Reverse magnetic anomaly controlled by Permian Igneous rocks in the Iberian Chain (N Spain)

Two important reverse dipolar magnetic anomalies in the Iberian Chain (Spain) are located over Permian igneous rocks. A detailed study of one of them, the Loscos magnetic anomaly, where the geological structure is well constrained, reveals that the source of the anomaly must be a reverse remanent magnetisation carried by igneous rocks, acquired during the period of the Kiaman reverse magnetic superchron. Magnetic and gravimetric detailed survey (with 50 new gravimetric measurements and 8 main magnetic profiles -six of them N–S and the rest E–Wwith a total length of 40km), together with a study of the petrophysical characteristics of igneous materials, data processing and interpretation (upward continuation, 2.5D modelling, etc.) allowed to characterize qualitatively the anomaly and its source. Two overlapping anomalies with different wavelength were identified, indicating the presence of a shallower strongly altered igneous body with heterogeneous magnetic properties, and a deeper, large igneous body, responsible for the main, long-wavelength anomaly

Rapid compensatory evolution promotes the survival of conjugative plasmids

Conjugative plasmids play a vital role in bacterial adaptation through horizontal gene transfer. Explaining how plasmids persist in host populations however is difficult, given the high costs often associated with plasmid carriage. Compensatory evolution to ameliorate this cost can rescue plasmids from extinction. In a recently published study we showed that compensatory evolution repeatedly targeted the same bacterial regulatory system, GacA/GacS, in populations of plasmid-carrying bacteria evolving across a range of selective environments. Mutations in these genes arose rapidly and completely eliminated the cost of plasmid carriage. Here we extend our analysis using an individual based model to explore the dynamics of compensatory evolution in this system. We show that mutations which ameliorate the cost of plasmid carriage can prevent both the loss of plasmids from the population and the fixation of accessory traits on the bacterial chromosome. We discuss how dependent the outcome of compensatory evolution is on the strength and availability of such mutations and the rate at which beneficial accessory traits integrate on the host chromosome