Expansion of a single transposable element family is associated with genome-size increase and radiation in the genus Hydra

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Transposable elements are one of the major contributors to genome-size differences in metazoans. Despite this, relatively little is known about the evolutionary patterns of element expansions and the element families involved. Here we report a broad genomic sampling within the genus Hydra, a freshwater cnidarian at the focal point of diverse research in regeneration, symbiosis, biogeography, and aging. We find that the genome of Hydra is the result of an expansion event involving long interspersed nuclear elements and in particular a single family of the chicken repeat 1 (CR1) class. This expansion is unique to a subgroup of the genus Hydra, the brown hydras, and is absent in the green hydra, which has a repeat landscape similar to that of other cnidarians. These features of the genome make Hydra attractive for studies of transposon-driven genome expansions and speciation

Incorporation of a Horizontally Transferred Gene into an Operon during Cnidarian Evolution

Genome sequencing has revealed examples of horizontally transferred genes, but we still know little about how such genes are incorporated into their host genomes. We have previously reported the identification of a gene (flp) that appears to have entered the Hydra genome through horizontal transfer. Here we provide additional evidence in support of our original hypothesis that the transfer was from a unicellular organism, and we show that the transfer occurred in an ancestor of two medusozoan cnidarian species. In addition we show that the gene is part of a bicistronic operon in the Hydra genome. These findings identify a new animal phylum in which trans-spliced leader addition has led to the formation of operons, and define the requirements for evolution of an operon in Hydra. The identification of operons in Hydra also provides a tool that can be exploited in the construction of transgenic Hydra strains

Locating Pleistocene Refugia: Comparing Phylogeographic and Ecological Niche Model Predictions

Ecological niche models (ENMs) provide a means of characterizing the spatial distribution of suitable conditions for species, and have recently been applied to the challenge of locating potential distributional areas at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) when unfavorable climate conditions led to range contractions and fragmentation. Here, we compare and contrast ENM-based reconstructions of LGM refugial locations with those resulting from the more traditional molecular genetic and phylogeographic predictions. We examined 20 North American terrestrial vertebrate species from different regions and with different range sizes for which refugia have been identified based on phylogeographic analyses, using ENM tools to make parallel predictions. We then assessed the correspondence between the two approaches based on spatial overlap and areal extent of the predicted refugia. In 14 of the 20 species, the predictions from ENM and predictions based on phylogeographic studies were significantly spatially correlated, suggesting that the two approaches to development of refugial maps are converging on a similar result. Our results confirm that ENM scenario exploration can provide a useful complement to molecular studies, offering a less subjective, spatially explicit hypothesis of past geographic patterns of distribution

FoxO and Stress Responses in the Cnidarian Hydra vulgaris

Background: In the face of changing environmental conditions, the mechanisms underlying stress responses in diverse organisms are of increasing interest. In vertebrates, Drosophila, and Caenorhabditis elegans, FoxO transcription factors mediate cellular responses to stress, including oxidative stress and dietary restriction. Although FoxO genes have been identified in early-arising animal lineages including sponges and cnidarians, little is known about their roles in these organisms. Methods/Principal Findings: We have examined the regulation of FoxO activity in members of the well-studied cnidarian genus Hydra. We find that Hydra FoxO is expressed at high levels in cells of the interstitial lineage, a cell lineage that includes multipotent stem cells that give rise to neurons, stinging cells, secretory cells and gametes. Using transgenic Hydra that express a FoxO-GFP fusion protein in cells of the interstitial lineage, we have determined that heat shock causes localization of the fusion protein to the nucleus. Our results also provide evidence that, as in bilaterian animals, Hydra FoxO activity is regulated by both Akt and JNK kinases. Conclusions: These findings imply that basic mechanisms of FoxO regulation arose before the evolution of bilaterians an

Differential Expression of Iron Acquisition Genes by Brucella melitensis and Brucella canis during Macrophage Infection

Brucella spp. cause chronic zoonotic disease often affecting individuals and animals in impoverished economic or public health conditions; however, these bacteria do not have obvious virulence factors. Restriction of iron availability to pathogens is an effective strategy of host defense. For brucellae, virulence depends on the ability to survive and replicate within the host cell where iron is an essential nutrient for the growth and survival of both mammalian and bacterial cells. Iron is a particularly scarce nutrient for bacteria with an intracellular lifestyle. Brucella melitensis and Brucella canis share ∼99% of their genomes but differ in intracellular lifestyles. To identify differences, gene transcription of these two pathogens was examined during infection of murine macrophages and compared to broth grown bacteria. Transcriptome analysis of B. melitensis and B. canis revealed differences of genes involved in iron transport. Gene transcription of the TonB, enterobactin, and ferric anguibactin transport systems was increased in B. canis but not B. melitensis during infection of macrophages. The data suggest differences in iron requirements that may contribute to differences observed in the lifestyles of these closely related pathogens. The initial importance of iron for B. canis but not for B. melitensis helps elucidate differing intracellular survival strategies for two closely related bacteria and provides insight for controlling these pathogens

MASTREE+ : time-series of plant reproductive effort from six continents

Significant gaps remain in understanding the response of plant reproduction to environmental change. This is partly because measuring reproduction in long-lived plants requires direct observation over many years and such datasets have rarely been made publicly available. Here we introduce MASTREE+, a data set that collates reproductive time-series data from across the globe and makes these data freely available to the community. MASTREE+ includes 73,828 georeferenced observations of annual reproduction (e.g. seed and fruit counts) in perennial plant populations worldwide. These observations consist of 5971 population-level time-series from 974 species in 66 countries. The mean and median time-series length is 12.4 and 10 years respectively, and the data set includes 1122 series that extend over at least two decades (≥20 years of observations). For a subset of well-studied species, MASTREE+ includes extensive replication of time-series across geographical and climatic gradients. Here we describe the open-access data set, available as a.csv file, and we introduce an associated web-based app for data exploration. MASTREE+ will provide the basis for improved understanding of the response of long-lived plant reproduction to environmental change. Additionally, MASTREE+ will enable investigation of the ecology and evolution of reproductive strategies in perennial plants, and the role of plant reproduction as a driver of ecosystem dynamics

Monitoring of the radio galaxy M87 during a low emission state from 2012 to 2015 with MAGIC

M87 is one of the closest (z=0.00436) extragalactic sources emitting at very-high-energies (VHE, E > 100 GeV). The aim of this work is to locate the region of the VHE gamma-ray emission and to describe the observed broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) during the low VHE gamma-ray state. The data from M87 collected between 2012 and 2015 as part of a MAGIC monitoring programme are analysed and combined with multi-wavelength data from Fermi-LAT, Chandra, HST, EVN, VLBA and the Liverpool Telescope. The averaged VHE gamma-ray spectrum can be fitted from 100GeV to 10TeV with a simple power law with a photon index of (-2.41 $\pm$ 0.07), while the integral flux above 300GeV is $(1.44 \pm 0.13) \times 10^{-12} cm^{-2} s^{-1}$. During the campaign between 2012 and 2015, M87 is generally found in a low emission state at all observed wavelengths. The VHE gamma-ray flux from the present 2012-2015 M87 campaign is consistent with a constant flux with some hint of variability ($\sim3\sigma$) on a daily timescale in 2013. The low-state gamma-ray emission likely originates from the same region as the flare-state emission. Given the broadband SED, both a leptonic synchrotron self Compton and a hybrid photo-hadronic model reproduce the available data well, even if the latter is preferred. We note, however, that the energy stored in the magnetic field in the leptonic scenario is very low suggesting a matter dominated emission region

The extreme HBL behaviour of Markarian 501 during 2012

A multiwavelength campaign was organized to take place between March and July of 2012. Excellent temporal coverage was obtained with more than 25 instruments, including the MAGIC, FACT and VERITAS Cherenkov telescopes, the instruments on board the Swift and Fermi spacecraft, and the telescopes operated by the GASP-WEBT collaboration. Mrk 501 showed a very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray flux above 0.2 TeV of $\sim$0.5 times the Crab Nebula flux (CU) for most of the campaign. The highest activity occurred on 2012 June 9, when the VHE flux was $\sim$3 CU, and the peak of the high-energy spectral component was found to be at $\sim$2 TeV. This study reports very hard X-ray spectra, and the hardest VHE spectra measured to date for Mrk 501. The fractional variability was found to increase with energy, with the highest variability occurring at VHE, and a significant correlation between the X-ray and VHE bands. The unprecedentedly hard X-ray and VHE spectra measured imply that their low- and high-energy components peaked above 5 keV and 0.5 TeV, respectively, during a large fraction of the observing campaign, and hence that Mrk 501 behaved like an extreme high-frequency- peaked blazar (EHBL) throughout the 2012 observing season. This suggests that being an EHBL may not be a permanent characteristic of a blazar, but rather a state which may change over time. The one-zone synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) scenario can successfully describe the segments of the SED where most energy is emitted, with a significant correlation between the electron energy density and the VHE gamma-ray activity, suggesting that most of the variability may be explained by the injection of high-energy electrons. The one-zone SSC scenario used reproduces the behaviour seen between the measured X-ray and VHE gamma-ray fluxes, and predicts that the correlation becomes stronger with increasing energy of the X-rays

Coalescent Simulations Reveal Hybridization and Incomplete Lineage Sorting in Mediterranean Linaria

We examined the phylogenetic history of Linaria with special emphasis on the Mediterranean sect. Supinae (44 species). We revealed extensive highly supported incongruence among two nuclear (ITS, AGT1) and two plastid regions (rpl32-trnLUAG, trnS-trnG). Coalescent simulations, a hybrid detection test and species tree inference in *BEAST revealed that incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization may both be responsible for the incongruent pattern observed. Additionally, we present a multilabelled *BEAST species tree as an alternative approach that allows the possibility of observing multiple placements in the species tree for the same taxa. That permitted the incorporation of processes such as hybridization within the tree while not violating the assumptions of the *BEAST model. This methodology is presented as a functional tool to disclose the evolutionary history of species complexes that have experienced both hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting. The drastic climatic events that have occurred in the Mediterranean since the late Miocene, including the Quaternary-type climatic oscillations, may have made both processes highly recurrent in the Mediterranean flora

MAGIC gamma-ray and multi-frequency observations of flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 1510-089 in early 2012

Aims. Amongst more than fifty blazars detected in very high energy (VHE, E> 100 GeV) γ rays, only three belong to the subclass of flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs). The detection of FSRQs in the VHE range is challenging, mainly because of their soft spectra in the GeV-TeV regime. MAGIC observed PKS 1510−089 (z = 0.36) starting 2012 February 3 until April 3 during a high activity state in the high energy (HE, E> 100 MeV) γ-ray band observed by AGILE and Fermi. MAGIC observations result in the detection of a source with significance of 6.0 standard deviations (σ). We study the multi-frequency behaviour of the source at the epoch of MAGIC observation, collecting quasi-simultaneous data at radio and optical (GASP-WEBT and F-Gamma collaborations, REM, Steward, Perkins, Liverpool, OVRO, and VLBA telescopes), X-ray (Swift satellite), and HE γ-ray frequencies. Methods. We study the VHE γ-ray emission, together with the multi-frequency light curves, 43 GHz radio maps, and spectral energy distribution (SED) of the source. The quasi-simultaneous multi-frequency SED from the millimetre radio band to VHE γ rays is modelled with a one-zone inverse Compton model. We study two different origins of the seed photons for the inverse Compton scattering, namely the infrared torus and a slow sheath surrounding the jet around the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) core. Results. We find that the VHE γ-ray emission detected from PKS 1510−089 in 2012 February-April agrees with the previous VHE observations of the source from 2009 March-April. We find no statistically significant variability during the MAGIC observations on daily, weekly, or monthly time scales, while the other two known VHE FSRQs (3C 279 and PKS 1222+216) have shown daily scale to sub-hour variability. The γ-ray SED combining AGILE, Fermi and MAGIC data joins smoothly and shows no hint of a break. The multi-frequency light curves suggest a common origin for the millimetre radio and HE γ-ray emission, and the HE γ-ray flaring starts when the new component is ejected from the 43 GHz VLBA core and the studied SED models fit the data well. However, the fast HE γ-ray variability requires that within the modelled large emitting region, more compact regions must exist. We suggest that these observed signatures would be most naturally explained by a turbulent plasma flowing at a relativistic speed down the jet and crossing a standing conical shock