Investigating genetic variation

DR SARA GOODACRE Dr Sara Goodacre explains why she first developed a fascination with – and how her ambitious studies into this group of are driving new discoveries in genetics, ecology and evolution

species. Can you summarise your infections can influence this kind of behaviour hypotheses on why this variation occurs? had not been shown before.

The underlying generator of different variants Essentially, the open question now is whether within a species is mutation. However, the this represents a general trend in other reason as to why different variants persist is – I have shown since I published the harder to establish. For example, processes initial findings that this is also true for some such as random genetic drift (the loss of other species of . If it is found to be a variants by chance when population size is more widespread trend, this suggests that small) and natural selection (the removal of biodiversity may be closely linked to parasite less fit variants) can work both for and against infection – in the past and/or present. each other. Yet it is generally accepted that These parasites are prevalent throughout the amount of genetic variation observed so the effects could potentially within species is enormous, and the reasons be huge. for this are not completely understood. What core methodologies lie at the heart What are the most interesting of the pure science you conduct? variations you have observed to date? My research focuses on genetics, ecology and What is your professional background One of the most interesting findings has to evolution and I use different approaches to and how did you become interested in be the head morphology variation in linyphiid look for genetic differences in the genomes studying spiders? spiders – such as the Walckenaeria species of individuals and to assess the physical traits – where two of the male’s eight eyes are on (phenotypes) that these individuals have. I completed my first degree in natural stalks. This is very strange and we still don’t Next-generation sequencing is a new tool sciences at Gonville and Caius College, understand the reason for it! Additionally, the that is likely to become the routine technique University of Cambridge, UK, and my PhD in colours, shapes and patterns of Gasteracantha of choice over the next few years. the genetics of speciation at the University of (jewel) spiders are tremendous, as is the Nottingham, in which I focused on Polynesian spider Argyroneta aquatica, which You collaborate with several other land snails. My first postdoctoral position spins a silken dumbbell in which it then lives researchers; what role do they play in was at the University of Oxford, where I at the bottom of ponds, extracting your investigations? concentrated on the genetic diversity of from the water through the silk, which acts humans and estimated the proportion of as a gill. Among many others, I work with Dr Norse genes on islands such as Shetland. Morito Hayashi, based at the University of My second postdoctoral position was with You also study the effect of certain Nottingham and Tohoku University, Sendai the late Professor Godfrey Hewitt at the parasites on insect and arachnid in Japan, and Dr Oliver Martin from ETH University of East Anglia – and it was at behaviours. Can you summarise the Zurich, Switzerland. They are both fantastic this point that I first discovered spiders. My significance of your findings? colleagues and collaborators. Morito is a research with Godfrey involved studying highly talented ecologist and spider biologist, money spider dispersal, where individuals Parasitic bacteria can influence the dispersal while Oliver is an evolutionary biologist/ use silk as a sail, and trying to establish the of the spiders that they infect – with ecologist who works on similar projects to genetic consequences of the spiders’ risky knock-on consequences for the species as me but from an ecological rather than a wind-based strategy to disperse, potentially a whole in terms of its continued existence genetic perspective. My interactions and spreading their genes far and wide. Once I in the landscape. The key point is that partnerships with colleagues such as these started studying spiders, I was utterly hooked. reduced dispersal resulting from bacterial are invaluable and there are many papers infection decreases the chances of these that I would not have published without Globally, extensive morphological and individuals sharing their genes with any other the support and cooperation of these two genetic variation exists within individual populations. The possibility that bacterial particular individuals. 94 INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION DR SARA GOODACRE

Goodacre is passionate about dispelling the negative public perception towards spiders, weighing in on hyped-up scare stories in the media and transmitting more balanced, informed messages into the public sphere

Spider studies

Using spiders as model systems, researchers based in the SpiderLab at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in the University of Nottingham are forging new insights into evolutionary, population and conservation genetics

GENETIC POLYMORPHISM REFERS to UNDERSTANDING DISPERSAL hypothesised that it could be an evolved naturally occurring genetic differences that adaptive modification by bacterial infections to exist between members of the same species. One of Goodacre’s major areas of research promote their own transmission. Importantly, These variants are the raw material upon which is centred on the dispersal strategy and this study demonstrates that bacterial natural selection acts and are thus an important persistence of spider population differentiation infections can impact the risk-taking behaviour component of the process of evolution. at the landscape scale. Along with her close and pest-controlling function of spiders and Because environmental circumstances change collaborators Drs Morito Hayashi and George thus the dynamics of the ecosystem at large. over time, genetically variable populations can Thomas, and colleagues from the Universities of They also affect the rate at which diversification potentially be more flexible and adaptable, East Anglia, Cambridge, Zurich and Ghent, she occurs amongst populations by restricting the increasing their chances of survival. However is using molecular markers to estimate levels of movement of genes (via dispersing individuals) the processes that generate and maintain dispersal and genetic exchange among money between populations. this underlying genetic diversity are still not spider populations. This is an important area fully understood. Understanding how and why to explore because dispersal helps to shape a SILK APPLICATIONS populations persist in the face of changing range of biological and ecological processes, external conditions is necessary not only to including the distribution of spatially structured Humans have made use of for explain contemporary patterns of biodiversity populations and the size and speed of an invasion, thousands of years, with applications ranging but to predict what may happen in the future. as well as playing a key role in agricultural pest from bandages and fishing nets to the crosshairs control processes: “The spiders I study take huge in optical targeting devices. Yet the production In response, researchers in the ‘SpiderLab’ at risks to disperse long distances, using their silk as of spider silk is not industrially viable at present; the University of Nottingham, UK, are using a sail, in a process called ‘ballooning’, therefore while spiders pump silk protein through their spiders as model systems to explore the helpfully recolonising a farmer’s field after the spinnerets – and control its acidity, pressure reasons for the current distribution of genetic resident population of spiders has been killed off and concentration to a high degree of precision variation within and between species. Dr Sara by commercial insecticides,” Goodacre explains. – this complex process is extremely difficult to Goodacre, Assistant Professor in the School replicate in a laboratory setting. However, as one Of Life Sciences (Faculty of Medicine and Specifically, Goodacre aims to understand the of the strongest and most versatile materials Health Sciences) and leader of the SpiderLab, factors that determine the dispersal patterns in nature, Goodacre and her colleagues are has chosen to focus on spiders because of of money spiders and explain why some studying the molecular genetics of spider silk. the incredible diversity that exists within and individuals take more risks than others. In between the different species in this group one prominent study, she found that money The SpiderLab team has been among the first of animals. The group is several hundred spiders infected with Rickettsia bacteria are less to investigate the genes involved in making million years old, which means that there has likely to ‘balloon’. It is not clear how either the tarantula silk and analyse its complex chemical been ample time for dramatic diversification microbes or the spiders benefit from this change properties. Tarantulas are thought to have to occur. in behaviour but Goodacre and her colleagues diverged from most other spider groups several WWW.RESEARCHMEDIA.EU 95 INTELLIGENCE

SPIDERS AS MODEL ORGANISMS FOR STUDYING GENETIC VARIATION OBJECTIVES SPIDERLAB PROJECTS • To understand the factors determining the Goodacre and her team are conducting research into the following areas: origin and maintenance of genetic variation in spatially structured, natural populations • Dispersal strategies and population differentiation in spider populations from agricultural landscapes • To characterise the role of microbes in infl uencing their spider hosts • The relationship between spiders and their intracellular microbes KEY COLLABORATORS • The evolutionary basis for offspring sex ratio bias in solitary spiders Dr Morito Hayashi, Tohoku University, Japan • Mating systems and inbreeding in semi-social desert spiders Dr Oliver Y Martin, Swiss Federal Institute • The molecular genetics of spider silk with a specifi c focus on tarantula species of Technology, Zurich Dr Dries Bonte, University of Ghent, Belgium hundred million years ago, but despite this Building capacities and developing innovative FUNDING their silk appears to share similarities with the ways of connecting science to society is a University of Nottingham • Research Councils silks produced by orb-weaving spiders, thus priority under the European ‘Horizon 2020’ UK • Royal Society • Big Lottery • Association suggesting that particular silk types may have initiative. This aims to make science attractive for the Study of Behaviour arisen much longer ago than previously thought. to people of all ages, to increase the drive for research and innovation and to open up activities CONTACT One promising research direction involves that will make this happen for the benefi t of Dr Sara Goodacre exploring the potential antimicrobial properties all. Goodacre and her colleagues are eager to Principal Investigator of spider silk. While historical records suggest continue to prioritise citizen science initiatives that spider silk has been used by humans for within their research on spiders, welcoming in University of Nottingham medicinal purposes, very few studies have an era where scientifi c research readily moves Room B129A (lab A100) formally investigated this possibility. In one outside the academic university environment School of Biology notable study, Goodacre and her colleagues and is no longer confi ned to the laboratory. University Park compared the growth of Gram positive and Excitingly, new technologies are making spiders Nottingham Gram negative bacteria in the presence and more accessible to study, paving the way for NG7 2RD absence of silk spun by the common house new discoveries and rapid progress in the study UK spider. Interestingly, they found that the silk of their genes and entire genomes. T +44 771 135 0774 inhibited the growth of the Gram positive E [email protected] bacterium and furthermore it did not appear to inhibit the growth of mammalian cells in vitro. www.opalexplorenature.org These fi ndings suggest that spider silk could have future potential therapeutic applications. SARA GOODACRE is a geneticist by

training (her fi rst degree was completed at CITIZEN SCIENCE University of Cambridge, PhD in Genetic Citizen science is one of the central components Studies of Speciation at Nottingham, of Goodacre’s research. She is involved in and postdocs at University of Oxford and educational outreach and has engaged University of East Anglia). She is currently with schools, wildlife trusts and charitable a lecturer at the University of Nottingham. organisations to disseminate information about She works particularly closely with Morito spider biology and research. She is also passionate Hayashi (senior research fellow) and about dispelling negative public perceptions supervises students working on spider and towards spiders, commenting on media scare tick biology and evolution. PROMOTING PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT stories and transmitting more balanced, informed messages into the public sphere. Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) is a UK-wide citizen science initiative supported by the For Goodacre, public engagement in the scientifi c Big Lottery Fund and led by Imperial College process is vital. A large part of her research London that encourages all members of involves the study of spiders in agricultural the general public to connect with nature. settings, monitoring different spiders to fi nd out In partnership with the University of where they are present, recording new species and Nottingham and other academic institutions identifying invasive species. The identifi cation and environmental organisations, it has of spatial and temporal trends such as the developed a range of activities and resources increase or decrease in the range of particular that enable individuals to understand more species is only possible if citizen scientists from about the environment and to collect different geographic areas become involved and important scientifi c data. Spider research is report their observations. Ultimately, the more a relatively new addition to OPAL, joining people that engage in science, the more quickly the existing work led by Peter Crittenden, scientifi c discoveries and advances can be made. Professor of Plant and Microbial Ecology. Additionally, engaging the public encourages Looking ahead, the University is planning individuals to get on board with scientifi c to appoint a Community Scientist to work research and to appreciate the importance of specifi cally on OPAL outreach over the course prioritising its funding. of the next couple of years. 96 INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION