Search results for "classification"

Experimental contact zones reveal causes and targets of sexual selection in hybridizing lizards

2016

Divergence in sexually selected traits in allopatry should affect the degree and direction of hybridization. However, few studies have established the causes and targets of sexual selection during secondary contact. Common wall lizards (Podarcis muralis) from north-central Italy have highly exaggerated male sexual traits compared to populations in Western Europe. Using experimental populations, we show that this creates asymmetries in male dominance, spatial habitat use and reproductive success upon secondary contact. Hybridization occurred almost exclusively between males of the Italian lineage and females of the Western European lineage. We provide evidence to suggest stronger ongoing sel…

2021

Most species are either parasites or exploited by parasites, making parasite–host interactions a driver of evolution. Parasites with complex life cycles often evolve strategies to facilitate transmission to the definitive host by manipulating their intermediate host. Such manipulations could explain phenotypic changes in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi, the intermediate host of the cestode Anomotaenia brevis. In addition to behavioral and morphological alterations, infected workers exhibit prolonged lifespans, comparable to that of queens, which live up to two decades. We used transcriptomic data from cestodes and ants of different castes and infection status to investigate the molecular unde…

2016

Sex differences in ageing rates and lifespan are common in nature, and an enduring puzzle for evolutionary biology. One possibility is that sex-specific mortality rates may result from recessive deleterious alleles in ‘unguarded’ heterogametic X or Z sex chromosomes (the unguarded X hypothesis). Empirical evidence for this is, however, limited. Here, we test a fundamental prediction of the unguarded X hypothesis in Drosophila melanogaster , namely that inbreeding shortens lifespan more in females (the homogametic sex in Drosophila ) than in males. To test for additional sex-specific social effects, we studied the lifespan of males and females kept in isolation, in related same-sex groups, …

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 …

The complete plastid genome of the middle Asian endemic of Stipa lipskyi (Poaceae)

2016

AbstractThe structure of the Stipa lipskyi (GenBank accession no. KT692644) plastid genome is similar to that of closely related Poaceae species: it has a total length of 137 755 bp, the base composition of the plastome is the following: A (30.7%), C (19.3%), G (19.4%) and T (30.5%). The S. lipskyi plastid genome contains 71 genes, excluding second IR region. A complete plastome sequence of S. lipskyi will help the development of primers for examining phylogeny and hybridization events in this taxonomically difficult genus.

Application of high resolution melting assay (HRM) to study temperature-dependent intraspecific competition in a pathogenic bacterium

2017

AbstractStudies on species’ responses to climate change have focused largely on the direct effect of abiotic factors and in particular temperature, neglecting the effects of biotic interactions in determining the outcome of climate change projections. Many microbes rely on strong interference competition; hence the fitness of many pathogenic bacteria could be a function of both their growth properties and intraspecific competition. However, due to technical challenges in distinguishing and tracking individual strains, experimental evidence on intraspecific competition has been limited so far. Here, we developed a robust application of the high-resolution melting (HRM) assay to study head-to…

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…

Multi-modal defences in aphids offer redundant protection and increased costs likely impeding a protective mutualism.

2017

The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, maintains extreme variation in resistance to its most common parasitoid wasp enemy, Aphidius ervi, which is sourced from two known mechanisms: protective bacterial symbionts, most commonly Hamiltonella defensa, or endogenously encoded defences. We have recently found that individual aphids may employ each defence individually, occasionally both defences together, or neither. In field populations, Hamiltonella-infected aphids are found at low to moderate frequencies and while less is known about the frequency of resistant genotypes, they show up less often than susceptible genotypes in field collections. To better understand these patterns, we sought to co…

Discovery of a Major QTL Controlling Trichome IV Density in Tomato Using K-Seq Genotyping

2021

[EN] Trichomes are a common morphological defense against pests, in particular, type IV glandular trichomes have been associated with resistance against different invertebrates. Cultivated tomatoes usually lack or have a very low density of type IV trichomes. Therefore, for sustainable management of this crop, breeding programs could incorporate some natural defense mechanisms, such as those afforded by trichomes, present in certain Solanum species. We have identified a S. pimpinellifolium accession with very high density of this type of trichomes. This accession was crossed with a S. lycopersicum var. cerasiforme and a S. lycopersicum var. lycopersicum accessions, and the two resulting F2 …

Single-Spore Extraction for Genetic Analyses of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

2020

International audience; Biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, Glomeromycota) is often only available in small quantities as these fungi are obligate biotrophs and many species are difficult to cultivate under controlled conditions. Here, I describe a simple, efficient approach to produce crude extracts from single or a small number of spores that can be used for genotyping AMF.