Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “clines”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Latitudinal cline in segment number in an arthropod species, Strigamia maritima.

Arthropods vary more than 30-fold in segment number. The evolutionary origins of differences in segment number among species must ultimately lie in intraspecific variation. Yet paradoxically, in most groups of arthropods, the number of segments is fixed for each species and shows no intra- or interpopulation variation at all. Geophilomorph centipedes are an exception to this general rule, and exhibit intraspecific variation in segment number, with differences between individuals being determined during embryonic development and hence independent of population age structure. Significant differences in segment number between different geographical populations of the same species have been previously reported, but insufficient sampling has been conducted to reveal any particular geographical pattern. Here, we reveal a latitudinal cline in segment number in the geophilomorph species Strigamia maritima: segment number in British populations decreases with distance north. This is the first such cline to be reported for any centipede species; indeed as far as we are aware it is the first such cline reported for any arthropod species. In vertebrates, fish are known to exhibit a latitudinal cline in segment number, but interestingly, this is in the opposite direction; fish add segments with increasing latitude, centipedes subtract them.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Coevolutionary clines across selection mosaics.

Much of the dynamics of coevolution may be driven by the interplay between geographic variation in reciprocal selection (selection mosaics) and the homogenizing action of gene flow. We develop a genetic model of geographically structured coevolution in which gene flow links coevolving communities that may differ in both the direction and magnitude of reciprocal selection. The results show that geographically structured coevolution may lead to allele-frequency clines within both interacting species when fitnesses are spatially uniform or spatially heterogeneous. Furthermore, the results show that the behavior and shape of clines differ dramatically among different types of coevolutionary interaction. Antagonistic interactions produce dynamic clines that change shape rapidly through time, producing shifting patterns of local adaptation and maladaptation. Unlike antagonistic interactions, mutualisms generate stable equilibrium patterns that lead to fixed spatial patterns of adaptation. Interactions that vary between mutualism and antagonism produce both equilibrium and dynamic clines. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that these interactions may allow mutualisms to persist throughout the geographic range of an interaction, despite pockets of locally antagonistic selection. In all cases, the coevolved spatial patterns of allele frequencies are sensitive to the relative contributions of gene flow, selection, and overall habitat size, indicating that the appropriate scale for studies of geographically structured coevolution depends on the relative contributions of each of these factors.

Alleles↗
PubMed2004

Single-locus latitudinal clines and their relationship to temperate adaptation in metabolic genes and derived alleles in Drosophila melanogaster.

We report a study in Drosophila melanogaster of latitudinal clines for 23 SNPs embedded in 13 genes (Pgi, Gapdh1, UGPase, Pglym78, Pglym87, Eno, Men, Gdh, Sod, Pgk, Mdh1, TreS, Treh) representing various metabolic enzymes. Our samples are from 10 populations spanning latitude from southern Florida to northern Vermont. Three new clines with latitude were detected. These are the amino acid polymorphisms in the NAD-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (Gdh) and trehalase (Treh) genes, and a silent site polymorphism in the UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase gene (UGPase). The result, when combined with the overall incidence and pattern of reports for six other genes (Adh, Gpdh, Pgm, G6pd, 6Pgd, Hex-C), presents a picture of latitudinal clines in metabolic genes prevalent around the branch point of competing pathways. For six of the seven amino acid polymorphisms showing significant latitudinal clines in North America, the derived allele is the one increasing with latitude, suggesting temperate adaptation. This is consistent with a model of an Afrotropical ancestral species adapting to temperate climates through selection favoring new mutations.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2006

Building of an experimental cline with Arabidopsis thaliana to estimate herbicide fitness cost.

Various management strategies aim at maintaining pesticide resistance frequency under a threshold value by taking advantage of the benefit of the fitness penalty (the cost) expressed by the resistance allele outside the treated area or during the pesticide selection "off years." One method to estimate a fitness cost is to analyze the resistance allele frequency along transects across treated and untreated areas. On the basis of the shape of the cline, this method gives the relative contributions of both gene flow and the fitness difference between genotypes in the treated and untreated areas. Taking advantage of the properties of such migration-selection balance, an artificial cline was built up to optimize the conditions where the fitness cost of two herbicide-resistant mutants (acetolactate synthase and auxin-induced target genes) in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana could be more accurately measured. The analysis of the microevolutionary dynamics in these experimental populations indicated mean fitness costs of approximately 15 and 92% for the csr1-1 and axr2-1 resistances, respectively. In addition, negative frequency dependence for the fitness cost was also detected for the axr2-1 resistance. The advantages and disadvantages of the cline approach are discussed in regard to other methods of cost estimation. This comparison highlights the powerful ability of an experimental cline to measure low fitness costs and detect sensibility to frequency-dependent variations.

Alleles↗
PubMed1996

Genomic incompatibilities in the hybrid zone between house mice in Denmark: evidence from steep and non-coincident chromosomal clines for Robertsonian fusions.

The pattern of chromosomal variation is investigated in house mice from the Danish hybrid zone between the translocation-prone Mus musculus domesticus and the chromosomally conservative M. m. musculus. The cytogenetic analysis confirmed the non-introgression of three pairs of Robertsonian (Rb) fusions from M. m. domesticus into the M. m. musculus genome. The geographic distribution of two of these Rb fusions was shown to follow staggered chromosomal clines which increased in steepness the closer they were to the centre of the hybrid zone as defined by allozymes. Analysis of alternate hypotheses suggests that chromosomal differentiation of the Danish domesticus occurred after contact was established with musculus. The staggering of the clines would reflect the order of arrival of the Rb fusions into the hybrid zone. Several models with different processes of underdominance of the chromosomal heterozygotes are discussed to account for the difference in width between clines. A selective model with increasing levels of genomic underdominance due to interaction with a progressively enriched musculus genome provides the best fit for the observed pattern. Selection against Rb fusions with little effect on the recombination of linked allozyme markers supports the view that no reduction in gene flow due to chromosomal heterozygosity is yet apparent through the hybrid zone and that only the centromeric segments of the Rb fusions are incompatible with the musculus genome.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Clines in polygenic traits.

This article outlines theoretical models of clines in additive polygenic traits, which are maintained by stabilizing selection towards a spatially varying optimum. Clines in the trait mean can be accurately predicted, given knowledge of the genetic variance. However, predicting the variance is difficult, because it depends on genetic details. Changes in genetic variance arise from changes in allele frequency, and in linkage disequilibria. Allele frequency changes dominate when selection is weak relative to recombination, and when there are a moderate number of loci. With a continuum of alleles, gene flow inflates the genetic variance in the same way as a source of mutations of small effect. The variance can be approximated by assuming a Gaussian distribution of allelic effects; with a sufficiently steep cline, this is accurate even when mutation and selection alone are better described by the 'House of Cards' approximation. With just two alleles at each locus, the phenotype changes in a similar way: the mean remains close to the optimum, while the variance changes more slowly, and over a wider region. However, there may be substantial cryptic divergence at the underlying loci. With strong selection and many loci, linkage disequilibria are the main cause of changes in genetic variance. Even for strong selection, the infinitesimal model can be closely approximated by assuming a Gaussian distribution of breeding values. Linkage disequilibria can generate a substantial increase in genetic variance, which is concentrated at sharp gradients in trait means.

Alleles↗
PubMed1998

Origin and decay of the P element-associated latitudinal cline in Australian Drosophila melanogaster.

The latitudinal cline in P transposable element-associated characteristics in eastern Australian populations of Drosophila melanogaster has changed between 1986 and 1991-1994. New collections were made in 1991-1994 from localities along the eastern coast of Australia. P element-associated properties of 256 isofemale lines from 43 localities were evaluated using gonadal dysgenesis and/or singed-weak hypermutability assays. The overall results indicate that both P activity and P susceptibility have declined, with all populations showing a tendency towards a state with little P activity potential but with P repressor function (neutral or 'Q'). P repressor function is strong in all populations except some of the most southernly. P activity potential peaks at about 27 degrees SLat, and drops off to the south (as in 1983-1986 collections) and to the north (in contrast to 1983-1986 collections); thus the cline is no longer a simple P-to-Q-to-M pattern from north to south, but is now Q-P-Q-M. A mtDNA RFLP that putatively distinguishes North American and European populations varies in frequency among the populations but the frequency does not vary clinically with latitude, ruling out massive introductions from North America and Europe as causing the cline.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Comparative analysis of morphological traits among Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans: genetic variability, clines and phenotypic plasticity.

The two sibling cosmopolitan species, Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans, are able to proliferate under very different climatic conditions. This has resulted in local adaptations, which are often arranged in latitudinal clines. Such clines are documented for body weight, wing and thorax length, sternopleural and abdominal bristle number, ovariole number and thoracic pigmentation. The overall magnitude of geographical differentiation is, however, much less in D. simulans than in D. melanogaster, and latitudinal clines are less pronounced. The fact that natural populations live under different climates raises the problem of interaction between temperature and phenotype. The reaction norms of morphometrical traits have been investigated as a function of growth temperature. The shapes of the response curves vary according to the investigated trait. They are generally curvilinear and can be described by calculating characteristic values after polynomial adjustments. For a given trait, the reaction norms of the two species are similar in their shape, although some significant differences may be observed. Within each species, significant differences are also observed between geographic populations: reaction norms are not parallel and the divergence is better marked when more distant populations (e.g., temperate and tropical) are compared. It thus appears that besides mean trait value, phenotypic plasticity is also a target of natural selection. A specific analysis of wing shape variation according to growth temperature was also undertaken. Reaction norms with different shapes may be observed in various parts of the wing: the major effect is found between the basis and the tip of the wing, but in a similar way in the two species. By contrast, some ratios, called wing indices by taxonomists, may exhibit completely different reaction norms in the two species. For a single developmental temperature (25 degrees C) the phenotypic variability of morphometrical traits is generally similar in the two species, and also the genetic variability, estimated by the intraclass correlation. A difference exists, however, for the ovariole number which is less variable in D. simulans. Variance parameters may vary according to growth temperature, and a detailed analysis was made on wing dimensions. An increase of environmental variability at extreme, heat or cold temperatures, has been found in both species. Opposite trends were, however, observed for the genetic variability: a maximum heritability in D. simulans at middle temperatures, corresponding to a minimum heritability in D. melanogaster. Whether such a difference exists for other traits and in other populations deserves further investigations. In conclusion, morphometrical analyses reveal a large amount of significant differences which may be related to speciation and to the divergence of ecological niches. Within each species, numerous geographic variations are also observed which, in most cases, reflect some kinds of climatic adaptation.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Geographic patterning of variation in segment number in geophilomorph centipedes: clines and speciation.

Since their origin as a metameric group, arthropods have diversified considerably in their number of segments. Present-day geophilomorph centipedes provide a model system for investigating the evolutionary origins of this diversification, because they exhibit intraspecific variation in segment number. (This variation is, however, derived; it is not a plesiomorphic condition within the Chilopoda.) Previous studies have shown that there are significant differences in segment number between populations within several geophilomorph species. In one (arguably two) species, it has been demonstrated that there is a particular form of geographic patterning of the variation, namely a latitudinal cline, with the segment number decreasing with increasing distance north. Here, we provide additional data on four more species, all of which show evidence of a latitudinal cline in either one or both sexes. It is therefore becoming clear that this is a general phenomenon, applying widely (perhaps universally) across the Geophilomorpha, a group consisting of some 1,000 known species. It may be that latitudinal clines are a frequent part of the speciation cycle in this group.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Maintenance of an aminopeptidase allele frequency cline by natural selection.

The product of the Lap locus in the marine bivalve Mytilus edulis is a neutral, membrane-associated aminopeptidase that is primarily localized on intestinal microvilli and in digestive cell lysosomes. Natural populations are genetically differentiated at the Lap locus between areas of differing salinity. A steep (0.55-0.15) allele frequency cline connects differentiated populations between the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound. We demonstrate an annual gene flow/mortality cycle in cline populations whereby gene frequencies after mortality are correlated with salinity and enzyme activity. The cline is spatially and temporally unstable in immigrants, but stable in residents after mortality. Mortality is nonrandom with regard to the Lap locus; genotype-dependent properties of the aminopeptidase enzyme apparently led to a differential rate of the utilizaiton of nutrient reserves because selected genotypes exhibited an increased rate of tissue weight loss. Aminopeptidase genotypes are differentially adapted to different temperatures and salinities, which provides a mechanism for the relationship among biochemical, physiological, and population phenotypes.

Alleles↗
PubMed1995

Cellular basis and developmental timing in a size cline of Drosophila melanogaster.

We examined 20 Drosophila melanogaster populations collected from a 2600-km north-south transect in Australia. In laboratory culture at constant temperature and standard larval density, a genetic cline in thorax length and wing area was found, with both traits increasing with latitude. The cline in wing area was based on clines in both cell size and cell number, but was primarily determined by changes in cell number. Body size and larval development time were not associated among populations. We discuss our results in the context of selection processes operating in natural and experimental populations.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1999

A comparison of multilocus clines maintained by environmental adaptation or by selection against hybrids.

There has recently been considerable debate over the relative importance of selection against hybrids ("endogenous" selection) vs. adaptation to different environments ("exogenous") in maintaining stable hybrid zones and hence in speciation. Single-locus models of endogenous and exogenous viability selection generate clines of similar shape, but the comparison has not been extended to multilocus systems, which are both quantitatively and qualitatively very different from the single-locus case. Here we develop an analytical multilocus model of differential adaptation across an environmental transition and compare it to previous heterozygote disadvantage models. We show that the shape of clines generated by exogenous selection is indistinguishable from that generated by endogenous selection. A stochastic simulation model is used to test the robustness of the analytical description to the effects of drift and strong selection, and confirms the prediction that pairwise linkage disequilibria are predominantly generated by migration. However, although analytical predictions for the width of clines maintained by heterozygote disadvantage fit well with the simulation results, those for environmental adaptation are consistently too narrow; reasons for the discrepancy are discussed. There is a smooth transition between a system in which a set of loci effectively act independently of each other and one in which they act as a single nonrecombining unit.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2001

Nonclinality of molecular variation implicates selection in maintaining a morphological cline of Drosophila melanogaster.

One general approach for assessing whether phenotypic variation is due to selection is to test its correlation with presumably neutral molecular variation. Neutral variation is determined by population history, the most likely alternative explanation of spatial genetic structure, whereas phenotypic variation may be influenced by the spatial pattern of selection pressure. Several methods for comparing the spatial apportionment of molecular and morphological variation have been used. Here, we present an analysis of variance framework that compares the magnitudes of latitudinal effects for molecular and morphological variation along a body size cline in Australian Drosophila populations. Explicit incorporation of the relevant environmental gradient can result in a simple and powerful test of selection. For the Australian cline, our analysis provides strong internal evidence that the cline is due to selection.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

New studies of the alcohol dehydrogenase cline in D. melanogaster from Mexico.

An altitudinal cline of frequencies of alcohol dehydrogenase alleles occurs in D. melanogaster populations of southeastern Mexico. A similar cline of two aldehyde oxidase alleles is present, but frequencies of esterase-6 alleles are not distributed clinically. Collections were made from small dispersed populations. Some gene flow occurred throughout the lowlands according to the distribution of two moderately endemic autosomal inversions and five previously described inversions. The clines are believed dependent on a limited gene flow between temperature races of D. melanogaster.

Alcohol Oxidoreductases↗
PubMed2000

An ancient transpecific polymorphism shows extreme divergence in a multitrait cline in an intertidal snail (Nucella lapillus (L.)).

Clines in intraspecific genetic variation are frequently associated with an environmental transition. Here, divergence among nucleotide sequences of two nuclear loci, cytosolic and mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (cMDH and mMDH, respectively), is described, in a multitrait cline over a distance of ca. 3 km where shell phenotype, allozyme, mitochondrial DNA haplotype, and centric fusion (Robertsonian translocations) frequencies covary with temperature and humidity and change abruptly in a continuous population of the dog-whelk (Nucella lapillus), a common intertidal snail of the north temperate Atlantic. Protein electrophoresis has already shown two alleles of mMDH varying from fixation of one allele to near fixation of the other, whereas cMDH appears to be monomorphic. The results of this study show a striking disparity in nucleotide sequence divergence among alleles at the two loci, with extreme molecular differentiation in one of them. Four alleles of cMDH were found to have nucleotide and amino acid sequence divergences of 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. In contrast, the two mMDH cDNA alleles differed by 23% and 20% at the nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. Analysis of a 91-bp partial nucleotide sequence of mMDH from Nucella freycineti, the closest relative of N. lapillus, revealed two similar alleles and indicated that the divergence in mMDH in N. lapillus represents an ancient transpecific polymorphism in these Nucella. Together with earlier studies on variation in N. lapillus, it is argued that the polymorphism in mMDH and the clines in N. lapillus represent the presence of two persistent coadapted gene complexes, multitrait coevolving genetic solutions to environmental variation, which may presently enable this snail to exploit a diverse environment successfully.

Alleles↗
PubMed2004

Strong genetic clines and geographical variation in gene flow in the rocky intertidal barnacle Balanus glandula.

A long-standing issue in marine biology is identifying spatial scales at which populations of sessile adults are connected by planktonic offspring. We examined the genetic continuity of the acorn barnacle Balanus glandula, an abundant member of rocky intertidal communities of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, and compared these genetic patterns to the nearshore oceanography described by trajectories of surface drifters. Consistent with its broad dispersal potential, barnacle populations are genetically similar at both mitochondrial (cytochrome oxidase I) and nuclear (elongation factor 1-alpha) loci across broad swaths of the species' range. In central California, however, there is a striking genetic cline across 475 km of coastline between northern and southern populations. These patterns indicate that gene flow within central California is far more restricted spatially than among other populations. Possible reasons for the steep cline include the slow secondary introgression of historically separated populations, a balance between diversifying selection and dispersal, or some mix of both. Geographic trajectories of oceanic drifters closely parallel geographical patterns of gene flow. Drifters placed to the north (Oregon; approximately 44 degrees N) and south (Santa Barbara, California; approximately 34 degrees N) of the cline disperse hundreds of kilometers within 40 days, yet over the long-term their trajectories never overlapped. The lack of communication between waters originating in Oregon and southern California probably helps to maintain strong genetic differentiation between these regions. More broadly, the geographical variation in gene flow implies that focusing on species-level averages of gene flow can mask biologically important variance within species which reflects local environmental conditions and historical events.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

The latitudinal cline in the In(3R)Payne inversion polymorphism has shifted in the last 20 years in Australian Drosophila melanogaster populations.

Clinal variation has been described in a number of inversions in Drosophila but these clines are often characterized by cytological techniques using small sample sizes, and associations with specific genes are rarely considered. Here we have developed a molecular assay for In(3R)Payne in Drosophila melanogaster from eastern Australia populations. It shows in repeated samples that the inversion cline is very tightly associated with latitude and is almost fixed in tropical populations while relatively rare in temperate populations. This steep cline has shifted in position in the last 20 years. The heat shock gene, hsr-omega, located centrally inside the inversion sequence, shows a different clinal pattern to In(3R)Payne. These results suggest strong ongoing selection on In(3R)Payne over the last 100 years since the colonization of Australia that is partly independent of hsr-omega.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Clines maintained by overdominant selection in hybrid zones.

Hybrid zone models often consider environment-independent selection to operate against all hybrids. However, empirical studies suggest that hybrids may be as fit or fitter than the hybridizing parental taxa in some environments. In this study we develop a novel mathematical model to explore the effects of one form of hybrid superiority on the genetic structure of hybrid zones. Our primary goals were to investigate the allele frequency clines at a locus experiencing overdominant selection and at a linked neutral or underdominant locus. Our results indicate that overdominant selection results in flat equilibrium allele frequency clines throughout the hybrid zone and an excess of heterozygosity relative to Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. However, the genetic clines at linked neutral or underdominant loci tend not to reflect this overdominance even when the loci are tightly linked. Overall, we conclude that overdominance is unlikely to be detected in genetic surveys unless many loci are assayed.

Alleles↗