897 research outputs found
Co-Variation between Seed Dormancy, Growth Rate and Flowering Time Changes with Latitude in Arabidopsis thaliana
Life-history traits controlling the duration and timing of developmental phases in the life cycle jointly determine fitness. Therefore, life-history traits studied in isolation provide an incomplete view on the relevance of life-cycle variation for adaptation. In this study, we examine genetic variation in traits covering the major life history events of the annual species Arabidopsis thaliana: seed dormancy, vegetative growth rate and flowering time. In a sample of 112 genotypes collected throughout the European range of the species, both seed dormancy and flowering time follow a latitudinal gradient independent of the major population structure gradient. This finding confirms previous studies reporting the adaptive evolution of these two traits. Here, however, we further analyze patterns of co-variation among traits. We observe that co-variation between primary dormancy, vegetative growth rate and flowering time also follows a latitudinal cline. At higher latitudes, vegetative growth rate is positively correlated with primary dormancy and negatively with flowering time. In the South, this trend disappears. Patterns of trait co-variation change, presumably because major environmental gradients shift with latitude. This pattern appears unrelated to population structure, suggesting that changes in the coordinated evolution of major life history traits is adaptive. Our data suggest that A. thaliana provides a good model for the evolution of trade-offs and their genetic basis.<br
Co-Variation between Seed dormancy, growth rate and flowering time changes with latitude in Arabidopsis thaliana
Life-history traits controlling the duration and timing of developmental phases in the life cycle jointly determine fitness. Therefore, life-history traits studied in isolation provide an incomplete view on the relevance of life-cycle variation for adaptation. In this study, we examine genetic variation in traits covering the major life history events of the annual species Arabidopsis thaliana: seed dormancy, vegetative growth rate and flowering time. In a sample of 112 genotypes collected throughout the European range of the species, both seed dormancy and flowering time follow a latitudinal gradient independent of the major population structure gradient. This finding confirms previous studies reporting the adaptive evolution of these two traits. Here, however, we further analyze patterns of co-variation among traits. We observe that co-variation between primary dormancy, vegetative growth rate and flowering time also follows a latitudinal cline. At higher latitudes, vegetative growth rate is positively correlated with primary dormancy and negatively with flowering time. In the South, this trend disappears. Patterns of trait co-variation change, presumably because major environmental gradients shift with latitude. This pattern appears unrelated to population structure, suggesting that changes in the coordinated evolution of major life history traits is adaptive. Our data suggest that A. thaliana provides a good model for the evolution of trade-offs and their genetic basi
Observation of an Excited Bc+ State
Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date
Design Principles for Ligand-Sensing, Conformation-Switching Ribozymes
Nucleic acid sensor elements are proving increasingly useful in biotechnology and biomedical applications. A number of ligand-sensing, conformational-switching ribozymes (also known as allosteric ribozymes or aptazymes) have been generated by some combination of directed evolution or rational design. Such sensor elements typically fuse a molecular recognition domain (aptamer) with a catalytic signal generator (ribozyme). Although the rational design of aptazymes has begun to be explored, the relationships between the thermodynamics of aptazyme conformational changes and aptazyme performance in vitro and in vivo have not been examined in a quantitative framework. We have therefore developed a quantitative and predictive model for aptazymes as biosensors in vitro and as riboswitches in vivo. In the process, we have identified key relationships (or dimensionless parameters) that dictate aptazyme performance, and in consequence, established equations for precisely engineering aptazyme function. In particular, our analysis quantifies the intrinsic trade-off between ligand sensitivity and the dynamic range of activity. We were also able to determine how in vivo parameters, such as mRNA degradation rates, impact the design and function of aptazymes when used as riboswitches. Using this theoretical framework we were able to achieve quantitative agreement between our models and published data. In consequence, we are able to suggest experimental guidelines for quantitatively predicting the performance of aptazyme-based riboswitches. By identifying factors that limit the performance of previously published systems we were able to generate immediately testable hypotheses for their improvement. The robust theoretical framework and identified optimization parameters should now enable the precision design of aptazymes for biotechnological and clinical applications
Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions in the forward region in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV
Bose-Einstein correlations of same-sign charged pions, produced in protonproton collisions at a 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy, are studied using a data sample collected
by the LHCb experiment. The signature for Bose-Einstein correlations is observed in the
form of an enhancement of pairs of like-sign charged pions with small four-momentum
difference squared. The charged-particle multiplicity dependence of the Bose-Einstein correlation parameters describing the correlation strength and the size of the emitting source
is investigated, determining both the correlation radius and the chaoticity parameter. The
measured correlation radius is found to increase as a function of increasing charged-particle
multiplicity, while the chaoticity parameter is seen to decreas
Measurement of the inelastic pp cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV
The cross-section for inelastic proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13TeV is measured with the LHCb detector. The fiducial cross-section for inelastic interactions producing at least one prompt long-lived charged particle with momentum p > 2 GeV/c in the pseudorapidity range 2 < η < 5 is determined to be ϭ acc = 62:2 ± 0:2 ± 2:5mb. The first uncertainty is the intrinsic systematic uncertainty of the measurement, the second is due to the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The statistical uncertainty is negligible. Extrapolation to full phase space yields the total inelastic proton-proton cross-section ϭ inel = 75:4 ± 3:0 ± 4:5mb, where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second due to the extrapolation. An updated value of the inelastic cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV is also reported
Evolution of Disease Response Genes in Loblolly Pine: Insights from Candidate Genes
BACKGROUND: Host-pathogen interactions that may lead to a competitive co-evolution of virulence and resistance mechanisms present an attractive system to study molecular evolution because strong, recent (or even current) selective pressure is expected at many genomic loci. However, it is unclear whether these selective forces would act to preserve existing diversity, promote novel diversity, or reduce linked neutral diversity during rapid fixation of advantageous alleles. In plants, the lack of adaptive immunity places a larger burden on genetic diversity to ensure survival of plant populations. This burden is even greater if the generation time of the plant is much longer than the generation time of the pathogen. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we present nucleotide polymorphism and substitution data for 41 candidate genes from the long-lived forest tree loblolly pine, selected primarily for their prospective influences on host-pathogen interactions. This dataset is analyzed together with 15 drought-tolerance and 13 wood-quality genes from previous studies. A wide range of neutrality tests were performed and tested against expectations from realistic demographic models. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Collectively, our analyses found that axr (auxin response factor), caf1 (chromatin assembly factor) and gatabp1 (gata binding protein 1) candidate genes carry patterns consistent with directional selection and erd3 (early response to drought 3) displays patterns suggestive of a selective sweep, both of which are consistent with the arm-race model of disease response evolution. Furthermore, we have identified patterns consistent with diversifying selection at erf1-like (ethylene responsive factor 1), ccoaoemt (caffeoyl-CoA-O-methyltransferase), cyp450-like (cytochrome p450-like) and pr4.3 (pathogen response 4.3), expected under the trench-warfare evolution model. Finally, a drought-tolerance candidate related to the plant cell wall, lp5, displayed patterns consistent with balancing selection. In conclusion, both arms-race and trench-warfare models seem compatible with patterns of polymorphism found in different disease-response candidate genes, indicating a mixed strategy of disease tolerance evolution for loblolly pine, a major tree crop in southeastern United States
Cis-regulatory evolution spotlights species differences in the adaptive potential of gene expression plasticity
Plasticity allows organisms to respond to environmental change. Here the authors compare the distribution of cis-regulatory variants in the transcriptomes of Arabidopsis lyrata and A. halleriafter exposure to stress, to trace the role of polygenic selection in the evolution of gene expression plasticity
Effect of hosts on competition among clones and evidence of differential selection between pathogenic and saprophytic phases in experimental populations of the wheat pathogen Phaeosphaeria nodorum
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Monoculture, multi-cropping and wider use of highly resistant cultivars have been proposed as mechanisms to explain the elevated rate of evolution of plant pathogens in agricultural ecosystems. We used a mark-release-recapture experiment with the wheat pathogen <it>Phaeosphaeria nodorum </it>to evaluate the impact of two of these mechanisms on the evolution of a pathogen population. Nine <it>P. nodorum </it>isolates marked with ten microsatellite markers and one minisatellite were released onto five replicated host populations to initiate epidemics of Stagonospora nodorum leaf blotch. The experiment was carried out over two consecutive host growing seasons and two pathogen collections were made during each season.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 637 pathogen isolates matching the marked inoculants were recovered from inoculated plots over two years. Genetic diversity in the host populations affected the evolution of the corresponding <it>P. nodorum </it>populations. In the cultivar mixture the relative frequencies of inoculants did not change over the course of the experiment and the pathogen exhibited a low variation in selection coefficients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results support the hypothesis that increasing genetic heterogeneity in host populations may retard the rate of evolution in associated pathogen populations. Our experiment also provides indirect evidence of fitness costs associated with host specialization in <it>P. nodorum </it>as indicated by differential selection during the pathogenic and saprophytic phases.</p
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