Search results for "Divergent Evolution"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
Evolution in the Arctic: a phylogeographic analysis of the circumarctic plant,Saxifraga oppositifolia(Purple saxifrage)
2003
Summary • A survey of chloroplast DNA variation in the circumarctic-alpine plant, Saxifraga oppositifolia, has resolved two highly divergent cpDNA lineages with geographically widespread and mainly allopatric distributions that are largely concordant with those of two subspecies, that is, subspp. oppositifolia and glandulisepala. These subspecies differ for a single morphological trait and hence level of morphological divergence does not equate to molecular divergence within the species. • The two cpDNA lineages were estimated to have diverged from their most recent common ancestor 5.37–3.76 Ma, that is, during the early to mid-Pliocene. • A nested clade analysis was conducted in an attempt…
In situlocalization of the evolutionary conserved Cpy/Cty gene in the subfamily Chironominae (Chironomidae, Diptera): establishment of chromosomal ho…
2009
The homologous sites on the salivary gland chromosomes of 13 species from three genera: Chironomus, Glyptotendipes, Kiefferulus have been mapped by means of fluorescent in situ hybridization using the evolutionary conserved gene Cpy⁄Cty (clone Cla1.1). In all species of genus Chironomus and genus Kiefferulus, the Cty⁄Cpy gene is located on arm F of chromosome EF. The relocation of the gene among the species of genus Chironomus can be done by simple or complex homozygous inversions which occurred during the divergent evolution of the chromosome of the species. In the genus Glyptotendipes, the Cty⁄Cpy gene was localized in arm E of chromosome EF. Since the banding patterns of salivary gland c…
Divergent Evolution of an "Orphon" Historic Gene Cluster in Chironomus
1993
The histone genes of the midge Chironomus thummi thummi are organized in tandemly repeated gene groups, each containing the four core histone genes plus an H1 gene. These repetitive gene groups are found at five different loci, linked on one chromosomal arm. In addition to the clustered gene groups an isolated histone gene group exists which is found spatially separated on a different chromosome ("orphon" gene group). These orphon genes have been cloned and analysed in detail. Nucleotide sequence and in situ hybridization data suggest that the orphon gene group was established early during chironomid speciation, possibly by a transposition-like mechanism. This allowed the genes to be moved …
The role of parasitism in adaptive radiations – when might parasites promote and when might they constrain ecological speciation?
2012
Research on speciation and adaptive radiation has flourished during the past decades, yet factors underlying initiation of reproductive isolation often remain unknown. Parasites represent important selective agents and have received renewed attention in speciation research. We review the literature on parasite-mediated divergent selection in context of ecological speciation and present empirical evidence for three nonexclusive mechanisms by which parasites might facilitate speciation: reduced viability or fecundity of immigrants and hybrids, assortative mating as a pleiotropic by-product of host adaptation, and ecologically-based sexual selection. We emphasise the lack of research on specia…
Life History Trade-Offs and Relaxed Selection Can Decrease Bacterial Virulence in Environmental Reservoirs
2012
Pathogen virulence is usually thought to evolve in reciprocal selection with the host. While this might be true for obligate pathogens, the life histories of opportunistic pathogens typically alternate between within-host and outside-host environments during the infection-transmission cycle. As a result, opportunistic pathogens are likely to experience conflicting selection pressures across different environments, and this could affect their virulence through life-history trait correlations. We studied these correlations experimentally by exposing an opportunistic bacterial pathogen Serratia marcescens to its natural protist predator Tetrahymena thermophila for 13 weeks, after which we meas…
Rumbling Orchids: How To Assess Divergent Evolution Between Chloroplast Endosymbionts and the Nuclear Host.
2015
Phylogenetic relationships inferred from multilocus organellar and nuclear DNA data are often difficult to resolve because of evolutionary conflicts among gene trees. However, conflicting or "outlier" associations (i.e., linked pairs of "operational terminal units" in two phylogenies) among these data sets often provide valuable information on evolutionary processes such as chloroplast capture following hybridization, incomplete lineage sorting, and horizontal gene transfer. Statistical tools that to date have been used in cophylogenetic studies only also have the potential to test for the degree of topological congruence between organellar and nuclear data sets and reliably detect outlier …
Phenotypic Divergence among West European Populations of Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus: The Effects of Migratory and Foraging Behaviours
2013
[EN] Divergent selection and local adaptation are responsible for many phenotypic differences between populations, potentially leading to speciation through the evolution of reproductive barriers. Here we evaluated the morphometric divergence among west European populations of Reed Bunting in order to determine the extent of local adaptation relative to two important selection pressures often associated with speciation in birds: migration and diet. We show that, as expected by theory, migratory E. s. schoeniclus had longer and more pointed wings and a slightly smaller body mass than the resident subspecies, with the exception of E. s. lusitanica, which despite having rounder wings was the s…