37 research outputs found
Tiger beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Carabidae, Cicindelinae) of Morocco: distribution, phenology and list of taxa
The diversity and distribution of Cicindelinae in Morocco, including new unpublished data, is summarized and discussed. In total 17 species are reported from the country. Cicindela campestris campestris is excluded from the Moroccan fauna while the occurrence of Myriochila mirei is doubtful and should be confirmed by new data. The area adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean coastlines holds the highest species diversity, while mountainous regions are characterized by lower diversity but also by high level of species endemism. Grouped on the basis of their chorotypes, Moroccan Cicindelinae fall into six different groups: West Mediterranean (44% of Cicindelinae species), Maghreb endemics (22%), Mediterranean (11%), Saharian (11%), Mediterranean-Westturanian (6%) and Afrotropico-Indo-Mediterranean (6%). According to their phenology, the Moroccan tiger beetles can be divided into three groups: 1) spring active species, 2) spring-summer active species, and 3) summer active species
Isolation and characterization of 8 microsatellite loci for the ‘‘killer shrimp’’, an invasive Ponto-Caspian amphipod Dikerogammarus villosus (Crustacea: Amphipoda)
Dikerogammarus villosus is a freshwater
amphipod of the Ponto-Caspian origin recognized as one of
the 100 worst alien species in Europe, having negative
impact on biodiversity and functioning of the invaded
aquatic ecosystems. The species has a wide ecophysiological
tolerance and during the last 20 years it has rapidly
spread throughout European inland waters. In consequence,
it presents a major conservation management problem. We
describe eight polymorphic microsatellite loci developed
for D. villosus by combining a biotin-enrichment protocol
and new generation 454GS-FLX Titanium pyrosequencing
technology. When genotyped in 64 individuals from two
locations, the loci exhibited a mean diversity of 4.87 alleles
per locus (2–13). The mean observed and expected heterozygosities
were, respectively, 0.439 (0.091–0.844) and
0.468 (0.089–0.843). Gametic disequilibrium was not
detected for any pair of loci. The microsatellite markers
will be a valuable tool in assessing the demographic processes
associated with invasion of the killer shrimp from a
genetic point of view
Out of the Black Sea: Phylogeography of the Invasive Killer Shrimp Dikerogammarus villosus across Europe
The amphipod Dikerogammarus villosus has colonized most of the European main inland water bodies in less than 20 years, having deteriorating effect on the local benthic communities. Our aim was to reveal the species phylogeography in the native Black Sea area, to define the source populations for the colonization routes in continental Europe and for the newly established UK populations. We tested for the loss of genetic diversity between source and invasive populations as well as along invasion route. We tested also for isolation by distance. Thirty three native and invasive populations were genotyped for mtDNA (COI, 16S) and seven polymorphic nuclear microsatellites to assess cryptic diversity (presence of deeply divergent lineages), historical demography, level of diversity within lineage (e.g., number of alleles), and population structure. A wide range of methods was used, including minimum spanning network, molecular clock, Bayesian clustering and Mantel test. Our results identified that sea level and salinity changes during Pleistocene impacted the species phylogeography in the Black Sea native region with four differentiated populations inhabiting, respectively, the Dnieper, Dniester, Danube deltas and Durungol liman. The invasion of continental Europe is associated with two sources, i.e., the Danube and Dnieper deltas, which gave origin to two independent invasion routes (Western and Eastern) for which no loss of diversity and no isolation by distance were observed. The UK population has originated in the Western Route and, despite very recent colonization, no drastic loss of diversity was observed. The results show that the invasion of the killer shrimp is not associated with the costs of loosing genetic diversity, which may contribute to the success of this invader in the newly colonized areas. Additionally, while it has not yet occurred, it might be expected that future interbreeding between the genetically diversified populations from two independent invasion routes will potentially even enhance this success
Mitochondrial Genomes, Phylogenetic Associations, and SNP Recovery for the Key Invasive Ponto-Caspian Amphipods in Europe
The Ponto-Caspian region is the main donor of invasive amphipods to freshwater ecosystems, with at least 13 species successfully established in European inland waters. Dikerogammarus spp. and Pontogammarus robustoides are among the most successful, due to their strong invasive impact on local biota. However, genomic knowledge about these invaders is scarce, while phylogeography and population genetics have been based on short fragments of mitochondrial markers or nuclear microsatellites. In this study, we provide: (i) a reconstruction of six mitogenomes for four invasive gammarids (D. villosus, D. haemobaphes, D. bispinosus, and P. robustoides); (ii) a comparison between the structure of the newly obtained mitogenomes and those from the literature; (iii) SNP calling rates for individual D. villosus and D. haemobaphes from different invasion sites across Europe; and (iv) the first time-calibrated full mitogenome phylogeny reconstruction of several Ponto-Caspian taxa. We found that, in comparison to other gammarids, the mitogenomes of Ponto-Caspian species show a translocation between the tRNA-E and tRNA-R positions. Phylogenetic reconstruction using the mitogenomes identified that Ponto-Caspian gammarids form a well-supported group that originated in the Miocene. Our study supports paraphyly in the family Gammaridae. These provided mitogenomes will serve as vital genetic resources for the development of new markers for PCR-based identification methods and demographic studies
Cenozoic origins of the genus Calliarcys (Insecta, Ephemeroptera) revealed by Micro‑CT, with DNA barcode gap analysis of Leptophlebiinae and Habrophlebiinae
We are grateful to Michel Sartori (Lausanne, Switzerland) and José Ángel Martín del Arco (Salamanca, Spain)
for donating the specimens of C. humilis to SMNS, BC CAS, and UŁ collections. We are also grateful to Christel
and Hans-Werner Hoffeins (Hamburg, Germany), Mike Reich (BSPG, Munich, Germany), and Evgeny
Perkovsky (Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Kyiv, Ukraine) for access to their collections of fossil mayflies
from the Eocene Rovno amber. We would like to thank Kateřina Bláhová (IE, BC CAS) and Milan Pallmann
(SMNS) for technical assistance with line drawings and the preparation of a set of macro photographs.
Tomasz Mamos (UniLodz, Poland) is acknowledged for his help in the Bayesian reconstruction of phylogeny,
and Łukasz Trębicki (UniLodz, Poland) for help in molecular laboratory. Comments from reviewers helped to
improve the manuscript. JA-T thank the staff of Bruker SkyScan in Kontich (Belgium) for their effectiveness
and fast support, for their constant improvements to the software, and for implementing the new options we
requested. In this respect, we are especially indebted to Alexander Sasov (now at NeoScan, https:// neosc an.
com), Stephan Boons, Xuan Liu, Phil Salmon, and Vladimir Kharitonov. We would like to thank the reviewers
for their thoughtful comments and efforts towards improving our manuscript. LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.
org:pub:C58BEE82-0EC6-4C59-A02D-1E5F796179B6Additional information
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https:// doi. org/
10. 1038/ s41598- 022- 18234-4.Funding
Open access funding enabled and organized by the University of Łódź (Poland). RJG acknowledges the financial
support of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (No. 21-05216S) and institutional support of the Institute of
Entomology (Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences) RVO: 60077344. Acquisition of research equipment
used in this study has been carried out within equipment subsidy granted by Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation [Georg Forster Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers] for RJG.Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are among the oldest pterygote insects, with the earliest fossils dating back to the Late Carboniferous. Within mayflies, Leptophlebiidae are a highly diverse and widespread group, with approximately 140 genera and 640 species. Whereas taxonomy, systematics, and phylogeny of extant Leptophlebiidae are in the focus of extensive studies, little is known about leptophlebiid fossil taxa. Because fossil remains of Ephemeroptera in sedimentary rocks are relatively rare, inclusions of mayflies in amber are a unique source of information on their evolution and diversity in the past. Leptophlebiidae found in Cenozoic resins mostly belong to the subfamilies Leptophlebiinae (in Eocene Baltic amber) and Atalophlebiinae (in Miocene Dominican and Mexican ambers). In the present contribution, we confirm the first finding of the genus Calliarcys from Eocene Baltic amber by using Micro-CT, which allowed confirming its generic placement by visualizing diagnostic key characters otherwise hidden by a cloud of turbidity. Additionally, we present first molecular data on the extant species Calliarcys humilis Eaton, 1881 from the Iberian Peninsula and the barcode gap analysis for Leptophlebiinae and Habrophlebiinae.Funding
Open access funding enabled and organized by the University of Łódź (Poland)Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (No. 21-05216S)Institute of
Entomology (Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences) RVO: 60077344Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation [Georg Forster Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers
Morphometric traits in the fine-leaved fescues depend on ploidy level: the case of Festuca amethystina L.
Background Polyploid specimens are usually characterized by greater exuberance: they reach larger sizes and/or have a larger number of some organs. Festuca amethystina L. belongs to the section Aulaxyper. Based on morphological features, four subspecies of F. amethystina have been already identified. On the other hand, it has two cytotypes: diploid and tetraploid. The main aim of our study was to distinguish morphological differences between the cytotypes of F. amethystina, assuming that its phenotype differs significantly. Methods The nuclear DNA content was measured by flow cytometry in dry leaves from specimens originating from 13 populations of F. amethystina. Several macrometric and micrometric traits of stems, spikelets and leaf blades were taken into account in the comparative analysis of two cytotypes. Results In the case of cytotypes, specimens of tetraploids were larger than diploids. The conducted morphometric analysis of leaf cross-sections showed significant differences between the cytotypes. Discussion The research has confirmed for the first time that in the case of F. amethystina the principle of greater exuberance of polyploids is true. Differences between the cytotypes are statistically significant, however, they are not enough to make easy the distinction of cytotypes on the basis of the measurements themselves. Our findings favor the rule known in Festuca taxonomy as a whole, i.e. that the ploidy level can be one of the main classification criteria