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At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

Reduced parental effort in relation to laying date in house sparrows (Passer domesticus): a study under controlled conditions.

It is known that breeding success in birds declines with an advance in the laying date. In this paper, breeding success diminished with laying date in a house sparrow (Passer domesticus) population breeding in captivity. The principal cause of the cline in breeding success with date was a decrease in the female feeding rate. The parental effort in females decreased with the advance of the laying date, although food access was ad libitum throughout the breeding season. Consequently, this cline in breeding success may be due to a reduced parental investment with the advance of the laying date or to exhaustion due to previous reproductive events in the season. Hypotheses usually used to explain the cline in breeding success with date can not explain results in this study.

Animals↗

Phylogeography of the Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) in the northern Mediterranean: the combined effects of historical vicariance, population expansion, secondary invasion, and isolation by distance.

Sequence analysis of the mtDNA control region of four samples (n=195) of Atlantic bonito (Sarda sarda) collected along the northern Mediterranean reveals two clades about 8.1% divergent distributed in an east-west cline that fits an isolation by distance (IBD) model. The vicariant origin of this genetic discontinuity is proposed, supported in addition to the cline, by evidence of distinct historical demographic factors affecting each clade. Variation in Clade I suggests a large stable population, whereas Clade II displays a star-like phylogeny indicative of a population bottleneck followed by sudden expansion. The historical demography and biogeographic scenario is as follows: (1) Allopatric isolation during the Pleistocene give rise to Clade I (Atlantic) and Clade II (Mediterranean); (2) Population collapse followed by sudden expansion gives rise to the characteristic star-like phylogeny of Clade II; (3) Secondary contact as Clade I enters from the Atlantic, and (4) An east-west cline is maintained by IBD.

Animals↗

Human X-chromosomal lineages in Europe reveal Middle Eastern and Asiatic contacts.

Within Europe, classical genetic markers, nuclear autosomal and Y-chromosome DNA polymorphisms display an east-west frequency gradient. This has been taken as evidence for the westward migration of Neolithic farmers from the Middle East. In contrast, most studies of mtDNA variation in Europe and the Middle East have not revealed clinal distributions. Here we report an analysis of dys44 haplotypes, consisting of 35 polymorphisms on an 8 kb segment of the dystrophin gene on Xp21, in a sample of 1203 Eurasian chromosomes. Our results do not show a significant genetic structure in Europe, though when Middle Eastern samples are included a very low but significant genetic structure, rooted in Middle Eastern heterogeneity, is observed. This structure was not correlated to either geography or language, indicating that neither of these factors are a barrier to gene flow within Europe and/or the Middle East. Spatial autocorrelation analysis did not show clinal variation from the Middle East to Europe, though an underlying and ancient east-west cline across the Eurasian continent was detected. Clines provide a strong signal of ancient major population migration(s), and we suggest that the observed cline likely resulted from an ancient, bifurcating migration out of Africa that influenced the colonizing of Europe, Asia and the Americas. Our study reveals that, in addition to settlements from the Near East, Europe has been influenced by other major population movements, such as expansion(s) from Asia, as well as by recent gene flow from within Europe and the Middle East.

Asia↗

Bias in association studies of systemic lupus erythematosus susceptibility due to geographical variation in the frequency of a programmed cell death 1 polymorphism across Europe.

We obtained eight collections of DNA samples from ethnically matched systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and controls from five European countries totaling 783 patients and 1210 controls. A highly significant cline in the frequency of the PD1.3 A allele was found among controls but not among SLE patients. The frequency of the PD1.3 A allele increased from the Northeast to the Southwest of Europe. The cline was clearly apparent (P=1.2 x 10(-6)) when data from controls of other five SLE susceptibility studies were included in the analysis. This variation has severely biased SLE association studies owing to the lack of parallel changes in SLE patients. As a consequence, the PD1.3 A allele was more common in SLE patients than in controls in the Northeast and Center of Europe, similar to controls in Southeast Europe, and less frequent than in the controls in the Southwest of the Continent. This dissociation in allele frequencies between SLE patients and controls in different subpopulations indicated that programmed cell death 1 variation and disease susceptibility are not independent but the type of relationship is currently unclear. As allele frequency clines are common in other polymorphisms their impact in genetic epidemiology studies should be carefully considered.

Antigens, CD↗

Characterization of a hybrid zone between two chromosomal races of the weta Hemideina thoracica following a geologically recent volcanic eruption.

Two chromosomal races (2n=17 and 2n=15; XO) of the weta Hemideina thoracica meet at the centre of a volcanic region in North Island, New Zealand. Five independent polymorphic genetic markers showed broadly coinciding, steep frequency clines from north to south across this zone beside the flooded crater, Lake Taupo. Three unlinked nuclear gene markers provide estimates of zone width that are at least twice the width of the chromosomal and mitochondrial clines, with cline centres displaced at least 2.5 km. The different zone widths and centres suggest that this hybrid zone is a semipermeable barrier reducing the introgression of the chromosomal markers more than genic markers. We estimate that this species of weta must have a dispersal rate of at least 100 m per generation using the time since the last Taupo eruption (1850 years ago), which covered an area of about 20 000 km2 with pyroclastic flow.

Animals↗

Molecular genecology of temperature response in Lolium perenne: 2. association of AFLP markers with ecogeography.

Improved winter hardiness is an important breeding objective in the forage grass Lolium perenne. This is a complex trait with several components, including the ability to survive and grow at low temperature, to acclimate to cold, tolerate wind, snow cover and ice encasement. Marker-assisted selection has the potential to increase the efficiency of breeding for improved cold tolerance. Here we describe a genecological approach to identifying molecular markers that are associated with adaptation to low winter temperatures. AFLP was used to assess the genetic diversity in 29 wild populations of ryegrass (Lolium perenne) representing a pan-European temperature cline in terms of their geographical origin. A further 18 populations from a temperature cline in Bulgaria were also analysed. In addition, two varieties and five populations representing parents of mapping families currently in use at IGER were included in the analysis. Principal coordinate (PCoA) and cluster analyses of the molecular marker data showed that the Bulgarian altitude cline populations could be distinguished clearly from the other populations. Two regression analyses were carried out; one to identify AFLP markers that correlated in frequency with low mean January temperature of the geographical origin of the population, and another to identify AFLP markers correlating in frequency with the cold tolerance phenotype of the populations, as determined by LT50 values in freezing tests. In the first analysis six AFLP markers showed significant type II trends with mean January temperature, and in the second analysis 28 bands had a significant univariate relationship with the LT50 value of the accessions. In steps 2 and 3 of the stepwise analysis a further 4 and 5 bands, respectively, improved the fit significantly. The results of the two types of regression analysis are discussed in relation to ecogeography and cold tolerance phenotype of the populations.

Ecology↗

DNA sequence variation and latitudinal associations in hsp23, hsp26 and hsp27 from natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster.

Heat shock genes are considered to be likely candidate genes for environmental stress resistance. Nucleotide variation in the coding sequence of the small heat shock genes (hsps) hsp26 and hsp27 from Drosophila melanogaster was studied in flies originating from the Netherlands and eastern Australia. The hsp26 gene was polymorphic for an insertion/deletion of three extra amino acids and two nonsynonymous changes in all populations. The hsp27 gene exhibited two nonsynonymous changes and three synonymous mutations. The hsp26 polymorphism showed a latitudinal cline along the east coast of Australia. This pattern was not confounded by the fact that the shsps are located in the inversion In(3 L)P which also shows a latitudinal cline in eastern Australia. A similar latitudinal cline was found for the previously described variation in hsp23, while frequencies of hsp27 alleles did not change with latitude. These findings suggest that variation at two of the shsps or closely linked loci are under selection in natural populations of D. melanogaster.

Animals↗

Dupuytren's disease or Cooper's contracture?: Kenneth Fitzpatrick Russell Memorial Lecture.

In his position as curator of the Cowlishaw collection of historical medical books in the Library of the College, Kenneth Russell prepared the definitive catalogue of the collection. This catalogue is comprehensive and for almost all entries there is an annotation that demonstrates his meticulous attention to detail and the love of the book collection that he managed to secure for the College. It is from this catalogue that I have chosen two books in particular that bring together two great surgeons of the turn of the 19th century. Although he was a pupil of the great John Hunter, the young Astley Cooper possessed good manners and a gift of oratory of which the Scot, his teacher, was devoid. After his apprenticeship with Henry Cline senior, Cooper came to share the podium with Cline at Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals and the two dominated surgical teaching in London for some 22 years, until Cline's retirement in 1811. It was the latter who was first to recognize the true nature of the condition now known as Dupuytren's disease. Later, in 1822, Cooper wrote a detailed description of the contracture of the palmar aponeurosis and recommended fasciotomy as being curative. His book A Treatise on Dislocations and Fractures of the Joints, which contains this description of Dupuytren's contracture, is held in the Cowlishaw Collection. On the other side of the English Channel, M. le Baron Dupuytren repeatedly misquoted Cooper and stated that Cooper believed that the disease was incurable. In his famous lecture given to the staff of the Hôtel Dieu in Paris on 5th December 1931, he admitted to having seen 30 or 40 cases over 20 years of practice. It seems likely that he was not aware of the true cause of the condition before 1831 when he treated his first case. This lecture, along with others, are recorded in his Leçons Orales de Clinique Chirurgicale, a copy of which is also to be found in the Cowlishaw Collection.

Catalogs as Topic↗

Adaptation and constraint in the evolution of Drosophila melanogaster wing shape.

We have taken advantage of parallel instances of natural selection on body size in Drosophila melanogaster to investigate constraints and adaptation affecting wing shape. Using recently developed techniques for statistical shape analysis, we have examined variation in wing shape in similar body size clines on three continents. Gender-related shape differences were constant among all populations, suggesting that gender differences represent a developmental constraint on wing shape. In contrast, the underlying shape varied significantly between continents and shape change within each cline (i.e., between small and large body size populations) also varied between continents. Therefore, variation at these two levels presumably results from either drift or natural selection. Functional considerations suggest that shape variation between the continents is unlikely to be adaptive. However, cline-related shape change, which we show has a significant allometric component, may be adaptive. The overall range of wing shape variation, across a large range of wing size, is extremely small, and the possibility that wing shape is subject to stabilizing selection (or canalization) is discussed.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language.

Clinal patterns of autosomal genetic diversity within Europe have been interpreted in previous studies in terms of a Neolithic demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture; in contrast, studies using mtDNA have traced many founding lineages to the Paleolithic and have not shown strongly clinal variation. We have used 11 human Y-chromosomal biallelic polymorphisms, defining 10 haplogroups, to analyze a sample of 3,616 Y chromosomes belonging to 47 European and circum-European populations. Patterns of geographic differentiation are highly nonrandom, and, when they are assessed using spatial autocorrelation analysis, they show significant clines for five of six haplogroups analyzed. Clines for two haplogroups, representing 45% of the chromosomes, are continentwide and consistent with the demic diffusion hypothesis. Clines for three other haplogroups each have different foci and are more regionally restricted and are likely to reflect distinct population movements, including one from north of the Black Sea. Principal-components analysis suggests that populations are related primarily on the basis of geography, rather than on the basis of linguistic affinity. This is confirmed in Mantel tests, which show a strong and highly significant partial correlation between genetics and geography but a low, nonsignificant partial correlation between genetics and language. Genetic-barrier analysis also indicates the primacy of geography in the shaping of patterns of variation. These patterns retain a strong signal of expansion from the Near East but also suggest that the demographic history of Europe has been complex and influenced by other major population movements, as well as by linguistic and geographic heterogeneities and the effects of drift.

Africa, Northern↗

Genotype-by-environment and epistatic interactions in Drosophila melanogaster: the effects of Gpdh allozymes, genetic background and rearing temperature on larval developmental time and viability.

The possible role of temperature as a component of natural selection generating the latitudinal clines in Gpdh allele frequencies in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster was examined. Effects of rearing temperature (16 degrees, 22 degrees and 29 degrees) and of Gpdh allozymes (S and F) on larval developmental time and viability were measured. Eight genetic backgrounds from each of three populations (continents) were used to assess the generality of any effects. Analyses of variance indicated significant temperature effects and allozyme-by-genetic background interaction effects for both characters. Viability showed significant genetic background effects, as well as significant temperature-by-allozyme and temperature-by-allozyme-by-population interactions. In general, the S/S genotype was significantly lower in viability than the F/F and F/S genotypes at extreme temperatures (16 degrees and 29 degrees), with no significant differences at 22 degrees. However, each population had a slightly different pattern of viability associated with temperature, and only the Australian population showed a pattern that could contribute to the observed cline formation. Although the same two interactions were not significant for developmental time, examination of the means showed that the S/S genotype had a slightly faster rate of development at 16 degrees than the F/F genotype in all populations (by an average of 0.25 day or 1.1%). The low temperature effect on developmental time is consistent with the clines observed in nature, with the S allele increasing in frequency with higher latitudes. The results for both viability and developmental time are consistent with the interpretation of Gpdh as a minor polygene affecting physiological phenotypes, as indicated by previous work with adult flight metabolism. Finally, it is proposed that the temperature-dependent antagonistic effects of the allozymes on viability vs. developmental time and flight metabolism may be the underlying force giving rise to the worldwide polymorphism.

Analysis of Variance↗

Clinal variation for amino acid polymorphisms at the Pgm locus in Drosophila melanogaster.

Clinal variation is common for enzymes in the glycolytic pathway for Drosophila melanogaster and is generally accepted as an adaptive response to different climates. Although the enzyme phosphoglucomutase (PGM) possesses several allozyme polymorphisms, it is unique in that it had been reported to show no clinal variation. Our recent DNA sequence investigation of Pgm found extensive cryptic amino acid polymorphism segregating with the allozyme alleles. In this study, we characterize the geographic variation of Pgm amino acid polymorphisms at the nucleotide level along a latitudinal cline in the eastern United States. A survey of 15 SNPs across the Pgm gene finds significant clinal differentiation for the allozyme polymorphisms as well as for many of the cryptic amino acid polymorphisms. A test of independence shows that pervasive linkage disequilibrium across this gene region can explain many of the amino acid clines. A single Pgm haplotype defined by two amino acid polymorphisms shows the strongest correlation with latitude and the steepest change in allele frequency across the cline. We propose that clinal selection at Pgm may in part explain the extensive amino acid polymorphism at this locus and is consistent with a multilocus response to selection in the glycolytic pathway.

Amino Acids↗

Biogeographic evidence for selection on mitochondrial DNA in North Pacific walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma.

Three major mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups were identified in 5 data sets for North Pacific and Bering Sea walleye pollock. The common haplogroup A showed mirror-image clines on both sides of the North Pacific with high frequencies in southern areas (P(A) > 0.84) and low frequencies in the Bering Sea (P(A) < 0.36). Two additional haplogroups showed complimentary, but weaker, clines in the opposite direction. These clines are unlikely to have arisen by chance during postglacial colonizations of coastal waters in the North Pacific and Bering Sea, and they do not appear to reflect isolation by distance. Contrary to these trends, pollock at the western end of the Aleutian Island Archipelago were genetically more similar to Asian than to North American pollock, a pattern likely reflecting postglacial colonization. Haplogroup F(ST) values for a given haplotype diversity were significantly larger than expected under the island model of migration and random drift, a result implicating natural selection. Frequencies of haplogroup A were highly correlated with sea surface temperature (r > 0.91), whereas frequencies of groups B and C showed negative correlations with temperature. Selection may be operating directly on mtDNA variability or may be mediated through cytonuclear interactions. This biogeographic evidence adds to a growing body of literature indicating that selection may play a greater role in sculpting mtDNA variability than previously thought.

Adaptation, Biological↗

Evolution of abdominal pigmentation differences across species in the Drosophila dunni subgroup.

The Drosophila dunni subgroup displays a nearly perfect latitudinal cline in abdominal pigmentation that likely resulted from selective forces acting in the habitat of each species during speciation. Here we characterize the nature of this clinal variation by developing a quantitative measure to assess variation in abdominal pigmentation within and between the D. dunni subgroup species. Using discriminant analysis, we confirm the existence of a cline and find that our quantitative measure of pigmentation distinguishes each of the species with singular efficacy. We then combine our quantitative phenotypic analysis of pigmentation with the phylogeny of the D. dunni subgroup species and map the species relationships into the three-dimensional morphological space defined by our pigmentation measures. In this manner, we can visualize how the species have traversed the morphological pigmentation space during the course of speciation. Our analysis reveals that natural selection has caused overall intensity of pigmentation among the northernmost species of the cline to converge. Along with this convergence in phenotype has been a relaxation in expression of sexual dimorphism in these species, indicating a possible shift in the relative intensity of natural and sexual selection. Our analysis indicates an accelerated rate of change in pigmentation for the darkest species in addition to this species evolving a novel abdominal pigmentation trait.

Abdomen↗

Spatial structure and habitat variation in a grasshopper hybrid zone.

A hybrid zone between the grasshoppers Chorthippus brunneus and C. jacobsi (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in northern Spain has been analyzed for variation in morphology and ecology. These species are readily distinguished by the number of stridulatory pegs on the hind femur. Both sexes are fully winged and inhabit disturbed habitats throughout the study area. We develop a maximum-likelihood approach to fitting a two-dimensional cline to geographical variation in quantitative traits and for estimating associations of population mean with local habitat. This method reveals a cline in peg number approximately 30 km south of the Picos de Europa Mountains that shows substantial deviations in population mean compared with the expectations of simple tension zone models. The inclusion of variation in local vegetation in the model explains a significant proportion of the residual variation in peg number, indicating that habitat-genotype associations contribute to the observed spatial pattern. However, this association is weak, and a number of populations continue to show strong deviations in mean even after habitat is included in the final model. These outliers may be the result of long-distance colonization of sites distant from the cline center or may be due to a patchy pattern of initial contact during postglacial expansion. As well as contrasting with the smooth hybrid zones described for Chorthippus parallelus, this situation also contrasts with the mosaic hybrid zones observed in Gryllus crickets and in parts of the hybrid zone between Bombina toad species, where habitat-genotype associations account for substantial amounts of among-site variation.

Animals↗

Evolutionary pace of chromosomal polymorphism in colonizing populations of Drosophila subobscura: an evolutionary time series.

Biologists have long debated the speed, uniformity, and predictability of evolutionary change. However, evaluating such patterns on a geographic scale requires time-series data on replicate sets of natural populations. Drosophila subobscura has proven an ideal model system for such studies. This fly is broadly distributed in the Old World, but was introduced into both North and South America just over two decades ago and then spread rapidly. Rapid, uniform, and predictable evolution would be demonstrated if the invading flies evolved latitudinal clines that progressively converged on those of the native populations. Evolutionary geneticists quickly capitalized on this opportunity to monitor evolutionary dynamics. Just a few years after the introduction, they surveyed chromosomal inversion frequencies in both North and South America. On both continents they detected incipient latitudinal clines in chromosome inversion frequencies that almost always had the same sign with latitude as in the Old World. Thus the initial evolution of chromosomal polymorphisms on a continental scale was remarkably rapid and consistent. Here we report newer samples of inversion frequencies for the colonizing populations: the time series now spans almost one decade for North America and almost two decades for South America. Almost all inversions in the New World continue to show the same sign of frequency with latitude as in the Old World. Nevertheless, inversion clines have not consistently increased in steepness over time; nor have they consistently continued to converge on the Old World baseline. However, five arrangements in South America show directional, continentwide shifts in frequency. Overall, the initial consistency of clinal evolutionary trajectories seen in the first surveys seems not to have been maintained.

Animals↗

When vicars meet: a narrow contact zone between morphologically cryptic phylogeographic lineages of the rainforest skink, Carlia rubrigularis.

Phylogeographic analyses of the fauna of the Australian wet tropics rainforest have provided strong evidence for long-term isolation of populations among allopatric refugia, yet typically there is no corresponding divergence in morphology. This system provides an opportunity to examine the consequences of geographic isolation, independent of morphological divergence, and thus to assess the broader significance of historical subdivisions revealed through mitochondrial DNA phylogeography. We have located and characterized a zone of secondary contact between two long isolated (mtDNA divergence > 15%) lineages of the skink Carlia rubrigularis using one mitochondrial and eight nuclear (two intron, six microsatellite) markers. This revealed a remarkably narrow (width < 3 km) hybrid zone with substantial linkage disequilibrium and strong deficits of heterozygotes at two of three nuclear loci with diagnostic alleles. Cline centers were coincident across loci. Using a novel form of likelihood analysis, we were unable to distinguish between sigmoidal and stepped cline shapes except at one nuclear locus for which the latter was inferred. Given estimated dispersal rates of 90-133 m x gen(-1/2) and assuming equilibrium, the observed cline widths suggest effective selection against heterozygotes of at least 22-49% and possibly as high as 70%. These observations reveal substantial postmating isolation, although the absence of consistent deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium at diagnostic loci suggests that there is little accompanying premating isolation. The tight geographic correspondence between transitions in mtDNA and those for nuclear genes and corresponding evidence for selection against hybrids indicates that these morphologically cryptic phylogroups could be considered as incipient species. Nonetheless, we caution against the use of mtDNA phylogeography as a sole criterion for defining species boundaries.

Animals↗

Chemical classification of cattle. 2. Phylogenetic tree and specific status of the Zebu.

Phylogenetic trees for the ten major breed groups of cattle were constructed by Farris's (1972) maximum parsimony method, or Fitch & Margoliash's (1967) method, which averages ou the deviation over the entire assemblage. Both techniques yield essentially identical trees. The phylogenetic tree for the ten major cattle breed groups can be superimposed on a map of Europe and western Asia, the root of the tree being close to the 'fertile crescent' in Asia Minor, believed to be a primary centre of bovine domestication. For some but not all protein variants there is a cline of gene frequencies as one proceeds from the British Isles and northwest Europe towards southeast Europe and Asia Minor, with the most extreme gene frequencies in the Zebu breeds of India. It is not clear to what extent the observed clines are primary or secondary, i.e., consequent to the initial migrations of cattle towards the end of the Pleistocene or consequent to the many migrations of man with his domesticated cattle. Such clines as exist are not in themselves sufficient to prove either selection versus genetic drift or to establish taxonomic ranking. Contrary to some suggestions in the literature, the biochemical evidence supports Linnaeus's original conclusions: Bos taurus and Bos indicus are distinct species.

Animals↗