Nuclear gene phylogeography reveals the historical legacy of an ancient inland sea on lineages of the western pond turtle,Emys marmorata in California

The historical biogeography of California’s taxa has been the focus of extensive research effort. The western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) is an example of a wide‐ranging taxon that spans several well‐known California diversity hotspots. Using a dataset comprised of one mitochondrial and five nuclear loci, we elucidate the major biogeographic patterns of the western pond turtle across the California landscape. By employing a combination of phylogenetic and network‐based approaches, we recovered a relatively ancient (c. 2–8 Ma) north/south split among populations of E. marmorata and find an area of intergradation centred in the Central Coast Ranges of California. In addition, discordant mitochondrial/nuclear genetic patterns suggest subsequent gene flow from northern populations and from San Joaquin Valley populations into the Central Coast Ranges after the Pliocene‐Pleistocene marine embayment of the Great Central Valley subsided. Our results emphasize the utility of nuclear DNA phylogeography for recovering the impact of relatively ancient biogeographic events, and suggest that the Central Coast Ranges of California have played a major role in the geographic structuring of the western pond turtle, and possibly other co‐distributed taxa.     

Activation of geminivirus V‐sense promoters in roots is restricted to nematode feeding sites

Obligate sedentary endoparasitic nematodes, such as the root‐knot and cyst nematodes, elicit the differentiation of specialized nematode nurse or feeding cells [nematode feeding sites (NFS), giant cells and syncytia, respectively]. During NFS differentiation, marked changes in cell cycle progression occur, partly similar to those induced by some geminiviruses. In this work, we describe the activation of V‐sense promoters from the Maize streak virus (MSV) and Wheat dwarf virus (WDV) in NFS formed by root‐knot and cyst nematodes. Both promoters were transiently active in microinjection experiments. In tobacco and Arabidopsis transgenic lines carrying promoter–β‐glucuronidase fusions, the MSV V‐sense promoter was activated in the vascular tissues of aerial plant parts, primarily leaf and cotyledon phloem tissue and some floral structures. Interestingly, in roots, promoter activation was restricted to syncytia and giant cells tested with four different nematode populations, but undetectable in the rest of the root system. As the activity of the promoter in transgenic rootstocks should be restricted to NFS only, the MSV promoter may have utility in engineering grafted crops for nematode control. Therefore, this study represents a step in the provision of some of the much needed additional data on promoters with restricted activation in NFS useful in biotechnological nematode control strategies.     

Contribution of fungal biomass to the diet of a freshwater isopod (Lirceus sp.)

SUMMARY. 1. The direct contribution of fungal biomass to the carbon needs of a freshwater isopod (Lirceus sp.) was measured using 14C-labelled fungi on leaf material. 14C-glucose was added to fungus-inoculated leaf discs periodically throughout the growth of the fungus. Amount of label incorporated into fungal biomass, radioactivity appearing in Lirceus after feeding on labeled fungus and the standing stock of fungus were used to calculate incorporation of fungal C by the consumer.
2. Incorporation rates ranged from 0.06 to 70 ng fungal C mg wet wt isopod-1h-1. These rates of incorporation represent from 0.05 to 57% of C respired by the isopod.
3. Fungal C does not meet the carbon needs of this consumer and the role of fungi as modifiers of the leaf substrate may be more significant than their role as a food source.     

Long‐proboscid brachyceran flies in Cretaceous amber (Diptera: Stratiomyomorpha: Zhangsolvidae)

The monophyletic family Zhangsolvidae comprises stout‐bodied brachyceran flies with a long proboscis and occurring only in the Cretaceous, originally known in shale from the Early Cretaceous Laiyang Formation (Fm.) in China (Zhangsolva Nagatomi & Yang), subsequently from limestones of the Early Cretaceous Crato Fm. of Brazil. Cratomyoides Wilkommen is synonymized with Cratomyia Mazzarolo & Amorim, both from the Crato Fm.; Cratomyiidae is synonymized with Zhangsolvidae. Two genera and three species of Zhangsolvidae are described: Buccinatormyia magnifica Arillo, Peñalver & Pérez‐de la Fuente, gen. et sp.n. and B. soplaensis Arillo, Peñalver & Pérez‐de la Fuente, sp.n. , in Albian amber from Las Peñosas Fm. in Spain; and Linguatormyia teletacta Grimaldi, gen. et sp.n. , in Upper Albian–Lower Cenomanian amber from Hukawng Valley in Myanmar. Buccinatormyia soplaensis and Linguatormyia teletacta are unique among all Brachycera, extant or extinct, by their remarkably long, flagellate antennae, about 1.6× the body length in the latter species. A phylogenetic analysis of 52 morphological characters for 35 taxa is presented, 11 taxa being Cretaceous species, which supports placement of the family within Stratiomyomorpha, although not to any particular family within the infraorder. This published work has been registered in Zoobank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F32CF887‐7C37‐45D5‐BD6B‐135FE9B729A7 .     

Food Vacuoles During Heat-Shock-Induced Transformation from the Microstomal to the Macrostomal Cell Type of Tetrahymena vorax1

ABSTRACT. The heat-shock method for induction of the macrostomal form of Tetrahymena vorax involves the transfer of cells to reduced nutrient medium and the application of a series of elevated temperature shocks followed by washing the protozoa into inorganic medium. The component of the procedure that had the greatest effect on food vacuoles was the heat shocks. At the end of the heat shocks, cells formed vacuoles at a lower rate than non-heat-shocked cells, but the size of the vacuoles formed was larger and the protozoa contained an increased number of vacuoles and total vacuolar membrane. The rate was further reduced by washing cells into nonnutrient medium. In the absence of the heat shocks, the medium had little effect on the capacity of the cells to form vacuoles although after 7.5 h in inorganic medium, the vacuoles formed were smaller and the protozoa possessed fewer vacuoles and therefore less vacuolar membrane. The amount of membrane required to form the cytopharyngeal pouch of the macrostomal cell type was equivalent to the surface area of food vacuoles present in cells prior to the onset of the heat shocks, but the number and surface area of vacuoles decline between the time of oral resorption and pouch development.     

Life history and ecology influences establishment success of introduced land birds

Despite the many studies that have investigated successful establishment of introduced bird species, very little is known about the patterns of success worldwide and the influence of life history and ecological traits. This study describes the analysis of non-native land bird introductions to test existing hypotheses of establishment success using a modern comparative approach to control for phylogenetic relatedness among taxa. I used randomization tests, permutational phylogenetic regressions, and across-taxa and sister-taxa comparisons to examine predicted correlates of introduction success. My analyses confirmed that the variability in establishment success among introduced land bird families is distributed in a manner significantly different from a random process, and that life history and ecological attributes are an important influence of introduction success. I found strong evidence, through a generalized linear model, that increased habitat generalism, lack of migratory tendency, and sexual monochromatism together explain significant variation in the successful establishment of introduced land bird species. This has resulted in a predictive equation for the novel introduction of land bird species.  © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2002, 76 , 465–480.     

Characterization of 15 single nucleotide polymorphism markers for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

We report the characterization of 15 new single nucleotide polymorphism markers for a threatened species, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), developed using a targeted gene approach. These markers are derived from the Y chromosome and autosomal regions of the genome and show frequency differences between chimpanzee subspecies from central and western Africa. These single nucleotide polymorphism markers are the first to be designed for the genotyping of wild chimpanzee populations and will provide a useful addition to the genetic tools employed for the conservation management of this threatened species.     

Body patterns as potential amplifiers of size and condition in a territorial spider

Signal costs, and associated trade-offs, are widely thought of as fundamental to the evolution and maintenance of reliable signals. Contrasting this view, the amplifier mechanism postulates that signals may be deemed reliable by design rather than by costs. Although the idea is not new, investigation of amplifier signals in nature remains scant. Here we show that displays and body markings on the Mediterranean tarantula, Lycosa tarantula (L.) (Lycosidae), are consistent with interpretation as amplifiers of size and body condition. The size of tibia and abdomen ventral markings (which alternate between dark and pale patterns) presented to rivals during contests are highly correlated with body size and condition, respectively. Abdomen markings have the additional feature of placement on a region especially influenced by abdomen distension and therefore has greater proportional variation than the underlying amplified trait. In spite of the differences in size and in body patterns between spiders of two isolated and ecologically different populations, correlation between body marking and dimensions, and relatively high proportional variation of the abdomen markings, was maintained, probably reflecting the adaptive value of these traits. We conducted a feeding experiment which showed that the abdominal markings enlarged (stretched with abdomen distension) at a higher rate if spiders were provided with more food, further supporting the idea that this marking amplifies body condition.  © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2003, 78 , 355–364.