Population genomic footprints of selection and associations with climate in natural populations of Arabidopsis halleri from the Alps

Natural genetic variation is essential for the adaptation of organisms to their local environment and to changing environmental conditions. Here, we examine genomewide patterns of nucleotide variation in natural populations of the outcrossing herb Arabidopsis halleri and associations with climatic variation among populations in the Alps. Using a pooled population sequencing (Pool‐Seq) approach, we discovered more than two million SNPs in five natural populations and identified highly differentiated genomic regions and SNPs using F_ST‐based analyses. We tested only the most strongly differentiated SNPs for associations with a nonredundant set of environmental factors using partial Mantel tests to identify topo‐climatic factors that may underlie the observed footprints of selection. Possible functions of genes showing signatures of selection were identified by Gene Ontology analysis. We found 175 genes to be highly associated with one or more of the five tested topo‐climatic factors. Of these, 23.4% had unknown functions. Genetic variation in four candidate genes was strongly associated with site water balance and solar radiation, and functional annotations were congruent with these environmental factors. Our results provide a genomewide perspective on the distribution of adaptive genetic variation in natural plant populations from a highly diverse and heterogeneous alpine environment.     

Population genomics from pool sequencing

Next generation sequencing of pooled samples is an effective approach for studies of variability and differentiation in populations. In this paper we provide a comprehensive set of estimators of the most common statistics in population genetics based on the frequency spectrum, namely the Watterson estimator , nucleotide pairwise diversity Π, Tajima's D, Fu and Li's D and F, Fay and Wu's H, McDonald‐Kreitman and HKA tests and , corrected for sequencing errors and ascertainment bias. In a simulation study, we show that pool and individual θ estimates are highly correlated and discuss how the performance of the statistics vary with read depth and sample size in different evolutionary scenarios. As an application, we reanalyse sequences from Drosophila mauritiana and from an evolution experiment in Drosophila melanogaster. These methods are useful for population genetic projects with limited budget, study of communities of individuals that are hard to isolate, or autopolyploid species.     

High diversity and widespread occurrence of mitotic spore mats in ectomycorrhizal Pezizales

Fungal mitospores may function as dispersal units and/ or spermatia and thus play a role in distribution and/or mating of species that produce them. Mitospore production in ectomycorrhizal (EcM) Pezizales is rarely reported, but here we document mitospore production by a high diversity of EcM Pezizales on three continents, in both hemispheres. We sequenced the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and partial large subunit (LSU) nuclear rDNA from 292 spore mats (visible mitospore clumps) collected in Argentina, Chile, China, Mexico and the USA between 2009 and 2012. We collated spore mat ITS sequences with 105 fruit body and 47 EcM root sequences to generate operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Phylogenetic inferences were made through analyses of both molecular data sets. A total of 48 OTUs from spore mats represented six independent EcM Pezizales lineages and included truffles and cup fungi. Three clades of seven OTUs have no known meiospore stage. Mitospores failed to germinate on sterile media, or form ectomycorrhizas on Quercus, Pinus and Populus seedlings, consistent with a hypothesized role of spermatia. The broad geographic range, high frequency and phylogenetic diversity of spore mats produced by EcM Pezizales suggests that a mitospore stage is important for many species in this group in terms of mating, reproduction and/or dispersal.     

“深层海水”对小鼠耐受力的影响

本文将90只条件相同小鼠随机分成3组,A组服90 ppm(mg/mL)深层海水,B组服45 ppm深层海水,C组服自来水,均自由饮用30 d,第31 d时行耐缺氧实验、游泳耐力实验,断头采血,测定血细胞、肝肾功能及各种酶的变化。结果表明,在相同的饲养条件下三组体重无明显改变。A、B组比C组小鼠力竭游泳时间及耐缺氧时间显著延长(P<0.05),耗氧量显著减少(P<0.05),天冬氨酸氨基转移酶、肌酸激酶、肌酸肌酶同工酶降低,有显著差别(P<0.05),血常规、肝肾功能、电解质无显著性差异。因而,深层海水能改善酶的功能,减少小鼠的耗氧量,能明显增强小鼠的耐受力。     

针叶树基因组特征及其序列资源挖掘进展

针叶树是裸子植物中最大也是分布最广的一支。作为多年生木本植物,针叶树不仅为工业提供建筑、造纸等重要原料和其它可再生能源,而且在北半球的生态平衡中也起着重要作用。因其独特的分类地位、重要的经济价值和生态价值,针叶树序列资源挖掘备受重视。然而其庞大且复杂的基因组阻碍了这一进程,截至2013年4月,尚无获得全基因组序列的针叶树种。随着第2代测序技术的出现及生物信息学的快速发展,针叶树序列资源挖掘也从转录组过渡到全基因组测序,后者己在松属（Pinus）、云杉属（Picea）和黄杉属（Pseudotsuga）部分树种中开展。该文首次归纳了针叶树基因组特征．回顾了针叶树序列资源挖掘进程,并重点介绍了火炬松（Pinustaeda）、欧洲云杉（Piceaabies）和白云杉（Piceaglauca）的全基因组测序项目。     

环境微生物的宏基因组学研究新进展

宏基因组学以环境中微生物的基因组的总和为研究对象,从而规避了传统方法中绝大部分微生物不能培养的缺陷,因此近年来在环境微生物学研究中得到了广泛应用.本文重点介绍了宏基因组学技术中关键的两类技术:即以罗氏454及Illumina为代表的高通量测序技术和以基因芯片(GeoChip)为代表的基因芯片技术在微生物研究中的应用.测序技术可以发现新物种和新基因,但由于测序深度有限,定量性差,不易发现低丰度物种,且易受污染物干扰.芯片技术很好地克服了这些局限,但不易于发现新基因.本文介绍了这些技术近年来在气候变化、水处理工程系统、极端环境、人体肠道、石油污染修复、生物冶金等方面取得的部分代表性成果.在此基础上,对宏基因组技术在环境微生物研究方面的未来发展方向提出了预判和展望.我们认为由于两种技术各自的优缺点,今后将两类技术结合起来的综合研究会越来越多.另外,由于大量数据的处理方法已成为制约宏基因组学发展的瓶颈,相应的生物信息学技术开发将是未来科研的热点和难点.     

Genome-wide analysis of Nilaparvata lugens nymphal responses to high-density and low-quality rice hosts

The brown planthopper （BPH） Nilaparvata lugens is an economically impor- tant pest on rice plants. In this study, the higher population density and yellow-ripe stage of rice plants were used to construct adverse survival conditions （ASC） against BPH nymphs. Simultaneously, the low population density and tillering stage of rice plants were used to establish a suitable survival condition （SSC） as a control. Solexa/Illumina sequencing was used to identify genes of BPH nymphs responding to ASC. Significantly longer duration development of BPH nymphs and significantly lower brachypterous ratio of BPH adults were observed by ASC compared with SSC. A total of 2 544 differentially expressed genes （DEGs） were obtained and analyzed by BLASTx, Gene Ontology and KEGG Orthology. Gene ontology analysis revealed that the DEGs were mainly involved in categories of cell, cell part, cellular process, binding, catalytic, organelle and metabolic processes. 1138 DEGs having enzyme commission numbers were assigned to different metabolic pathways. The largest clusters were neurodegenerative diseases （137, 12.0%）, followed by carbohy- drate metabolism （113, 9.9%）, amino acid metabolism （94, 8.3%）, nucleotide metabolism （76, 6.7%）, energy metabolism （64, 5.6%）, translation （60, 5.3%）, lipid metabolism （58, 5.1%）, and folding, sorting and degradation （52, 4.6%）. Expressing profile of 11 DEGs during eight nymphal developmental stages of BPH were analyzed by quantitative real- time polymerase chain reaction. The 11 genes exhibited differential expression between ASC and SSC during at least one developmental stage. The DEGs identified in this study provide molecular proof of how BPH reconfigures its gene expression profile to adapt to overcrowding and low-quality hosts.     

Cenozoic climate change and diversification on the continental shelf and slope: evolution of gastropod diversity in the family Solariellidae (Trochoidea)

Recent expeditions have revealed high levels of biodiversity in the tropical deep‐sea, yet little is known about the age or origin of this biodiversity, and large‐scale molecular studies are still few in number. In this study, we had access to the largest number of solariellid gastropods ever collected for molecular studies, including many rare and unusual taxa. We used a Bayesian chronogram of these deep‐sea gastropods (1) to test the hypothesis that deep‐water communities arose onshore, (2) to determine whether Antarctica acted as a source of diversity for deep‐water communities elsewhere and (3) to determine how factors like global climate change have affected evolution on the continental slope. We show that although fossil data suggest that solariellid gastropods likely arose in a shallow, tropical environment, interpretation of the molecular data is equivocal with respect to the origin of the group. On the other hand, the molecular data clearly show that Antarctic species sampled represent a recent invasion, rather than a relictual ancestral lineage. We also show that an abrupt period of global warming during the Palaeocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) leaves no molecular record of change in diversification rate in solariellids and that the group radiated before the PETM. Conversely, there is a substantial, although not significant increase in the rate of diversification of a major clade approximately 33.7 Mya, coinciding with a period of global cooling at the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Increased nutrients made available by contemporaneous changes to erosion, ocean circulation, tectonic events and upwelling may explain increased diversification, suggesting that food availability may have been a factor limiting exploitation of deep‐sea habitats. Tectonic events that shaped diversification in reef‐associated taxa and deep‐water squat lobsters in central Indo‐West Pacific were also probably important in the evolution of solariellids during the Oligo‐Miocene.