scholarly journals Parallel evolution of phenological isolation across the speciation continuum in serpentine-adapted annual wildflowers

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1948) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley A. Sianta ◽  
Kathleen M. Kay
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Parallel Evolution ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Reproductive Phenology ◽  
Serpentine Soils ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Reciprocal Transplants ◽  
Speciation Continuum ◽  
Incomplete Reproductive Isolation

Understanding the relative importance of reproductive isolating mechanisms across the speciation continuum remains an outstanding challenge in evolutionary biology. Here, we examine a common isolating mechanism, reproductive phenology, between plant sister taxa at different stages of adaptive divergence to gain insight into its relative importance during speciation. We study 17 plant taxa that have independently adapted to inhospitable serpentine soils, and contrast each with a nonserpentine sister taxon to form pairs at either ecotypic or species-level divergence. We use greenhouse-based reciprocal transplants in field soils to quantify how often flowering time (FT) shifts accompany serpentine adaptation, when FT shifts evolve during speciation, and the genetic versus plastic basis of these shifts. We find that genetically based shifts in FT in serpentine-adapted taxa are pervasive regardless of the stage of divergence. Although plasticity increases FT shifts in five of the pairs, the degree of plasticity does not differ when comparing ecotypic versus species-level divergence. FT shifts generally led to significant, but incomplete, reproductive isolation that did not vary in strength by stage of divergence. Our work shows that adaptation to a novel habitat may predictably drive phenological isolation early in the speciation process.

scholarly journals Rapid action in the Palaeogene, the relationship between phenotypic and taxonomic diversification in Coenozoic mammals

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1750) ◽  
pp. 20122244 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Raia ◽  
F. Carotenuto ◽  
F. Passaro ◽  
P. Piras ◽  
D. Fulgione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Resource Utilization ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Rapid Action ◽  
Hierarchic Level ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Size Estimates

A classic question in evolutionary biology concerns the tempo and mode of lineage evolution. Considered variously in relation to resource utilization, intrinsic constraints or hierarchic level, the question of how evolutionary change occurs in general has continued to draw the attention of the field for over a century and a half. Here we use the largest species-level phylogeny of Coenozoic fossil mammals (1031 species) ever assembled and their body size estimates, to show that body size and taxonomic diversification rates declined from the origin of placentals towards the present, and very probably correlate to each other. These findings suggest that morphological and taxic diversifications of mammals occurred hierarchically, with major shifts in body size coinciding with the birth of large clades, followed by taxonomic diversification within these newly formed clades. As the clades expanded, rates of taxonomic diversification proceeded independently of phenotypic evolution. Such a dynamic is consistent with the idea, central to the Modern Synthesis, that mammals radiated adaptively, with the filling of adaptive zones following the radiation.

How to find a dinosaur, and the role of synonymy in biodiversity studies

Paleobiology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Benton
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Biology ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Error Level ◽  
Prolific Author ◽  
Generic Level

Taxon discovery underlies many studies in evolutionary biology, including biodiversity and conservation biology. Synonymy has been recognized as an issue, and as many as 30–60% of named species later turn out to be invalid as a result of synonymy or other errors in taxonomic practice. This error level cannot be ignored, because users of taxon lists do not know whether their data sets are clean or riddled with erroneous taxa. A year-by-year study of a large clade, Dinosauria, comprising over 1000 taxa, reveals how systematists have worked. The group has been subject to heavy review and revision over the decades, and the error rate is about 40% at generic level and 50% at species level. The naming of new species and genera of dinosaurs is proportional to the number of people at work in the field. But the number of valid new dinosaurian taxa depends mainly on the discovery of new territory, particularly new sedimentary basins, as well as the number of paleontologists. Error rates are highest (>50%) for dinosaurs from Europe; less well studied continents show lower totals of taxa, exponential discovery curves, and lower synonymy rates. The most prolific author of new dinosaur names was Othniel Marsh, who named 80 species, closely followed by Friedrich von Huene (71) and Edward Cope (64), but the “success rate” (proportion of dinosaurs named that are still regarded as valid) was low (0.14–0.29) for these earlier authors, and it appears to improve through time, partly a reflection of reduction in revision time, but mainly because modern workers base their new taxa on more complete specimens. If only 50% of species are valid, evolutionary biologists and conservationists must exercise care in their use of unrevised taxon lists.

scholarly journals Detection of adaptive divergence in populations of the stream mayfly Ephemera strigata with machine learning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Li ◽  
Sakiko Yaegashi ◽  
Thaddeus M Carvajal ◽  
Maribet Gamboa ◽  
Kozo Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Random Forest ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Genome Scanning ◽  
Northeastern Japan ◽  
A Genome

AbstractAdaptive divergence is a key mechanism shaping the genetic variation of natural populations. A central question linking ecology with evolutionary biology concerns the role of environmental heterogeneity in determining adaptive divergence among local populations within a species. In this study, we examined adaptive the divergence among populations of the stream mayfly Ephemera strigata in the Natori River Basin in northeastern Japan. We used a genome scanning approach to detect candidate loci under selection and then applied a machine learning method (i.e. Random Forest) and traditional distance-based redundancy analysis (dbRDA) to examine relationships between environmental factors and adaptive divergence at non-neutral loci. We also assessed spatial autocorrelation at neutral loci to quantify the dispersal ability of E. strigata. Our main findings were as follows: 1) random forest shows a higher resolution than traditional statistical analysis for detecting adaptive divergence; 2) separating markers into neutral and non-neutral loci provides insights into genetic diversity, local adaptation and dispersal ability and 3) E. strigata shows altitudinal adaptive divergence among the populations in the Natori River Basin.

scholarly journals Diversification dynamics and (non-)parallel evolution along an ecological gradient in African cichlid fishes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A.-T. Weber ◽  
J. Rajkov ◽  
K. Smailus ◽  
B. Egger ◽  
W. Salzburger
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Parallel Evolution ◽  
Cichlid Fish ◽  
Morphological Differentiation ◽  
Grey Zone ◽  
Ecological Gradient ◽  
Cichlid Species ◽  
Morphometric Analyses ◽  
Astatotilapia Burtoni ◽  
Parallel Axis

AbstractUnderstanding the drivers and dynamics of diversification is a central topic in evolutionary biology. Here, we investigated the dynamics of diversification in the cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni that diverged along a lake-stream environmental gradient. Whole-genome and morphometric analyses revealed that divergent selection was essential at the early stages of diversification, but that periods in allopatry were likely involved towards the completion of speciation. While morphological differentiation was continuous, genomic differentiation was not, as shown by two clearly separated categories of genomic differentiation. Reproductive isolation increased along a continuum of genomic divergence, with a “grey zone” of speciation at ~0.1% net nucleotide divergence. The quantification of the extent of (non-)parallelism in nine lake-stream population pairs from four cichlid species by means of multivariate analyses revealed one parallel axis of genomic and morphological differentiation among seven lake-stream systems. Finally, we found that parallelism was higher when ancestral lake populations were more similar.

scholarly journals Introgressive hybridization facilitates adaptive divergence in a recent radiation of monkeyflowers

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1814) ◽  
pp. 20151666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Stankowski ◽  
Matthew A. Streisfeld
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Introgressive Hybridization ◽  
Flower Colour ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Standing Variation ◽  
Regulatory Mutations ◽  
History Of

A primary goal in evolutionary biology is to identify the historical events that have facilitated the origin and spread of adaptations. When these adaptations also lead to reproductive isolation, we can learn about the evolutionary mechanisms contributing to speciation. We reveal the complex history of the gene MaMyb2 in shaping flower colour divergence within a recent radiation of monkeyflowers. In the Mimulus aurantiacus species complex, red-flowered M. a. ssp . puniceus and yellow-flowered M. a. ssp. australis are partially isolated because of differences in pollinator preferences. Phylogenetic analyses based on genome-wide variation across the complex suggest two origins of red flowers from a yellow-flowered ancestor: one in M. a. ssp . puniceus and one in M. a. ssp. flemingii . However, in both cases, red flowers are caused by cis -regulatory mutations in the gene MaMyb2 . Although this could be due to distinct mutations in each lineage, we show that the red allele in M. a. ssp. puniceus did not evolve de novo or exist as standing variation in its yellow-flowered ancestor. Rather, our results suggest that a single red MaMyb2 allele evolved during the radiation of M. aurantiacus that was subsequently transferred to the yellow-flowered ancestor of M. a. ssp. puniceus via introgressive hybridization. Because gene flow is still possible among taxa, we conclude that introgressive hybridization can be a potent driver of adaptation at the early stages of divergence that can contribute to the origins of biodiversity.

scholarly journals Nothobranchius annual killifishes

EvoDevo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Terzibasi Tozzini ◽  
Alessandro Cellerino
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Parallel Evolution ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Embryonic Diapause ◽  
Genetic Intervention ◽  
Age Related ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Biannual Meeting ◽  
Ephemeral Habitats

AbstractAnnual fishes of the genus Nothobranchius inhabit ephemeral habitats in Eastern and Southeastern Africa. Their life cycle is characterized by very rapid maturation, a posthatch lifespan of a few weeks to months and embryonic diapause to survive the dry season. The species N. furzeri holds the record of the fastest-maturing vertebrate and of the vertebrate with the shortest captive lifespan and is emerging as model organism in biomedical research, evolutionary biology, and developmental biology. Extensive characterization of age-related phenotypes in the laboratory and of ecology, distribution, and demography in the wild are available. Species/populations from habitats differing in precipitation intensity show parallel evolution of lifespan and age-related traits that conform to the classical theories on aging. Genome sequencing and the establishment of CRISPR/Cas9 techniques made this species particularly attractive to investigate the effects genetic and non-genetic intervention on lifespan and aging-related phenotypes. At the same time, annual fishes are a very interesting subject for comparative approaches, including genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. The N. furzeri community is highly diverse and rapidly expanding and organizes a biannual meeting.

scholarly journals Adaptive Divergence in Experimental Populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens. IV. Genetic Constraints Guide Evolutionary Trajectories in a Parallel Adaptive Radiation

Genetics ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 183 (3) ◽  
pp. 1041-1053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. McDonald ◽  
Stefanie M. Gehrig ◽  
Peter L. Meintjes ◽  
Xue-Xian Zhang ◽  
Paul B. Rainey
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Radiation ◽  
Parallel Evolution ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Genetic Constraints ◽  
Regulatory Modules ◽  
Fitness Effects ◽  
Evolutionary Trajectories ◽  
Adaptive Radiations ◽  
Encoding Gene ◽  
Do So

The capacity for phenotypic evolution is dependent upon complex webs of functional interactions that connect genotype and phenotype. Wrinkly spreader (WS) genotypes arise repeatedly during the course of a model Pseudomonas adaptive radiation. Previous work showed that the evolution of WS variation was explained in part by spontaneous mutations in wspF, a component of the Wsp-signaling module, but also drew attention to the existence of unknown mutational causes. Here, we identify two new mutational pathways (Aws and Mws) that allow realization of the WS phenotype: in common with the Wsp module these pathways contain a di-guanylate cyclase-encoding gene subject to negative regulation. Together, mutations in the Wsp, Aws, and Mws regulatory modules account for the spectrum of WS phenotype-generating mutations found among a collection of 26 spontaneously arising WS genotypes obtained from independent adaptive radiations. Despite a large number of potential mutational pathways, the repeated discovery of mutations in a small number of loci (parallel evolution) prompted the construction of an ancestral genotype devoid of known (Wsp, Aws, and Mws) regulatory modules to see whether the types derived from this genotype could converge upon the WS phenotype via a novel route. Such types—with equivalent fitness effects—did emerge, although they took significantly longer to do so. Together our data provide an explanation for why WS evolution follows a limited number of mutational pathways and show how genetic architecture can bias the molecular variation presented to selection.

scholarly journals Woody medicinal plants of the caatinga in the state of Pernambuco (Northeast Brazil)

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Carolina Oliveira da Silva ◽  
Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
The State ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Systematic Exploration ◽  
Medicinal Properties ◽  
Medicinal Flora

Floristic and phytosociological studies undertaken in six areas of the state of Pernambuco were selected with the aim of analyzing the Relative Importance of the woody medicinal plant species of Pernambuco's caatinga from an ethnobotanical perspective. For the data analysis, only those identified up to the species level were selected and information on medicinal properties was obtained for each one from the literature. The Relative Importance was calculated for each species. From the 57 woody species, 22 had therapeutic indications; from these, Anacardium occidentale L., Tabebuia impetiginosa (Mart. ex DC) Standley, Schinopsis brasiliensis Engl., and Myracrodruon urundeuva (Engl.) Fr. All. had the greatest values of Relative Importance. The correlation analysis made clear that the Relative Importance of the species is negatively correlated with the Density and Relative Frequency (p<0.05). The most important species, in the ethnobotanical point view, are the most vulnerable, possible due to the systematic exploration they have been suffering. Schinopsis brasiliensis and Myracrodruon urundeuva are listed as endangered species and deserve special attention in the development of techniques of sustainable management, where both economic return and species conservation must be guaranteed. In depth studies that take into consideration each region's characteristics are necessary both from a floristic perspective and considering medicinal aspects, since each area seems to have its own woody medicinal flora, as suggested in the cluster analysis.

scholarly journals Convergence in form and function overcomes non-parallel evolutionary histories in a Holarctic fish

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Jacobs ◽  
Madeleine Carruthers ◽  
Andrey Yurchenko ◽  
Natalia V. Gordeeva ◽  
Sergei S. Alekseyev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Salvelinus Alpinus ◽  
Arctic Charr ◽  
Parallel Evolution ◽  
Genetic Associations ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Selection Variable ◽  
And Function ◽  
Phenotypic Parallelism ◽  
Evolutionary Lineages

AbstractUnderstanding the extent to which evolution is predictable under multifarious selection is a longstanding question in evolutionary biology. However, the interplay of stochastic and contingent factors influencing the extent of parallelism in nature is not well understood. To test the predictability of evolution, we studied a ‘natural experiment’ on different organismal levels across lakes and evolutionary lineages of a freshwater salmonid fish, Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus). We identified significant phenotypic parallelism between Arctic charr ecotype pairs within a continuum of parallel evolution and highly parallel adaptive morphological traits. Variability in phenotypic predictability was explained by complex demographic histories, differing genomic backgrounds and genomic responses to selection, variable genetic associations with ecotype, and environmental variation. Remarkably, gene expression was highly similar across ecotype replicates, and explained the observed parallelism continuum. Our findings suggest that parallel evolution by non-parallel evolutionary routes is possible when the regulatory molecular phenotype compensates for divergent histories.

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