Article
Ecology
Jose R. Morales-Poole, Clara de Vega, Kaoru Tsuji, Hans Jacquemyn, Robert R. Junker, Carlos M. Herrera, Chris Michiels, Bart Lievens, Sergio Alvarez-Perez
Summary: The growth performance of Acinetobacter spp. and Rosenbergiella spp. in floral nectar is largely influenced by the nectar chemistry and bacterial phylogeny.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Chris J. Brauer, Jonathan Sandoval-Castillo, Katie Gates, Michael P. Hammer, Peter J. Unmack, Louis Bernatchez, Luciano B. Beheregaray
Summary: Under climate change, species without the ability to shift their range rely on genetic variation for adaptation. Genomic vulnerability studies often overlook hybridization as a source of adaptive variation. This study found that hybrid populations of rainbowfish showed reduced vulnerability to climate change compared to pure narrow endemics, highlighting the importance of hybrid populations and adaptive introgression in the evolutionary rescue of species with narrow environmental ranges.
NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE
(2023)
Editorial Material
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
R. P. Bourman, C. V. Murray-Wallace, C. Wilson, L. Mosley, J. Tibby, D. D. Ryan, E. D. De Carli, A. Tulley, A. P. Belperio, D. Haynes, A. Roberts, C. Westell, E. J. Barnett, S. Dillenburg, L. B. Beheregaray, P. A. Hesp
AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carlos M. Herrera, Alejandro Nunez, Luis O. Aguado, Conchita Alonso
Summary: Understanding the factors that drive community-wide assembly of plant-pollinator systems along environmental gradients has significant implications. This study shows that the seasonality in bee pollinator composition in Mediterranean montane habitats is due to the thermal biology of mining bees (Andrena).
ECOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carlos M. M. Herrera, Alejandro Nunez, Javier Valverde, Conchita Alonso
Summary: This paper assesses the shrinking effect of body size in a community of solitary bees in a well-preserved habitat during climatic warming. The results show a significant decline in the average body mass of the solitary bees, with larger species shrinking at a faster rate than smaller species. The shrinking effect may lead to significant alterations in the pollination and mating systems of bee-pollinated plants.
Article
Ecology
Katie Gates, Jonathan Sandoval-Castillo, Chris J. Brauer, Peter J. Unmack, Martin Laporte, Louis Bernatchez, Luciano B. Beheregaray
Summary: In order to preserve the diversity of ecological and genetic factors in hotspots like tropical rainforests, it is important to understand the forces behind biodiversity. Through studying an Australian rainbowfish, Melanotaenia splendida splendida, across wet tropical regions, we found that environmental gradients and terrain structure strongly influence genetic and morphological variation. While neutral genetic population structure is mostly affected by limited gene flow, ecological variables are equally effective in explaining overall genetic variation and better at explaining body shape variation. The strongest environmental predictors are hydrological and thermal variables, which are correlated with heritable habitat-associated dimorphism in rainbowfish. Climate-associated genetic variation is significantly associated with morphology, supporting the heritability of shape variation. These results highlight the evolved functional differences among localities and emphasize the importance of hydroclimate in early stages of diversification. It is expected that tropical rainforest endemics will need to undergo significant evolutionary responses to mitigate fitness losses caused by climate change.
Article
Fisheries
A. Bertram, J. Bell, C. J. Brauer, A. Fowler, P. Hamer, J. Sandoval-Castillo, J. Stewart, M. Wellenreuther, L. B. Beheregaray
Summary: In southeastern Australia, population genomic differentiation in snapper is concordant with coastal biogeographic boundaries and related to spawning and recruitment dynamics. The current management boundaries align with genetic breaks at bioregional boundaries or local-scale variation. This study highlights the value of population genomic surveys in uncovering stock boundaries and demographic variation related to spawning and recruitment in species with high dispersal potential, and emphasizes the importance of marine biogeography in shaping population structure in commercially important species.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
J. Antonio Baeza, Austin Macdonald-Shedd, Maria Camila Latorre-Cardenas, Erin Griffin, Carla Gutierrez-Rodriguez
Summary: This study presents the first genomic resource for the Neotropical otter L. longicaudis, providing detailed characterization of its mitochondrial genome. The AT-rich mitochondrial genome of L. longicaudis is 16,436 bp in length and encodes 13 protein coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and a putative control region. The study also provides important insights into the genomic features and phylogenetic relationships of L. longicaudis.
JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Irena Kleckova, Jan Okrouhlik, Tomas Svozil, Pavel Matos-Maravi, Jan Klecka
Summary: Efficient thermoregulation is important for butterflies living in the European Alps. This study found that butterfly physical characteristics have a small effect on explaining inter-specific differences in body temperatures. The results suggest that species-specific microhabitat use plays a more significant role in determining body temperature differences among Erebia species.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Laura A. Ziems, Lovepreet Singh, Peter M. Dracatos, Mark J. Dieters, Miguel Sanchez-Garcia, Ahmed Amri, Ramesh Pal Singh Verma, Robert F. Park, Davinder Singh
Summary: A panel of 114 genetically diverse barley lines were assessed for resistance to Puccinia hordei. Several different resistance genes and genomic regions associated with resistance were identified. These findings provide valuable information for breeding efforts.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Karl Moy, Jason Schaffer, Michael P. Hammer, Catherine R. M. Attard, Luciano B. Beheregaray, Richard Duncan, Mark Lintermans, Culum Brown, Peter J. Unmack
Summary: The study explores the threat of translocating species on freshwater fish biodiversity and presents a successful case of conserving Running River rainbowfish. By captive-breeding wild fish and translocating them to unoccupied habitats, two populations of Running River rainbowfish were established, but challenges of predation and release timing remain. This provides valuable insights for similar conservation programs involving short-lived fish species.
AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Md Arifuzzaman, Matthias Jost, Meinan Wang, Xianming Chen, Dragan Perovic, Robert F. Park, Matthew Rouse, Kerrie Forrest, Matthew Hayden, Ghazanfar Abbas Khan, Peter M. Dracatos
Summary: In this study, a genotype-by-sequencing approach was used to identify rust resistance alleles in a collection of diverse barley landraces and cultivars. Resistance factors were found on chromosomes 1H, 2H, 4H, and 5H. Additionally, a QTL on chromosome 5HL conferred resistance to both leaf rust and stripe rust.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Carolina Alessandra de Almeida Hayashibara, Mariana da Silva Lopes, Peri A. Tobias, Isaneli Batista dos Santos, Everthon Fernandes Figueredo, Jessica Aparecida Ferrarezi, Joao Paulo Rodrigues Marques, Joelma Marcon, Robert F. Park, Paulo Jose Pereira Lima Teixeira, Maria Carolina Quecine
Summary: Austropuccinia psidii is a biotrophic fungus that causes myrtle rust. It infects more than 480 myrtaceous species and has become a globally important pathogen. In this study, the researchers identified and characterized 255 virulence effector candidates in A. psidii strain MF-1 recovered from Eucalyptus grandis. They found that the expression of seven effector candidate genes is regulated by cell wax from resistant and susceptible hosts. This research provides new insights into the A. psidii-Eucalyptus interaction and offers a potential entry point for understanding how the pathogen manipulates its hosts using effector proteins.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Eleanor A. L. Pratt, Luciano B. Beheregaray, Pedro Fruet, Gabriela Tezanos-Pinto, Kerstin Bilgmann, Nikki Zanardo, Fernando Diaz-Aguirre, Eduardo R. Secchi, Thales R. O. Freitas, Luciana M. Moller
Summary: Climate change has led to major environmental restructuring in the world's oceans, and marine organisms have responded through genomic adaptation. This study investigates the genomic basis of ecotype formation in bottlenose dolphins in the Southern Hemisphere, revealing subspecies-level genomic divergence and lower genomic diversity in inshore lineages. Genomic regions associated with cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, and energy production systems have undergone repeated adaptive evolution in these lineages, suggesting parallel evolution of inshore bottlenose dolphins. Understanding the adaptive capacity of local species and populations is crucial amidst changing marine ecosystems.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
