Search results for "AGI"

In situ Phenotyping of Grapevine Root System Architecture by 2D or 3D Imaging: Advantages and Limits of Three Cultivation Methods

2021

International audience; The root system plays an essential role in the development and physiology of the plant, as well as in its response to various stresses. However, it is often insufficiently studied, mainly because it is difficult to visualize. For grapevine, a plant of major economic interest, there is a growing need to study the root system, in particular to assess its resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, understand the decline that may affect it, and identify new ecofriendly production systems. In this context, we have evaluated and compared three distinct growing methods (hydroponics, plane, and cylindric rhizotrons) in order to describe relevant architectural root traits of …

Oxidative stress and senescence in social insects: A significant but inconsistent link?

2021

The life-prolonging effects of antioxidants have long entered popular culture, but the scientific community still debates whether free radicals and the resulting oxidative stress negatively affect longevity. Social insects are intriguing models for analysing the relationship between oxidative stress and senescence because life histories differ vastly between long-lived reproductives and the genetically similar but short-lived workers. Here, we present the results of an experiment on the accumulation of oxidative damage to proteins, and a comparative analysis of the expression of 20 selected genes commonly involved in managing oxidative damage, across four species of social insects: a termit…

Alu insertion polymorphisms in the African Sahel and the origin of Fulani pastoralists.

2017

The origin of Western African pastoralism, represented today by the Fulani nomads, has been a highly debated issue for the past decades, and has not yet been conclusively resolved.This study focused on Alu polymorphisms in sedentary and nomadic populations across the African Sahel to investigate patterns of diversity that can complement the existing results and contribute to resolving issues concerning the origin of West African pastoralism.A new dataset of 21 Alu biallelic markers covering a substantial part of the African Sahel has been analysed jointly with several published North African populations.Interestingly, with regard to Alu variation, the relationship of Fulani pastoralists to …

Typification of the linnaean name statice limonium (Plumbaginaceae)

2018

Viability, behavior, and color expression in the offspring of matings between common wall lizard Podarcis muralis color morphs

2021

Abstract Color polymorphisms are widely studied to identify the mechanisms responsible for the origin and maintenance of phenotypic variability in nature. Two of the mechanisms of balancing selection currently thought to explain the long-term persistence of polymorphisms are the evolution of alternative phenotypic optima through correlational selection on suites of traits including color and heterosis. Both of these mechanisms can generate differences in offspring viability and fitness arising from different morph combinations. Here, we examined the effect of parental morph combination on fertilization success, embryonic viability, newborn quality, antipredator, and foraging behavior, as we…

Variation in male fertility in a polymorphic moth, Parasemia plantaginis

2016

The maintenance of multiple morphs in warning signals is enigmatic because directional selection through predator avoidance should lead to the rapid loss of such variation. Opposing natural and sexual selection is a good candidate driving the maintenance of multiple male morphs but it also includes another enigma: when warning signal efficiency differs between male morphs, why would females choose a phenotype with lower survival? We tested the hypothesis that indirect responses to selection on correlated characters through sexual selection may substantially shape the evolution of male coloration. If male phenotypes differ in their fertilization ability, female choice against the best surviv…

Hierarchical networks of food exchange in the black garden ant Lasius niger

2020

In most eusocial insects, the division of labour results in relatively few individuals foraging for the entire colony. Thus, the survival of the colony depends on its efficiency in meeting the nutritional needs of all its members. Here, we characterise the network topology of a eusocial insect to understand the role and centrality of each caste in this network during the process of food dissemination. We constructed trophallaxis networks from 34 food-exchange experiments in black garden ants (Lasius niger). We tested the influence of brood and colony size on (i) global indices at the network level (i.e. efficiency, resilience, centralisation and modularity) and (ii) individual values (i.e. …

Can we rely on selected genetic markers for population identification? Evidence from coastal Atlantic cod

2018

Abstract The use of genetic markers under putative selection in population studies carries the potential for erroneous identification of populations and misassignment of individuals to population of origin. Selected markers are nevertheless attractive, especially in marine organisms that are characterized by weak population structure at neutral loci. Highly fecund species may tolerate the cost of strong selective mortality during early life stages, potentially leading to a shift in offspring genotypes away from the parental proportions. In Atlantic cod, recent genetic studies have uncovered different genotype clusters apparently representing phenotypically cryptic populations that coexist i…

Can multiple-model mimicry explain warning signal polymorphism in the wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis (Lepidoptera: Erebidae)?

2018

2019

A central prediction of niche theory is that biotic communities are structured by niche differentiation arising from competition. To date, there have been numerous studies of niche differentiation in local ant communities, but little attention has been given to the macroecology of niche differentiation, including the extent to which particular biomes show distinctive patterns of niche structure across their global ranges. We investigated patterns of niche differentiation and competition in ant communities in tropical rainforests, using different baits reflecting the natural food spectrum. We examined the extent of temporal and dietary niche differentiation and spatial segregation of ant com…