| 1. |
- Bommarco, Riccardo, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic and phenotypic differences between thistle populations in response to habitat and weed management practices
- 2010
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Ingår i: Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0024-4066 .- 1095-8312. ; 99:4, s. 797-807
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rapid evolutionary change is increasingly being recognized as commonplace, but the evolutionary consequences for species and ecosystems under human-induced selection regimes have not been explored in detail, although many species occur in such environments. In a common garden experiment and with amplified fragment length polymorphism markers, we examined whether genetic differentiation has taken place between spatially intermixed populations of creeping thistles Cirsium arvense (Asteraceae) collected from a natural habitat (maritime shores), a semi-natural habitat (road verges) and arable fields under two management regimes: conventional and organic farming. Populations of C. arvense have altered genetically and locally adapted their growth patterns with changed land use. Although plants from different habitats showed similar total biomass production, shoot and root production was higher for maritime populations, suggesting selection for increased competitive ability. Competitive ability then declined in the order semi-natural, conventional farms and organic farms. Thistles in arable fields may be more selected for tolerance against disturbances from herbicides and mechanical weed control. In addition, early shoot sprouting and genetic analysis showed differentiation between plants originating from conventional farms and farms that were converted to organic 9–30 years ago, suggesting some adaptation to altered crop cultivation practices
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| 2. |
- Freischmidt, Axel, et al.
(författare)
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Haploinsufficiency of TBK1 causes familial ALS and fronto-temporal dementia
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nature Neuroscience. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1097-6256 .- 1546-1726. ; 18:5, s. 631-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative syndrome hallmarked by adult-onset loss of motor neurons. We performed exome sequencing of 252 familial ALS (fALS) and 827 control individuals. Gene-based rare variant analysis identified an exome-wide significant enrichment of eight loss-of-function (LoF) mutations in TBK1 (encoding TANK-binding kinase 1) in 13 fALS pedigrees. No enrichment of LoF mutations was observed in a targeted mutation screen of 1,010 sporadic ALS and 650 additional control individuals. Linkage analysis in four families gave an aggregate LOD score of 4.6. In vitro experiments confirmed the loss of expression of TBK1 LoF mutant alleles, or loss of interaction of the C-terminal TBK1 coiled-coil domain (CCD2) mutants with the TBK1 adaptor protein optineurin, which has been shown to be involved in ALS pathogenesis. We conclude that haploinsufficiency of TBK1 causes ALS and fronto-temporal dementia.
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| 3. |
- Vinter, Tiina, et al.
(författare)
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The relationship between landscape configuration and plant species richness in forests is dependent on habitat preferences of species
- 2016
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Ingår i: European Journal of Forest Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1612-4669 .- 1612-4677. ; 135:6, s. 1071-1082
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To assess the effects of landscape configuration on local plant species richness, we tested whether local species richness of forest understory plants is affected by the total forest area and forest edge length in the adjacent landscape. We also tested whether the landscape effect on species richness is different for forest and edge species. We estimated species richness from 113 forest sites in four regions in Northern Europe. At each site, we studied two plots, one at the edge and one in the core of the forest. Total forested area and forest edge length in circles with a 1-km radius, together with plot-specific variables of environmental conditions and temporal continuity of forests, were recorded at each plot. The amount of forest and the length of the forest edge in the adjacent landscape had a significant positive effect on local species richness of all understory plant species. As expected, edge species were positively affected by increasing length of the forest edge in the landscape, but surprisingly there was no effect of forest area on species richness of forest species. Temporal forest continuity had a negative effect on species richness of edge species but no effect on species richness of forest species. Our results suggest that forest edge length had a stronger landscape effect on understory plant species richness than forest area. Implications of these findings for the management of forest landscapes depend on priorities given to different species groups in biodiversity conservation, i.e. if emphasis is in total species richness or species richness of forest or edge species.
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