Search results for "NTS"
showing 10 items of 26146 documents
Ecological plant epigenetics: Evidence from model and non-model species, and the way forward
2017
Growing evidence shows that epigenetic mechanisms contribute to complex traits, with implications across many fields of biology. In plant ecology, recent studies have attempted to merge ecological experiments with epigenetic analyses to elucidate the contribution of epigenetics to plant phenotypes, stress responses, adaptation to habitat, and range distributions. While there has been some progress in revealing the role of epigenetics in ecological processes, studies with non-model species have so far been limited to describing broad patterns based on anonymous markers of DNA methylation. In contrast, studies with model species have benefited from powerful genomic resources, which contribute…
Covariation and phenotypic integration in chemical communication displays: biosynthetic constraints and eco-evolutionary implications
2018
Chemical communication is ubiquitous. The identification of conserved structural elements in visual and acoustic communication is well established, but comparable information on chemical communication displays (CCDs) is lacking. We assessed the phenotypic integration of CCDs in a meta‐analysis to characterize patterns of covariation in CCDs and identified functional or biosynthetically constrained modules. Poorly integrated plant CCDs (i.e. low covariation between scent compounds) support the notion that plants often utilize one or few key compounds to repel antagonists or to attract pollinators and enemies of herbivores. Animal CCDs (mostly insect pheromones) were usually more integrated t…
Carotenoids and Some Other Pigments from Fungi and Yeasts †
2021
Carotenoids are an essential group of compounds that may be obtained by microbiological synthesis. They are instrumental in various areas of industry, medicine, agriculture, and ecology. The increase of carotenoids’ demand at the global market is now essential. At the moment, the production of natural carotenoids is more expensive than obtaining their synthetic forms, but several new approaches/directions on how to decrease this difference were developed during the last decades. This review briefly describes the information accumulated until now about the beneficial effects of carotenoids on human health protection, their possible application in the treatments of various diseases, and their…
Tandem‐running and scouting behaviour are characterized by up‐regulation of learning and memory formation genes within the ant brain
2018
Tandem-running is a recruitment behaviour in ants that has been described as a form of teaching, where spatial information possessed by a leader is conveyed to following nestmates. Within Temnothorax ants, tandem-running is used within a variety of contexts, from foraging and nest relocation to-in the case of slavemaking species-slave raiding. Here, we elucidate the transcriptomic basis of scouting, tandem-leading and tandem-following behaviours across two species with divergent lifestyles: the slavemaking Temnothorax americanus and its primary, nonparasitic host T. longispinosus. Analysis of gene expression data from brains revealed that only a small number of unique differentially express…
Ant behaviour and brain gene expression of defending hosts depend on the ecological success of the intruding social parasite.
2019
The geographical mosaic theory of coevolution predicts that species interactions vary between locales. Depending on who leads the coevolutionary arms race, the effectivity of parasite attack or host defence strategies will explain parasite prevalence. Here, we compare behaviour and brain transcriptomes of Temnothorax longispinosus ant workers when defending their nest against an invading social parasite, the slavemaking ant Temnothorax americanus . A full-factorial design allowed us to test whether behaviour and gene expression are linked to parasite pressure on host populations or to the ecological success of parasite populations. Albeit host defences had been shown before to covary with …
The nucleotide sequence of a recombinant tomato yellow leaf curl virus strain frequently detected in Sicily isolated from tomato plants carrying the …
2017
In July 2016, an aggressive syndrome of tomato yellow leaf curl disease was reported in Sicily in tomato plants carrying the Ty-1 resistance gene. A total of 34 samples were collected and analyzed. Twenty-seven out of the 34 samples analyzed appeared to contain only recombinant molecules. One full sequence was obtained after cloning. Alignments and plot similarity analysis showed that the genome of the recombinant, named TYLCV-IL[IT:Sic23:16], was mostly derived from tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV), with a small region of 132 nucleotides in the non-coding region between the stem-loop and the start of the V2 ORF replaced by 124 nucleotides derived from a virus of a different species, t…
Chironomus riparius(Diptera) genome sequencing reveals the impact of minisatellite transposable elements on population divergence
2016
AbstractActive transposable elements (TEs) may result in divergent genomic insertion and abundance patterns among conspecific populations. Upon secondary contact, such divergent genetic backgrounds can theoretically give rise to classical Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities (DMI), a way how TEs can contribute to the evolution of endogenous genetic barriers and eventually population divergence. We investigated whether differential TE activity created endogenous selection pressures among conspecific populations of the non-biting midgeChironomus riparius,focussing on aChironomus-specific TE, the minisatellite-likeCla-element, whose activity is associated with speciation in the genus. Using an …
Repeated evolution of camouflage in speciose desert rodents
2017
AbstractThere are two main factors explaining variation among species and the evolution of characters along phylogeny: adaptive change, including phenotypic and genetic responses to selective pressures, and phylogenetic inertia, or the resemblance between species due to shared phylogenetic history. Phenotype-habitat colour match, a classic Darwinian example of the evolution of camouflage (crypsis), offers the opportunity to test the importance of historical versus ecological mechanisms in shaping phenotypes among phylogenetically closely related taxa. To assess it, we investigated fur (phenotypic data) and habitat (remote sensing data) colourations, along with phylogenetic information, in t…
From microbial eukaryotes to metazoan vertebrates: Wide spectrum paleo-diversity in sedimentary ancient DNA over the last ~14,500 years
2018
Most studies that utilize ancient DNA have focused on specific groups of organisms or even single species. Instead, the whole biodiversity of eukaryotes can be described using universal phylogenetic marker genes found within well-preserved sediment cores that cover the post-glacial period. Sedimentary ancient DNA samples from Lake Lielais Svētiņu, eastern Latvia, at a core depth of 1,050 cm in ~150 year intervals were used to determine phylotaxonomy in domain Eukaryota. Phylotaxonomic affiliation of >1,200 eukaryotic phylotypes revealed high richness in all major eukaryotic groups-Alveolata, Stramenopiles, Cercozoa, Chlorophyta, Charophyta, Nucletmycea, and Holozoa. The share of organisms t…
GIPC: Glycosyl Inositol Phospho Ceramides, the major sphingolipids on earth
2016
What are the most abundant sphingolipids on earth? The answer is Glycosyl Inositol Phosphoryl Ceramides (GIPCs) present in fungi and the green lineage. In this review, we discuss the putative role of plant GIPCs in the lipid bilayer asymmetry, in the lateral organization of membrane rafts and in the very long chain fatty acid inter-leaflet coupling of lipids in the plant plasma membrane (PM). A special focus on the structural similarities -and putative functions- of GIPCs is discussed by comparison with animal gangliosides, structural homologs of plant GIPCs.