Coping with antagonistic predation risks: Predator-dependent unique
responses are dominant in Ceriodaphnia cornuta
Abstract
Inducible defenses of prey are evolved under diverse and variable
predation risks. However, during the co-evolution of prey and multiple
predators, the responses of prey to antagonistic predation risks, which
may put the prey into a dilemma of responding to predators, remain
unclear. Based on antagonistic predation pressure from an invertebrate
(Chaoborus larvae) and a vertebrate (Rhodeus ocellatus) predator, we
studied the responses of multiple traits and transcriptomes of the
freshwater crustacean Ceriodaphnia cornuta under multiple predation
risks. Chaoborus predation risk altered the expression of genes encoding
cuticle proteins and modulated the biosynthesis of steroid hormones,
cutin, suberine, and wax, leading to the development of horns and
increase in size at the late developmental stage. Meanwhile, fish
predation risk primarily triggered genes encoding ribosomes and those
involved in unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis and cysteine and
methionine metabolism, resulting in smaller individual size and earlier
reproduction. Inducible responses of both transcriptome and individual
traits revealed that predator-dependent unique responses were dominant
and the dilemma of antagonistic responses was relatively limited.
However, the unique individual traits in response to invertebrate
predation could be significantly impaired by vertebrate predation risk,
even though the unique responses to different predators were extremely
weakly correlated and could be elicited simultaneously. These results
indicate that diverse predator-dependent unique responses are favored by
Ceriodaphnia during its co-evolution with multiple predators.
Nonetheless, Ceriodaphnia is not a generalist that can fully adopt all
predator-dependent unique responses simultaneously under multiple
predation risks.