Search results for "ABILITY"
showing 10 items of 18559 documents
Odor diversity decreases with inbreeding in the antHypoponera opacior
2016
Reduction in heterozygosity can lead to inbreeding depression. This loss of genetic variability especially affects diverse loci, such as immune genes or those encoding recognition cues. In social insects, nestmates are recognized by their odor, that is their cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Genes underlying hydrocarbon production are thought to be under balancing selection. If so, inbreeding should result in a loss of chemical diversity. We show here that cuticular hydrocarbon diversity decreases with inbreeding. Studying an ant with a facultative inbreeding lifestyle, we found inbred workers to exhibit both a lower number of hydrocarbons and less diverse, that is less evenly proportioned pro…
Potential of science to address the hunger issue: Ecology, biotechnology, cattle breeding and the large pantry of the sea
2018
The knowledge about the real possibilities that current science gives us is basic to support everything that is not negative either for men or for our environment. In this way, it is an advantage to win this battle against hunger with rational use of science advantages. In this paper, we start from the basis that the solution to the problems of hunger requires the multidisciplinary action of sciences and knowledge. We provide a reflection on the possibilities to be considered from disciplines such as ecology, biotechnology, veterinary and aquaculture. The need for ecological studies where the role of human beings as part of ecosystems is considered. In addition, advances in molecular biolog…
Microbial symbionts expanding or constraining abiotic niche space in insects
2020
In addition to their well-studied contributions to their host’s nutrition, digestion, and defense, microbial symbionts of insects are increasingly found to affect their host’s response toward abiotic stressors. In particular, symbiotic microbes can reduce or enhance tolerance to temperature extremes, improve desiccation resistance by aiding cuticle biosynthesis and sclerotization, and detoxify heavy metals. As such, individual symbionts or microbial communities can expand or constrain the abiotic niche space of their host and determine its adaptability to fluctuating environments. In light of the increasing impact of humans on climate and environment, a better understanding of host-microbe …
Gene expression in diapausing rotifer eggs in response to divergent environmental predictability regimes
2020
AbstractIn unpredictable environments in which reliable cues for predicting environmental variation are lacking, a diversifying bet-hedging strategy for diapause exit is expected to evolve, whereby only a portion of diapausing forms will resume development at the first occurrence of suitable conditions. This study focused on diapause termination in the rotifer Brachionus plicatilis s.s., addressing the transcriptional profile of diapausing eggs from environments differing in the level of predictability and the relationship of such profiles with hatching patterns. RNA-Seq analyses revealed significant differences in gene expression between diapausing eggs produced in the laboratory under com…
Successive Losses of Central Immune Genes Characterize the Gadiformes' Alternate Immunity.
2016
Great genetic variability among teleost immunomes, with gene losses and expansions of central adaptive and innate components, has been discovered through genome sequencing over the last few years. Here, we demonstrate that the innate Myxovirus resistance gene (Mx) is lost from the ancestor of Gadiformes and the closely related Stylephorus chordatus, thus predating the loss of Major Histocompatibility Complex class II (MHCII) in Gadiformes. Although the functional implication of Mx loss is still unknown, we demonstrate that this loss is one of several ancient events appearing in successive order throughout the evolution of teleost immunity. In particular, we find that the loss of Toll-like r…
HERITABILITIES OF DOMINANCE-RELATED TRAITS IN MALE BANK VOLES (CLETHRIONOMYS GLAREOLUS)
1998
A number of studies have shown that in several animal species females prefer dominant males as mating partners, but fewer attempts have been made to measure possible indirect benefits of this choice. One reason for this may be that, even though dominance is a widely used concept, the definition of dominance still remains controversial. Furthermore, defining and measuring the heritability of social behaviors is problematic because they are not individual traits but, by definition, involve interactions between at least two individuals. In this study we estimated heritabilities and coefficients of additive genetic variances (CVA) for male traits that are closely associated with dominance and f…
Ongoing Evolution in the Genus Crocus: Diversity of Flowering Strategies on the Way to Hysteranthy
2021
[EN] Species of the genus Crocus are found over a wide range of climatic areas. In natural habitats, these geophytes diverge in the flowering strategies. This variability was assessed by analyzing the flowering traits of the Spanish collection of wild crocuses, preserved in the Bank of Plant Germplasm of Cuenca. Plants of the seven Spanish species were analyzed both in their natural environments (58 native populations) and in common garden experiments (112 accessions). Differences among species observed in the native habitats were maintained under uniform environmental conditions, suggesting a genetic basis for flowering mechanisms. Two eco-morphological types, autumn- and spring-flowering …
Phenotypic traits of berries and seeds of Sicilian grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera L.)
2020
Abstract Grapevine is characterized by high variability in seed and berry morphology and their phenotypic traits are usually used to describe V. vinifera varieties. The goal of this study was to investigate the phenotypic diversity of berry and seed traits and the relationships between berry and seed morphological characteristics of autochthonous accessions of Sicilian germplasm. In two seasons, twenty bunches per cultivar were harvested at technological maturity. Berry weight; berry longitudinal and transversal diameters; seed number/weight per berry; and seed length, thickness, width and beak length were determined, after which the diameter ratio was calculated. Black and white cultivars …
S-genotype identification, genetic diversity and structure analysis of Italian sweet cherry germplasm
2017
In this study, 186 local sweet cherry accessions from 12 Italian regions, plus eight reference accessions, were analysed for the first time, using 13 microsatellite markers. Moreover, their S-incompatibility genotypes were identified with consensus primers for the S-RNase and SFB genes. A total of 161 unique genotypes were found; 18 groups of synonyms, along with the discovery of cases of misidentification. The average number of alleles per locus was 9.7, the mean expected heterozygosity (He) was 0.63, the mean observed heterozygosity (Ho) was 0.65 and the mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.58. The structure analysis revealed the presence of six populations, which reflected in…
High-throughput 18K SNP array to assess genetic variability of the main grapevine cultivars from Sicily
2016
The viticulture of Sicily, for its vocation, is one of the most important and ancient forms in Italy. Autochthonous grapevine cultivars, many of which known throughout the world, have always been cultivated in the island from many centuries. With the aim to preserve this large grapevine diversity, previous studies have already started to assess the genetic variability among the Sicilian cultivars by using morphological and microsatellite markers. In this study, simple sequence repeat (SSR) were utilized to verify the true-to-typeness of a large clone collection (101) belonging to 21 biotypes of the most 10 cultivated Sicilian cultivars. Afterwards, 42 Organization Internationale de la Vigne…