Populations ofN Research Articles

Analysis of intraspecific polymorphism ofNitraria sibiricaPall. using the ISSR technique

The analysis of DNA polymorphism ofNitraria sibirica Pall. was carried out at 13 natural populations of the Republic of Altai and Altai Territory using the ISSR technique. Seven effective ISSR primers have been identified to analyze DNA polymorphism inN. sibirica. 99 DNA fragments were yielded at DNA amplification with these primers, 66 of them were polymorphic. The genetic distance Nei (D) between the studied populations ofN. sibiricaaveraged 0.32, at mean 0.09 - within populations. An identification ISSR marker has been revealed, which can be used to study the genetic variability of the genusNitraria L. (Nitrariaceae)species.

Development and application of 14 microsatellite markers in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides reveals population genetic differentiation at local spatial scales.

Burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) are relatively rare among insects in providing sophisticated parental care. Consequently, they have become model species in research analysing social evolution, the evolution of parental care and mating systems. We used the recently published N. vespilloides genome and transcriptome to develop microsatellite markers. Specifically, we developed 14 polymorphic markers with five to 13 alleles per locus and used them to investigate levels of genetic differentiation in four south Cambridgeshire (UK) populations of N. vespilloides, separated by 21 km at most. The markers revealed significant genetic structuring among populations (global FST = 0.023) with all but one of the pairwise comparisons among populations being significant. The single exception was the comparison between the two closest populations, which are approximately 2.5 km apart. In general, the microsatellite markers showed lower observed heterozygosity than expected. We infer that there is limited dispersal between populations and potentially also some inbreeding within them and suggest that this may be due to habitat fragmentation. We discuss these results in the context of recent laboratory experiments on inbreeding and beetle flight.

Population structure and life history of Neomysis nigra Nakazawa, 1910 (Mysida) on Jeju Island, South Korea

Population structure and life history of the mysidNeomysis nigraNakazawa, 1910 were studied on Jeju Island, South Korea.N. nigrawas collected monthly from a shallow embayment of Jeju Island from May 2013 to May 2014. Temperature and salinity were measured during the sampling. The carapace length (CL) ofN. nigrawas measured. Life stages were divided into six categories and embryos in the marsupium were classified by developmental stages. During the study period, water temperatures ranged from −0.3 to 35.7°C. The CL of females was larger than that of males. The mean CL of adults was negatively correlated with water temperature. CL values in winter and spring were higher than those in summer and autumn. Brooding females and juveniles were found all year round. The abundance of juveniles was relatively higher in May, July, December, and February than in other months. The number of embryos in the marsupium increased with increasing female size. In conclusion, the present study suggests that the populations ofN. nigrahave four major spawning groups in a year and reproduce all year round.

Phylogeographic Estimates of Colonization of The Deep Atlantic by The Protobranch Bivalve Nucula Atacellana

AbstractThe Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene evolutionary history of many North Atlantic intertidal invertebrate species is well known, but the evolutionary history of the deep North Atlantic fauna is poorly understood, specifically whether colonization of the deep North Atlantic paralleled the patterns observed in shallow water. Contemporary pan-Atlantic species distributions could result from several colonization pathways that connected different regions of the Atlantic at different times (e.g. Arctic, Antarctic or Panamanian pathways). To test potential colonization pathways we quantified geographic variation in nuclear and mitochondrial markers from Atlantic samples ofNucula atacellana, a pan-Atlantic deep-sea protobranch bivalve, usingN. profundorumin the eastern central Pacific as an outgroup. We combined existing 16S data from North and South Atlantic populations ofN. atacellanawith new sequences of 16S, COI, and an intron of calmodulin from those populations, and newly sampled populations near Iceland. Population genetic analyses indicated a subtropical expansion via the Central American Seaway. We found no evidence for Transarctic migration to the Atlantic inN. atacellana, which suggests that colonization pathways may differ significantly between shallow- and deep-water fauna.

Comparison of the Chromosome Banding Pattern in the2n=56Cytotypes ofNannospalax leucodonandN. xanthodonfrom Turkey

We present the karyotype characteristics of five cytotypes of mole rats (Nannospalax) with 56 chromosomes revealed by the C-banding and AgNOR staining analyses. We attempt to investigate if the specific distinction between the populations from Thrace (N. leucodon) and Anatolia (N. xanthodon) is reflected also in their karyotypic differentiation. The specimens from each of the five populations studied revealed a distinct karyotype which was different from those found in other populations. The fundamental number of autosomal arms varied from 68 to 72. The amount of C-heterochromatin was larger in the Thrace sample of N. leucodon compared to the Anatolian population of N. xanthodon. The active NOR sites were recorded on five autosomal pairs in N. leucodon, whereas only three or four pairs bearing NOR were observed in N. xanthodon. Differences between the studied populations were quantified in the analysis of the distribution pattern of the C-positive bands and the AgNOR sites in individual chromosomes which indicated a basal position of the Thrace sample of N. leucodon and its divergence from other studied populations. The karyotypes of the 56-chromosome populations of N. leucodon and N. xanthodon are thus distinctly different.

Genotypic diversity and genetic structure of populations of the distylous aquatic plantNymphoides peltata(Menyanthaceae) in China

AbstractNymphoides peltatais a distylous aquatic plant. In order to explore the relative importance of clonal growth and sexual reproduction within populations and also to reveal the origin of the commonly occurring one style morph populations in China, we studied the clonal diversity and population genetic structure of this species. By using seven single sequence repeat primer pairs, a total of 192 multilocus genotypes (MLGs) were identified among the 472 samples from the 21 populations analyzed; each population had two or more MLGs. The number of MLGs was lower for the one style morph populations than distylous populations. Analysis of molecular variance showed that a smaller proportion of genetic variation resided among populations (36.8%). A neighbor‐joining tree indicated that there was no significant geographical structure of the genetic variation among populations ofN. peltata. The Bottleneck tests indicated that there had been significant bottlenecks in most of the studied populations. The successful sexual recruitment from seeds may have contributed to the high clonal diversity in distylous populations ofN.peltatain China. Demographic stochasticity or bottleneck should account for the one style morph population with several MLGs. And also the bottleneck effects or demographic changes caused by human activities occurring randomly in populations should account for the finding of no significant geographical structure of the genetic variation among the investigated populations ofN.peltata.

Parasite diversity and microsatellite variability in native and introduced populations of fourNeogobiusspecies (Gobiidae)

Species introduced into new areas often show a reduction in parasite and genetic diversity associated to the limited number of founding individuals. In this study, we compared microsatellite and parasite diversity in both native (lower Danube) and introduced populations of 4 Ponto-Caspian gobies, including those (1) introduced from within the same river system (middle Danube; Neogobius kessleri and N. melanostomus), and (2) introduced from a different river system (River Vistula; N. fluviatilis and N. gymnotrachelus). Microsatellite data confirmed the lower Danube as a source population for gobies introduced into the middle Danube. Both native and introduced (same river system) populations of N. kessleri and N. melanostomus had comparable parasite species richness and microsatellite diversity, possibly due to multiple and/or continual migration/introduction of new individuals and the acquisition of local parasites. Reduced parasite species richness and microsatellite diversity were observed in introduced (different river system) populations in the Vistula. A low number of colonists found for N. fluviatilis and N. gymnotrachelus in the Vistula potentially resulted in reduced introduction of parasite species. Insufficient adaptation of the introduced host to local parasite fauna, together with introduction into an historically different drainage system, may also have contributed to the reduced parasite fauna.

Genetic Dissection of Sympatric Populations of Brown Planthopper,Nilaparvata lugens(Stål), Using DALP-PCR Molecular Markers

Direct amplified length polymorphism (DALP) combines the advantages of a high-resolution fingerprint method and also characterizing the genetic polymorphisms. This molecular method was also found to be useful in brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens species complex for the analysis of genetic polymorphisms. A total of 11 populations of Nilaparvata spp. were collected from 6 locations from Malaysia. Two sympatric populations of brown planthopper, N. lugens, one from rice and the other from a weed grass (Leersia hexandra), were collected from each of five locations. N. bakeri was used as an out group. Three oligonucleotide primer pairs, DALP231/DALPR′5, DALP234/DALPR′5, and DALP235/DALPR′5 were applied in this study. The unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram based on genetic distances for the 11 populations of Nilaparvata spp. revealed that populations belonging to the same species and the same host type clustered together irrespective of their geographical localities of capture. The populations of N. lugens formed into two distinct clusters, one was insects with high esterase activities usually captured from rice and the other was with low esterase activities usually captured from L. hexandra. N. bakeri, an out group, was the most isolated group. Analyses of principal components, molecular variance, and robustness also supported greatly to the findings of cluster analysis.

Effects of latitude and allopatry on body size variation in European water shrews

We studied the intra- and interspecific size variability of 271 water shrewsNeomys fodiens (Pennant, 1771) andN. anomalus Cabrera, 1907 from seven sample sites along a latitudinal transect from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Poland.Neomys anomalus was the only water shrew in three Dinaride karst fields, while it was sympatric with N.fodiens in remaining sites. The first principal component scores (PC1; 72.2% of variance explained), derived from principal components analysis of 13 cranial, mandibular and dental measurements, were used as the size factor. One-way ANOVA detected significant interpopulation variation in both species; intraspecific variation, however, was much more pronounced inN. anomalus. No latitudinal size pattern was found in N. fodiens (r = −0.42, p = 0.58), while mean PC1 scores correlated significantly and negatively with latitude inN. anomalus (r = −0.92, p = 0.004). Therefore, along a north to south transect,N. anomalus converged in size towards N. fodiens, which suggests that the former species occupies increasingly more aquatic habitats in the same direction. Individuals from allopatric populations ofN. anomalus from Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina were, on average, larger than sympatric conspecific populations from the same latitudinal zone, which is consistent with the hypothesis of character displacement.

Asymmetrical mating patterns and the evolution of biased style-morph ratios in a tristylous daffodil

Non-random mating in plant populations can be influenced by numerous reproductive and demographic factors, including floral morphology and inter-plant distance. Here, we investigate patterns of outcrossed mating through male function in Narcissus triandrus, a tristylous, bee-pollinated wild daffodil from the Iberian Peninsula, to test pollen transfer models which predict that floral morphology promotes asymmetrical mating and biased morph ratios. Unlike other tristylous species, N. triandrus has an incompatibility system that permits intra-morph mating and long-level rather than mid-level stamens in the L-morph. Incomplete sex-organ reciprocity should result in significant intra-morph mating in the L-morph. We measured mating patterns in two L-biased populations--dimorphic (two style morphs) and trimorphic (three style morphs)--using multilocus genotyping and maximum-likelihood-based paternity analysis. We also examined the spatial distribution of style morphs and neutral markers to investigate the potential consequence of spatially restricted mating on morph ratios. As predicted, we detected significant amounts of intra-morph mating in the L-morph in both populations. Pollen transfer coefficients generally supported predictions based on the Darwinian hypothesis that anthers and stigmas of equivalent level promote pollinator-mediated cross-pollination in heterostylous populations. There was evidence of significant spatial aggregation of both style morphs and neutral markers in populations of N. triandrus, probably as a result of restricted pollen and seed dispersal. Our results provide empirical support for theoretical models of pollen transfer, which indicate that the commonly observed L-biased morph ratios in Narcissus species result from significant intra-morph mating in the L-morph because of its atypical floral morphology.

Evidence for balancing selection operating at the het-c heterokaryon incompatibility locus in a group of filamentous fungi.

In filamentous fungi, het loci (for heterokaryon incompatibility) are believed to regulate self/nonself-recognition during vegetative growth. As filamentous fungi grow, hyphal fusion occurs within an individual colony to form a network. Hyphal fusion can occur also between different individuals to form a heterokaryon, in which genetically distinct nuclei occupy a common cytoplasm. However, heterokaryotic cells are viable only if the individuals involved have identical alleles at all het loci. One het locus, het-c, has been characterized at the molecular level in Neurospora crassa and encodes a glycine-rich protein. In an effort to understand the role of this locus in filamentous fungi, we chose to study its evolution by analyzing het-c sequence variability in species within Neurospora and related genera. We determined that the het-c locus was polymorphic in a field population of N. crassa with close to equal frequency of each of the three allelic types. Different species and even genera within the Sordariaceae shared het-c polymorphisms, indicating that these polymorphisms originated in an ancestral species. Finally, an analysis of the het-c specificity region shows a high occurrence of nonsynonymous substitution. The persistence of allelic lineages, the nearly equal allelic distribution within populations, and the high frequency of nonsynonymous substitutions in the het-c specificity region suggest that balancing selection has operated to maintain allelic diversity at het-c. Het-c shares this particular evolutionary characteristic of departing from neutrality with other self/nonself-recognition systems such as major histocompatibility complex loci in mammals and the S (self-incompatibility) locus in angiosperms.

Extinction Times and Phase Transitions for Spatially Structured Closed Epidemics

This paper considers the time to extinction for a stochastic epidemic model of SEIR form without replacement of susceptibles. It first shows how previous rigorous results can be heuristically explained in terms of the more transparent dynamics of an approximating deterministic system. The model is then extended to include a host population structured into patches, with weak nearest-neighbour mixing of infection. It is shown, by considering the approximating deterministic system, that the expected time to extinction in a population ofn+ 1 patches each of sizeNis of the formalogN + bn, provided thatN>NcwhereNcis a critical patch size below which transits are unlikely to occur. This corresponds to the simple decomposition of the time of an epidemic into the time it takes to spread through one patch plus the time it takes to transit to each ofnsuccessive patches. Expressions for this threshold and the coefficients of the time to extinction are given in terms of the transmission parameters of infection and the coupling strength between patches. These expressions are compared with numerical results using parameters relevant to a study of phocine distemper virus in North Sea seals, and the agreement is found to be good for large and smallN. In the region whenN≈Nc, where transits may or may not occur, interesting transitional behaviour is seen, leading to a non-monotonicity of the extinction time as a function ofN.

Genetic constraints on phenotypic evolution inNigella(Ranunculaceae)

The present investigation examines the role of genetic constraints in shaping evolutionary change in theNigella arvensisspecies complex. Parent-offspring analyses of two populations ofN. degeniidemonstrated high heritabilities for a wide range of vegetative and floral characters, indicating a great potential for further adaptive change. The populations differed significantly in the heritability for leaf length and in the genetic correlation between plant height and peduncle length, suggesting that these populations would respond differently to identical selection pressures. There was a tendency for large-scale diversity to extrapolate within-population variability, at least for the floral trait associations, while genetic data from a segregating F3 hybrid population indicated stability in the correlation structure across two environments. On the basis of hybrid data, I propose that inbreeding effects and pleiotropic relationships with leaf size may have facilitated the reduction in floral morphology accompanying the evolution of autogamy in related taxa.

Pollination ofNuphar (Nymphaeaceae) in Europe: Flies and bees rather thanDonacia beetles

Nuphar (Nymphaeaceae) comprises a small holarctic group of aquatic perennials whose flowers are pollinated by flies, bees, and beetles. We studied pollination in different populations of the two European speciesN. lutea andN. pumila in Norway and in Germany. Flowers are self-compatible and protogynous, preventing automatic selfing, and insect pollination is required for seed production. Sympatric populations were studied in Vest-Agder county in Norway to determine whetherN. lutea andN. pumila have the same or different pollinators. Allopatric populations ofN. lutea in Germany and Norway were then compared to determine whether their pollinator spectra differ as would be expected in an open flower with seemingly easily accessible pollen and nectar. Results of the present as well as previous studies of the pollination ofN. lutea andN. pumila show that both species are mainly pollinated by flies, including apparentNuphar specialists, such as the scatophagidHydromyza livens and the ephydridsHydrellia andNotiphila, the last also a long-known pollinator ofN. advena in Florida. Pollinator overlap between sympatric heterospecific populations was small, while allopatric conspecific populations had similar visitor and pollinator spectra. We found no evidence of pollination byDonacia beetles as reported from some North American populations ofNuphar.

Distribution and fitness effects of the son-killer bacterium inNasonia

Maternally inherited microorganisms that kill male (but not female) progeny are widespread in nature. Three hypotheses have been proposed for the evolution of male-killing microorganisms: inbreeding reduction, release of resources to remaining females and inoculum for horizontal transmission. The sonkiller bacterium,Arsenophonus nasoniae, is a maternally inherited bacterium that causes lethality of male embryos of infected females in the parasitoid wasp,Nasonia vitripennis. In this paper we describe the geographical distribution and frequency of the son-killer bacterium in North American populations ofN. vitripennis andNasonia longicornis. We tested the resource release hypothesis using the body size measurements of infected and uninfected females from natural populations. No evidence was found for a fitness increase of females infected with the bacterium compared to uninfected females. We propose a modification of the existing models, termed the ‘incremental gain’ hypothesis. According to this model, the bacteria are maintained in host populations due to horizontal transmission and male killing provides an incremental gain in the fitness of infected females relative to females infected with non-male-killing bacteria.

Host Selection and Host Range of the Flower-Feeding Weevil,Coelocephalapion pigrae,a Potential Biological Control Agent ofMimosa pigra

We studied selection of plant parts, selection of host plant species, and selection in relation to damage, by the weevilCoelocephalapion pigraeKissinger (Coleoptera, Apionidae), a potential biological control agent of the weedMimosa pigraL. (Mimosaceae). Adults fed on flower buds of all developmental stages and on growing leaves but oviposited only in flower buds mainly at mid to late stages of development. Larvae developed and pupated within flowers both before and after opening. In choice tests, adults preferredM. pigrafor oviposition and feeding. Occasional oviposition occurred on the weed,Mimosa pudica,and on the native plant,Neptunia dimorphantha.Some feeding occurred on flowers and/or leaves of 31 other species, mainly in the Mimosaceae. In no-choice tests, the level of oviposition onM. pudicaandN. dimorphanthawas greater than in choice tests but was still less than that onM. pigra.Development was completed on these three species but survival of immature stages was lower onM. pudicaandN. dimorphanthathan onM. pigra.This, together with their low acceptance for oviposition, indicates that neither plant could sustain populations ofC. pigrae.Furthermore, populations ofN. dimorphanthaare disjunct from current and projected populations ofM. pigra.A supporting study on the effect of previous damage on oviposition behavior byC. pigraewas conducted. The effect of previous insect damage and consequent limitation of oviposition sites was to limit further oviposition. This information was used in the design of choice tests which tested both preference and specificity. The results of these tests were accepted by the regulatory authorities andC. pigraewas released in Australia in May 1994.

Motivation for the use of discrete distributions in quality assurance

By considering a finite population ofN items andS defects, and observing the way defects should be distributed among the items we provide an interesting motivation to the bionomial, negative binomial (geometric) and Poisson distributions for the number of defects in a sample from a production line. The idea is to find out, from physical considerations about the production process, which configurations of defects in items are equally likely. A uniform distribution is assessed on the space generated by these configurations. Then, a distribution for a finite, and subsequently for an infinite population of items is derived.

Heterostyly in species ofNarcissus (Amaryllidaceae) andHugonia (Linaceae) and other disputed cases

The hypothesis ofHenriques andFernandes that several Iberian species ofNarcissus (Amaryllidaceae) are tristylous is reconsidered. Contrary to the opinion ofBateman and most subsequent authors, we believe that the available evidence indicates that some populations ofN. triandrus andN. fernandesii, at least, are tristylous; other populations ofN. triandrus are distylous.Hugonia cf.penicillanthemum (Linaceae) from new Caledonia is distylous, but it remains possible that other species ofHugonia are tristylous. The disputed occurrence of heterostyly in S. African species ofBauhinia (Leguminosae),Cleome (Capparaceae) andAneilema (Commelinaceae), and inAgelaea (Connaraceae) is discussed.

Statistical mechanics of a system of interacting dislocations: a self-consistent field approach

The equilibrium statistical mechanics of a population ofN massless dislocations is tackled in the frame of the multivariate Fokker-Planck equation associated with the corresponding system ofN nonlinear stochastic differential equations of motion. First the diffusion coefficient is found as a function of the dislocation drag parameter and absolute temperature. Then the initial many-body problem is reduced to an effective single-particle problem by means of a mean (self-consistent) field strategy leading to a nonlinear singular integral equation for the density and the “thermodynamic potential” at temperatureT. This last equation is solved numberically and the results are shown with comparison to exact continuum deterministic distributions.

Comparison of the mating behaviour between two sympatric species,Nezara antennata andN. viridula (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), with special reference to sound emission

Mating behaviour and associated songs were compared between 2 sympatric congeneric species,Nezara antennata andN. viridula, between which interspecific mating was known to occur under natural conditions. The fundamental sequence of mating behaviour for these species was the same. Three kinds of songs were recorded from each sex ofN. antennata. ForN. viridula, 4 kinds of male songs and 3 kinds of female songs were recorded. The songs which corresponded with definite behavioural bouts were distinct between these species. Some consideration was made as to why interspecific differences in the songs did not sufficiently engender ethological isolation. In addition, some geographic variations in the songs were shown among Yugoslavian (Cokl et al. 1972), American (Harris et al. 1982) and Japanese populations ofN. viridula. These variations were relatively inconspicuous when compared with the interspecific differences fromN. antennata.