Search results for "BS"

Whole-genome resequencing of Cucurbita pepo morphotypes to discover genomic variants associated with morphology and horticulturally valuable traits

2019

[EN] Cucurbita pepo contains two cultivated subspecies, each of which encompasses four fruit-shape morphotypes (cultivar groups). The Pumpkin, Vegetable Marrow, Cocozelle, and Zucchini Groups are of subsp. pepo and the Acorn, Crookneck, Scallop, and Straightneck Groups are of subsp. ovifera. Recently, a de novo assembly of the C. pepo subsp. pepo Zucchini genome was published, providing insights into its evolution. To expand our knowledge of evolutionary processes within C. pepo and to identify variants associated with particular morphotypes, we performed whole-genome resequencing of seven of these eight C. pepo morphotypes. We report for the first time whole-genome resequencing of the four…

Gene flow in the European coal tit, Periparus ater (Aves: Passeriformes): Low among Mediterranean populations but high in a continental contact zone

2018

Abstract Extant phylogeographical patterns of Palearctic terrestrial vertebrates are generally believed to have originated from glacial range fragmentation. Post-Pleistocene range expansions have led to the formation of secondary contact zones among genetically distinct taxa. For coal tits (Periparus ater), such a contact zone has been localized in Germany. In this study, we quantified gene flow between Fennoscandian and southern European coal tits using a set of 13 microsatellite loci. STRUCTURE analysis revealed four genetic clusters, two occurring on Mediterranean islands. German populations were genetically admixed but introgression of southern alleles was evident for Fennoscandian popu…

Stress integrated tests and cytological analyses reveal Brassica villosa subsp. drepanensis seed quality decrease upon long-term storage

2016

Under stress integrated germination test (SIGT), seeds undergo osmo-saline stresses, which enable to detect differences in vigour of long-term stored seeds with high germination percentage (G%). The quality of Brassica villosa subsp. drepanensis seeds stored in a genebank (at -20°C for 16 years) was compared with seeds at harvest by standard germination tests (GT), SIGT and cytogenetic analysis. No differences were detected in G% and mean germination time under GT. Conversely, SIGT performed with NaCl -0.9MPa osmotic potential did not influence G% at harvest but reduced that of stored seeds, SIGT at -1.4MPa reduced G% of both. Cytogenetic analysis showed reduction of mitotic index, appearan…

2017

Both effective population size and life history may influence the efficacy of purifying selection, but it remains unclear if the environment affects the accumulation of weakly deleterious nonsynonymous polymorphisms. We hypothesize that the reduced energetic cost of osmoregulation in brackish water habitat may cause relaxation of selective constraints at mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) genes. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed 57 complete mitochondrial genomes of Pungitius pungitius collected from brackish and freshwater habitats. Based on inter- and intraspecific comparisons, we estimated that 84% and 68% of the nonsynonymous polymorphisms in the freshwater and brackish …

Photoprotection dynamics observed at leaf level from fast temporal reflectance changes

2018

Vegetation dynamically reacts to the available photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) by adjusting the photosynthetic apparatus to either a light harvesting or a photoprotective modus. When activating the photoprotection mechanism, either minor or major pigment-protein interactions may occur at the leaf level, resulting in different light absorption and consequently reflectance intensities. The reflectance changes were measured during sudden illumination transients designed to provoke fast adaptation to high irradiance. Different spectral reflectance change features were observed during different stages of photoprotection activation, extending over part of the visible spectral range (i.e…

Identification of conserved genes linked to responses to abiotic stresses in leaves among different plant species

2020

As a consequence of global climate change, certain stress factors that have a negative impact on crop productivity such as heat, cold, drought and salinity are becoming increasingly prevalent. We conducted a meta-analysis to identify genes conserved across plant species involved in (1) general abiotic stress conditions, and (2) specific and unique abiotic stress factors (drought, salinity, extreme temperature) in leaf tissues. We collected raw data and re-analysed eight RNA-Seq studies using our previously published bioinformatic pipeline. A total of 68 samples were analysed. Gene set enrichment analysis was performed using MapMan and PageMan whereas DAVID (Database for Annotation, Visuali…

Identification of ABA-Mediated Genetic and Metabolic Responses to Soil Flooding in Tomato (

2021

Soil flooding is a compound abiotic stress that alters soil properties and limits atmospheric gas diffusion (O2 and CO2) to the roots. The involvement of abscisic acid (ABA) in the regulation of soil flooding-specific genetic and metabolic responses has been scarcely studied despite its key importance as regulator in other abiotic stress conditions. To attain this objective, wild type and ABA-deficient tomatoes were subjected to short-term (24 h) soil waterlogging. After this period, gas exchange parameters were reduced in the wild type but not in ABA-deficient plants that always had higher E and gs. Transcript and metabolite alterations were more intense in waterlogged tissues, with genoty…

Fungal spore diversity reflects substrate-specific deposition challenges

2018

AbstractSexual spores are important for the dispersal and population dynamics of fungi. They show remarkable morphological diversity, but the underlying forces driving spore evolution are poorly known. We investigated whether trophic status and substrate associations are associated with morphology in 787 macrofungal genera. We show that both spore size and ornamentation are associated with trophic specialization, so that large and ornamented spores are more probable in ectomycorrhizal than in saprotrophic genera. This suggests that spore ornamentation facilitates attachment to arthropod vectors, which ectomycorrhizal species may need to reach lower soil layers. Elongated spore shapes are mo…

Inter- and intra-specific genomic divergence in Drosophila montana shows evidence for cold adaptation

2018

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland to AH (projects 132619 and 267244) and to MK (projects 268214 and 272927) and NERC (UK) funding to MGR (grants NE/E015255/1 and NE/J020818/1) and PhD studentship to DJP (NE/I528634/1). The genomes of species that are ecological specialists will likely contain signatures of genomic adaptation to their niche. However, distinguishing genes related to ecological specialism from other sources of selection and more random changes is a challenge. Here we describe the genome of Drosophila montana, which is the most extremely cold-adapted Drosophila species. We use branch tests to identify genes showing accelerated divergence in contrasts between col…

RNA-Seq analysis to investigate alternate bearing mechanism in Pistacia vera L

2018

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) production suffers a high level of alternate bearing. The mechanism underlying this negative phenomenon is different from other species, such as apple and olive. Pistachio produces a high number of inflorescence buds every year that in heavy cropping trees (“ON”) mostly fall during the kernel development phase, which occurs in July-August. Primary metabolites (i.e., carbohydrates) play a key role in the signaling related to inflorescence bud abscission. In this work, RNA-Seq was used as a tool to investigate transcriptome of inflorescence buds and fruits, sampled from branches with low (“OFF”) and high (“ON”) crop load. Reference based RNA-Seq analysis using Ara…