Search results for " evolution."
showing 10 items of 9653 documents
The Social Life of Viruses
2021
Despite their simplicity, viruses exhibit certain types of social interactions. Situations in which a given virus achieves higher fitness in combination with other members of the viral population have been described at the level of transmission, replication, suppression of host immune responses, and host killing, enabling the evolution of viral cooperation. Although cellular coinfection with multiple viral particles is the typical playground for these interactions, cooperation between viruses infecting different cells is also established through cellular and viral-encoded communication systems. In general, the stability of cooperation is compromised by cheater genotypes, as best exemplified…
Pigment patterns in mutants affecting the biosynthesis of pteridines and xanthommatin in Drosophila melanogaster.
1986
Eye-color mutants of Drosophila melanogaster have been analyzed for their pigment content and related metabolites. Xanthommatin and dihydroxanthommatin (pigments causing brown eye color) were measured after selective extraction in acidified butanol. Pteridines (pigments causing red eye color) were quantitated after separation of 28 spots by thin-layer chromatography, most of which are pteridines and a few of which are fluorescent metabolites from the xanthommatin pathway. Pigment patterns have been studied in 45 loci. The pteridine pathway ramifies into two double branches giving rise to isoxanthopterin, “drosopterins,” and biopterin as final products. The regulatory relationship among the …
Impaired crypsis of fish infected with a trophically transmitted parasite
2005
Trophically transmitted parasites may enhance their transmission by altering the phenotype of infected hosts to increase their vulnerability to predation by the next hosts in the life cycle. In an experimental study, we investigated whether the parasite Diplostomum spathaceum (Trematoda) alters cryptic coloration and cryptic behaviour of infected rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, so that they would be more conspicuous to avian predators. The parasite reduces the vision of fish by lodging in the eyes and inducing cataract formation, which gives it an opportunity to affect fish crypsis. We examined the effect of the parasite on the ability of fish to adjust their coloration to the environme…
Coloration reflects behavioural types in the convict cichlid, Amatitlania siquia.
2015
9 pages; International audience; Interindividual behavioural differences, consistent over time and across situations, are frequently related to differences in reproductive success, susceptibility to disease and competitive ability. The behavioural phenotype of a conspecific is likely to affect the outcome of a social interaction, so an individual must be able to accurately assess behavioural phenotypes in order to optimize behavioural responses during mate choice, cooperative relationships and agonistic interactions. However, behavioural assessment based on dyadic interactions in different contexts can be costly because it may require significant time, increase the risk of predation and oft…
In vitro evolution of an atrazine-degrading population under cyanuric acid selection pressure: Evidence for the selective loss of a 47kb region on th…
2011
International audience; The adaptation of microorganisms to pesticide biodegradation relies on the recruitment of catabolic genes by horizontal gene transfer and homologous recombination mediated by insertion sequences (IS). This environment-friendly function is maintained in the degrading population but it has a cost which could diminish its fitness. The loss of genes in the course of evolution being a major mechanism of ecological specialization, we mimicked evolution in vitro by sub-culturing the atrazine-degrading Pseudomonas sp. ADP in a liquid medium containing cyanuric acid as the sole source of nitrogen. After 120 generations, a new population evolved, which replaced the original on…
Stepping up to genome scan allows stock differentiation in the worldwide distributed blue shark Prionace glauca
2023
The blue shark Prionace glauca is a top predator with one of the widest geographic distributions of any shark species, yet classified as critically endangered in the Mediterranean Sea, and Near Threatened globally. Previous genetic studies did not reject the null hypothesis of a single global population across the worldwide species range. Blue shark situation was proposed as a possible archetype of the ‘grey zone of population differentiation’, coined to designate cases where population structure may be too recent or too faint to be detected using a limited set of markers. Here, blue shark samples collected throughout its global range were sequenced using a specific ddRAD method (DArTseq; G…
Intrachromosomal Telomeric Sequences Distribution in Ceboidea Can Reveal Insights into the Chromosomal Evolution in New World Primates
2015
Climate signatures on decadal to interdecadal time scales as obtained from mollusk shells (Arctica islandica) from Iceland
2013
Abstract Pronounced decadal climate oscillations are detected in a multi-centennial record based on shell growth rates of the marine bivalve mollusk, Arctica islandica, from Iceland. The corresponding analysis of patterns in sea level pressure and temperature exhibit large-scale teleconnections with North Atlantic climate quantities. We find that the record projects onto blocking situations in the northern North Atlantic. The associated circulation shows a low-pressure signature over Greenland and the Labrador Sea and a high-pressure system over Western Europe associated with northeasterly flow towards Iceland and weakening in the westerly zonal flow over Europe. It can be speculated that s…
Studies on the effects of Ca2++ and Co++ on the swimming behavior of the blind Mexican cave fish
1992
The hypothesis that the blind cave fish (Astyanax hubbsi) adjusts the level of stimulation to its lateral line system (LLS) by varying its own velocity was examined. When the sensitivity of the LLS sense organs was reduced by lowering the Ca2+ concentration in the water or by adding Co2+ the fish compensated for this by swimming at a higher velocity.
Allium aetnense (Amaryllidaceae), a new species from Sicily.
2013
A new species from Mt Etna (Sicily), Allium aetenense of A. sect. Codonoprasum, is described and illustrated. It is a diploid species (2n = 16) that grows on basaltic rocks in the mountain belt and shows close relationships with A. tenuiflorum of the Italian peninsula. Its morphology, karyology, leaf anatomy, seed coat microsculpturing, ecology and taxonomic position are examined.