlosoort in Vlaamse poelen en vijvers. Ik ging na hoe dieren uit 20 verschillende vijvers reageren op chemische signalen die vissen afgeven. Deze signalen waarschuven watervlooien dat er mogelijk predatoren aanwezig zijn.
Van vijver naar videotracking
In totaal testte ik 101 genetisch verschillende klonen van watervlooien op hun reactie op deze vis-signalen. Met een videotracking-opstelling volgde ik hoe de dieren zich door de waterkolom bewogen, hoe diep ze zaten, en hoe snel ze zwommen, in blootgestelde en normale condities.
Wat meteen opviel: watervlooinen uit vijvers zonder vissen vertoonden niet de verwachte reactie. In plaats van dieper te duiken bij het vis-signaal, bewogen ze net vaker omhoog. Dat suggereert dat de populaties uit vispoelen, waar dit gedrag al generaties lang loont, dit verdedigingsmechanisme sterker "onthouden" hebben dan populaties die al lang geen vis meer hebben meegemaakt.
Op zoek naar de genen achter het gedrag
Omdat watervlooien zich ongeslachtelijk kunnen voortplanten en dus klonen van zichzelf maken, zijn ze uitzonderlijk geschikt om te onderzoeken hoe verschillen in DNA, de erfelijke informatie die wordt doorgegeven van ouder op nakomeling, samenhangen met verschillen in gedrag. Elke kloon is genetisch identiek aan zichzelf maar verschilt van de andere klonen, waardoor ik gedrag en genetica netjes naast elkaar kon leggen via een studie via associatie (GWAS)
Een van de sterkste genetische signalen die daaruit naar voren kwam, wijst naar een gen dat betrokken is bij lichtperceptie. Watervlooien hebben een hele reeks van dit soort lichtgevoelige eiwitten (opsines), maar van de meeste weten wetenschappers nog altijd niet precies wat ze doen. Mijn resultaten suggereren dat een van deze eiwitten mee bepaalt of een dier dicht bij het oppervlak blijft, of net dieper de waterkolom in trekt.Dit is een nieuwe aanwijzing van een mogelijke functie van deze eiwitten in Daphnia.
Niet alleen de positie in de waterkolom, maar ook de zwemsnelheid van de dieren bleek onder genetishce controle te staan. Een aparte GWAS-analyse op de verandering in zwemsnelheid na blootstelling aan het vis-signaal wees naar twee andere genetische regio's, elk met eigen kandidaatgenen.
Een netwerk van gene dat samen reageert
Gedrag verandert niet door één gen alleen. Na blootstelling aan het vis-signaal bleken meer dan 700 genen hun activiteit aan te passen. Door deze data te combineren met informatie over welke stukken DNA op dat moment toegankelijk zijn voor regulatie, kon ik een eerste schets maken van het onderliggende genregulatorisch netwerk: welke genen sturen de activiteit van welke andere genen aan?
Daaruit kwamen twee genen naar voren die als een soort knooppunt fungeren, met verbindingen naar tientallen andere gene: een gen uit de FOX-familie (FOXL1/FOXI1/FOXS1) en een Hox-gen (ftz/HOXC13). Beide zijn bekend uit ander onderzoek als belangrijke sturende factoren in ontwikkeling en stressrespons bij andere diersoorten. Deze genen lijken bij Daphnia mogelijk een vergelijkbare rol te spelen in de reactie op predatiegevaar.
Waarom dit ertoe doet
Samen tekenen deze resultaten een beeld van hoe dieren hun gedrag kunnen bijsturen zodra hun omgeving verandert. Dit van het niveau van een enkel gen tot een heel netwerk van genen die samen schakelen. Meer algemeen laat dit onderzoek zien hoe kleine verschillen in genetische achtergrond kunnen bepalen hoe goed een organisme in staat is om op gevaar te reageren. In een wereld waarin leefomgevingen snel veranderen, (door klimaatverandering, door het verdwijnen of verschijnen van predatoren, door menselijke ingerepen in waterlopen, etc.) is precies dat aanpassingsvermogen essentieel om te kunnen overleven.
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