Search results for "evolution"

Gentics of hilanenus colour polymorphism: the 28 genotypes.

2009

SHAPE MATTERS: EFFECT OF POINT MUTATIONS ON RNA SECONDARY STRUCTURE

2013

A suitable model to dive into the properties of genotype-phenotype landscapes is the relationship between RNA sequences and their corresponding minimum free energy secondary structures. Relevant issues related to molecular evolvability and robustness to mutations have been studied in this framework. Here, we analyze the one-mutant neighborhood of the predicted secondary structure of 46 different RNAs, including tRNAs, viroids, larger molecules such as Hepatitis-δ virus, and several random sequences. The probability distribution of the effect of point mutations in linear structural motifs of the secondary structure is well fit by Pareto or Lognormal probability distributions functions, indep…

Sexual antagonism for testosterone maintains multiple mating behaviour

2011

Summary 1. The persistence of multiple mating remains one of the fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. In theory, multiple mating is predicted to improve female fitness cumulatively through direct and ⁄ or genetic benefits. However, intra-locus sexual conflicts may potentially constrain or even eliminate these benefits owing to the gender load imposed by sexually antagonistic selection. 2. Here, we tested whether sexually antagonistic selection can maintain the variance in multiple mating behaviour of bank voles (Myodes glareolus) by manipulating the hormone testosterone through artificial selection in the laboratory. Among mammals, testosterone is a sexually dimorphic fitness-rela…

EVALUATION OF ELEVATED PLOIDY AND ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION AS ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS FOR GEOGRAPHIC PARTHENOGENESIS IN EUCYPRIS VIRENS OSTRACODS

2009

Transitions from sexual to asexual reproduction are often coupled with elevations in ploidy. As a consequence, the importance of ploidy per se for the maintenance and spread of asexual populations is unclear. To examine the effects of ploidy and asexual reproduction as independent determinants of the success of asexual lineages, we sampled diploid sexual, diploid asexual, and triploid asexual Eucypris virens ostracods across a European wide range. Applying nuclear and mitochondrial markers, we found that E. virens consists of genetically highly differentiated diploid sexual populations, to the extent that these sexual clades could be considered as cryptic species. All sexual populations wer…

On personality, energy metabolism and mtDNA introgression in bank voles

2014

Consistent interindividual differences in behaviour, or animal personality, are emerging as an important determinant of a wide range of life history traits and fitness. Individual behaviour, however, may be constrained by between-individual variability in energy metabolism and may become unstable owing to intrinsic and extrinsic stressors. Here we tested the relationship between personality and physiology using wild-caught bank voles, Myodes glareolus, that varied according to mtDNA type (original or introgressed from Myodes rutilus). Personality traits and their within-individual consistency were assessed using an open field test and basal metabolic rate (BMR) was measured in an open-flow …

The discovery, distribution and diversity of DNA viruses associated withDrosophila melanogasterin Europe

2020

AbstractDrosophila melanogasteris an important model for antiviral immunity in arthropods, but very few DNA viruses have been described from the family Drosophilidae. This deficiency limits our opportunity to use natural host-pathogen combinations in experimental studies, and may bias our understanding of theDrosophilavirome. Here we report fourteen DNA viruses detected in a metagenomic analysis of approximately 6500 pool-sequencedDrosophila, sampled from 47 European locations between 2014 and 2016. These include three new Nudiviruses, a new and divergent Entomopox virus, a virus related toLeptopilina boulardifilamentous virus, and a virus related toMusca domesticasalivary gland hypertrophy…

Description of microsatellite markers and genotyping performances using feathers and buccal swabs for the Ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea)

2011

We report 22 new polymorphic microsatellites for the Ivory gull (Pagophila eburnea), and we describe how they can be efficiently co-amplified using multiplexed polymerase chain reactions. In addition, we report DNA concentration, amplification success, rates of genotyping errors and the number of genotyping repetitions required to obtain reliable data with three types of noninvasive or nondestructive samples: shed feathers collected in colonies, feathers plucked from living individuals and buccal swabs. In two populations from Greenland (n = 21) and Russia (Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, n = 21), the number of alleles per locus varied between 2 and 17, and expected heterozygosity per populat…

Sexual selection on song and cuticular hydrocarbons in two distinct populations ofDrosophila montana

2011

Sexual selection has the potential to contribute to population divergence and speciation. Most studies of sexual selection in Drosophila have concentrated on a single signaling modality, usually either courtship song or cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), which can act as contact pheromones. We have examined the relationship between both signal types and reproductive success using F1–3 offspring of wild-collected flies, raised in the lab. We used two populations of the Holarctic species Drosophila montana that represent different phylogeographic clades that have been separate for ca. 0.5 million years (MY), and differ to some extent in both traits. Here, we characterize the nature and identify t…

The chloroplast genome of the lichen‐symbiont microalga Trebouxia sp. Tr9 (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) shows short inverted repeats with a single …

2019

The Trebouxiophyceae is the class of Chlorophyta algae from which the highest number of chloroplast genome (cpDNA) sequences has been obtained. Several species in this class participate in symbioses with fungi to form lichens. However, no cpDNA has been obtained from any Trebouxia lichen-symbiont microalgae, which are present in approximately half of all lichens. Here, we report the sequence of the completely assembled cpDNA from Trebouxia sp. TR9 and a comparative study with other Trebouxio-phyceae. The organization of the chloroplast genome of Trebouxia sp. TR9 has certain features that are unusual in the Trebouxiophyceae and other green algae. The most remarkable characteristics are the …

Genetic variation in natural populations of the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi as revealed by maternally inherited markers

1996

A survey on 148 clones of the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi from 11 widespread localities has been carried out to study the genetic structure of populations of this species as revealed by mitochondrial DNA restriction site and length polymorphisms as well as by restriction site analysis of a maternally inherited plasmid carried by the aphid eubacterial endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola. Our results support the existence in the area under study of two main aphid maternal lineages strikingly coincidental with the two main reproductive categories displayed by this species. Those aphid clones possessing an incomplete life cycle that lacks the sexual phase (anholocyclic or androcyclic clones) show mit…