Tracking genes of ecological relevance using a genome scan in two independent regional population samples of Arabis alpina

Understanding the genetic basis of adaptation in response to environmental variation is fundamental as adaptation plays a key role in the extension of ecological niches to marginal habitats and in ecological speciation. Based on the assumption that some genomic markers are correlated to environmental variables, we aimed to detect loci of ecological relevance in the alpine plant Arabis alpina L. sampled in two regions, the French (99 locations) and the Swiss (109 locations) Alps. We used an unusually large genome scan [825 amplified fragment length polymorphism loci (AFLPs)] and four environmental variables related to temperature, precipitation and topography. We detected linkage disequilibrium among only 3.5% of the considered AFLP loci. A population structure analysis identified no admixture in the study regions, and the French and Swiss Alps were differentiated and therefore could be considered as two independent regions. We applied generalized estimating equations (GEE) to detect ecologically relevant loci separately in the French and Swiss Alps. We identified 78 loci of ecological relevance (9%), which were mainly related to mean annual minimum temperature. Only four of these loci were common across the French and Swiss Alps. Finally, we discuss that the genomic characterization of these ecologically relevant loci, as identified in this study, opens up new perspectives for studying functional ecology in A. alpina, its relatives and other alpine plant species.     

Evolution of the population structure of Venturia inaequalis,the apple scab fungus,associated with the domestication of its host

Evaluating the impact of plant domestication on the population structure of the associated pathogens provides an opportunity to increase our understanding of how and why diseases emerge. Here, we investigated the evolution of the population structure of the apple scab fungus Venturia inaequalis in response to the domestication of its host. Inferences were drawn from multilocus microsatellite data obtained from samples collected on (i) the Central Asian Malus sieversii, the main progenitor of apple, (ii) the European crabapple, Malus sylvestris, a secondary progenitor of apple, and (iii) the cultivated apple, Malus×domestica, in orchards from Europe and Central Asia. Using clustering methods, we identified three distinct populations: (i) a large European population on domesticated and wild apples, (ii) a large Central Asian population on domesticated and wild apples in urban and agricultural areas, and (iii) a more geographically restricted population in M. sieversii forests growing in the eastern mountains of Kazakhstan. Unique allele richness and divergence time estimates supported a host‐tracking co‐evolutionary scenario in which this latter population represents a relict of the ancestral populations from which current populations found in human‐managed habitats were derived. Our analyses indicated that the domestication of apple induced a significant change in the genetic differentiation of populations of V. inaequalis in its centre of origin, but had little impact on its population dynamics and mating system. We discuss how the structure of the apple‐based agrosystem may have restricted changes in the population structure of the fungus in response to the domestication of its host.     

Ancient DNA reveals traces of Iberian Neolithic and Bronze Age lineages in modern Iberian horses

Multiple geographical regions have been proposed for the domestication of Equus caballus . It has been suggested, based on zooarchaeological and genetic analyses that wild horses from the Iberian Peninsula were involved in the process, and the overrepresentation of mitochondrial D1 cluster in modern Iberian horses supports this suggestion. To test this hypothesis, we analysed mitochondrial DNA from 22 ancient Iberian horse remains belonging to the Neolithic, the Bronze Age and the Middle Ages, against previously published sequences. Only the medieval Iberian sequence appeared in the D1 group. Neolithic and Bronze Age sequences grouped in other clusters, one of which (Lusitano group C) is exclusively represented by modern horses of Iberian origin. Moreover, Bronze Age Iberian sequences displayed the lowest nucleotide diversity values when compared with modern horses, ancient wild horses and other ancient domesticates using nonparametric bootstrapping analyses. We conclude that the excessive clustering of Bronze Age horses in the Lusitano group C, the observed nucleotide diversity and the local continuity from wild Neolithic Iberian to modern Iberian horses, could be explained by the use of local wild mares during an early Iberian domestication or restocking event, whereas the D1 group probably was introduced into Iberia in later historical times.     

Concordant phylogeography and cryptic speciation in two Western Palaearctic oak gall parasitoid species complexes

Little is known about the evolutionary history of most complex multi‐trophic insect communities. Widespread species from different trophic levels might evolve in parallel, showing similar spatial patterns and either congruent temporal patterns (Contemporary Host‐tracking) or later divergence in higher trophic levels (Delayed Host‐tracking). Alternatively, host shifts by natural enemies among communities centred on different host resources could disrupt any common community phylogeographic pattern. We examined these alternative models using two Megastigmus parasitoid morphospecies associated with oak cynipid galls sampled throughout their Western Palaearctic distributions. Based on existing host cynipid data, a parallel evolution model predicts that eastern regions of the Western Palaearctic should contain ancestral populations with range expansions across Europe about 1.6 million years ago and deeper species‐level divergence at both 8–9 and 4–5 million years ago. Sequence data from mitochondrial cytochrome b and multiple nuclear genes showed similar phylogenetic patterns and revealed cryptic genetic species within both morphospecies, indicating greater diversity in these communities than previously thought. Phylogeographic divergence was apparent in most cryptic species between relatively stable, diverse, putatively ancestral populations in Asia Minor and the Middle East, and genetically depauperate, rapidly expanding populations in Europe, paralleling patterns in host gallwasp species. Mitochondrial and nuclear data also suggested that Europe may have been colonized multiple times from eastern source populations since the late Miocene. Temporal patterns of lineage divergence were congruent within and across trophic levels, supporting the Contemporary Host‐tracking Hypothesis for community evolution.     

Did the introduction of maize into Europe provide enemy‐free space to Ostrinia nubilalis? Parasitism differences between two sibling species of the genus Ostrinia

We examined whether maize offers enemy‐free space (EFS) to its pest Ostrinia nubilalis, and may thereby have contributed to its divergence from the sibling species, Ostrinia scapulalis, feeding mainly on mugwort, when introduced into Europe five centuries ago. We collected Ostrinia larvae on maize (70 populations, 8425 individuals) and mugwort (10 populations, 1184 individuals) and recorded parasitism using both traditional (counting emerging parasitoids) and molecular methods (detection by specific polymerase chain reaction). The main parasitoid was Macrocentrus cingulum (Braconidae). On mugwort, parasitism was twice that on maize, and parasitoid‐related mortality was 8 times higher. This suggests that maize affords substantial EFS to Ostrinia feeding on it. The lower Mortality:Infestation ratio in maize suggests that O. nubilalis’ immune response might be stronger than that of O. scapulalis. If so, adapting to maize and diverging from O. scapulalis would decrease the impact of parasitism on O. nubilalis at both ecological and evolutionary levels.     

Evolution of specialization in a spatially continuous environment

We study the evolution of specialization in a spatially continuous (one‐dimensional) environment divided into two habitats; we use a general trade‐off function relating fitnesses in the two habitats and illustrate our results with two classical trade‐off functions. We show that the population can either reach an intermediate value of the trait and be moderately adapted to both habitats (1 generalist), or split into two locally adapted subpopulations (2 specialists). We recover the qualitative results obtained with simpler metapopulation models with island migration: the evolutionary outcome depends on the concavity of the trade‐off, on the proportion of each habitat and on migration. Our quantitative prediction on migration, however, depends on isolation by distance. Our spatially explicit model may thus be particularly useful to describe the evolutionary dynamics of specialization in, perhaps, more realistic ecological scenarios.     

Fungal spores: dormancy, germination, chemical composition, and role in biotechnology (review)

This review is focused on one of the stages of ontogenesis distinctive by its particular tolerance to the action of unfavorable factors and ability to retain the genomic material for a long period of time, i.e., fungal spores. The major part is devoted to the characterization of the specific stage typical for spores, which is called dormancy. Data are presented characterizing the carbohydrate and lipid composition of spores, with special attention being paid to the role of carbohydrate protectors, in particular, trehalose and mannite, as well as to the role of rafts in the process of sporogenesis. The role of special compounds called autoinhibitors and autostimulators in the process of exit from dormancy is discussed. The final section deals with the role of spore seeding material in biotechnological processes. Data on the correlation between the chemical composition of spores, their ability to remain dormant, and the germination process are considered. Special biotechnological approaches are presented for the first; they allow for the preservation of the germinating ability of spores, intensification of sporogenesis, changes in the ratio of final fermentation products, and an increase in their yield.     

Cheap and Long‐Life Reusable Polymer for Asymmetric Organozinc Catalysis Based on Camphor‐Derived Hydroxyamides

Polystyrene grafted with a chiral zinc‐complexing camphor‐derived N,N‐disubstituted hydroxyamide is proposed as a new type of functional polymer of high reusability for the development of sustainable organozinc‐catalyzed asymmetric reactions. The main goal of this new functional polymer is the ease of the hydroxyamide‐moiety preparation (cheap chiral ligand obtained straightforwardly from an enantiopure starting material coming from the chiral pool), as well as its chemical robustness when compared with other related zinc‐complexing functional groups. The latter allows the polymer to be active after multiple applications, without significant loss of its catalytic activity. This fact is exemplified by the design and preparation of a polymer functionalized with a bis(hydroxyamide) proved previously as active in the homogeneous enantioselective addition of diethylzinc to aldehydes. The result is a cheap functional polymer with a very high reusability (the enantioselectivity and chemical yield are maintained practically constant after 20 applications). Additionally, a methodology for the multicycle use of these functional polymers is presented. Chirality, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.