scholarly journals Sympatric, parapatric or allopatric: the most important way to classify speciation?

2008 ◽  
Vol 363 (1506) ◽  
pp. 2997-3007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger K Butlin ◽  
Juan Galindo ◽  
John W Grahame

The most common classification of modes of speciation begins with the spatial context in which divergence occurs: sympatric, parapatric or allopatric. This classification is unsatisfactory because it divides a continuum into discrete categories, concentrating attention on the extremes, and it subordinates other dimensions on which speciation processes vary, such as the forces driving differentiation and the genetic basis of reproductive isolation. It also ignores the fact that speciation is a prolonged process that commonly has phases in different spatial contexts. We use the example of local adaptation and partial reproductive isolation in the intertidal gastropod Littorina saxatilis to illustrate the inadequacy of the spatial classification of speciation modes. Parallel divergence in shell form in response to similar environmental gradients in England, Spain and Sweden makes this an excellent model system. However, attempts to demonstrate ‘incipient’ and ‘sympatric’ speciation involve speculation about the future and the past. We suggest that it is more productive to study the current balance between local adaptation and gene flow, the interaction between components of reproductive isolation and the genetic basis of differentiation.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie E. Webster ◽  
Juan Galindo ◽  
John W. Grahame ◽  
Roger K. Butlin

The role of habitat choice in reproductive isolation and ecological speciation has often been overlooked, despite acknowledgement of its ability to facilitate local adaptation. It can form part of the speciation process through various evolutionary mechanisms, yet where habitat choice has been included in models of ecological speciation little thought has been given to these underlying mechanisms. Here, we propose and describe three independent criteria underlying ten different evolutionary scenarios in which habitat choice may promote or maintain local adaptation. The scenarios are the result of all possible combinations of the independent criteria, providing a conceptual framework in which to discuss examples which illustrate each scenario. These examples show that the different roles of habitat choice in ecological speciation have rarely been effectively distinguished. Making such distinctions is an important challenge for the future, allowing better experimental design, stronger inferences and more meaningful comparisons among systems. We show some of the practical difficulties involved by reviewing the current evidence for the role of habitat choice in local adaptation and reproductive isolation in the intertidal gastropodLittorina saxatilis, a model system for the study of ecological speciation, assessing whether any of the proposed scenarios can be reliably distinguished, given current research.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg M. Walter ◽  
J. David Aguirre ◽  
Melanie J Wilkinson ◽  
Thomas J. Richards ◽  
Mark W. Blows ◽  
...  

AbstractTesting whether local adaptation and intrinsic reproductive isolation share a genetic basis can reveal important connections between adaptation and speciation. Local adaptation arises as advantageous alleles spread through a population, but whether these same advantageous alleles fail on the genetic backgrounds of other populations remains largely unknown. We used a quantitative genetic breeding design to produce a late generation (F4) recombinant hybrid population by equally mating amongst four contrasting ecotypes of a native Australian daisy for four generations. We tracked fitness across generations and measured morphological traits in the glasshouse, and used a reciprocal transplant to quantify fitness in all four parental habitats. In the glasshouse, plants in the second generation showed a reduction in fitness as a loss of fertility, but this was fully recovered in the following generation. The F4 hybrid lacked extreme phenotypes present in the parental ecotypes, suggesting that genes reducing hybrid fitness were linked to traits specific to each ecotype. In the natural habitats, additive genetic variance for fitness was greatest for habitats that showed stronger native-ecotype advantage, suggesting that a loss of genetic variation present in the parental ecotypes were adaptive in the natural habitats. Reductions in genetic variance for fitness were associated with a loss of ecological trade-offs previously described in the parental ecotypes. Furthermore, natural selection on morphological traits differed amongst the parental habitats, but was not predicted to occur towards the morphology of the parental ecotypes. Together, these results suggest that intrinsic reproductive isolation removed adaptive genetic variation present in the parental ecotypes. The evolution of these distinct ecotypes was likely governed by genetic variation that resulted in both ecological trade-offs and intrinsic reproductive isolation among populations adapted to contrasting environments.


2019 ◽  
pp. 135-142
Author(s):  
K. V. Ivanova ◽  
A. M. Lapina ◽  
V. V. Neshataev

The 2nd international scientific conference «Fundamental problems of vegetation classification» took place at the Nikitskiy Botanical Garden (Yalta, Republic of Crimea, Russia) on 15–20 September 2019. There were 56 participants from 33 cities and 43 research organizations in Russia. The conference was mostly focused on reviewing the success in classification of the vegetation done by Russian scientists in the past three years. The reports covered various topics such as classification, description of new syntaxonomical units, geobotanical mapping for different territories and types of vegetation, studies of space-time dynamics of plant communities. The final discussion on the last day covered problems yet to be solved: establishment of the Russian Prodromus and the National archive of vegetation, complications of higher education in the profile of geobotany, and the issue of the data leakage to foreign scientific journals. In conclusion, it was announced that the 3rd conference in Nikitskiy Botanical Garden will be held in 2022.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheetal Uppal ◽  
Mohd. Asim Khan ◽  
Suman Kundu

Aims: The aim of our study is to understand the biophysical traits that govern the stability and folding of Synechocystis hemoglobin, a unique cyanobacterial globin that displays unusual traits not observed in any of the other globins discovered so far. Background: For the past few decades, classical hemoglobins such as vertebrate hemoglobin and myoglobin have been extensively studied to unravel the stability and folding mechanisms of hemoglobins. However, the expanding wealth of hemoglobins identified in all life forms with novel properties, like heme coordination chemistry and globin fold, have added complexity and challenges to the understanding of hemoglobin stability, which has not been adequately addressed. Here, we explored the unique truncated and hexacoordinate hemoglobin from the freshwater cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 known as “Synechocystis hemoglobin (SynHb)”. The “three histidines” linkages to heme are novel to this cyanobacterial hemoglobin. Objective: Mutational studies were employed to decipher the residues within the heme pocket that dictate the stability and folding of SynHb. Methods: Site-directed mutants of SynHb were generated and analyzed using a repertoire of spectroscopic and calorimetric tools. Result: The results revealed that the heme was stably associated to the protein under all denaturing conditions with His117 playing the anchoring role. The studies also highlighted the possibility of existence of a “molten globule” like intermediate at acidic pH in this exceptionally thermostable globin. His117 and other key residues in the heme pocket play an indispensable role in imparting significant polypeptide stability. Conclusion: Synechocystis hemoglobin presents an important model system for investigations of protein folding and stability in general. The heme pocket residues influenced the folding and stability of SynHb in a very subtle and specific manner and may have been optimized to make this Hb the most stable known as of date. Other: The knowledge gained hereby about the influence of heme pocket amino acid side chains on stability and expression is currently being utilized to improve the stability of recombinant human Hbs for efficient use as oxygen delivery vehicles.


Author(s):  
Tom McLeish

‘I could not see any place in science for my creativity or imagination’, was the explanation, of a bright school leaver to the author, of why she had abandoned all study of science. Yet as any scientist knows, the imagination is essential to the immense task of re-creating a shared model of nature from the scale of the cosmos, through biological complexity, to the smallest subatomic structures. Encounters like that one inspired this book, which takes a journey through the creative process in the arts as well as sciences. Visiting great creative people of the past, it also draws on personal accounts of scientists, artists, mathematicians, writers, and musicians today to explore the commonalities and differences in creation. Tom McLeish finds that the ‘Two Cultures’ division between the arts and the sciences is not after all, the best classification of creative processes, for all creation calls on the power of the imagination within the constraints of form. Instead, the three modes of visual, textual, and abstract imagination have woven the stories of the arts and sciences together, but using different tools. As well as panoramic assessments of creativity, calling on ideas from the ancient world, medieval thought, and twentieth-century philosophy and theology, The Poetry and Music of Science illustrates its emerging story by specific close-up explorations of musical (Schumann), literary (James, Woolf, Goethe) mathematical (Wiles), and scientific (Humboldt, Einstein) creation. The book concludes by asking how creativity contributes to what it means to be human.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Windpessl ◽  
Erica L. Bettac ◽  
Philipp Gauckler ◽  
Jae Il Shin ◽  
Duvuru Geetha ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose of Review There is ongoing debate concerning the classification of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. That is, whether classification should be based on the serotype (proteinase 3 (PR3)- or myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA) or on the clinical phenotype (granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA)). To add clarity, this review focused on integration of the most recent literature. Recent Findings Large clinical trials have provided evidence that a serology-based risk assessment for relapses is more predictive than distinction based on the phenotype. Research conducted in the past decade indicated that a serology-based approach more closely resembles the genetic associations, the clinical presentation (i.e., lung involvement), biomarker biology, treatment response, and is also predicting comorbidities (such as cardiovascular death). Summary Our review highlights that a serology-based approach could replace a phenotype-based approach to classify ANCA-associated vasculitides. In future, clinical trials and observational studies will presumably focus on this distinction and, as such, translate into a “personalized medicine.”


Author(s):  
Cesar de Souza Bastos Junior ◽  
Vera Lucia Nunes Pannain ◽  
Adriana Caroli-Bottino

Abstract Introduction Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal neoplasm in the world, accounting for 15% of cancer-related deaths. This condition is related to different molecular pathways, among them the recently described serrated pathway, whose characteristic entities, serrated lesions, have undergone important changes in their names and diagnostic criteria in the past thirty years. The multiplicity of denominations and criteria over the last years may be responsible for the low interobserver concordance (IOC) described in the literature. Objectives The present study aims to describe the evolution in classification of serrated lesions, based on the last three publications of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the reproducibility of these criteria by pathologists, based on the evaluation of the IOC. Methods A search was conducted in the PubMed, ResearchGate and Portal Capes databases, with the following terms: sessile serrated lesion; serrated lesions; serrated adenoma; interobserver concordance; and reproducibility. Articles published since 1990 were researched. Results and Discussion The classification of serrated lesions in the past thirty years showed different denominations and diagnostic criteria. The reproducibility and IOC of these criteria in the literature, based on the kappa coefficient, varied in most studies, from very poor to moderate. Conclusions Interobserver concordance and the reproducibility of microscopic criteria may represent a limitation for the diagnosis and appropriate management of these lesions. It is necessary to investigate diagnostic tools to improve the performance of the pathologist's evaluation, for better concordance, and, consequently, adequate diagnosis and treatment.


Author(s):  
Nidhi Rajesh Mavani ◽  
Jarinah Mohd Ali ◽  
Suhaili Othman ◽  
M. A. Hussain ◽  
Haslaniza Hashim ◽  
...  

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) has embodied the recent technology in the food industry over the past few decades due to the rising of food demands in line with the increasing of the world population. The capability of the said intelligent systems in various tasks such as food quality determination, control tools, classification of food, and prediction purposes has intensified their demand in the food industry. Therefore, this paper reviews those diverse applications in comparing their advantages, limitations, and formulations as a guideline for selecting the most appropriate methods in enhancing future AI- and food industry–related developments. Furthermore, the integration of this system with other devices such as electronic nose, electronic tongue, computer vision system, and near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) is also emphasized, all of which will benefit both the industry players and consumers.


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