Niche divergence and limits to expansion in the high polyploid Dianthus broteri complex

Niche evolution in plant polyploids remains controversial and evidence for alternative patterns has been reported. Using the autopolyploid Dianthus broteri complex (2×, 4×, 6× and 12×) as a model, we aimed to integrate three scenarios – competitive exclusion, recurrent origins of cytotypes and niche filling – into a single framework of polyploid niche evolution. We hypothesized that high polyploids would tend to evolve towards extreme niches when low ploidy cytotypes have nearly filled the niche space. We used several ecoinformatics and phylogenetic comparative analyses to quantify differences in the ecological niche of each cytotype and to evaluate alternative models of niche evolution. Each cytotype in this complex occupied a distinct ecological niche. The distributions were mainly constrained by soil characteristics, temperature and drought stress imposed by the Mediterranean climate. Tetraploids had the highest niche breadth and overlap due to their multiple origins, whereas the higher ploidy cytotypes were found in different, restricted, nonoverlapping niches. Niche evolution analyses suggested a scenario with one niche optimum for each ploidy, including the two independent tetraploid lineages.Our results suggest that the fate of nascent polyploids could not be predicted without accounting for phylogenetic relatedness, recurrent origins or the niche occupied by ancestors.Aridos La Melera S.L. (FIUS project 2234/0724

Factors that influence the process of formation of the olympic judokas

Con el objetivo de analizar los factores que influyen en el proceso de formación deportiva de los judokas españoles olímpicos, se aplicó una entrevista semiestructurada de 52 preguntas agrupadas en 6 dimensiones (Contexto Deportivo, Contexto Social, Proceso de Formación, Psicológica, Técnico-táctica, Condición Física). Los resultados muestran que los judokas olímpicos se iniciaron en la práctica del Judo a los 6,90 ± 3,02 años, concretamente las mujeres a los 6,80 ± 2,88 años y los hombres algo más tarde, a los 7 ± 3,42 años, el 95% (n=19) influenciados, fundamentalmente, por un familiar. Además, destaca que ninguno de los entrevistados consiguió medalla en categorías inferiores. Para el 75% (n=15) de los judokas olímpicos es muy importante llevar una sincronización del entrenamiento técnico-táctico, de la condición física y de los aspectos psicológicos de forma integradaWith the aim of analizing the factors that have an influence on the sports training process of the olympic Spanish judokas, a semistructured interview of 52 questions grouped in 6 aspects was carried out: Sports Context, Social Context, Training Process, Psychological Condition, Technical-Tactical Condition and Physical Conditon). The results show that olympic judokas began practising judo at the age of 6.90 ± 3.02 years. Specifically, women started at the age of 6.80 ± 2.88, and men slightly later, at the age of 7 ± 3.42 years. 95% (n=19) of them were mainly influenced by a relative. Moreover, it is to be highlighted that none of the interviewees won a medal in low categories. For 75% (n=15) of the olympic judokas, it is very important that technical-tactical training, physical condition training and psychological aspects be synchronised in an integrated wa

Using rubrics as a self-assessment tool in Botany learning

Las rúbricas o matrices de evaluación son una herramienta educativa para la evaluación del proceso de aprendizaje. En la rúbrica se identifican ciertos criterios en la realización de un trabajo y también se define la gradación de calidad para cada criterio, desde un rendimiento pobre hasta la excelencia. Las rúbricas ayudan a estudiantes y profesores a juzgar la calidad de la tarea realizada por los estudiantes y pueden utilizarse además como herramienta de autoevaluación, mostrándose muy eficaces en algunos estudios previos. La realización de un herbario personal o en grupo ha sido un recurso utilizado para el aprendizaje de la Botánica desde hace años. Los herbarios permiten que el alumno conozca la terminología adecuada de la Taxonomía Botánica, aprenda a preparar, conservar e identificar las plantas con la bibliografía adecuada, y adquiera un conocimiento de visu de la flora local. Asimismo, otras competencias transversales, como la capacidad de trabajo en grupo, pueden ser potenciadas con la realización de dicho herbarios. La evaluación de los herbarios es compleja debido a la diversidad de competencias necesarias para la correcta realización del trabajo. Aquí presentamos una rúbrica desarrollada para que el alumno pueda autoevaluarse según diferentes criterios que se agrupan en tres grandes bloques: (i) Contenido, (ii) Presentación y Documentación, y (iii) Destrezas de trabajo colaborativas (trabajo en grupo). Esta autoevaluación tiene como finalidad la mejora en la presentación de los herbarios y con ello una mejora del rendimiento académico del alumno.A rubric (evaluation matrix) is an educational tool designed to evaluate the learning process. In an evaluation matrix, specific expectations are identified as well as a grade of fulfillment for each criterion, from a poor to an excellent performance. Rubrics make easier the evaluation task carried out by teachers and students, improving its quality, and can be used for self-assessment as its efficiency is proved by previous studies. An individual or collective herbarium is a learning tool that has been used for many years. Herbaria allow that students can familiarize with the Botanical Taxonomy terminology, learn to prepare, preserve and identify plant specimens (with the necessary bibliography), and acquire visual knowledge of local flora. In addition, several transversal competences, like teamwork related skills, are boosted in its construction. The evaluation of a herbarium is complex due to the diversity of necessary competences involved. Here, we bring a rubric to let students self-assess different criteria (grouped in three blocks): (i) Content, (ii) Presentation and Documentation, and (iii) Teamwork skills. The purpose of this self-assessment is to improve the presentation of the herbarium and hence the student's academic performance

AFLPsim: an R package to simulate and detect dominant markers under selection in hybridizing populations

Background In spite of a large diversity of approaches to investigate loci under selection from a population genetic perspective, very few programs have been specifically designed to date to test selection in hybrids using dominant markers. In addition, simulators of dominant markers are very scarce and they do not usually take into account hybridization. Results Here, we present a new, multifunctional, R package for dominant genetic markers, AFLPsim. This package can simulate dominant markers in hybridizing populations and implements genome scan methods for detecting outlier dominant loci in hybrids. In addition, it includes tools for further manipulating the results, plotting them and other tasks. We describe and tabulate the major functions implemented in AFLPsim. In addition, we provide some demonstration of its use and we perform a comparative study with other software. Finally, we conclude by briefly describing the input and output formats. Conclusions The R package AFLPsim application provides several useful tools in the context of hybridization studies. It can simulate dominant markers in hybridizing populations and predict their demographic evolution. In addition, we implement a new genome scan method for detecting outlier dominant loci in hybrids, which shows a rather high sensitivity and is very conservative in comparison with Gagnaire et al.’s, bayescan and introgress. The application is downloadable at http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/AFLPsim/

Polyploidy promotes divergent evolution across the leaf economics spectrum and plant edaphic niche in the Dianthus broteri complex

The evolution of the leaf economics spectrum (LES) is known to be constrained by genetic relatedness but also promoted at small geographical and phylogenetic scales. In those cases, we hypothesized that polyploidy would play a prominent role as an outstanding source of functional divergence and adaptive potential. We registered leaf-level nutrient, water- and light-economy-related traits from the LES as well as edaphic properties in the four cytotypes of the autopolyploid Dianthus broteri complex (2×, 4×, 6× and 12×). We analysed the effect of ploidy level on the integration of the LES network, checked if concerted evolution occurred between LES and soil niche and tested the influence of phylogeny on the variables. Alternative evolutionary models for both sets of traits were compared. We found higher divergence of polyploids (especially 6× and 12×) compared to diploids in the LES and soil niche, but these traits are not coevolving. 6× and 12× showed opposite ecological strategies regarding resource use and higher uncoupling of the LES network. Early divergence of traits prevailed in both LES and edaphic niche (supported by better fitted evolutionary models with one optimum per cytotype), but post-polyploidization processes played an important role for the photochemical behaviour. Synthesis. Our results indicated shifts in ecological strategies across Dianthus broteri cytotypes and suggested a powerful role of polyploidy in overcoming constraints for the evolution of plant functional traits.PGC2018-098358-B-I00 from the Spanish MICINNÁridos La Melera S.L. (FIUS project 2234/0724

A Bayesian Reasoning Framework for On-Line Business Information Systems

We describe a Bayesian Reasoning Framework (BRF) that supports business rule operations for on-line information systems. BRF comprises a three-layer environment with business information systems at the top, a middle-ware Bayesian reasoning server, and a Bayesian reasoning engine at the bottom. The top and middle-ware layers communicate via SOAP/XML protocol, while the middle-ware and bottom layers communicate via a Tag-value protocol that fetches business rules from a central repository. BRF is built as a Bayesian Reasoning Agent and tested in a helpdesk system for assigning advisors to users for trouble-shooting in the operation of business information systems. BRF is modeled following a use-case methodology as well as an inference modeling that uses an assignation template from Common- KADS. The concept, design and implementation of BRF for real-world, on-line business information systems are the main contribution of this research project

Evaluation of Reference Genes in the Polyploid Complex Dianthus broteri (Caryophyllaceae) Using qPCR

Dianthus broteri is an endemic complex which is considered the largest polyploid series within the Dianthus genus. This polyploid species involves four cytotypes (2×, 4×, 6× and 12×) with spatial and ecological segregation. The study of gene expression in polyploid species must be very rigorous because of the effects of duplications on gene regulation. In these cases, real-time polymer-ase chain reaction (qPCR) is the most appropriate technique for determining the gene expression profile because of its high sensitivity. The relative quantification strategy using qPCR requires genes with stable expression, known as reference genes, for normalization. In this work, we evaluated the stability of 13 candidate genes to be considered reference genes in leaf and petal tissues in Dianthus broteri. Several statistical analyses were used to determine the most stable candidate genes: Bayesian analysis, network analysis based on equivalence tests, geNorm and BestKeeper algorithms. In the leaf tissue, the most stable candidate genes were TIP41, TIF5A, PP2A and SAMDC. Similarly, the most adequate reference genes were H3.1, TIP41, TIF5A and ACT7 in the petal tissue. Therefore, we suggest that the best reference genes to compare different ploidy levels for both tissues in D. broteri are TIP41 and TIF5A.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PGC2018-098358-B-I00Junta de Andalucía US-138123