Population genetic analysis of the recently rediscovered Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer) reveals high genetic diversity and low inbreeding

After its recent rediscovery, the Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer) has remained one of the world’s rarest and least understood amphibian species. Together with its apparently low dispersal capability and highly disturbed niche, the low abundance of this living fossil calls for urgent conservation measures. We used 18 newly developed microsatellite loci and four different models to calculate the effective population size (Ne) of a total of 125 Hula painted frog individuals sampled at a single location. We compare the Ne estimates to the estimates of potentially reproducing adults in this population (Nad) determined through a capture-recapture study on 118 adult Hula painted frogs captured at the same site. Surprisingly, our data suggests that, despite Nad estimates of only ~234–244 and Ne estimates of ~16.6–35.8, the species appears to maintain a very high genetic diversity (HO = 0.771) and low inbreeding coefficient (FIS = −0.018). This puzzling outcome could perhaps be explained by the hypotheses of either genetic rescue from one or more unknown Hula painted frog populations nearby or by recent admixture of genetically divergent subpopulations. Independent of which scenario is correct, the original locations of these populations still remain to be determined

The Role of Abiotic Environmental Conditions and Herbivory in Shaping Bacterial Community Composition in Floral Nectar

<div><p>Identifying the processes that drive community assembly has long been a central theme in ecology. For microorganisms, a traditional prevailing hypothesis states that “everything is everywhere, but the environment selects”. Although the bacterial community in floral nectar may be affected by both atmosphere (air-borne bacteria) and animals as dispersal vectors, the environmental and geographic factors that shape microbial communities in floral nectar are unknown. We studied culturable bacterial communities in <i>Asphodelus aestivus</i> floral nectar and in its typical herbivorous bug <i>Capsodes infuscatus</i>, along an aridity gradient. Bacteria were sampled from floral nectar and bugs at four sites, spanning a geographical range of 200 km from Mediterranean to semi-arid conditions, under open and bagged flower treatments. In agreement with the niche assembly hypothesis, the differences in bacterial community compositions were explained by differences in abiotic environmental conditions. These results suggest that microbial model systems are useful for addressing macro-ecological questions. In addition, similar bacterial communities were found in the nectar and on the surface of the bugs that were documented visiting the flowers. These similarities imply that floral nectar bacteria dispersal is shaped not only by air borne bacteria and nectar consumers as previously reported, but also by visiting vectors like the mirid bugs.</p></div

Variation of bacterial species isolates among the four different sites (Goral, Nadiv, Bashan and Golan) as shown by the ordination diagram (CCA).

<p>The distribution of bacterial species along the ordinates was not random (Monte Carlo test; <i>F</i> = 1.41, <i>P</i><0.005) and thus can be explained by their different locations along the climatic gradient. The first two ordination axes explained 74.1% of the variance of species-environment relation. Identity of the species related to a single site is as follows: Group 1: <i>Agromyces salentinus</i>, <i>Leuconostoc holzapfelii, Pseudomonas lini, Arthrobacter chlorophenolicus, Lysinibacillus sinduriensis, Pseudomonas syringae, Bacillus endophyticus, Microbacterium foliorum, Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. cohnii, Bacillus flexus, Pseudomonas baetica, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Brevibacterium frigoritolerans, Pseudomonas cedrina subsp. fulgida, Staphylococcus hominis subsp. hominis</i>. Group 2: <i>Lonsdalea quercina, Arthrobacter humicola, Pantoea eucalypti, Brevibacillus agri, Pseudomonas azotoformans, Erwinia persicina, Pseudomonas congelans, Gluconobacter kondonii, Gluconobacter morbifer, Gluconobacter sphaericus</i>. Group 3: <i>Arthrobacter nitroguajacolicus, Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus mojavensis, Bacillus niacin, Bacillus sonorensis, Erwinia toletana, Fictibacillus nanhaiensis, Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Pseudomonas graminis, Pseudomonas koreensis, Pseudomonas lutea, Pseudomonas mohnii, Scopulibacillus darangshiensis, Staphylococcus arlettae, Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. urealyticus</i>. Group 4: <i>Acinetobacter boissieri, Acinetobacter nectaris, Neokomagataea tanensis</i>.</p

List of bacterial isolates from nectar of <i>Asphodelus aestivus</i> sampled from the four sites (Goral, Nadiv, Bashan and Golan) and within each treatment (open or bagged).

<p>The numbers indicated in the table are the number of isolates and the numbers in parentheses are the percentage of 16S rRNA gene similarities to the closest known species. The sequences coverage of most isolates was 700–800 bp. For more details see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0099107#pone.0099107.s001" target="_blank">Table S1</a>.</p

<i>Asphodelus aestivus</i>.

<p>A, Flower and a consumer fly (<i>Eempidoidea</i>); B, Flower collection; C, Nectar collection; D, Bagged inflorescences.</p

Nectar bacterial community composition clustered by site (Goral, Nadiv, Bashan and Golan) and treatments (open and bagged).

<p>Sites varied significantly in OTUs composition (Adonis test; <i>F</i>₃ = 1.36, R² = 0.5, <i>P</i><0.05; <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0099107#pone-0099107-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>).</p

List of bacterial isolates from <i>Capsodes infuscatus</i> at the four sites (Goral, Nadiv, Bashan and Golan) and within each treatment (in or out).

<p>The numbers indicated in the table are the number of isolates and the numbers in parentheses are the percentage of 16S rRNA gene similarities to the closest known species. The sequences coverage of most isolates was 700–850 bp. For more details see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0099107#pone.0099107.s002" target="_blank">Table S2</a>.</p

Adult mirid bugs (<i>Capsodes infuscatus</i>) on bagged flowers inserting their piercing-sucking mouthparts through the bag and into the flower.

<p>The orange marks on the covering bags are the bugs' waste.</p

Environmental factors at each of the four sites (Goral, Nadiv, Bashan and Golan).

<p>For temperature we used average data of the month sampled.</p