1. |
- Bensch, Staffan, et al.
(author)
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Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis identifies hybrids between two subspecies of warblers.
- 2002
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 11:3, s. 473-481
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the western Pyrenees (Southwest France and Northwest Spain), a narrow hybrid zone exists between the common chiffchaff Phylloscopus (collybita) collybita and the Iberian chiffchaff Phylloscopus (c.) brehmii. In this zone, which is approximately 20 km wide, mixed matings and individuals singing the songs of both taxa occur at substantial frequencies (24 and 8.6%, respectively), suggesting frequent hybridization. Previous studies have shown very weak mitochondrial gene flow (Nm = 0.065), whereas four microsatellites suggested much higher nuclear gene flow (Nm = 4.9). In this study we used the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method in order to identify hybrids and early backcrosses. We typed 91 birds from both allopatric and sympatric areas for 12 informative AFLP markers (of > 141 polymorphic fragments), obtained by screening 13 AFLP primer combinations. These individuals were previously typed for song (brehmii, collybita or mixed singers), mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype and allelic genotypes at four microsatellite loci. Assignment tests demonstrated that in the zone of sympatry, a substantial number of intermediate genotypes existed among the birds previously believed to be pure collybita and brehmii, based on song and mtDNA haplotype. The majority of the mixed singers had intermediate genotypes. Our data suggest that the fraction of the adult population having a hybrid origin (hybrids or backcrosses) is in the order of 10%. With such a frequency of genetic hybrids, there would have been much more mtDNA introgression than observed, had female hybrids been perfectly fertile/viable. This result is consistent with male-biased gene flow and Haldane's rule.
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2. |
- Aaltonen, Kristina, et al.
(author)
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Nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites reveal extreme population differentiation and limited gene flow in the Aegean endemic Brassica cretica (Brassicaceae)
- 2007
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083. ; 16:23, s. 4972-4983
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nuclear and chloroplast microsatellite markers were used to study population structure and gene flow among seven Cretan populations of the Aegean endemic plant species Brassica cretica (Brassicaceae). Both nuclear and chloroplast markers revealed exceptionally high levels of population differentiation (overall FST = 0.628 and 1.000, respectively) and relatively little within-population diversity (overall HS = 0.211 and 0.000, respectively). Maximum-likelihood estimates of directional migration rates were low among all pairs of populations (average Nm = 0.286). There was no evidence that differences in flower colour between populations had any influence on historical levels of gene flow. In addition, a haplotype network showed that all five chloroplast haplotypes found in the sample were closely related. Together, these results suggest that current patterns of diversification in B. cretica are mainly a result of genetic drift during the last half million years. The main conclusions from the present study are consistent with the prevailing hypothesis that plant diversification in the Aegean region is driven by random rather than adaptive differentiation among isolated populations.
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3. |
- Abbott, J. K., et al.
(author)
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Patterns of differentiation in a colour polymorphism and in neutral markers reveal rapid genetic changes in natural damselfly populations
- 2008
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 17:6, s. 1597-1604
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The existence and mode of selection operating on heritable adaptive traits can be inferred by comparing population differentiation in neutral genetic variation between populations (often using F-ST values) with the corresponding estimates for adaptive traits. Such comparisons indicate if selection acts in a diversifying way between populations, in which case differentiation in selected traits is expected to exceed differentiation in neutral markers [F-ST (selected) > F-ST (neutralfl, or if negative frequency-dependent selection maintains genetic polymorphisms and pulls populations towards a common stable equilibrium [FST (selected) < F-ST (neutral)]. Here, we compared F-ST values for putatively neutral data (obtained using amplified fragment length polymorphism) with estimates of differentiation in morph frequencies in the colour-polymorphic damselfly Ischnura elegans. We found that in the first year (2000), population differentiation in morph frequencies was significantly greater than differentiation in neutral loci, while in 2002 (only 2 years and 2 generations later), population differentiation in morph frequencies had decreased to a level significantly lower than differentiation in neutral loci. Genetic drift as an explanation for population differentiation in morph frequencies could thus be rejected in both years. These results indicate that the type and/or strength of selection on morph frequencies in this system can change substantially between years. We suggest that an approach to a common equilibrium morph frequency across all populations, driven by negative frequency-dependent selection, is the cause of these temporal changes. We conclude that inferences about selection obtained by comparing F-ST values from neutral and adaptive genetic variation are most useful when spatial and temporal data are available from several populations and time points and when such information is combined with other ecological sources of data.
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4. |
- Abrego, Nerea, et al.
(author)
-
Accounting for environmental variation in co-occurrence modelling reveals the importance of positive interactions in root-associated fungal communities
- 2020
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 29:14, s. 2736-2746
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the role of interspecific interactions in shaping ecological communities is one of the central goals in community ecology. In fungal communities, measuring interspecific interactions directly is challenging because these communities are composed of large numbers of species, many of which are unculturable. An indirect way of assessing the role of interspecific interactions in determining community structure is to identify the species co-occurrences that are not constrained by environmental conditions. In this study, we investigated co-occurrences among root-associated fungi, asking whether fungi co-occur more or less strongly than expected based on the environmental conditions and the host plant species examined. We generated molecular data on root-associated fungi of five plant species evenly sampled along an elevational gradient at a high arctic site. We analysed the data using a joint species distribution modelling approach that allowed us to identify those co-occurrences that could be explained by the environmental conditions and the host plant species, as well as those co-occurrences that remained unexplained and thus more probably reflect interactive associations. Our results indicate that not only negative but also positive interactions play an important role in shaping microbial communities in arctic plant roots. In particular, we found that mycorrhizal fungi are especially prone to positively co-occur with other fungal species. Our results bring new understanding to the structure of arctic interaction networks by suggesting that interactions among root-associated fungi are predominantly positive.
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5. |
- Ahlstrom, Christina A., et al.
(author)
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Satellite tracking of gulls and genomic characterization of faecal bacteria reveals environmentally mediated acquisition and dispersal of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
- 2019
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : WILEY. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 28:10, s. 2531-2545
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gulls (Larus spp.) have frequently been reported to carry Escherichia coli exhibiting antimicrobial resistance (AMR E. coli); however, the pathways governing the acquisition and dispersal of such bacteria are not well described. We equipped 17 landfill-foraging gulls with satellite transmitters and collected gull faecal samples longitudinally from four locations on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska to assess: (a) gull attendance and transitions between sites, (b) spatiotemporal prevalence of faecally shed AMR E. coli, and (c) genomic relatedness of AMR E. coli isolates among sites. We also sampled Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) harvested as part of personal-use dipnet fisheries at two sites to assess potential contamination with AMR E. coli. Among our study sites, marked gulls most commonly occupied the lower Kenai River (61% of site locations) followed by the Soldotna landfill (11%), lower Kasilof River (5%) and upper Kenai River (<1%). Gulls primarily moved between the Soldotna landfill and the lower Kenai River (94% of transitions among sites), which were also the two locations with the highest prevalence of AMR E. coli. There was relatively high spatial and temporal variability in AMR E. coli prevalence in gull faeces and there was no evidence of contamination on salmon harvested in personal-use fisheries. We identified E. coli sequence types and AMR genes of clinical importance, with some isolates possessing genes associated with resistance to as many as eight antibiotic classes. Our findings suggest that gulls acquire AMR E. coli at habitats with anthropogenic inputs and subsequent movements may represent pathways through which AMR is dispersed.
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6. |
- Allendorf, Fred W., et al.
(author)
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So long to genetic diversity, and thanks for all the fish
- 2014
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 23:1, s. 23-25
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The world faces a global fishing crisis. Wild marine fisheries comprise nearly 15% of all animal protein in the human diet, but, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, nearly 60% of all commercially important marine fish stocks are overexploited, recovering, or depleted (FAO 2012; Fig. 1). Some authors have suggested that the large population sizes of harvested marine fish make even collapsed populations resistant to the loss of genetic variation by genetic drift (e. g. Beverton 1990). In contrast, others have argued that the loss of alleles because of overfishing may actually be more dramatic in large populations than in small ones (Ryman et al. 1995). In this issue, Pinsky & Palumbi (2014) report that overfished populations have approximately 2% lower heterozygosity and 12% lower allelic richness than populations that are not overfished. They also performed simulations which suggest that their estimates likely underestimate the actual loss of rare alleles by a factor of three or four. This important paper shows that the harvesting of marine fish can have genetic effects that threaten the long-term sustainability of this valuable resource.
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7. |
- Ament-Velasquez, Sandra Lorena, et al.
(author)
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Population genomics of sexual and asexual lineages in fissiparous ribbon worms (Lineus, Nemertea) : hybridization, polyploidy and the Meselson effect
- 2016
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 25:14, s. 3356-3369
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Comparative population genetics in asexual vs. sexual species offers the opportunity to investigate the impact of asexuality on genome evolution. Here, we analyse coding sequence polymorphism and divergence patterns in the fascinating Lineus ribbon worms, a group of marine, carnivorous nemerteans with unusual regeneration abilities, and in which asexual reproduction by fissiparity is documented. The population genomics of the fissiparous L. pseudolacteus is characterized by an extremely high level of heterozygosity and unexpectedly elevated pi(N)/pi(S) ratio, in apparent agreement with theoretical expectations under clonal evolution. Analysis of among-species allele sharing and read-count distribution, however, reveals that L. pseudolacteus is a triploid hybrid between Atlantic populations of L. sanguineus and L. lacteus. We model and quantify the relative impact of hybridity, polyploidy and asexuality on molecular variation patterns in L. pseudolacteus and conclude that (i) the peculiarities of L. pseudolacteus population genomics result in the first place from hybridization and (ii) the accumulation of new mutations through the Meselson effect is more than compensated by processes of heterozygosity erosion, such as gene conversion or gene copy loss. This study illustrates the complexity of the evolutionary processes associated with asexuality and identifies L. pseudolacteus as a promising model to study the first steps of polyploid genome evolution in an asexual context.
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8. |
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9. |
- Andersson, Anna-Carin, et al.
(author)
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No apparent reduction of gene flow in a hybrid zone between the West and North European karyotypic groups of the common shrew, Sorex araneus.
- 2004
-
In: Mol Ecol. - 0962-1083. ; 13:5, s. 1205-15
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The common shrew, Sorex araneus, exhibits an unusually high level of karyotypic variation. Populations with identical or similar karyotypes are defined as chromosome races, which are, in turn, grouped into larger evolutionary units, karyotypic groups. Using six microsatellite markers, we investigated the genetic structure of a hybrid zone between the Sidensjo and Abisko chromosome races, representatives of two distinct karyotypic groups believed to have been separated during the last glacial maximum, the West European karyotypic group (western group) and the North European karyotypic group (northern group), respectively. Significant FST values among populations suggest some weak genetic structure. All hierarchical levels show similar levels of genetic differentiation, equivalent to levels of genetic structure in several intraracial studies of common shrew populations from central Europe. Notably, genetic differentiation was of the same order of magnitude between and within karyotypic groups. Although the genetic differentiation was weak, the correlation between genetic and geographical distance was positive and significant, suggesting that the genetic variation observed between populations is a function of geographical distance rather than racial origin. Hence, considerable chromosomal differences do not seem to prevent extensive gene flow.
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10. |
- Andersson, Anastasia, 1987-, et al.
(author)
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Monitoring genetic diversity with new indicators applied to an alpine freshwater top predator
- 2022
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 31:24, s. 6422-6439
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genetic diversity is the basis for population adaptation and long-term survival, yet rarely considered in biodiversity monitoring. One key issue is the need for useful and straightforward indicators of genetic diversity. We monitored genetic diversity over 40 years (1970–2010) in metapopulations of brown trout (Salmo trutta) inhabiting 27 small mountain lakes representing 10 lake systems in central Sweden using >1200 fish per time point. We tested six newly proposed indicators; three were designed for broad, international use in the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and are currently applied in several countries. The other three were recently elaborated for national use by a Swedish science-management effort and applied for the first time here. The Swedish indicators use molecular genetic data to monitor genetic diversity within and between populations (indicators ΔH and ΔFST, respectively) and assess the effective population size (Ne-indicator). We identified 29 genetically distinct populations, all retained over time. Twelve of the 27 lakes harboured more than one population indicating that brown trout biodiversity hidden as cryptic, sympatric populations are more common than recognized. The Ne indicator showed values below the threshold (Ne ≤ 500) in 20 populations with five showing Ne < 100. Statistically significant genetic diversity reductions occurred in several populations. Metapopulation structure appears to buffer against diversity loss; applying the indicators to metapopulations suggest mostly acceptable rates of change in all but one system. The CBD indicators agreed with the Swedish ones but provided less detail. All these indicators are appropriate for managers to initiate monitoring of genetic biodiversity.
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11. |
- Andersson, Björn, et al.
(author)
-
Strain-specific metabarcoding reveals rapid evolution of copper tolerance in populations of the coastal diatom Skeletonema marinoi
- 2023
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Phytoplankton have short generation times, flexible reproduction strategies, large population sizes and high standing genetic diversity, traits that should facilitate rapid evolution under directional selection. We quantified local adaptation of copper tolerance in a population of the diatom Skeletonema marinoi from a mining-exposed inlet in the Baltic Sea and in a non-exposed population 100 km away. We hypothesized that mining pollution has driven evolution of elevated copper tolerance in the impacted population of S. marinoi. Assays of 58 strains originating from sediment resting stages revealed no difference in the average tolerance to copper between the two populations. However, variation within populations was greater at the mining site, with three strains displaying hyper-tolerant phenotypes. In an artificial evolution experiment, we used a novel intraspecific metabarcoding locus to track selection and quantify fitness of all 58 strains during co-cultivation in one control and one toxic copper treatment. As expected, the hyper-tolerant strains enabled rapid evolution of copper tolerance in the mining-exposed population through selection on available strain diversity. Within 42 days, in each experimental replicate a single strain dominated (30%–99% abundance) but different strains dominated the different treatments. The reference population developed tolerance beyond expectations primarily due to slowly developing plastic response in one strain, suggesting that different modes of copper tolerance are present in the two populations. Our findings provide novel empirical evidence that standing genetic diversity of phytoplankton resting stage allows populations to evolve rapidly (20–50 generations) and flexibly on timescales relevant for seasonal bloom progressions.
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12. |
- Andersson, Malte, 1941, et al.
(author)
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Host-parasite kinship in a female-philopatric bird population: evidence from relatedness trend analysis
- 2007
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083. ; 16:13, s. 2797-2806
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP), an alternative reproductive tactic where some females lay eggs in the nests of other females of the same species, occurs in many animals with egg care. It is particularly common in waterfowl, for reasons that are debated. Many waterfowl females nest near their birthplace, making it likely that some local females are relatives. We analyse brood parasitism in a Hudson Bay population of common eiders, testing predictions from two alternative hypotheses on the role of relatedness in CBP. Some models predict host–parasite relatedness, others predict that parasites avoid close relatives as hosts. To distinguish between the alternatives, we use a novel approach, where the relatedness of host–parasite pairs is tested against the spatial population trend in pairwise relatedness. We estimate parasitism, nest take-over and relatedness with protein fingerprinting and bandsharing analysis of egg albumen, nondestructively sampled from each new egg in the nest throughout the laying period. The results refute the hypothesis that parasites avoid laying eggs in the nests of related hosts, and corroborate the alternative of host–parasite relatedness. With an estimated r of 0.12–0.14, females laying eggs in the same nest are on average closer kin than nesting neighbour females. Absence of a population trend in female pairwise relatedness vs. distance implies that host–parasite relatedness is not only an effect of strong natal philopatry: some additional form of kin bias is also involved.
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13. |
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14. |
- Antoniazza, Sylvain, et al.
(author)
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Natural selection in a postglacial range expansion : the case of the colour cline in the European barn owl
- 2014
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 23:22, s. 5508-5523
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gradients of variationor clineshave always intrigued biologists. Classically, they have been interpreted as the outcomes of antagonistic interactions between selection and gene flow. Alternatively, clines may also establish neutrally with isolation by distance (IBD) or secondary contact between previously isolated populations. The relative importance of natural selection and these two neutral processes in the establishment of clinal variation can be tested by comparing genetic differentiation at neutral genetic markers and at the studied trait. A third neutral process, surfing of a newly arisen mutation during the colonization of a new habitat, is more difficult to test. Here, we designed a spatially explicit approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) simulation framework to evaluate whether the strong cline in the genetically based reddish coloration observed in the European barn owl (Tyto alba) arose as a by-product of a range expansion or whether selection has to be invoked to explain this colour cline, for which we have previously ruled out the actions of IBD or secondary contact. Using ABC simulations and genetic data on 390 individuals from 20 locations genotyped at 22 microsatellites loci, we first determined how barn owls colonized Europe after the last glaciation. Using these results in new simulations on the evolution of the colour phenotype, and assuming various genetic architectures for the colour trait, we demonstrate that the observed colour cline cannot be due to the surfing of a neutral mutation. Taking advantage of spatially explicit ABC, which proved to be a powerful method to disentangle the respective roles of selection and drift in range expansions, we conclude that the formation of the colour cline observed in the barn owl must be due to natural selection.
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15. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, Professor, 1961-, et al.
(author)
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Ecology, the pace‐of‐life, epistatic selection and the maintenance of genetic variation in life‐history genes
- 2023
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 32:17, s. 4713-4724
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Evolutionary genetics has long struggled with understanding how functional genes under selection remain polymorphic in natural populations. Taking as a starting point that natural selection is ultimately a manifestation of ecological processes, we spotlight an underemphasized and potentially ubiquitous ecological effect that may have fundamental effects on the maintenance of genetic variation. Negative frequency dependency is a well-established emergent property of density dependence in ecology, because the relative profitability of different modes of exploiting or utilizing limiting resources tends to be inversely proportional to their frequency in a population. We suggest that this may often generate negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS) on major effect loci that affect rate-dependent physiological processes, such as metabolic rate, that are phenotypically manifested as polymorphism in pace-of-life syndromes. When such a locus under NFDS shows stable intermediate frequency polymorphism, this should generate epistatic selection potentially involving large numbers of loci with more minor effects on life-history (LH) traits. When alternative alleles at such loci show sign epistasis with a major effect locus, this associative NFDS will promote the maintenance of polygenic variation in LH genes. We provide examples of the kind of major effect loci that could be involved and suggest empirical avenues that may better inform us on the importance and reach of this process.
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16. |
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17. |
- Ashton, David T., et al.
(author)
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Fifteen years of quantitative trait loci studies in fish: challenges and future directions
- 2017
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 1365-294X .- 0962-1083.
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Understanding the genetic basis of phenotypic variation is a major challenge in biology. Here, we systematically evaluate 146 quantitative trait loci (QTL) studies on teleost fish over the last 15 years to investigate (i) temporal trends and (ii) factors affecting QTL detection and fine-mapping. The number of fish QTL studies per year increased over the review period and identified a cumulative number of 3632 putative QTLs. Most studies used linkage-based mapping approaches and were conducted on nonmodel species with limited genomic resources. A gradual and moderate increase in the size of the mapping population and a sharp increase in marker density from 2011 onwards were observed; however, the number of QTLs and variance explained by QTLs changed only minimally over the review period. Based on these findings, we discuss the causative factors and outline how larger sample sizes, phenomics, comparative genomics, epigenetics and software development could improve both the quantity and quality of QTLs in future genotype–phenotype studies. Given that the technical limitations on DNA sequencing have mostly been overcome in recent years, a renewed focus on these and other study design factors will likely lead to significant improvements in QTL studies in the future.
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18. |
- Aspi, J, et al.
(author)
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Genetic diversity, population structure, effective population size and demographic history of the Finnish wolf population.
- 2006
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In: Mol Ecol. - 0962-1083. ; 15:6, s. 1561-76
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Finnish wolf population (Canis lupus) was sampled during three different periods (1996-1998, 1999-2001 and 2002-2004), and 118 individuals were genotyped with 10 microsatellite markers. Large genetic variation was found in the population despite a recent demographic bottleneck. No spatial population subdivision was found even though a significant negative relationship between genetic relatedness and geographic distance suggested isolation by distance. Very few individuals did not belong to the local wolf population as determined by assignment analyses, suggesting a low level of immigration in the population. We used the temporal approach and several statistical methods to estimate the variance effective size of the population. All methods gave similar estimates of effective population size, approximately 40 wolves. These estimates were slightly larger than the estimated census size of breeding individuals. A Bayesian model based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations indicated strong evidence for a long-term population decline. These results suggest that the contemporary wolf population size is roughly 8% of its historical size, and that the population decline dates back to late 19th century or early 20th century. Despite an increase of over 50% in the census size of the population during the whole study period, there was only weak evidence that the effective population size during the last period was higher than during the first. This may be caused by increased inbreeding, diminished dispersal within the population, and decreased immigration to the population during the last study period.
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19. |
- Axelsson, Erik, et al.
(author)
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Natural selection in protein-coding genes expressed in avian brain
- 2008
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In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 17:12, s. 3008-3017
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The evolution of birds from theropod dinosaurs took place approximately 150 million years ago, and was associated with a number of specific adaptations that are still evident among extant birds, including feathers, song and extravagant secondary sexual characteristics. Knowledge about the molecular evolutionary background to such adaptations is lacking. Here, we analyse the evolution of > 5000 protein-coding gene sequences expressed in zebra finch brain by comparison to orthologous sequences in chicken. Mean d(N)/d(S) is 0.085 and genes with their maximal expression in the eye and central nervous system have the lowest mean d(N)/d(S) value, while those expressed in digestive and reproductive tissues exhibit the highest. We find that fast-evolving genes (those which have higher than expected rate of nonsynonymous substitution, indicative of adaptive evolution) are enriched for biological functions such as fertilization, muscle contraction, defence response, response to stress, wounding and endogenous stimulus, and cell death. After alignment to mammalian orthologues, we identify a catalogue of 228 genes that show a significantly higher rate of protein evolution in the two bird lineages than in mammals. These accelerated bird genes, representing candidates for avian-specific adaptations, include genes implicated in vocal learning and other cognitive processes. Moreover, colouration genes evolve faster in birds than in mammals, which may have been driven by sexual selection for extravagant plumage characteristics.
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20. |
- Backström, Niclas, et al.
(author)
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Genomics of natural bird populations : a gene-based set of reference markers evenly spread across the avian genome
- 2008
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 17:4, s. 964-980
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Although there is growing interest to take genomics into the complex realms of natural populations, there is a general shortage of genomic resources and tools available for wild species. This applies not at least to birds, for which genomic approaches should be helpful to questions such as adaptation, speciation and population genetics. In this study, we describe a genome-wide reference set of conserved avian gene markers, broadly applicable across birds. By aligning protein-coding sequences from the recently assembled chicken genome with orthologous sequences in zebra finch, we identified particularly conserved exonic regions flanking introns of suitable size for subsequent amplification and sequencing. Primers were designed for 242 gene markers evenly distributed across the chicken genome, with a mean inter-marker interval of 4.2 Mb. Between 78% and 93% of the markers amplified a specific product in five species tested (chicken, peregrine falcon, collared flycatcher, great reed warbler and blue tit). Two hundred markers were sequenced in collared flycatcher, yielding a total of 122.41 kb of genomic DNA sequence (12096 bp coding sequence and 110 314 bp noncoding). Intron size of collared flycatcher and chicken was highly correlated, as was GC content. A polymorphism screening using these markers in a panel of 10 unrelated collared flycatchers identified 871 single nucleotide polymorphisms (pi = 0.0029) and 33 indels (mainly very short). Avian genome characteristics such as uniform genome size and low rate of syntenic rearrangements suggest that this marker set will find broad utility as a genome-wide reference resource for molecular ecological and population genomic analysis of birds. We envision that it will be particularly useful for obtaining large-scale orthologous targets in different species--important in, for instance, phylogenetics--and for large-scale identification of evenly distributed single nucleotide polymorphisms needed in linkage mapping or in studies of gene flow and hybridization.
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21. |
- Backström, Niclas, et al.
(author)
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No evidence for Z-chromosome rearrangements between the pied flycatcher and the collared flycatcher as judged by gene-based comparative genetic maps
- 2010
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In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 19:16, s. 3394-3405
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Revealing the genetic basis of reproductive isolation is fundamental for understanding the speciation process. Chromosome speciation models propose a role for chromosomal rearrangements in promoting the build up of reproductive isolation between diverging populations and empirical data from several animal and plant taxa support these models. The pied flycatcher and the collared flycatcher are two closely related species that probably evolved reproductive isolation during geographical separation in Pleistocene glaciation refugia. Despite the short divergence time and current hybridization, these two species demonstrate a high degree of intrinsic post-zygotic isolation and previous studies have shown that traits involved in mate choice and hybrid viability map to the Z-chromosome. Could rearrangements of the Z-chromosome between the species explain their reproductive isolation? We developed high coverage Z-chromosome linkage maps for both species, using gene-based markers and large-scale SNP genotyping. Best order maps contained 57-62 gene markers with an estimated average density of one every 1-1.5 Mb. We estimated the recombination rates in flycatcher Z-chromosomes to 1.1-1.3 cM/Mb. A comparison of the maps of the two species revealed extensive co-linearity with no strong evidence for chromosomal rearrangements. This study does therefore not provide support the idea that sex chromosome rearrangements have caused the relatively strong post-zygotic reproductive isolation between these two Ficedula species.
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22. |
- Bahram, Mohammad
(author)
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Seasonal dynamics of mycoplankton in the Yellow Sea reflect the combined effect of riverine inputs and hydrographic conditions
- 2021
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 30, s. 3624-3637
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Little is known about how multiple factors including land-based inputs and ocean currents affect the spatiotemporal distribution of the mycoplankton in coastal regions. To explore the seasonal changes of mycoplanktonic communities and potential environmental drivers, we collected water samples from the Yellow Sea, used here as a model for subtropical sea habitats, in different seasons over two years. Compared with winter and spring, summer exhibited higher levels of fungal richness and community heterogeneity in the water column. The seasonal shifts in mycoplankton diversity and community composition were mainly ascribed to freshwater inputs, the Cold Water Mass and invasion of the Yellow Sea Warm Current. Among the physicochemical variables tested, temperature was the primary determinant of fungal diversity and showed contrasting influences on fungal richness in the surface and bottom waters during summer. In addition, we provide evidence for the community similarity and dissolved nutrients of different water bodies to highlight the potential origin of the Cold Water Mass. Our findings bring new understanding on the factors determining the dynamics of mycoplankton communities by modelling the influence of physicochemical variables and tracking the geographical distribution of certain fungal taxa.
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23. |
- Bakovic, Vid, et al.
(author)
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Host plant-related genomic differentiation in the European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi
- 2019
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : WILEY. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 28:20, s. 4648-4666
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Elucidating the mechanisms and conditions facilitating the formation of biodiversity are central topics in evolutionary biology. A growing number of studies imply that divergent ecological selection may often play a critical role in speciation by counteracting the homogenising effects of gene flow. Several examples involve phytophagous insects, where divergent selection pressures associated with host plant shifts may generate reproductive isolation, promoting speciation. Here, we use ddRADseq to assess the population structure and to test for host-related genomic differentiation in the European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi (L., 1758) (Diptera: Tephritidae). This tephritid is distributed throughout Europe and western Asia, and has adapted to two different genera of host plants, Prunus spp. (cherries) and Lonicera spp. (honeysuckle). Our data imply that geographic distance and geomorphic barriers serve as the primary factors shaping genetic population structure across the species range. Locally, however, flies genetically cluster according to host plant, with consistent allele frequency differences displayed by a subset of loci between Prunus and Lonicera flies across four sites surveyed in Germany and Norway. These 17 loci display significantly higher F-ST values between host plants than others. They also showed high levels of linkage disequilibrium within and between Prunus and Lonicera flies, supporting host-related selection and reduced gene flow. Our findings support the existence of sympatric host races in R. cerasi embedded within broader patterns of geographic variation in the fly, similar to the related apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella, in North America.
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24. |
- Bakovic, Vid, et al.
(author)
-
The genomics of phenotypically differentiated Asellus aquaticus cave, surface stream and lake ecotypes
- 2021
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 30:14, s. 3530-3547
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Organisms well suited for the study of ecotype formation have wide distribution ranges, where they adapt to multiple drastically different habitats repeatedly over space and time. Here we study such ecotypes in a Crustacean model, Asellus aquaticus, a commonly occurring isopod found in freshwater habitats as diverse as streams, caves and lakes. Previous studies focusing on cave vs. surface ecotypes have attributed depigmentation, eye loss and prolonged antennae to several south European cave systems. Likewise, surveys across multiple Swedish lakes have identified the presence of dark-pigmented "reed" and light-pigmented "stonewort" ecotypes, which can be found within the same lake. In this study, we sequenced the first draft genome of A. aquaticus, and subsequently use this to map reads and call variants in surface stream, cave and two lake ecotypes. In addition, the draft genome was combined with a RADseq approach to perform a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping study using a laboratory bred F-2 and F-4 cave x surface intercross. We identified genomic regions associated with body pigmentation, antennae length and body size. Furthermore, we compared genome-wide differentiation between natural populations and found several genes potentially associated with these habitats. The assessment of the cave QTL regions in the light-dark comparison of lake populations suggests that the regions associated with cave adaptation are also involved with genomic differentiation in the lake ecotypes. These demonstrate how troglomorphic adaptations can be used as a model for related ecotype formation.
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25. |
- Balao, Francisco, et al.
(author)
-
Adaptive sequence evolution is driven by biotic stress in a pair of orchid species (Dactylorhiza) with distinct ecological optima
- 2017
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083. ; 26:14, s. 3649-3662
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The orchid family is the largest in the angiosperms, but little is known about the molecular basis of the significant variation they exhibit. We investigate here the transcriptomic divergence between two European terrestrial orchids, Dactylorhiza incarnata and Dactylorhiza fuchsii, and integrate these results in the context of their distinct ecologies that we also document. Clear signals of lineage-specific adaptive evolution of protein-coding sequences are identified, notably targeting elements of biotic defence, including both physical and chemical adaptations in the context of divergent pools of pathogens and herbivores. In turn, a substantial regulatory divergence between the two species appears linked to adaptation/acclimation to abiotic conditions. Several of the pathways affected by differential expression are also targeted by deviating post-transcriptional regulation via sRNAs. Finally, D. incarnata appears to suffer from insufficient sRNA control over the activity of RNA-dependent DNA polymerase, resulting in increased activity of class I transposable elements and, over time, in larger genome size than that of D. fuchsii. The extensive molecular divergence between the two species suggests significant genomic and transcriptomic shock in their hybrids and offers insights into the difficulty of coexistence at the homoploid level. Altogether, biological response to selection, accumulated during the history of these orchids, appears governed by their microenvironmental context, in which biotic and abiotic pressures act synergistically to shape transcriptome structure, expression and regulation.
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26. |
- Baltazar-Soares, Miguel, et al.
(author)
-
Genomic basis of melanin-associated phenotypes suggests colour-specific environmental adaptations in tawny owls
- 2024
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : WILEY. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Feathers comprise a series of evolutionary innovations but also harbour colour, a key biological trait known to co-vary with life history or complex traits. Those relationships are particularly true in melanin-based pigmentation species due to known pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin pathway - originating from melanin-associated phenotypes. Here, we explore the molecular basis of melanin colouration and expected co-variation at the molecular level in the melanin-based, colour polymorphic system of the tawny owl (Strix aluco). An extensive body of literature has revealed that grey and brown tawny owl colour morphs differ in a series of life history and behavioural traits. Thus, it is plausible to expect co-variation also at molecular level between colour morphs. To investigate this possibility, we assembled the first draft genome of the species against which we mapped ddRADseq reads from 220 grey and 150 brown morphs - representing 10 years of pedigree data from a population in Southern Finland - and explored genome-wide associations with colour phenotype. Our results revealed putative molecular signatures of cold adaptation strongly associated with the grey phenotype, namely, a non-synonymous substitution in MCHR1, plus 2 substitutions in non-coding regions of FTCD and FAM135A whose genotype combinations obtained a predictive power of up to 100% (predicting grey colour). These suggest a molecular basis of cold environment adaptations predicted to be grey-morph specific. Our results potentially reveal part of the molecular machinery of melanin-associated phenotypes and provide novel insights towards understanding the functional genomics of colour polymorphism in melanin-based pigmented species.
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27. |
- Barker, Hilary L., et al.
(author)
-
Linking plant genes to insect communities : Identifying the genetic bases of plant traits and community composition
- 2019
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 28:19, s. 4404-4421
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Community genetics aims to understand the effects of intraspecific genetic variation on community composition and diversity, thereby connecting community ecology with evolutionary biology. Thus far, research has shown that plant genetics can underlie variation in the composition of associated communities (e.g., insects, lichen and endophytes), and those communities can therefore be considered as extended phenotypes. This work, however, has been conducted primarily at the plant genotype level and has not identified the key underlying genes. To address this gap, we used genome‐wide association mapping with a population of 445 aspen (Populus tremuloides) genets to identify the genes governing variation in plant traits (defence chemistry, bud phenology, leaf morphology, growth) and insect community composition. We found 49 significant SNP associations in 13 Populus genes that are correlated with chemical defence compounds and insect community traits. Most notably, we identified an early nodulin‐like protein that was associated with insect community diversity and the abundance of interacting foundation species (ants and aphids). These findings support the concept that particular plant traits are the mechanistic link between plant genes and the composition of associated insect communities. In putting the “genes” into “genes to ecosystems ecology”, this work enhances understanding of the molecular genetic mechanisms that underlie plant–insect associations and the consequences thereof for the structure of ecological communities.
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28. |
- Barmentlo, Niek W. G., et al.
(author)
-
Natural selection on feralization genes contributed to the invasive spread of wild pigs throughout the United States
- 2024
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : WILEY. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite a long presence in the contiguous United States (US), the distribution of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa x domesticus) has expanded rapidly since the 1980s, suggesting a more recent evolutionary shift towards greater invasiveness. Contemporary populations of wild pigs represent exoferal hybrid descendants of domestic pigs and European wild boar, with such hybridization expected to enrich genetic diversity and increase the adaptive potential of populations. Our objective was to characterize how genetic enrichment through hybridization increases the invasiveness of populations by identifying signals of selection and the ancestral origins of selected loci. Our study focused on invasive wild pigs within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which represents a hybrid population descendent from the admixture of established populations of feral pigs and an introduction of European wild boar to North America. Accordingly, we genotyped 881 wild pigs with multiple high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays. We found 233 markers under putative selection spread over 79 regions across 16 out of 18 autosomes, which contained genes involved in traits affecting feralization. Among these, genes were found to be related to skull formation and neurogenesis, with two genes, TYRP1 and TYR, also encoding for crucial melanogenesis enzymes. The most common haplotypes associated with regions under selection for the Great Smoky Mountains population were also common among other populations throughout the region, indicating a key role of putatively selective variants in the fitness of invasive populations. Interestingly, many of these haplotypes were absent among European wild boar reference genotypes, indicating feralization through genetic adaptation.
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29. |
- Barth, Julia M.I., et al.
(author)
-
Disentangling structural genomic and behavioural barriers in a sea of connectivity
- 2019
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 28:6, s. 1394-1411
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2019 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Genetic divergence among populations arises through natural selection or drift and is counteracted by connectivity and gene flow. In sympatric populations, isolating mechanisms are thus needed to limit the homogenizing effects of gene flow to allow for adaptation and speciation. Chromosomal inversions act as an important mechanism maintaining isolating barriers, yet their role in sympatric populations and divergence with gene flow is not entirely understood. Here, we revisit the question of whether inversions play a role in the divergence of connected populations of the marine fish Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua), by exploring a unique data set combining whole-genome sequencing data and behavioural data obtained with acoustic telemetry. Within a confined fjord environment, we find three genetically differentiated Atlantic cod types belonging to the oceanic North Sea population, the western Baltic population and a local fjord-type cod. Continuous behavioural tracking over 4year revealed temporally stable sympatry of these types within the fjord. Despite overall weak genetic differentiation consistent with high levels of gene flow, we detected significant frequency shifts of three previously identified inversions, indicating an adaptive barrier to gene flow. In addition, behavioural data indicated that North Sea cod and individuals homozygous for the LG12 inversion had lower fitness in the fjord environment. However, North Sea and fjord-type cod also occupy different depths, possibly contributing to prezygotic reproductive isolation and representing a behavioural barrier to gene flow. Our results provide the first insights into a complex interplay of genomic and behavioural isolating barriers in Atlantic cod and establish a new model system towards an understanding of the role of genomic structural variants in adaptation and diversification.
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30. |
- Barth, Julia M.I., et al.
(author)
-
Genome architecture enables local adaptation of Atlantic cod despite high connectivity
- 2017
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 26:17, s. 4452-4466
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Adaptation to local conditions is a fundamental process in evolution; however, mechanisms maintaining local adaptation despite high gene flow are still poorly understood. Marine ecosystems provide a wide array of diverse habitats that frequently promote ecological adaptation even in species characterized by strong levels of gene flow. As one example, populations of the marine fish Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) are highly connected due to immense dispersal capabilities but nevertheless show local adaptation in several key traits. By combining population genomic analyses based on 12K single nucleotide polymorphisms with larval dispersal patterns inferred using a biophysical ocean model, we show that Atlantic cod individuals residing in sheltered estuarine habitats of Scandinavian fjords mainly belong to offshore oceanic populations with considerable connectivity between these diverse ecosystems. Nevertheless, we also find evidence for discrete fjord populations that are genetically differentiated from offshore populations, indicative of local adaptation, the degree of which appears to be influenced by connectivity. Analyses of the genomic architecture reveal a significant overrepresentation of a large ~5 Mb chromosomal rearrangement in fjord cod, previously proposed to comprise genes critical for the survival at low salinities. This suggests that despite considerable connectivity with offshore populations, local adaptation to fjord environments may be enabled by suppression of recombination in the rearranged region. Our study provides new insights into the potential of local adaptation in high gene flow species within fine geographical scales and highlights the importance of genome architecture in analyses of ecological adaptation.
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31. |
- Beaumont, Mark A, et al.
(author)
-
In defence of model-based inference in phylogeography.
- 2010
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 19:3, s. 436-446
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent papers have promoted the view that model-based methods in general, and those based on Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) in particular, are flawed in a number of ways, and are therefore inappropriate for the analysis of phylogeographic data. These papers further argue that Nested Clade Phylogeographic Analysis (NCPA) offers the best approach in statistical phylogeography. In order to remove the confusion and misconceptions introduced by these papers, we justify and explain the reasoning behind model-based inference. We argue that ABC is a statistically valid approach, alongside other computational statistical techniques that have been successfully used to infer parameters and compare models in population genetics. We also examine the NCPA method and highlight numerous deficiencies, either when used with single or multiple loci. We further show that the ages of clades are carelessly used to infer ages of demographic events, that these ages are estimated under a simple model of panmixia and population stationarity but are then used under different and unspecified models to test hypotheses, a usage the invalidates these testing procedures. We conclude by encouraging researchers to study and use model-based inference in population genetics.
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32. |
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33. |
- Beier, S., et al.
(author)
-
The environment drives microbial trait variability in aquatic habitats
- 2020
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A prerequisite to improve the predictability of microbial community dynamics is to understand the mechanisms of microbial assembly. To study factors that contribute to microbial community assembly, we examined the temporal dynamics of genes in five aquatic metagenome time-series, originating from marine offshore or coastal sites and one lake. With this trait-based approach we expected to find gene-specific patterns of temporal allele variability that depended on the seasonal metacommunity size of carrier-taxa and the variability of the milieu and the substrates to which the resulting proteins were exposed. In more detail, we hypothesized that a larger seasonal metacommunity size would result in increased temporal variability of functional units (i.e., gene alleles), as shown previously for taxonomic units. We further hypothesized that multicopy genes would feature higher temporal variability than single-copy genes, as gene multiplication can result from high variability in substrate quality and quantity. Finally, we hypothesized that direct exposure of proteins to the extracellular environment would result in increased temporal variability of the respective gene compared to intracellular proteins that are less exposed to environmental fluctuations. The first two hypotheses were confirmed in all data sets, while significant effects of the subcellular location of gene products was only seen in three of the five time-series. The gene with the highest allele variability throughout all data sets was an iron transporter, also representing a target for phage infection. Previous work has emphasized the role of phage–prokaryote interactions as a major driver of microbial diversity. Our finding therefore points to a potentially important role of iron transporter-mediated phage infections for the assembly and maintenance of diversity in aquatic prokaryotes.
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34. |
- Bell, Karen L., et al.
(author)
-
Plants, pollinators and their interactions under global ecological change : The role of pollen DNA metabarcoding
- 2023
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 32:23, s. 6345-6362
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Anthropogenic activities are triggering global changes in the environment, causing entire communities of plants, pollinators and their interactions to restructure, and ultimately leading to species declines. To understand the mechanisms behind community shifts and declines, as well as monitoring and managing impacts, a global effort must be made to characterize plant-pollinator communities in detail, across different habitat types, latitudes, elevations, and levels and types of disturbances. Generating data of this scale will only be feasible with rapid, high-throughput methods. Pollen DNA metabarcoding provides advantages in throughput, efficiency and taxonomic resolution over traditional methods, such as microscopic pollen identification and visual observation of plant-pollinator interactions. This makes it ideal for understanding complex ecological networks and their responses to change. Pollen DNA metabarcoding is currently being applied to assess plant-pollinator interactions, survey ecosystem change and model the spatiotemporal distribution of allergenic pollen. Where samples are available from past collections, pollen DNA metabarcoding has been used to compare contemporary and past ecosystems. New avenues of research are possible with the expansion of pollen DNA metabarcoding to intraspecific identification, analysis of DNA in ancient pollen samples, and increased use of museum and herbarium specimens. Ongoing developments in sequencing technologies can accelerate progress towards these goals. Global ecological change is happening rapidly, and we anticipate that high-throughput methods such as pollen DNA metabarcoding are critical for understanding the evolutionary and ecological processes that support biodiversity, and predicting and responding to the impacts of change.
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35. |
- Bensch, Staffan, et al.
(author)
-
Conflicting patterns of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA diversity in Phylloscopus warblers
- 2006
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083. ; 15:1, s. 161-171
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Molecular variation is often used to infer the demographic history of species, but sometimes the complexity of species history can make such inference difficult. The willow warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus, shows substantially less geographical variation than the chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita, both in morphology and in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) divergence. We therefore predicted that the willow warbler should harbour less nuclear DNA diversity than the chiffchaff. We analysed sequence data obtained from multiple samples of willow warblers and chiffchaffs for the mtDNA cytochrome b gene and four nuclear genes. We confirmed that the mtDNA diversity among willow warblers is low (π = 0.0021). Sequence data from three nuclear genes (CHD-Z, AFLP-WW1 and MC1R) not linked to the mitochondria demonstrated unexpectedly high nucleotide diversity (π values of 0.0172, 0.0141 and 0.0038) in the willow warbler, on average higher than the nucleotide diversity for the chiffchaff (π values of 0.0025, 0.0017 and 0.0139). In willow warblers, Tajima's D analyses showed that the mtDNA diversity, but not the nuclear DNA diversity, has been reduced relative to the neutral expectation of molecular evolution, suggesting the action of a selective sweep affecting the maternally inherited genes. The large nuclear diversity seen within willow warblers is not compatible with processes of neutral evolution occurring in a population with a constant population size, unless the long-term effective population size has been very large (Ne > 106). We suggest that the contrasting patterns of genetic diversity in the willow warbler may reflect a more complex evolutionary history, possibly including historical demographic fluctuations or historical male-biased introgression of nuclear genes from a differentiated population of Phylloscopus warblers.
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36. |
- Bensch, Staffan, et al.
(author)
-
Genetic, morphological, and feather isotope variation of migratory willow warblers show gradual divergence in a ring.
- 2009
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 18:14, s. 3087-96
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The circular distribution of the willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus around the Baltic Sea shares many features with the classic examples of ring species; however, the system is much younger. It has previously been shown that a secondary contact zone is located in central Scandinavia, where there are narrow clines for several morphological traits coincident with a migratory divide. Here we analyse multiple traits and genes from > 1700 males captured on breeding territories at 77 sites spread around the Baltic Sea to test the following hypothesis. If the secondary contact zone in Scandinavia is a result of divergence in two allopatric refuge populations during the last glaciation, we expect to find a similar secondary contact zone somewhere else around the circular distribution. Our results show that the trait clines were wider and displaced from each other along the eastern side of the Baltic Sea. Analyses of 12 microsatellite loci confirmed that the genome is very similar between the terminal forms (F(ST) = 0). Two AFLP-derived markers filtered out from a genomic scan instead appear to be maintained by selection. These markers exhibited steep clines at the secondary contact zone in Scandinavia, but as for the phenotypic traits, had vastly different cline centres east of the Baltic Sea. The trait clines along the ring distribution outside the Scandinavian secondary contact zone thus seem to have been shaped by independent action of selection or drift during the process of postglacial colonization.
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37. |
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38. |
- Bensch, Staffan, et al.
(author)
-
Ten years of AFLP in ecology and evolution: why so few animals?
- 2005
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083. ; 14:10, s. 2899-2914
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Researchers in the field of molecular ecology and evolution require versatile and low-cost genetic typing methods. The AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) method was introduced 10 years ago and shows many features that fulfil these requirements. With good quality genomic DNA at hand, it is relatively easy to generate anonymous multilocus DNA profiles in most species and the start-up time before data can be generated is often less than a week. Built-in dynamic, yet simple modifications make it possible to find a protocol suitable to the genome size of the species and to screen thousands of loci in hundreds of individuals for a relatively low cost. Until now, the method has primarily been applied in studies of plants, bacteria and fungi, with a strong bias towards economically important cultivated species and their pests. In this review we identify a number of research areas in the study of wild species of animals where the AFLP method, presently very much underused, should be a very valuable tool. These aspects include classical problems such as studies of population genetic structure and phylogenetic reconstructions, and also new challenges such as finding markers for genes governing adaptations in wild populations and modifications of the protocol that makes it possible to measure expression variation of multiple genes (cDNA-AFLP) and the distribution of DNA methylation. We hope this review will help molecular ecologists to identify when AFLP is likely to be superior to other more established methods, such as microsatellites, SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) analyses and multigene DNA sequencing.
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39. |
- Bensch, Staffan, et al.
(author)
-
The use of AFLP to find an informative SNP: genetic differences across a migratory divide in willow warblers
- 2002
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083. ; 11:11, s. 2359-2366
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We used the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method to obtain genetic markers distinguishing two subspecies of willow warblers Phylloscopus trochilus that have different migratory behaviours but are not differentiated in mitochondrial DNA or at several microsatellite loci. With the inverse-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach we converted a dominant AFLP-marker to a codominant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Across Scandinavia we typed 621 birds at the SNP locus AFLP-WW1 and we found a sigmoid change in allele frequencies centred around 62 degrees latitude. North of the latitudinal cline was a west-east cline. Both clines are narrower than one would expect from dispersal distances in willow warblers, which suggests that these are maintained by selection. The latitudinal cline at the locus AFLP-WW1 is paralleled by changes in several other traits, all of which might be maintained by a single selective force. The most plausible selection factor that we have identified is selection against hybrids because of inferior migratory behaviour. The selective force maintaining the east-west cline is less obvious. We discuss alternatives to the selection scenario, involving colonization history and asymmetric gene flow.
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40. |
- Berasategui, Aileen, et al.
(author)
-
The Gut microbiota of the pine weevil is similar across Europe and resembles that of other conifer-feeding beetles
- 2016
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 25:16, s. 4014-4031
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The pine weevil (Hylobius abietis, Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an important pest of conifer seedlings in Europe. Despite its economic importance, little is known about the composition of its gut microbial community and the role it plays in mediating the weevil's ability to utilize conifers as a food source. Here, we characterized the gut bacterial communities of different populations of H. abietis across Europe and compared them to those of other beetles that occupy similar ecological niches. We demonstrate that the microbial community of H. abietis is similar at higher taxonomic levels (family and genus) across locations in Europe, with Wolbachia as the dominant microbe, followed by Enterobacteria and Firmicutes. Despite this similarity, we observed consistent differences between countries and locations, but not sexes. Our meta-analysis demonstrates that the gut bacterial community of the pine weevil is very similar to that of bark beetles that also exploit conifers as a food source. The Enterobacteriaceae symbionts of both host taxa are especially closely related phylogenetically. Conversely, the microbiota of H. abietis is distinct from that of closely related weevils feeding on non-conifer food sources, suggesting that the microbial community of the pine weevil is determined by the environment and may be relevant to host ecology. Furthermore, several H. abietis-associated members of the Enterobacteriaceae family are known to contain genes involved in terpenoid degradation. As such, we hypothesize that the gut microbial community is important for the utilization of conifer seedlings as a food source, either through the detoxification of plant secondary metabolites or supplementation of essential nutrients.
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41. |
- Berdan, Emma L., et al.
(author)
-
Unboxing mutations : Connecting mutation types with evolutionary consequences
- 2021
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 30:12, s. 2710-2723
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A key step in understanding the genetic basis of different evolutionary outcomes (e.g., adaptation) is to determine the roles played by different mutation types (e.g., SNPs, translocations and inversions). To do this we must simultaneously consider different mutation types in an evolutionary framework. Here, we propose a research framework that directly utilizes the most important characteristics of mutations, their population genetic effects, to determine their relative evolutionary significance in a given scenario. We review known population genetic effects of different mutation types and show how these may be connected to different evolutionary outcomes. We provide examples of how to implement this framework and pinpoint areas where more data, theory and synthesis are needed. Linking experimental and theoretical approaches to examine different mutation types simultaneously is a critical step towards understanding their evolutionary significance.
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42. |
- Beresford, J., et al.
(author)
-
Widespread hybridization within mound-building wood ants in Southern Finland results in cytonuclear mismatches and potential for sex-specific hybrid breakdown
- 2017
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083. ; 26:15, s. 4013-4026
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Hybridization and gene flow between diverging lineages are increasingly recognized as common evolutionary processes, and their consequences can vary from hybrid breakdown to adaptive introgression. We have previously found a population of wood ant hybrids between Formica aquilonia and F. polyctena that shows antagonistic effects of hybridization: females with introgressed alleles show hybrid vigour, whereas males with the same alleles show hybrid breakdown. Here, we investigate whether hybridization is a general phenomenon in this species pair and analyse 647 worker samples from 16 localities in Finland using microsatellite markers and a 1200-bp mitochondrial sequence. Our results show that 27 sampled nests contained parental-like gene pools (six putative F. polyctena and 21 putative F. aquilonia) and all remaining nests (69), from nine localities, contained hybrids of varying degrees. Patterns of genetic variation suggest these hybrids arise from everal hybridization events or, instead, have backcrossed to the parental gene pools to varying extents. In contrast to expectations, the mitochondrial haplotypes of the parental species were not randomly distributed among the hybrids. Instead, nests that were closer to parental-like F. aquilonia for nuclear markers preferentially had F. polyctena's mitochondria and vice versa. This systematic pattern suggests there may be underlying selection favouring cytonuclear mismatch and hybridization. We also found a new hybrid locality with strong genetic differences between the sexes similar to those predicted under antagonistic selection on male and female hybrids. Further studies are needed to determine the selective forces that act on male and female genomes in these newly discovered hybrids.
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43. |
- Berglund, Eva C., et al.
(author)
-
Rapid diversification by recombination in Bartonella grahamii from wild rodents in Asia contrasts with low levels of genomic divergence in Northern Europe and America
- 2010
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 19:11, s. 2241-2255
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bartonella is a genus of vector-borne bacteria that infect the red blood cells of mammals, and includes several human-specific and zoonotic pathogens. Bartonella grahamii has a wide host range and is one of the most prevalent Bartonella species in wild rodents. We studied the population structure, genome content and genome plasticity of a collection of 26 B. grahamii isolates from 11 species of wild rodents in seven countries. We found strong geographic patterns, high recombination frequencies and large variations in genome size in B. grahamii compared with previously analysed cat- and human-associated Bartonella species. The extent of sequence divergence in B. grahamii populations was markedly lower in Europe and North America than in Asia, and several recombination events were predicted between the Asian strains. We discuss environmental and demographic factors that may underlie the observed differences.
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44. |
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45. |
- Bernal-Duran, Valentina, et al.
(author)
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Combining population genomics and biophysical modelling to assess connectivity patterns in an Antarctic fish
- 2024
-
In: MOLECULAR ECOLOGY. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 33:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Connectivity is a fundamental process of population dynamics in marine ecosystems. In the last decade, with the emergence of new methods, combining different approaches to understand the patterns of connectivity among populations and their regulation has become increasingly feasible. The Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is characterized by complex oceanographic dynamics, where local conditions could act as barriers to population connectivity. Here, the notothenioid fish Harpagifer antarcticus, a demersal species with a complex life cycle (adults with poor swim capabilities and pelagic larvae), was used to assess connectivity along the WAP by combining biophysical modelling and population genomics methods. Both approaches showed congruent patterns. Areas of larvae retention and low potential connectivity, observed in the biophysical model output, coincide with four genetic groups within the WAP: (1) South Shetland Islands, (2) Bransfield Strait, (3) the central and (4) the southern area of WAP (Marguerite Bay). These genetic groups exhibited limited gene flow between them, consistent with local oceanographic conditions, which would represent barriers to larval dispersal. The joint effect of geographic distance and larval dispersal by ocean currents had a greater influence on the observed population structure than each variable evaluated separately. The combined effect of geographic distance and a complex oceanographic dynamic would be generating limited levels of population connectivity in the fish H. antarcticus along the WAP. Based on this, population connectivity estimations and priority areas for conservation were discussed, considering the marine protected area proposed for this threatened region of the Southern Ocean.
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46. |
- Bernhardsson, Carolina, et al.
(author)
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Geographic structure and adaptive population differentiation in herbivore defence genes in European aspen (Populus tremula L., Salicaceae)
- 2012
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 21:9, s. 2197-2207
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- When a phenotypic trait is subjected to spatially variable selection and local adaptation, the underlying genes controlling the trait are also expected to show strong patterns of genetic differentiation since alternative alleles are favored in different geographical locations. Here we study 71 SNPs from seven genes associated with inducible defense responses in a sample of P. tremula collected from across Sweden. Four of these genes (PPO2, TI2, TI4 and TI5) show substantial population differentiation and a PCA conducted on the defense SNPs divides the Swedish population into three distinct clusters. Several defense SNPs show latitudinal clines, although these were not robust to multiple testing. However, five SNPs (located within TI4 and TI5) show strong longitudinal clines that remain significant after multiple test correction. Genetic geographical variation, supporting local adaptation, has earlier been confirmed in genes involved in the photoperiod pathway in P. tremula, but this is, to our knowledge, one of the first times that geographic variation has been found in genes involved in plant defense against antagonists.
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47. |
- Biedrzycka, Aleksandra, et al.
(author)
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Blood parasites shape extreme major histocompatibility complex diversity in a migratory passerine
- 2018
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083. ; 27:11
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pathogens are one of the main forces driving the evolution and maintenance of the highly polymorphic genes of the vertebrate major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Although MHC proteins are crucial in pathogen recognition, it is still poorly understood how pathogen-mediated selection promotes and maintains MHC diversity, and especially so in host species with highly duplicated MHC genes. Sedge warblers (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) have highly duplicated MHC genes, and using data from high-throughput MHC genotyping, we were able to investigate to what extent avian malaria parasites explain temporal MHC class I supertype fluctuations in a long-term study population. We investigated infection status and infection intensities of two different strains of Haemoproteus, that is avian malaria parasites that are known to have significant fitness consequences in sedge warblers. We found that prevalence of avian malaria in carriers of specific MHC class I supertypes was a significant predictor of their frequency changes between years. This finding suggests that avian malaria infections partly drive the temporal fluctuations of the MHC class I supertypes. Furthermore, we found that individuals with a large number of different supertypes had higher resistance to avian malaria, but there was no evidence for an optimal MHC class I diversity. Thus, the two studied malaria parasite strains appear to select for a high MHC class I supertype diversity. Such selection may explain the maintenance of the extremely high number of MHC class I gene copies in sedge warblers and possibly also in other passerines where avian malaria is a common disease.
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48. |
- Birkeland, Siri, et al.
(author)
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What can cold-induced transcriptomes of Arctic Brassicaceae tell us about the evolution of cold tolerance?
- 2022
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 31:16, s. 4271-4285
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Little is known about the evolution of cold tolerance in polar plant species and how they differ from temperate relatives. To gain insight into their biology and the evolution of cold tolerance, we compared the molecular basis of cold response in three Arctic Brassicaceae species. We conducted a comparative time series experiment to examine transcriptional responses to low temperature. RNA was sampled at 22°C, and after 3, 6, and 24 at 2°C. We then identified sets of genes that were differentially expressed in response to cold and compared them between species, as well as to published data from the temperate Arabidopsis thaliana. Most differentially expressed genes were species-specific, but a significant portion of the cold response was also shared among species. Among thousands of differentially expressed genes, ~200 were shared among the three Arctic species and A. thaliana, while ~100 were exclusively shared among the three Arctic species. Our results show that cold response differs markedly between Arctic Brassicaceae species, but probably builds on a conserved basis found across the family. They also confirm that highly polygenic traits such as cold tolerance may show little repeatability in their patterns of adaptation.
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49. |
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50. |
- Blanco-Pastor, J. L., et al.
(author)
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Annual and perennial Medicago show signatures of parallel adaptation to climate and soil in highly conserved genes
- 2021
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In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 30:18, s. 4448-4465
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Human induced environmental change may require rapid adaptation of plant populations and crops, but the genomic basis of environmental adaptation remain poorly understood. We analysed polymorphic loci from the perennial crop Medicago sativa (alfalfa or lucerne) and the annual legume model species M. truncatula to search for a common set of candidate genes that might contribute to adaptation to abiotic stress in both annual and perennial Medicago species. We identified a set of candidate genes of adaptation associated with environmental gradients along the distribution of the two Medicago species. Candidate genes for each species were detected in homologous genomic linkage blocks using genome-environment (GEA) and genome-phenotype association analyses. Hundreds of GEA candidate genes were species-specific, of these, 13.4% (M. sativa) and 24% (M. truncatula) were also significantly associated with phenotypic traits. A set of 168 GEA candidates were shared by both species, which was 25.4% more than expected by chance. When combined, they explained a high proportion of variance for certain phenotypic traits associated with adaptation. Genes with highly conserved functions dominated among the shared candidates and were enriched in gene ontology terms that have shown to play a central role in drought avoidance and tolerance mechanisms by means of cellular shape modifications and other functions associated with cell homeostasis. Our results point to the existence of a molecular basis of adaptation to abiotic stress in Medicago determined by highly conserved genes and gene functions. We discuss these results in light of the recently proposed omnigenic model of complex traits.
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