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- Škaloud, Pavel, et al.
(författare)
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Rapid diversification of a free-living protist is driven by adaptation to climate and habitat
- 2024
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Ingår i: Current Biology. - 0960-9822. ; 34:1, s. 6-105
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Microbial eukaryotes (protists) have major functional roles in aquatic ecosystems, including the biogeochemical cycling of elements as well as occupying various roles in the food web. Despite their importance for ecosystem function, the factors that drive diversification in protists are not known. Here, we aimed to identify the factors that drive differentiation and, subsequently, speciation in a free-living protist, Synura petersenii (Chrysophyceae). We sampled five different geographic areas and utilized population genomics and quantitative trait analyses. Habitat and climate were the major drivers of diversification on the local geographical scale, while geography played a role over longer distances. In addition to conductivity and temperature, precipitation was one of the most important environmental drivers of differentiation. Our results imply that flushing episodes (floods) drive microalgal adaptation to different niches, highlighting the potential for rapid diversification in protists.
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- Steinová, Jana, et al.
(författare)
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An Exception to the Rule? Could Photobiont Identity Be a Better Predictor of Lichen Phenotype than Mycobiont Identity?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Fungi. - : MDPI AG. - 2309-608X. ; 8:3, s. 275-275
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With rare exceptions, the shape and appearance of lichen thalli are determined by thefungal partner; thus, mycobiont identity is normally used for lichen identification. However, it hasrepeatedly been shown in recent decades that phenotypic data often does not correspond with fungalgene evolution. Here, we report such a case in a three-species complex of red-fruited Cladonia lichens,two of which clearly differ morphologically, chemically, ecologically and in distribution range. Weanalysed 64 specimens of C. bellidiflora, C. polydactyla and C. umbricola, mainly collected in Europe,using five variable mycobiont-specific and two photobiont-specific molecular markers. All mycobiontmarkers exhibited very low variability and failed to separate the species. In comparison, photobiontidentity corresponded better with lichen phenotype and separated esorediate C. bellidiflora from thetwo sorediate taxa. These results can be interpreted either as an unusual case of lichen photomorphsor as an example of recent speciation, in which phenotypic differentiation precedes the separation ofthe molecular markers. We hypothesise that association with different photobionts, which is probablyrelated to habitat differentiation, may have triggered speciation in the mycobiont species.
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- Tedersoo, Leho, et al.
(författare)
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EUKARYOME: the rRNA gene reference database for identification of all eukaryotes
- 2024
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Ingår i: Database. - 1758-0463. ; 2024
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Molecular identification of micro- and macroorganisms based on nuclear markers has revolutionized our understanding of their taxonomy, phylogeny and ecology. Today, research on the diversity of eukaryotes in global ecosystems heavily relies on nuclear ribosomal RNA (rRNA) markers. Here, we present the research community-curated reference database EUKARYOME for nuclear ribosomal 18S rRNA, internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and 28S rRNA markers for all eukaryotes, including metazoans (animals), protists, fungi and plants. It is particularly useful for the identification of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as it bridges the four commonly used molecular markers - ITS1, ITS2, 18S V4-V5 and 28S D1-D2 subregions. The key benefits of this database over other annotated reference sequence databases are that it is not restricted to certain taxonomic groups and it includes all rRNA markers. EUKARYOME also offers a number of reference long-read sequences that are derived from (meta)genomic and (meta)barcoding - a unique feature that can be used for taxonomic identification and chimera control of third-generation, long-read, high-throughput sequencing data. Taxonomic assignments of rRNA genes in the database are verified based on phylogenetic approaches. The reference datasets are available in multiple formats from the project homepage, http://www.eukaryome.org.
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