The quorum sensing diversity within and between ecotypes of Bacillus subtilis

Ecological sociobiology is an emerging field that aims to frame social evolution in terms of ecological adaptation. Here we explore the ecological context for evolution of quorum sensing diversity in bacteria, where social communication is limited to members of the same quorum sensing type (pherotype). We sampled isolates of Bacillus subtilis from soil on a microgeographical scale and identified three ecologically distinct phylogenetic groups (ecotypes) and three pherotypes. Each pherotype was strongly associated with a different ecotype, suggesting that it is usually not adaptive for one ecotype to ‘listen’ to the signalling of another. Each ecotype, however, contained one or more minority pherotypes shared with the other B. subtilis ecotypes and with more distantly related species taxa. The pherotype diversity within ecotypes is consistent with two models: first, a pherotype cycling model, whereby minority pherotypes enter a population through horizontal genetic transfer and increase in frequency through cheating the social interaction; and second, an occasional advantage model, such that when two ecotypes are each below their quorum densities, they may benefit from listening to one another. This is the first survey of pherotype diversity in relation to ecotypes and it will be interesting to further test the hypotheses raised and supported here, and to explore other bacterial systems for the role of ecological divergence in fostering pherotype diversity.     

Speedy speciation in a bacterial microcosm: new species can arise as frequently as adaptations within a species

Microbiologists are challenged to explain the origins of enormous numbers of bacterial species worldwide. Contributing to this extreme diversity may be a simpler process of speciation in bacteria than in animals and plants, requiring neither sexual nor geographical isolation between nascent species. Here, we propose and test a novel hypothesis for the extreme diversity of bacterial species—that splitting of one population into multiple ecologically distinct populations (cladogenesis) may be as frequent as adaptive improvements within a single population''s lineage (anagenesis). We employed a set of experimental microcosms to address the relative rates of adaptive cladogenesis and anagenesis among the descendants of a Bacillus subtilis clone, in the absence of competing species. Analysis of the evolutionary trajectories of genetic markers indicated that in at least 7 of 10 replicate microcosm communities, the original population founded one or more new, ecologically distinct populations (ecotypes) before a single anagenetic event occurred within the original population. We were able to support this inference by identifying putative ecotypes formed in these communities through differences in genetic marker association, colony morphology and microhabitat association; we then confirmed the ecological distinctness of these putative ecotypes in competition experiments. Adaptive mutations leading to new ecotypes appeared to be about as common as those improving fitness within an existing ecotype. These results suggest near parity of anagenesis and cladogenesis rates in natural populations that are depauperate of bacterial diversity.     

Population structure over a broad spatial scale driven by nonanthropogenic factors in a wide‐ranging migratory mammal,Alaskan caribou

Wide‐ranging mammals face significant conservation threats, and knowledge of the spatial scale of population structure and its drivers is needed to understand processes that maintain diversity in these species. We analysed DNA from 655 Alaskan caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) from 20 herds that vary in population size, used 19 microsatellite loci to document genetic diversity and differentiation in Alaskan caribou, and examined the extent to which genetic differentiation was associated with hypothesized drivers of population subdivision including landscape features, population size and ecotype. We found that Alaskan caribou are subdivided into two hierarchically structured clusters: one group on the Alaska Peninsula containing discrete herds and one large group on the Mainland lacking differentiation between many herds. Population size, geographic distance, migratory ecotype and the Kvichak River at the nexus of the Alaska Peninsula were associated with genetic differentiation. Contrary to previous hypotheses, small Mainland herds were often differentiated genetically from large interconnected herds nearby, and genetic drift coupled with reduced gene flow may explain this pattern. Our results raise the possibility that behaviour helps to maintain genetic differentiation between some herds of different ecotypes. Alaskan caribou show remarkably high diversity and low differentiation over a broad geographic scale. These results increase information for the conservation of caribou and other migratory mammals threatened by population reductions and landscape barriers and may be broadly applicable to understanding the spatial scale and ecological drivers of population structure in widespread species.     

Origins of bacterial diversity through horizontal genetic transfer and adaptation to new ecological niches

Horizontal genetic transfer (HGT) has played an important role in bacterial evolution at least since the origins of the bacterial divisions, and HGT still facilitates the origins of bacterial diversity, including diversity based on antibiotic resistance. Adaptive HGT is aided by unique features of genetic exchange in bacteria such as the promiscuity of genetic exchange and the shortness of segments transferred. Genetic exchange rates are limited by the genetic and ecological similarity of organisms. Adaptive transfer of genes is limited to those that can be transferred as a functional unit, provide a niche-transcending adaptation, and are compatible with the architecture and physiology of other organisms. Horizontally transferred adaptations may bring about fitness costs, and natural selection may ameliorate these costs. The origins of ecological diversity can be analyzed by comparing the genomes of recently divergent, ecologically distinct populations, which can be discovered as sequence clusters. Such genome comparisons demonstrate the importance of HGT in ecological diversification. Newly divergent populations cannot be discovered as sequence clusters when their ecological differences are coded by plasmids, as is often the case for antibiotic resistance; the discovery of such populations requires a screen for plasmid-coded functions. This paper reviews the features of bacterial genetics that allow HGT, the similarities between organisms that foster HGT between them, the limits to the kinds of adaptations that can be transferred, and amelioration of fitness costs associated with HGT; the paper also reviews approaches to discover the origins of new, ecologically distinct bacterial populations and the role that HGT plays in their founding.     

Towards a conceptual and operational union of bacterial systematics, ecology, and evolution

To completely understand the ecology of a bacterial community, we need to identify its ecologically distinct populations (ecotypes). The greatest promise for enumerating a community's constituent ecotypes is held by molecular approaches that identify bacterial ecotypes as DNA sequence clusters. These approaches succeed when ecotypes correspond with sequence clusters, but some models of bacterial speciation predict a one-to-many and others a many-to-one relationship between ecotypes and sequence clusters. A further challenge is that sequence-based phylogenies often contain a hierarchy of clusters and subclusters within clusters, and there is no widely accepted theory to guide systematists and ecologists to the size of cluster most likely to correspond to ecotypes. While present systematics attempts to use universal thresholds of sequence divergence to help demarcate species, the recently developed 'community phylogeny' approach assumes no universal thresholds, but demarcates ecotypes based on the analysis of a lineage's evolutionary dynamics. Theory-based approaches like this one can give a conceptual framework as well as operational criteria for hypothesizing the identity and membership of ecotypes from sequence data; ecology-based approaches can then confirm that the putative ecotypes are actually ecologically distinct. Bacterial ecotypes that are demonstrated to have a history of coexistence as ecologically distinct lineages (based on sequence analysis) and as a prognosis of future coexistence (based on ecological differences), are the fundamental units of bacterial ecology and evolution, and should be recognized by bacterial systematics.     

Genetic similarity among Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes estimated by DNA sequence comparison

DNA polymorphisms among Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes are widely used as genetic markers in map-based cloning strategies. New PCR-based molecular markers do not only facilitate molecular mapping, but can also be used to obtain reliable sequence information for cladistic analyses. We have used CAPS (cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences) markers and a direct sequencing strategy to estimate genetic similarity among eighteen Arabidopsis ecotypes. Sequences at four loci, two from the nuclear and two from a non-nuclaar genome, were analysed. For each ecotype more than 1000pb of sequence information was obtained, and genetic similarity was calculated from a total of 35 polymorphic sites using a character-based approach. Divergence ranged from zero up to 50 discordant characters among the 72 characters defined by the polymorphisms. Separate calculations based on the nuclear and the non-nuclear sequences were performed and revealed a number of common features, including the existence of small clusters of very closely related ecotypes separated from each other by extensive sequence divergence. Our results provide information useful especially to investigators setting up crosses for chromosome landing strategies.     

Ecological and genetic evidence for cryptic ecotypes in a rare sexually deceptive orchid,Drakaea elastica

Species with specialized ecological interactions present significant conservation challenges. In plants that attract pollinators with pollinator‐specific chemical signals, geographical variation in pollinator species may indicate the presence of cryptic plant taxa. We investigated this phenomenon in the rare sexually deceptive orchid Drakaea elastica using a molecular phylogenetic analysis to resolve pollinator species boundaries, pollinator choice experiments and a population genetic study of the orchid. Pollinator choice experiments demonstrated the existence of two ecotypes within D. elastica, each attracting their own related but phylogenetically distinct pollinator species. Despite the presence of ecotypes, population genetic differentiation was low across populations at six microsatellite loci (F_ST = 0.026). However, Bayesian STRUCTURE analysis revealed two genetic clusters, broadly congruent with the ecotype distributions. These ecotypes may represent adaptation to regional variation in pollinator availability and perhaps the early stages of speciation, with pronounced morphological and genetic differences yet to evolve. Resolution of the taxonomic status of the D. elastica ecotypes is required as this has implications for conservation efforts and allocation of management funding. Furthermore, any reintroduction programmes must incorporate knowledge of ecotype distribution and pollinator availability to ensure reproductive success in restored populations. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, 177 , 124–140.     

Genetic relationship in ecotypes of Leymus chinensis revealed by polymorphism of amplified DNA fragment lengths

Leymus chinensis (Trin.) Tzvel is a perennial grass in the tribe Gramineae and important forage in Northern China. Knowledge of its genetic diversity is a prerequisite for using modern breeding techniques. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was first used to evaluate the genetic relationship among and within three ecotypes. Distinct clusters were produced based on AFLP markers. All accessions from the same ecotype were grouped in a cluster except accessions 6. According to AFLP profile ecotype-specific bands differ from each other. The genetic differentiation within the ecotype of the species was much smaller than that among ecotypes. Self-incompatibility in this species contributes to evident genetic differentiation together with environment. These results indicate that ecotypes were distinguished visually similarly to genetic variation. Published in Russian in Fiziologiya Rastenii, 2006, Vol. 53, No. 5, pp. 764–770. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Site-specific genetic divergence in parallel hybrid zones suggests nonallopatric evolution of reproductive barriers

The evolution of reproductive isolation in the presence of gene flow is supported by theoretical models but rarely by data. Empirical support might be gained from studies of parallel hybrid zones between interbreeding taxa. We analysed gene flow over two hybrid zones separating ecotypes of Littorina saxatilis to test the expectation that neutral genetic markers will show site-specific differences if barriers have evolved in situ. Distinct ecotypes found in contrasting shore habitats are separated by divergent selection and poor dispersal, but hybrid zones appear between them. Swedish islands formed by postglacial uplift 5000 years ago provide opportunities to assess genetic structure in a recently evolved system. Each island houses a discrete population containing subpopulations of different ecotypes. Hybrid zones between ecotypes may be a product of ecological divergence occurring on each island or a consequence of secondary overlap of ecotypes of allopatric origin that have spread among the islands. We used six microsatellite loci to assess gene flow and genetic profiles of hybrid zones on two islands. We found reduced gene flow over both hybrid zones, indicating the presence of local reproductive barriers between ecotypes. Nevertheless, subpopulations of different ecotypes from the same island were genetically more similar to each other than were subpopulations of the same ecotype from different islands. Moreover, neutral genetic traits separating the two ecotypes across hybrid zones were site-specific. This supports a scenario of in situ origin of ecotypes by ecological divergence and nonallopatric evolution of reproductive barriers.     

A worldwide perspective on the population structure and genetic diversity of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in New Zealand

Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) occupy a wide range of coastal and pelagic habitats throughout tropical and temperate waters worldwide. In some regions, "inshore" and "offshore" forms or ecotypes differ genetically and morphologically, despite no obvious boundaries to interchange. Around New Zealand, bottlenose dolphins inhabit 3 coastal regions: Northland, Marlborough Sounds, and Fiordland. Previous demographic studies showed no interchange of individuals among these populations. Here, we describe the genetic structure and diversity of these populations using skin samples collected with a remote biopsy dart. Analysis of the molecular variance from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences (n = 193) showed considerable differentiation among populations (F(ST) = 0.17, Phi(ST) = 0.21, P < 0.001) suggesting little or no female gene flow or interchange. All 3 populations showed higher mtDNA diversity than expected given their small population sizes and isolation. To explain the source of this variation, 22 control region haplotypes from New Zealand were compared with 108 haplotypes worldwide representing 586 individuals from 19 populations and including both inshore and offshore ecotypes as described in the Western North Atlantic. All haplotypes found in the Pacific, regardless of population habitat use (i.e., coastal or pelagic), are more divergent from populations described as inshore ecotype in the Western North Atlantic than from populations described as offshore ecotype. Analysis of gene flow indicated long-distance dispersal among coastal and pelagic populations worldwide (except for those haplotypes described as inshore ecotype in the Western North Atlantic), suggesting that these populations are interconnected on an evolutionary timescale. This finding suggests that habitat specialization has occurred independently in different ocean basins, perhaps with Tursiops aduncus filling the ecological niche of the inshore ecotype in some coastal regions of the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans.     

A systematics for discovering the fundamental units of bacterial diversity

Bacterial systematists face unique challenges when trying to identify ecologically meaningful units of biological diversity. Whereas plant and animal systematists are guided by a theory-based concept of species, microbiologists have yet to agree upon a set of ecological and evolutionary properties that will serve to define a bacterial species. Advances in molecular techniques have given us a glimpse of the tremendous diversity present within the microbial world, but significant work remains to be done in order to understand the ecological and evolutionary dynamics that can account for the origin, maintenance, and distribution of that diversity. We have developed a conceptual framework that uses ecological and evolutionary theory to identify the DNA sequence clusters most likely corresponding to the fundamental units of bacterial diversity. Taking into account diverse models of bacterial evolution, we argue that bacterial systematics should seek to identify ecologically distinct groups with evidence of a history of coexistence, as based on interpretation of sequence clusters. This would establish a theory-based species unit that holds the dynamic properties broadly attributed to species outside of microbiology.     

Nonallopatric and parallel origin of local reproductive barriers between two snail ecotypes

Theory suggests that speciation is possible without physical isolation of populations (hereafter, nonallopatric speciation), but recent nonallopatric models need the support of irrefutable empirical examples. We collected snails (Littorina saxatilis) from three areas on the NW coast of Spain to investigate the population genetic structure of two ecotypes. Earlier studies suggest that these ecotypes may represent incipient species: a large, thick-shelled 'RB' ecotype living among the barnacles in the upper intertidal zone and a small, thin-shelled 'SU' ecotype living among the mussels in the lower intertidal zone only 10-30 m away. The two ecotypes overlap and hybridize in a midshore zone only 1-3 m wide. Three different types of molecular markers [allozymes, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and microsatellites] consistently indicated partial reproductive isolation between the RB and the SU ecotypes at a particular site. However, each ecotype was related more closely to the other ecotype from the same site than to the same ecotype from another site further along the Galician coast (25-77 km away). These findings supported earlier results based solely on allozyme variation and we could now reject the possibility that selection produced these patterns. The patterns of genetic variation supported a nonallopatric model in which the ecotypes are formed independently at each site by parallel evolution and where the reproductive barriers are a byproduct of divergent selection for body size. We argue that neither our laboratory hybridization experiments nor our molecular data are compatible with a model based on allopatric ecotype formation, secondary overlap and introgression.     

SSR标记揭示的云南地方稻品种遗传多样性及其保育意义

为了探索水稻(Oryza　sativa　L.)地方品种的遗传多样性及其有效保育方法,对采自云南省17个村寨的82个水稻地方品种和3个国际常用的典型籼稻和粳稻品种进行了微卫星(SSR)分子标记的分析。利用19对SSR引物在85个水稻品种中共扩增出了83个基因型,其分子量变异在100～500　bp之间。基于各品种SSR基因型遗传相似系数聚类分析而获得的UPGMA树状图表明各水稻品种之间存在较大的遗传多样性,其相似系数变异在0.15～0.90之间。但这些地方品种的遗传多样性并非呈均等的地理分布。这85个水稻品种在相似系数为0.52之处分为二组,其中一组包括几乎所有的籼稻品种,而另一组包括全部的粳稻品种,表明SSR标记能很好揭示水稻籼-粳分化。同时,有些来自不同采集地的同名品种表现出一定的遗传差异,说明同名异物的现象存在。云南水稻地方品种具有丰富的遗传多样性,对其有效保育十分重要和迫切,　但只有根据遗传多样性的水平和分布特点,采用正确的保育对策和取样方法才能确保对云南水稻地方品种的有效保育。结果进一步表明,选用适当的微卫星引物,可以为准确鉴定籼稻和粳稻品种及研究其进化规律提供有效的分子标记方法,并有利于有目标的水稻遗传资源保育和育种创新。     

Mitochondrial DNA variations and nuclear RFLPs reflect different genetic similarities among 23 Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes

The mitochondrial genome of 23 Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes was analysed by Southern hybridization in total cellular DNA. Firstly, the extent of divergence between the mitochondrial genomes in closely related lines of one plant species and secondly, the use of mitochondrial versus nuclear RFLPs to determine evolutionary relationships between Arabidopsis ecotype isolates was investigated. Highly divergent stoichiometries of alternative mitochondrial genome arrangements characterize individual ecotypes including the complete loss of a 5 kb region from ecotype Landsberg without apparent effect on plant viability. The genetic similarities between ecotypes suggested by mitochondrial genome arrangements differ from those deduced from 18 nuclear RFLP loci (CAPS markers). Similarity of nuclear RFLP patterns among the 23 Arabidopsis ecotypes neitehr correlates with their geographic origin nor with the observed mitochondrial genome arrangements. A promiscuous mitochondrial sequence insertion previously identified in ecotype Columbia is also found in the nuclear genomes of ecotypes Eifel, Enkheim and Hilversum. Two ecotypes (Eifel and Tabor) displaying identical RFLP patterns at all 18 nuclear loci show differences in both this sequence transfer and a mitochondrial DNA recombination event.     

SSR标记揭示的云南地方稻品种遗传多样性及其保育意义

为了探索水稻(Oryza sativa L.)地方品种的遗传多样性及其有效保育方法,对采自云南省17个村寨的82个水稻地方品种和3个国际常用的典型籼稻和粳稻品种进行了微卫星(SSR)分子标记的分析.利用19对SSR引物在85个水稻品种中共扩增出了83个基因型,其分子量变异在100～500 bp之间.基于各品种SSR基因型遗传相似系数聚类分析而获得的UPGMA树状图表明各水稻品种之间存在较大的遗传多样性,其相似系数变异在0.15～0.90之间.但这些地方品种的遗传多样性并非呈均等的地理分布.这85个水稻品种在相似系数为0.52之处分为二组,其中一组包括几乎所有的籼稻品种,而另一组包括全部的粳稻品种,表明SSR标记能很好揭示水稻籼-粳分化.同时,有些来自不同采集地的同名品种表现出一定的遗传差异,说明同名异物的现象存在.云南水稻地方品种具有丰富的遗传多样性,对其有效保育十分重要和迫切,但只有根据遗传多样性的水平和分布特点,采用正确的保育对策和取样方法才能确保对云南水稻地方品种的有效保育.结果进一步表明,选用适当的微卫星引物,可以为准确鉴定籼稻和粳稻品种及研究其进化规律提供有效的分子标记方法,并有利于有目标的水稻遗传资源保育和育种创新.     

Evolving Concepts of Bacterial Species

The same evolutionary forces that cause diversification in sexual eukaryotes are expected to cause diversification in bacteria. However, in bacteria, the wider variety of mechanisms for gene exchange (or lack thereof) increases the range of expected diversity patterns compared to those of sexual organisms. Two parallel concepts for bacterial speciation have developed, based on ecological divergence or barriers to recombination in turn. Recent evidence from DNA sequence data shows that both processes can generate independently evolving groups that are equivalent to sexual species and that represent separate arenas within which recombination (when it occurs), selection and drift occur. It remains unclear, however, how often different processes act in concert to generate simple units of diversity, or whether a more complex model of diversity is required, specifying hierarchical levels at which different cohesive processes operate. We advocate an integrative approach that evaluates the effects of multiple evolutionary forces on diversity patterns. There is also great potential for laboratory studies of bacterial evolution that test evolutionary mechanisms inferred from population genetic analyses of multi-locus and genome sequence data.     

Ecology of Speciation in the Genus Bacillus

Microbial ecologists and systematists are challenged to discover the early ecological changes that drive the splitting of one bacterial population into two ecologically distinct populations. We have aimed to identify newly divergent lineages (“ecotypes”) bearing the dynamic properties attributed to species, with the rationale that discovering their ecological differences would reveal the ecological dimensions of speciation. To this end, we have sampled bacteria from the Bacillus subtilis-Bacillus licheniformis clade from sites differing in solar exposure and soil texture within a Death Valley canyon. Within this clade, we hypothesized ecotype demarcations based on DNA sequence diversity, through analysis of the clade''s evolutionary history by Ecotype Simulation (ES) and AdaptML. Ecotypes so demarcated were found to be significantly different in their associations with solar exposure and soil texture, suggesting that these and covarying environmental parameters are among the dimensions of ecological divergence for newly divergent Bacillus ecotypes. Fatty acid composition appeared to contribute to ecotype differences in temperature adaptation, since those ecotypes with more warm-adapting fatty acids were isolated more frequently from sites with greater solar exposure. The recognized species and subspecies of the B. subtilis-B. licheniformis clade were found to be nearly identical to the ecotypes demarcated by ES, with a few exceptions where a recognized taxon is split at most into three putative ecotypes. Nevertheless, the taxa recognized do not appear to encompass the full ecological diversity of the B. subtilis-B. licheniformis clade: ES and AdaptML identified several newly discovered clades as ecotypes that are distinct from any recognized taxon.The last decade has revealed unimagined levels of species diversity among the prokaryotes. Annealing experiments with environmental DNA have pushed our estimates of community diversity into the millions of species (20, 56), with a billion species estimated worldwide (15). Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene has identified tens of thousands of species, yet to be characterized, within a single community (24). Since only about 9,000 species have been recognized and described globally, the task of characterizing the many remaining species presents a profound challenge for microbial systematists and ecologists. In particular, we need to describe the unique ecological role each species plays, the differences that allow them to coexist, and the processes by which they have originated.These key issues may all be addressed by discovering the early ecological changes that drive the splitting of one bacterial population into two ecologically distinct populations. One might expect that a comparison of the most closely related species recognized by bacterial systematics would provide insight into the first ecological differences associated with the splitting of lineages. However, the species of bacterial systematics are often extremely broadly defined, whether measured by diversity of genome content and physiology (22), by DNA sequence (53), or, most importantly, by ecology (61). So, if we are to identify the first ecological changes distinguishing newly divergent lineages, we may need to identify taxa that are more narrowly defined and more newly divergent than the named species.Our approach is to identify bacterial clades with the properties shared by many modern species concepts—that species should each be cohesive (subject to forces that constrain the diversity within the species), irreversibly separate and ecologically distinct from other species, and invented only once (13). These criteria are met by bacterial ecotypes, which are defined as ecologically homogeneous clades, whose diversity is constrained by a force of cohesion, either periodic selection or genetic drift (5, 10, 11, 29, 47, 60). In periodic selection, natural selection favoring each adaptive mutant within an ecotype can purge the ecotype''s diversity genomewide (28, 30), owing to the low rates of recombination in bacteria, occurring usually within an order of magnitude of the mutation rate (6, 7, 33, 57). Because different ecotypes are distinct in their ecological niches, periodic selection and genetic drift cannot extend beyond the limits of an ecotype. The divergence between ecotypes is thus not constrained by periodic selection or drift; also, recombination may decelerate divergence but in the end is not sufficient to prevent adaptive divergence between ecotypes (5, 10). Ecotypes therefore have the species-like properties of cohesion, as well as ecological distinctness and irreversible separateness from other ecotypes (4).Moreover, longstanding ecotypes can be discovered from patterns of DNA sequence diversity, provided that a particular model of bacterial evolution applies. In the Stable Ecotype model, ecotypes are formed only rarely, and there is recurrent purging of diversity within ecotypes, either by periodic selection or by genetic drift (11). In this case, each ecotype can accumulate a unique set of sequence mutations at every gene in the genome over the ecotype''s long history as a distinct lineage, and diversity within each ecotype is recurrently purged, allowing ecotypes to be discovered as DNA sequence clusters for any gene shared among ecotypes (9, 11, 29, 50, 61).We have employed two recently developed algorithms to hypothesize the sequence clusters that correspond to ecotypes and to confirm that the ecotypes so hypothesized are indeed ecologically distinct. AdaptML (25) and Ecotype Simulation (ES) (29) each analyze the evolutionary history of a clade to yield appropriate criteria for demarcating the significant clades corresponding to ecotypes (10). These algorithms have an advantage over the universal molecular thresholds used by bacterial systematics to identify species, because there is no evidence of a single molecular criterion that would be applicable for all bacteria (2, 10, 11), and the criteria used thus far by systematics have frequently led to overly diverse species (11, 53).The ES and AdaptML algorithms have successfully identified extremely closely related ecotypes that would otherwise have been subsumed as unrecognized entities within species (25, 29). Comparisons of the habitat associations of these ecotypes have then led to discovery of the ecological dimensions of ecotype divergence: solar exposure of soil for Bacillus (29), photic zone depth and temperature for Synechococcus from hot springs (61), host range for Legionella (9), and season and particle substrate size for marine Vibrio (25). Discovering the ecological dimensions of early divergence simultaneously addresses the evolutionary origins of bacterial diversity, the basis of niche partitioning, and the unique role each ecotype plays in its community.Here we aim to expand the set of known ecological dimensions of early divergence within the Bacillus subtilis-Bacillus licheniformis clade, which includes B. subtilis and its three subspecies (35, 41), B. vallismortis, B. mojavensis, B. atrophaeus, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. licheniformis, B. sonorensis (38), B. tequilensis (21), clades earlier described as “B. axarquiensis” and “B. malacitensis” (44) but now reclassified as B. mojavensis (59), and the clade earlier described as “B. velezensis” (43) but now reclassified as B. amyloliquefaciens (58). We collected soil following the “Evolution Canyon” paradigm developed by Eviatar Nevo and colleagues: an evolution canyon is an east-west-running canyon, which provides habitats that contrast sharply in solar exposure but are identical in geological and macroclimatic features (36). Comparisons of the biota of the two slopes of evolution canyons have revealed adaptive differences related to solar exposure in a great diversity of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, plants, arthropods, and vertebrates (36). In the present study, we collected soil from a west-running, hot-desert canyon in Death Valley, California, yielding isolates from the south-facing slope (SFS), with the most intense solar exposure; the shadier north-facing slope (NFS); and the canyon bottom''s arroyo (A), with intermediate solar exposure and more access to water than either slope. In addition, we collected soil of two texture types, a sandy soil and a badland-like silty soil, which also differed in their chemical properties and in the plants they supported. We will demonstrate that differences associated with solar exposure and soil texture are among the dimensions of ecological divergence for newly divergent Bacillus ecotypes in the Death Valley canyon.     

Integrating ecological and genetic structure to define management units for caribou in Eastern Canada

Genetic diversity is a key parameter to delineate management units, but many organisms also display ecological characteristics that may reflect potential local adaptations. Here, we used ecological and genetic information to delineate management units for a complex system involving several ecotypes of caribou (Rangifer tarandus) from Québec and Labrador, eastern Canada. We genotyped 560 caribou at 16 microsatellite loci and used three Bayesian clustering methods to spatially delineate and characterize genetic structure across the landscape. The different approaches employed did not converge on the same solution, and differed in the number of inferred genetic clusters that best fit the dataset but also in the spatial distribution of genetic variation. We reconciled variability among the methods using a synthetic approach that considers the sum of the partitions obtained by each of them and retrieved six genetically distinct groups that differ in their spatial extent across the range of caribou in the study area. These genetic groups are not consistent with the presently defined ecological designations for this species. Combining both genetic and ecological criteria, we distinguished eight independent management units. Overall, the management units we propose should be the focus of conservation and management actions aimed to maximize genetic and ecological diversity and ensure the persistence of caribou populations inhabiting increasingly disturbed landscapes.     

Surprisingly extensive mixed phylogenetic and ecological signals among bacterial Operational Taxonomic Units

The lack of a consensus bacterial species concept greatly hampers our ability to understand and organize bacterial diversity. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs), which are clustered on the basis of DNA sequence identity alone, are the most commonly used microbial diversity unit. Although it is understood that OTUs can be phylogenetically incoherent, the degree and the extent of the phylogenetic inconsistency have not been explicitly studied. Here, we tested the phylogenetic signal of OTUs in a broad range of bacterial genera from various phyla. Strikingly, we found that very few OTUs were monophyletic, and many showed evidence of multiple independent origins. Using previously established bacterial habitats as benchmarks, we showed that OTUs frequently spanned multiple ecological habitats. We demonstrated that ecological heterogeneity within OTUs is caused by their phylogenetic inconsistency, and not merely due to ‘lumping’ of taxa resulting from using relaxed identity cut-offs. We argue that ecotypes, as described by the Stable Ecotype Model, are phylogenetically and ecologically more consistent than OTUs and therefore could serve as an alternative unit for bacterial diversity studies. In addition, we introduce QuickES, a new wrapper program for the Ecotype Simulation algorithm, which is capable of demarcating ecotypes in data sets with tens of thousands of sequences.     

Ecotypes of an ecologically dominant prairie grass (Andropogon gerardii) exhibit genetic divergence across the U.S. Midwest grasslands' environmental gradient

Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) is an ecologically dominant grass with wide distribution across the environmental gradient of U.S. Midwest grasslands. This system offers an ideal natural laboratory to study population divergence and adaptation in spatially varying climates. Objectives were to: (i) characterize neutral genetic diversity and structure within and among three regional ecotypes derived from 11 prairies across the U.S. Midwest environmental gradient, (ii) distinguish between the relative roles of isolation by distance (IBD) vs. isolation by environment (IBE) on ecotype divergence, (iii) identify outlier loci under selection and (iv) assess the association between outlier loci and climate. Using two primer sets, we genotyped 378 plants at 384 polymorphic AFLP loci across regional ecotypes from central and eastern Kansas and Illinois. Neighbour‐joining tree and PCoA revealed strong genetic differentiation between Kansas and Illinois ecotypes, which was better explained by IBE than IBD. We found high genetic variability within prairies (80%) and even fragmented Illinois prairies, surprisingly, contained high within‐prairie genetic diversity (92%). Using Bayenv 2, 14 top‐ranked outlier loci among ecotypes were associated with temperature and precipitation variables. Six of seven BayeScan F_ST outliers were in common with Bayenv 2 outliers. High genetic diversity may enable big bluestem populations to better withstand changing climates; however, population divergence supports the use of local ecotypes in grassland restoration. Knowledge of genetic variation in this ecological dominant and other grassland species will be critical to understanding grassland response and restoration challenges in the face of a changing climate.