Search results for "Natural selection"
showing 10 items of 129 documents
Paternal effects on functional gender account for cryptic dioecy in a perennial plant.
2004
7 páginas, 3 figuras, 1 tabla.
UVPAR: fast detection of functional shifts in duplicate genes.
2006
Abstract Background The imprint of natural selection on gene sequences is often difficult to detect. A plethora of methods have been devised to detect genetic changes due to selective processes. However, many of those methods depend heavily on underlying assumptions regarding the mode of change of DNA sequences and often require sophisticated mathematical treatments that made them computationally slow. The development of fast and effective methods to detect modifications in the selective constraints of genes is therefore of great interest. Results We describe UVPAR, a program designed to quickly test for changes in the functional constraints of duplicate genes. Starting with alignments of t…
'Niche Selection' and the evolution of a complex behavior in a changing environment--a simulation.
2000
One of the key problems in theoretical biology is the identification of the mechanisms underlying the evolution of complexity. This paper suggests that some difficulties in current models could be avoided by taking account of “niche selection” as proposed by Waddington [21] and subsequent authors [2]. Computer simulations, in which an evolving population of artificial organisms “selects” the niche(s) that maximize their fitness, are compared with a Control Model in which “Niche Selection” is absent. In the simulations the Niche Selection Model consistently produced a greater number of “fit” organisms than the Control Model; although the Niche Selection Model tended, in general, to produce o…
Coincidental loss of bacterial virulence in multi-enemy microbial communities.
2014
The coincidental virulence evolution hypothesis suggests that outside-host selection, such as predation, parasitism and resource competition can indirectly affect the virulence of environmentally-growing bacterial pathogens. While there are some examples of coincidental environmental selection for virulence, it is also possible that the resource acquisition and enemy defence is selecting against it. To test these ideas we conducted an evolutionary experiment by exposing the opportunistic pathogen bacterium Serratia marcescens to the particle-feeding ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, the surfacefeeding amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii, and the lytic bacteriophage Semad11, in all possible combi…
Genetic Characterization of Legionella pneumophila Isolated from a Common Watershed in Comunidad Valenciana, Spain
2013
Legionella pneumophila infects humans to produce legionellosis and Pontiac fever only from environmental sources. In order to establish control measures and study the sources of outbreaks it is essential to know extent and distribution of strain variants of this bacterium in the environment. Sporadic and outbreak-related cases of legionellosis have been historically frequent in the Comunidad Valenciana region (CV, Spain), with a high prevalence in its Southeastern-most part (BV). Environmental investigations for the detection of Legionella pneumophila are performed in this area routinely. We present a population genetics study of 87 L. pneumophila strains isolated in 13 different localities…
Genetic and Ecotypic Differentiation in a Californian Plant Polyploid Complex (Grindelia, Asteraceae)
2014
Studies of ecotypic differentiation in the California Floristic Province have contributed greatly to plant evolutionary biology since the pioneering work of Clausen, Keck, and Hiesey. The extent of gene flow and genetic differentiation across interfertile ecotypes that span major habitats in the California Floristic Province is understudied, however, and is important for understanding the prospects for local adaptation to evolve or persist in the face of potential gene flow across populations in different ecological settings. We used microsatellite data to examine local differentiation in one of these lineages, the Pacific Coast polyploid complex of the plant genus Grindelia (Asteraceae). W…
Reconstruction of the evolutionary history of Saccharomyces cerevisiae x S. kudriavzevii hybrids based on multilocus sequence analysis.
2012
In recent years, interspecific hybridization and introgression are increasingly recognized as significant events in the evolution of Saccharomyces yeasts. These mechanisms have probably been involved in the origin of novel yeast genotypes and phenotypes, which in due course were to colonize and predominate in the new fermentative environments created by human manipulation. The particular conditions in which hybrids arose are still unknown, as well as the number of possible hybridization events that generated the whole set of natural hybrids described in the literature during recent years. In this study, we could infer at least six different hybridization events that originated a set of 26 S…
Sexual and natural selection on body mass and metabolic rates in free-living bank voles
2010
Summary 1. Because energy is a crucial resource, adaptive significance of variation in the rate of energy metabolism, and especially in basal (BMR) and maximum aerobic (VO2max) metabolic rates, is a popular theme in evolutionary and ecological physiology. However, little is known about the association of these traits with fitness components in populations of free-living animals. 2. We studied the association between body size, the metabolic rates, and reproductive success in bank voles (Myodes glareolus) in an isolated, small island population. Correlation analyses were performed for two measures of reproductive performance: mating success (the number of partners with which an individual ha…
Behavior adaptation and selection.
2010
6 pages; The evolutionary approach to behavior is concerned with the evolutionary origin and adaptive function of behavioral traits. Like any other part of the phenotype, behavior can be shaped by natural selection to produce adaptations. However, behavior often shows large phenotypic variation and flexibility, and can be both – subject to selection and a major agent of selection. Therefore, the study of adaptation and evolution of behavior is a particularly complex one, involving a wide range of methodologies and techniques, including mathematical modeling, comparative methods, phenotypic engineering, quantitative genetics, genetic dissection, and artificial selection.
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…