Search results for " evolution"
showing 10 items of 9699 documents
Data from: Black Queen evolution and trophic interactions determine plasmid survival after the disruption of conjugation network
2019
Mobile genetic elements such as conjugative plasmids are responsible for antibiotic resistant phenotypes in many bacterial pathogens. The ability to conjugate, the presence of antibiotics and ecological interactions all have a notable role in the persistence of plasmids in bacterial populations. Here, we set out to investigate the contribution of these factors when the conjugation network was disturbed by a plasmid-dependent bacteriophage. Phage alone effectively caused the population to lose plasmids, thus rendering them susceptible to antibiotics. Leakiness of the antibiotic resistance mechanism allowing Black Queen evolution (i.e. race to the bottom) was a more significant factor over an…
Data from: Do island plant populations really have lower genetic variation than mainland populations? Effects of selection and distribution range on …
2015
Ecological and evolutionary studies largely assume that island populations display low levels of neutral genetic variation. However, this notion has only been formally tested in a few cases involving plant taxa, and the confounding effect of selection on genetic diversity (GD) estimates based on putatively neutral markers has typically been overlooked. Here, we generated nuclear microsatellite and plastid DNA sequence data in Periploca laevigata, a plant taxon with an island-mainland distribution area, to (i) investigate whether selection affects GD estimates of populations across contrasting habitats and (ii) test the long-standing idea that island populations have lower GD than their main…
Data from: Selection analysis on the rapid evolution of a secondary sexual trait
2015
Evolutionary analyses of population translocations (experimental or accidental) have been important in demonstrating speed of evolution because they subject organisms to abrupt environmental changes that create an episode of selection. However, the strength of selection in such studies is rarely measured, limiting our understanding of the evolutionary process. This contrasts with long-term, mark–recapture studies of unmanipulated populations that measure selection directly, yet rarely reveal evolutionary change. Here, we present a study of experimental evolution of male colour in Trinidadian guppies where we tracked both evolutionary change and individual-based measures of selection. Guppie…
Data from: Spatio-temporal dynamics of density-dependent dispersal during a population colonisation
2019
Predicting population colonisations requires understanding how spatio-temporal changes in density affect dispersal. Density can inform on fitness prospects, acting as a cue for either habitat quality, or competition over resources. However, when escaping competition, high local density should only increase emigration if lower-density patches are available elsewhere. Few empirical studies on dispersal have considered the effects of density at the local and landscape scale simultaneously. To explore this, we analyze 5 years of individual-based data from an experimental introduction of wild guppies Poecilia reticulata. Natal dispersal showed a decrease in local density dependence as density at…
Data from: The origin of the serpentine endemic Minuartia laricifolia subsp. ophiolitica by vicariance and competitive exclusion
2013
Serpentine soils harbour a unique flora that is rich in endemics. We examined the evolution of serpentine endemism in Minuartia laricifolia, which has two ecologically distinct subspecies with disjunct distributions: subsp. laricifolia on siliceous rocks in the western Alps and eastern Pyrenees and subsp. ophiolitica on serpentine in the northern Apennines. We analysed AFLPs and chloroplast sequences from 30 populations to examine their relationships and how their current distributions and ecologies were influenced by Quaternary climatic changes. Minuartia laricifolia was divided into four groups with a BAPS cluster analysis of the AFLP data, one group consisted only of subsp. ophiolitica, …
Data from: Positive selection in development and growth rate regulation genes involved in species divergence of the genus Radix
2015
Background: Life history traits like developmental time, age and size at maturity are directly related to fitness in all organisms and play a major role in adaptive evolution and speciation processes. Comparative genomic or transcriptomic approaches to identify positively selected genes involved in species divergence can help to generate hypotheses on the driving forces behind speciation. Here we use a bottom-up approach to investigate this hypothesis by comparative analysis of orthologous transcripts of four closely related European Radix species. Results: Snails of the genus Radix occupy species specific distribution ranges with distinct climatic niches, indicating a potential for natural…
Data from: Growing up with feces: benefits of allo-coprophagy in families of the European earwig
2016
An important issue in the evolution of group living is the risk of pathogen and predator exposure entailed by the inherent accumulation of feces within a nesting site. While many group living species limit this risk by cleaning the nest, others do not, raising questions about the benefits of maintaining feces in the nest and their importance in social evolution. Here, we investigated whether one of these benefits could be mediated by coprophagy in families of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia. In this insect species, mothers and mobile juveniles (nymphs) line their nests with feces and consume them. In a first experiment, we tested whether access to feces produced by either nymphs …
Data from: Negative association between parental care and sibling cooperation in earwigs: a new perspective on the early evolution of family life?
2015
The evolution of family life requires net fitness benefits for offspring, which are commonly assumed to mainly derive from parental care. However, an additional source of benefits for offspring is often overlooked: cooperative interactions among juvenile siblings. In this study, we examined how sibling cooperation and parental care could jointly contribute to the early evolution of family life. Specifically, we tested whether the level of food transferred among siblings (sibling cooperation) in the European earwig Forficula auricularia (1) depends on the level of maternal food provisioning (parental care), and (2) is translated into offspring survival, as well as female investment into futu…
Data from: Short-term benefits, but transgenerational costs of maternal loss in an insect with facultative maternal care
2015
A lack of parental care is generally assumed to entail substantial fitness costs for offspring that ultimately select for the maintenance of family life across generations. However, it is unknown whether these costs arise when parental care is facultative, thus questioning their fundamental importance in the early evolution of family life. Here, we investigated the short-term, long-term and transgenerational effects of maternal loss in the European earwig Forficula auricularia, an insect with facultative post-hatching maternal care. We showed that maternal loss did not influence the developmental time and survival rate of juveniles, but surprisingly yielded adults of larger body and forceps…
Data from: Life history differences in age-dependent expressions of multiple ornaments and behaviors in a lekking bird
2014
Age is a major factor explaining variation in life-history traits among individuals with typical patterns of increasing trait values early in life, maximum trait expression, and senescence. However, age-dependent variation in the expressions of sexually selected traits has received less attention, although such variation underpins differences in male competitive abilities and female preference, which are central to sexual selection. In contrast to previous studies focusing on single traits, we used repeated measures of seven sexually selected morphological and behavioral traits in male black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) to quantify the effects of age and life span on their expressions and quantif…