| 1. |
- Nilsson, R. Henrik, 1976, et al.
(författare)
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Introducing guidelines for publishing DNA-derived occurrence data through biodiversity data platforms
- 2022
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Ingår i: Metabarcoding and Metagenomics. - : Pensoft Publishers. - 2534-9708. ; 6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- DNA sequencing efforts of environmental and other biological samples disclose unprecedented and largely untapped opportunities for advances in the taxonomy, ecology, and geographical distributions of our living world. To realise this potential, DNA-derived occurrence data (notably sequences with dates and coordinates) – much like traditional specimens and observations – need to be discoverable and interpretable through biodiversity data platforms. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) recently headed a community effort to assemble a set of guidelines for publishing DNA-derived data. These guidelines target the principles and approaches of exposing DNA-derived occurrence data in the context of broader biodiversity data. They cover a choice of terms using a controlled vocabulary, common pitfalls, and good practices, without going into platform-specific details. Our hope is that they will benefit anyone interested in better exposure of DNA-derived occurrence data through general biodiversity data platforms, including national biodiversity portals. This paper provides a brief rationale and an overview of the guidelines, an up-to-date version of which is maintained at https://doi.org/10.35035/doc-vf1a-nr22. User feedback and interaction are encouraged as new techniques and best practices emerge.
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| 2. |
- Sköld, Helen Nilsson, et al.
(författare)
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Hormonal regulation of female nuptial coloration in a fish.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Hormones and behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-6867 .- 0018-506X. ; 54:4, s. 549-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Physiological color change in camouflage and mating is widespread among fishes, but little is known about the regulation of such temporal changes in nuptial coloration and particularly concerning female coloration. To better understand regulation of nuptial coloration we investigated physiological color change in female two-spotted gobies (Gobiusculus flavescens). Females of this species develop an orange belly that acts as an ornament. The orange color is caused by the color of the gonads combined with the chromathophore based pigmentation and transparency of the skin. Often during courtship and female-female competition, a rapid increase in orange coloration, in combination with lighter sides and back that increases skin and body transparency, gives the belly an intense 'glowing' appearance. To understand how this increased orange coloration can be regulated we analysed chromatic and transparency effects of neurohumoral agents on abdominal skin biopsies in vitro. We found prolactin and alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH) to increase orange coloration of the skin. By contrast, melatonin and noradrenaline increased skin transparency, but had a negative effect on orange coloration. However, mixtures of melatonin and MSH, or melatonin and prolactin, increased both orange coloration and transparency. This effect mimics the chromatic 'glow' effect that commonly takes place during courtship and intra sexual aggression. Notably, not only epidermal chromatophores but also internal chromatophores lining the peritoneum responded to hormone treatments. There were no chromatic effects of the sex steroids 17beta-estradiol, testosterone or 11-ketotestosterone. We hypothesize that similar modulation of nuptial coloration by multiple hormones may be widespread in nature.
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Martin O., et al.
(författare)
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Molecular detection of Babesia capreoli and Babesia venatorum in wild Swedish roe deer, Capreolus capreolus
- 2016
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Ingår i: Parasites & Vectors. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1756-3305. ; 9:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The epidemiology of the zoonotic tick-transmitted parasite Babesia spp. and its occurrence in wild reservoir hosts in Sweden is unclear. In European deer, several parasite species, including Babesia capreoli and the zoonotic B. venatorum and B. divergens has been reported previously. The European roe deer, Capreolus capreolus, is an important and common part of the indigenous fauna in Europe, as well as an important host for Ixodes ricinus ticks, the vector of several Babesia spp. in Europe. Here, we aimed to investigate the occurrence of Babesia spp. in roe deer in Sweden. Findings: Roe deer (n = 77) were caught and sampled for blood. Babesia spp. was detected with a PCR assay targeting the 18S rRNA gene. The prevalence of Babesia spp. was 52 %, and two species were detected; B. capreoli and B. venatorum in 44 and 7.8 % of the individuals, respectively. Infection occurred both in summer and winter. Conclusions: We showed that roe deer in Sweden, close to the edge of their northern inland distributional range, are infected with Babesia spp. The occurrence of B. venatorum in roe deer imply that it is established in Sweden and the zoonotic implication of this finding should be regarded to a greater extent in future.
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| 4. |
- Zhao, Tao, 1969-, et al.
(författare)
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Fungal associates of the tree-killing bark beetle, Ips typographus, vary in virulence, ability to degrade conifer phenolics and influence bark beetle tunning behavior
- 2019
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Ingår i: Fungal ecology. - Amsteradam : Elsevier. - 1754-5048 .- 1878-0083. ; 38, s. 71-79
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The bark beetle Ips typographus carries numerous fungi that could be assisting the beetle in colonizing live Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees. Phenolic defenses in spruce phloem are degraded by the beetle's major tree-killing fungus Endoconidiophora polonica, but it is unknown if other beetle associates can also catabolize these compounds. We compared the ability of five fungi commonly associated with I. typographus to degrade phenolic compounds in Norway spruce phloem. Grosmannia penicillata and Grosmannia europhioides were able to degrade stilbenes and flavonoids faster than E. polonica and grow on minimal growth medium with spruce bark constituents as the only nutrients. Furthermore, beetles avoided medium amended with phenolics but marginally preferred medium colonized by fungi. Taken together our results show that different bark beetle-associated fungi have complementary roles in degrading host metabolites and thus might improve this insect's persistence in well defended host tissues.
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| 5. |
- Barber, I., et al.
(författare)
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Behavioural responses to simulated avian predation in female three spined sticklebacks the effect of experimental Schistocephalus solidus infections
- 2004
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Ingår i: Behaviour. - 0005-7959 .- 1568-539X. ; 141, s. 1425-1440
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plerocercoid larvae of Schistocephalus solidus are common parasites of three-spined sticklebacks that require the ingestion of stickleback hosts by birds to complete their life cycle. Amongst wild-caught sticklebacks, infection is associated with a reduction in antipredator behaviour; however, to date no study has examined the escape responses of experimentally infected sticklebacks, and thus assigning causality remains difficult. Here, we compare aspects of the antipredator behaviour of five experimentally infected female sticklebacks with shamexposed controls over a 16 post-exposure week period. During weeks 1-7 post-exposure, the escape responses of infected fish did not differ significantly from those of sham-exposed fish. However, over weeks 9-15, when infected fish had developed plerocercoids of >50 mg—the size at which they become infective to birds —a lower proportion of infected fish performed directional responses and reached cover within 2 s of the strike. Infected fish also performed a lower frequency of ‘staggered dashes’, and a higher frequency of ‘slow swims’, than shamexposed fish over weeks 9-15. Amongst sham-exposed fish, re-emergence from cover was uncommon throughout the study, but infected fish regularly left cover during weeks 9-15. Our results support those of previous studies examining behavioural change in naturally infected fish and, although other explanations remain possible, our finding that behaviour change in experimentally-infected fish is limited to hosts harbouring single infective parasites provides further evidence that the behaviour changes may be parasite adaptations.
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| 6. |
- Barber, I., et al.
(författare)
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Effects of experimental Schistocephalus solidus infections on growth, morphology and sexual development of female three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus
- 2003
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Ingår i: Parasitology. - 0031-1820 .- 1469-8161. ; 126, s. 359-367
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of naturally infected hosts in studies attempting to identify parasite-induced changes in host biology is problematical because it does not eliminate the possibility that infection may be a consequence, rather than a cause, of host trait variation. In addition, uncontrolled concomitant infections may confound results. In this study we experimentally infected individual laboratory-bred female three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus L. with the pseudophyllidean cestode Schistocephalus solidus [Muller], and compared the morphology and growth patterns of infected females with sham-exposed controls over a 16-week period. Fish were fed a ration of 8% body weight per day. Non-invasive image analysis techniques allowed the growth of individual plerocercoids to be tracked in vivo throughout the course of infection, and patterns of host and parasite growth were determined. Females that developed infections diverged morphometrically from unexposed control females and exposed-uninfected females at 6 weeks post-infection, with the width of the body at the pectoral fins giving the earliest indication of infection success. When including the plerocercoid, infected females gained weight more quickly than controls, but when plerocercoid weight was removed this trend was reversed. There was no effect of infection on the increase in fish length. Plerocercoids grew at different rates in individual hosts, and exhibited measurable sustained weight increases of up to 10% per day. Final estimates of plerocercoid weight from morphometric analysis prior to autopsy were accurate to within +/-17% of actual plerocercoid weight. At autopsy, infected female sticklebacks had significantly lower perivisceral fat reserves but had developed significantly larger ovaries than controls. The results are discussed in relation to previous studies examining natural infections, and the value of utilizing experimental infections to examine ecological aspects of host-parasite interactions is discussed.
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| 7. |
- Karawita, Anjana C., et al.
(författare)
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The swan genome and transcriptome, it is not all black and white
- 2023
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Ingår i: Genome Biology. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1465-6906 .- 1474-760X. ; 24:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundThe Australian black swan (Cygnus atratus) is an iconic species with contrasting plumage to that of the closely related northern hemisphere white swans. The relative geographic isolation of the black swan may have resulted in a limited immune repertoire and increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, notably infectious diseases from which Australia has been largely shielded. Unlike mallard ducks and the mute swan (Cygnus olor), the black swan is extremely sensitive to highly pathogenic avian influenza. Understanding this susceptibility has been impaired by the absence of any available swan genome and transcriptome information.ResultsHere, we generate the first chromosome-length black and mute swan genomes annotated with transcriptome data, all using long-read based pipelines generated for vertebrate species. We use these genomes and transcriptomes to show that unlike other wild waterfowl, black swans lack an expanded immune gene repertoire, lack a key viral pattern-recognition receptor in endothelial cells and mount a poorly controlled inflammatory response to highly pathogenic avian influenza. We also implicate genetic differences in SLC45A2 gene in the iconic plumage of the black swan.ConclusionTogether, these data suggest that the immune system of the black swan is such that should any avian viral infection become established in its native habitat, the black swan would be in a significant peril.
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| 8. |
- Lankinen, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Allocation to pollen competitive ability versus seed production in Viola tricoloras an effect of plant size, soil nutrients and presence of a root competitor
- 2012
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Ingår i: Oikos. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0030-1299 .- 1600-0706. ; 122:5, s. 779-789
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In hermaphroditic plants, the effect of a social environment on sex allocation has not been studied to our knowledge, while in hermaphroditic animals such effects are known to be common. In recent years, studies on root competition beyond the effects of nutrients have shown that plants can respond to their conspecific root competitors (social environment), making it interesting to ask if these effects could also influence sex allocation in addition to more commonly studied factors, such as plant size or resources. In this study on hermaphroditic Viola tricolor, we investigated how plant size, soil nutrients and presence of a root competitor influenced allocation to pollen competitive ability versus seed production, i.e. male and female reproductive functions. We allowed plants to grow in pairs with partly intermingled or separate roots in the same amount of soil. In additional treatments with intermingled roots (as part of the same experiment) one of the two competitors was given combinations of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and micro nutrients. We found that pollen performance but not seed production increased when plants were in contact in the soil. Additionally, pollen performance was negatively correlated to plant size across fertilisation treatments. For seed production, the opposite relation to plant size was seen, indicating that large, fertilized plants invest relatively more in the female function. In conclusion, in violets, sex allocation appears to be size-dependent and influenced by both the presence of a root competitor and by nutrients. These results suggest that social environment can influence sex allocation in plants as well as in animals, indicating that such effects are important to consider in sex allocation studies across taxa.
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| 9. |
- Lehtonen, Topi K., et al.
(författare)
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Adjustment of brood care behaviour in the absence of a mate in two species of Nicaraguan crater lake cichlids
- 2011
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Ingår i: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0340-5443 .- 1432-0762. ; 65:4, s. 613-619
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In many taxa, parental strategies can vary among individuals. This is especially true in species with biparental care, with males, more often than females, deserting their mates. While there is an abundance of theoretical predictions and empirical data on factors inducing mate abandonment by males, much less is known about what consequences this may have on female behaviour, particularly in the field and in non-avian systems. Here, we compared brood defence rate, behavioural defence types, and brood success of solitary and paired females in two species of Neotropical cichlid fish in their natural habitat. In terms of the rate of territorial aggression towards potential brood predators, solitary females were able to fully compensate in the absence of a male but, in so doing, ended up maintaining smaller territories, which appeared to compromise offspring fitness in at least one of the two species. Hence, our results suggest that even extensive quantitative compensation in parental effort by solitary females may not be enough to ensure adequate qualitative compensation for the lack of male participation, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between these two aspects of compensatory parental care.
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| 10. |
- Svensson, P. A., et al.
(författare)
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Chromatic interaction between egg pigmentation and skin chromatophores in the nuptial coloration of female two-spotted gobies
- 2005
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Ingår i: Journal of Experimental Biology. - : The Company of Biologists. - 0022-0949 .- 1477-9145. ; 208:23, s. 4391-4397
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In two-spotted gobies (Gobiusculus flavescens Fabricius 1779), females develop an orange belly as they approach sexual maturity. Bright belly coloration is preferred by males and has been suggested to act as a female ornament. This coloration is unusual in that it originates partly from pigmentation of the abdominal skin but also from strongly pigmented gonads directly visible through the skin. In addition, females have been observed to temporarily become more colourful during courtship and competition. To understand how gonad and skin pigmentation interact in this nuptial coloration, the potential for colour modification via regulation of skin chromatophores was investigated. Noradrenaline caused aggregation of chromatophore pigment and was used to experimentally reduce the contribution of skin chromatophores to the nuptial coloration. Chromatophore pigment aggregation caused bellies to become less colourful and abdominal skin biopsies to become less colourful and more transparent. There was a strong positive relationship between belly coloration and the coloration of the underlying gonads. This shows that belly coloration honestly reflects egg pigmentation, mainly because the transparency of the abdominal skin allows other fish to see the gonads directly. Interestingly, when noradrenaline caused pigment to aggregate and thereby increased the transparency of the skin, the relationship between belly and gonad coloration weakened. We conclude that female G. flavescens have a potential to use skin chromatophores to rapidly alter their nuptial coloration, thereby affecting the efficacy with which information about gonad coloration is conveyed.
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