Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jose Luis Blanco-Pastor, Isabel M. Liberal, Muhammet Sakiroglu, Yanling Wei, E. Charles Brummer, Rose L. Andrew, Bernard E. Pfeil
Summary: By analyzing polymorphic loci from the perennial crop Medicago sativa and the annual legume model species M. truncatula, a set of candidate genes associated with adaptation to environmental gradients were identified. These shared genes explained a high proportion of variance for certain phenotypic traits associated with adaptation, dominated by genes with highly conserved functions. This suggests the existence of a molecular basis of adaptation to abiotic stress in Medicago determined by highly conserved genes and gene functions, in line with the omnigenic model of complex traits.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Rebecca Finger-Higgens, Tara B. B. Bishop, Jayne Belnap, Erika L. Geiger, Edmund E. Grote, David L. Hoover, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. Duniway
Summary: Global dryland vegetation communities will change due to ongoing drought conditions. This study examined the impacts of drying climate conditions on vegetation cover, soil conditions, and nitrogen availability. The results showed significant declines in plant cover, worsened soil conditions, and increased soil nitrogen availability under drought conditions. These findings highlight the potential for further plant cover losses and long-term ecosystem impacts in drylands.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Yixin An, Ziqi Wang, Baijian Liu, Yuwei Cao, Lin Chen
Summary: This study investigates the translation regulation of plant genes under salt stress and finds that salt stress inhibits gene translation efficiency. It also identifies various small ORFs in the genome of Medicago truncatula, which play a role in the translation regulation of genes.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Alexander H. Krichels, Aral C. Greene, G. Darrel Jenerette, Marko J. Spasojevic, Sydney I. Glassman, Peter M. Homyak
Summary: Climate change affects precipitation, which in turn influences nitrogen cycling and nitric oxide emissions. The study found that excluding or adding winter precipitation increased nitric oxide emissions in the following summer, with higher emissions observed in both cases compared to control plots. Excluding winter precipitation led to inorganic nitrogen accumulation, while adding winter water resulted in increased microbial biomass. These precipitation legacies can accelerate soil nitric oxide emissions and amplify ecosystem nitrogen loss.
Article
Agronomy
Pirjo Peltonen-Sainio, Jaana Sorvali, Janne Kaseva
Summary: This study emphasizes that farmers need financial support and more information on the costs and benefits of measures to cope with changing precipitation patterns, especially due to uncertainties in projecting future patterns. Farmers prioritize soil organic content (SOC) and well-functioning subsurface drainage as main concerns, ahead of future irrigation use.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Biology
Abigail G. Keller, Elizabeth P. Dahlhoff, Ryan Bracewell, Kamalakar Chatla, Doris Bachtrog, Nathan E. Rank, Caroline M. Williams
Summary: Organisms living in mountains are facing challenges due to extreme climatic conditions and decreasing snowpack caused by anthropogenic climate change. In this study, researchers investigated genomic variation in a leaf beetle species, Chrysomela aeneicollis, in California to understand how organisms adapt to climate change. They found that both winter-associated environmental variation and geographical distance contribute to overall genomic variation. They also identified novel candidate genetic markers associated with cold tolerance. These findings suggest that variability in snowpack imposes selective gradients in mountain ecosystems.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Megan L. Purchase, Gary D. Bending, Ryan M. Mushinski
Summary: This study provides a unique investigation of NOy fluxes on a landscape scale, considering land-use types, human influence, and seasonality, to determine large-scale heterogeneity and provide a basis for future modeling and hypothesis generation. The study finds significant differences in functional potential and activity of nitrifying and denitrifying soil microbes linked to NOy emissions, and suggests that human influence is a more significant effector of soil NOy emissions than land-use type.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marvin Choquet, Felix Lenner, Arianna Cocco, Gaelle Toullec, Erwan Corre, Jean-Yves Toullec, Andreas Wallberg
Summary: This study used comparative genomics to investigate the genetic variation and adaptation potential of 20 krill species collected from different oceans. The results showed that Antarctic krill species had lower levels of genetic variation and evolutionary rates, indicating a potentially lower adaptive potential to rapid climate change. Additionally, the study identified several candidate genes associated with adaptive evolution in Antarctic krill.
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Jinwei Zhang, Xiangjin Shen, Bifan Mu, Yujie Shi, Yuheng Yang, Xuefeng Wu, Chunsheng Mu, Junfeng Wang
Summary: The study demonstrates that increased rainfall amounts with prolonged dry intervals can promote Leymus chinensis biomass production by increasing soil moisture, while prolonged dry intervals with increased precipitation per event may decrease the available soil nitrogen content. Different rainfall patterns can affect the biomass production of Leymus chinensis.
Article
Plant Sciences
Raul Huertas, Ivone Torres-Jerez, Shaun J. Curtin, Wolf Scheible, Michael Udvardi
Summary: Three PHO2-like genes in Medicago truncatula were characterized for their potential roles in phosphorus and nitrogen metabolism balance and symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Among them, MtPHO2B may play a key role in the balance of phosphorus and nitrogen, while MtPHO2C has limited regulatory effects on phosphorus metabolism. Genetic analysis also revealed a connection between phosphorus allocation, plant growth, and symbiotic nitrogen fixation performance. In conclusion, MtPHO2 genes play important roles in both systemic and localized (nodules) phosphorus metabolism.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Beatriz Lagunas, Luke Richards, Chrysi Sergaki, Jamie Burgess, Alonso Javier Pardal, Rana M. F. Hussain, Bethany L. Richmond, Laura Baxter, Proyash Roy, Anastasia Pakidi, Gina Stovold, Saul Vazquez, Sascha Ott, Patrick Schaefer, Miriam L. Gifford
Summary: This study investigates the symbiotic relationship between Medicago truncatula and different strains of Sinorhizobium meliloti or Sinorhizobium medicae in three different soil types. The results show that symbiosis has significant effects on soil, plants, and microbial composition, which are not simply proportional to soil nutrient abundance. The plant actively regulates its root community, including limiting the growth of low nitrogen efficiency rhizobial strains, leading to nodule senescence. Therefore, selecting appropriate inoculation partners is important for plant, soil type, and microbial community.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Paolo Zuccarini, Jordi Sardans, Loles Asensio, Josep Penuelas
Summary: Soil enzymes play a crucial role in mediating ecosystems' responses to environmental drivers. Understanding their sensitivity to global change drivers can help predict future scenarios and design tailored interventions. However, assessing the interactions between different drivers remains a challenge, as the direct, indirect, and combined effects need to be disentangled. This review examines the effects of global change drivers on soil enzyme activities and identifies knowledge gaps and challenges for future research and biomanipulation techniques. The overall increase in soil enzyme activities and biogeochemical cycles will continue, but factors like shifts in microbial communities and changes in carbon use efficiency can cause inflection points.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Thomas B. Irving, Sanhita Chakraborty, Sergey Ivanov, Michael Schultze, Kirankumar S. Mysore, Maria J. Harrison, Jean-Michel Ane
Summary: This study characterized the symbiotic phenotypes of four Medicago truncatula mutants and identified two genes, RAM1 and KIN3, involved in mycorrhization. The results showed that RAM1 acts upstream of KIN3 and that KIN3 is involved in suppressing plant defenses and promoting root colonization. KIN3 also plays an essential role in the symbiotic response to soil nitrogen levels.
Article
Plant Sciences
Michael J. Remke, Nancy C. Johnson, Jeffrey Wright, Matthew Williamson, Matthew A. Bowker
Summary: This study demonstrates that plant genotypes may be adapted to the water availability of their local environment, involving associations with local soil biota; under extreme soil drying conditions, dry site ecotypes tend to perform better, and sympatric soil inoculum helps enhance associations between plants and AM fungi. The findings suggest that co-adaptation between plants and their associated AM fungi can help alleviate drought stress, as shown by the positive correlation between AM fungal structures and plant growth, particularly in sympatric pairs.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Rosario Castro-Rodriguez, Viviana Escudero, Maria Reguera, Patricia Gil-Diez, Julia Quintana, Rosa Isabel Prieto, Rakesh K. Kumar, Ella Brear, Louis Grillet, Jiangqi Wen, Kirankumar S. Mysore, Elsbeth L. Walker, Penelope M. C. Smith, Juan Imperial, Manuel Gonzalez-Guerrero
Summary: Yellow Stripe-Like (YSL) proteins, including MtSYL7, play an essential role in transition metal homeostasis in nodules. MtSYL7 is involved in transporting short peptides and contributes to maintaining metal homeostasis in root nodules, impacting nitrogen fixation and plant growth. Mutants with decreased MtYSL7 expression accumulate more copper and iron in nodules due to increased expression of iron uptake and delivery genes in roots.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Emilie Boulanger, Alicia Dalongeville, Marco Andrello, David Mouillot, Stephanie Manel
Article
Ecology
Marco Andrello, Pierre de Villemereuil, Marta Carboni, Delphine Busson, Marie-Josee Fortin, Oscar E. Gaggiotti, Irene Till-Bottraud
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Amanda Xuereb, Cassidy C. D'Aloia, Marco Andrello, Louis Bernatchez, Marie-Josee Fortin
Summary: Recent studies have shown that using genetic data to guide spatial conservation prioritization can be influenced by distinguishing between neutral and adaptive markers, emphasizing the importance of defining objectives when choosing among various genomic metrics for conservation.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marco Andrello, Christelle Noirot, Florence Debarre, Stephanie Manel
Summary: Studying multilocus genetic processes in subdivided populations can be complex, but genetic simulators provide a valid alternative for such research.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Amael Dupaix, Manuela Capello, Christophe Lett, Marco Andrello, Nicolas Barrier, Gaelle Viennois, Laurent Dagorn
Summary: The introduction of fish aggregating devices by industrial tuna purse seine vessels has greatly increased the number of natural floating objects, with FADs representing over 85% of the total. Research shows that the use of FADs has significantly altered the density and spatial distribution of FOBs, emphasizing the need for further investigation into the potential ecological impacts on associated species.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Stefan Woetzel, Marco Andrello, Maria C. Albani, Marcus A. Koch, George Coupland, Felix Gugerli
Summary: This review discusses the emergence of Arabis alpina as a plant model, highlighting its evolutionary history, genomic aspects, and recent progress in studying its developmental traits related to perennial life history and environmental adaptation. The article also presents open questions that could inspire future research in A. alpina, other Brassicaceae species, or more distantly related plant families.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Concetta Burgarella, Angelique Berger, Sylvain Glemin, Jacques David, Nancy Terrier, Monique Deu, David Pot
Summary: This study focused on Sorghum bicolor and utilized transcriptomic resources to explore the adaptive consequences of the domestication process. Gene expression and nucleotide variability analyses revealed downregulation and reduction of diversity in domesticated sorghum, with functional annotation pointing to metabolic pathways contributing to the sorghum domestication syndrome. The study identified significantly differentially expressed genes and highlighted large rewiring of the transcriptome during the domestication and improvement processes, paving the way for the identification of key domestication genes for breeding purposes.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Marco Andrello, Emily S. Darling, Amelia Wenger, Andres F. Suarez-Castro, Sharla Gelfand, Gabby N. Ahmadia
Summary: Mapping human pressures on coral reefs is crucial for conservation strategies and resource prioritization. The study ranks local pressures including fishing and water pollution as the top stressors worldwide, highlighting the need for effective management even in potential climate refugia. The findings and datasets provide valuable information for managing local pressures on coral reefs globally.
CONSERVATION LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Salome Stauffer, Meret Jucker, Thomas Keggin, Virginie Marques, Marco Andrello, Sandra Bessudo, Marie-Charlotte Cheutin, Giomar Helena Borrero-Perez, Eilish Richards, Tony Dejean, Regis Hocde, Jean-Baptiste Juhel, Felipe Ladino, Tom B. Letessier, Nicolas Loiseau, Eva Maire, David Mouillot, Maria Mutis Martinezguerra, Stephanie Manel, Andrea Polanco Fernandez, Alice Valentini, Laure Velez, Camille Albouy, Loic Pellissier, Conor Waldock
Summary: Quantifying fish species diversity in rich tropical marine environments remains challenging, with eDNA metabarcoding showing promise but limited reliability due to low eDNA concentration. Local diversity may be underestimated with multiple replicates at the same location, while regional diversity often reaches saturation with multiple replicates at variable locations. Variability in diversity estimates may arise from uneven distribution of eDNA, skewed frequency of eDNA traces per MOTU, and processing variability.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biology
Laetitia Mathon, Virginie Marques, David Mouillot, Camille Albouy, Marco Andrello, Florian Baletaud, Giomar H. Borrero-Perez, Tony Dejean, Graham J. Edgar, Jonathan Grondin, Pierre-Edouard Guerin, Regis Hocde, Jean-Baptiste Juhel, Eva Kadarusman, Eva Maire, Gael Mariani, Matthew McLean, Andrea Polanco F., Laurent D. Pouyaud, Rick Stuart-Smith, Hagi Yulia Sugeha, Alice Valentini, Laurent B. Vigliola, Indra Vimono, Loic Pellissier
Summary: Using environmental DNA metabarcoding, researchers have found that coral reefs have higher fish biodiversity than previously thought. This method also revealed hidden patterns and provided a fresh perspective on the assembly rules of fish communities on reefs.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Marco Andrello, Cassidy D'Aloia, Alicia Dalongeville, Marco A. Escalante, Jimena Guerrero, Charles Perrier, Juan Pablo Torres-Florez, Amanda Xuereb, Stephanie Manel
Summary: This article reviews how intraspecific genetic data have been integrated into the spatial conservation prioritization framework, highlighting their potential in identifying comprehensive conservation area networks that represent genetic diversity and ensure the long-term persistence of biodiversity in the face of global change.
TRENDS IN ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Ariel Greiner, Marco Andrello, Emily Darling, Martin Krkosek, Marie-Josee Fortin
Summary: The study aims to determine the connectivity of coral reefs and the level of future coral cover under global scenarios of coral bleaching loss and potential recovery. The findings emphasize the importance of maintaining functional coral reef habitat outside of predicted climate refugia to sustain connectivity globally.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yamama Naciri, Zeynep Toprak, Honor C. Prentice, Laetitia Hugot, Angelo Troia, Concetta Burgarella, Josep Lluis Gradaille, Daniel Jeanmonod
Summary: The study focused on Silene section Italicae and used 500 specimens sequenced for one nuclear and two plastid markers to investigate species delimitation within the section. While confident delimitation of 50% of the species was achieved, the delimitation of other species, such as Silene nemoralis, S. nodulosa, and S. andryalifolia, proved to be more challenging. The study also confirmed that adaptation to chasmophytic habitats occurred independently among chasmophyte species and showed that species from the Western Mediterranean Basin exhibited more conflicting species boundaries than those from the Eastern Mediterranean Basin.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Adama Faye, Adeline Barnaud, Ndjido Ardo Kane, Philippe Cubry, Cedric Mariac, Concetta Burgarella, Benedicte Rhone, Aliou Faye, Katina Floride Olodo, Aby Cisse, Marie Couderc, Anais Dequincey, Leila Zekraoui, Djibo Moussa, Moussa Tidjani, Yves Vigouroux, Cecile Berthouly-Salazar
Summary: Pearl millet is an important crop in sub-Saharan Africa, and its resilience to poor soil and low water conditions makes it an interesting crop to face global warming. This study investigated the genetic and phenotypic diversity of pearl millet landraces in Senegal, focusing on flowering-related genes and their role in yield improvement. Several genes, including PhyC, FSR12, and HAC1, were identified as important for flowering and yield, providing valuable insights for future research on pearl millet production.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Laetitia Mathon, Virginie Marques, Stephanie Manel, Camille Albouy, Marco Andrello, Emilie Boulanger, Julie Deter, Regis Hocde, Fabien Leprieur, Tom B. Letessier, Nicolas Loiseau, Eva Maire, Alice Valentini, Laurent Vigliola, Florian Baletaud, Sandra Bessudo, Tony Dejean, Nadia Faure, Pierre-Edouard Guerin, Meret Jucker, Jean-Baptiste Juhel, Kadarusman, Andrea F. Polanco, Laurent Pouyaud, Dario Schworer, Kirsten F. Thompson, Marc Troussellier, Hagi Yulia Sugeha, Laure Velez, Xiaowei Zhang, Wenjun Zhong, Loic Pellissier, David Mouillot
Summary: In this study, environmental DNA analysis was used to investigate the relationship between fish biodiversity and environmental as well as socio-economic factors. The results showed a strong correlation between coastal fish biodiversity and environmental factors worldwide, while also revealing a negative correlation with human dependence on marine ecosystems. Additionally, the study found that a diversity index based on DNA sequences could reliably assess phylogenetic and functional diversity.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
