Identifying hybridizing taxa within the Daphnia longispina species complex: a comparison of genetic methods and phenotypic approaches

Daphnia galeata Sars, D. longispina O. F. Muller and D. cucullata Sars (Crustacea: Cladocera) are closely related species which often produce interspecific hybrids in natural populations. Several marker systems are available for taxon determination in this hybridizing complex, but their performance and reliability has not been systematically assessed. We compared results from identifications by three molecular methods. More than 1,200 individuals from 10 localities in the Czech Republic were identified as parental species or hybrids by allozyme electrophoresis and the analysis of the restriction fragment length polymorphism of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS-RFLP); over 440 of them were additionally analyzed and identified by 12 microsatellite loci. Identification by microsatellite markers corresponded well with allozyme analyses. However, consistent discrepancies between ITS-RFLP and other markers were observed in two out of 10 studied localities. Although some marker discrepancies may have been caused by occasional recent introgression, consistent deviations between ITS-RFLP and other markers suggest a long-term maintenance of introgressed alleles. These results warn against its use as a sole identification method in field studies. Additionally, we quantitatively evaluated the discriminatory power of geometric morphometric (elliptic Fourier) analysis of body shapes based on photos of over 1,300 individuals pre-classified by allozyme markers. Furthermore, a randomly selected subset of 240 individuals was independently determined from photos by several experts. Despite a tendency for morphological divergence among parental Daphnia species, some taxa (especially D. galeata, D. longispina, and their hybrids) substantially overlapped in their body shapes. This was reflected in different determination success for particular species and hybrids in discriminant analysis based on shape data as well as from photograph

Evaluationsbericht Psychologie 2008:gemeinsamer Bericht über die Evaluationen der Lehrveranstaltungen, des B.Sc.-Studiengangs, der B.Sc.-Klausuren und der Auslandsaufenthalte im Fach Psychologie im WS 07/08 und SoSe 08

Dieser Bericht verknüpft alle am Fach Psychologie durchgeführten Evaluationen miteinander. Er enthält neben die Daten zur Lehrveranstaltungsevaluation, auch Ergebnisse der ersten Studiengangs- und Prüfungsevaluationen im B.Sc.-Studiengang, sowie eine Umfrage zu geplanten Auslandsaufenthalten. Diesen allen ist gemein, dass sie relevante Bereiche abdecken, in denen Studierende in unserem Fach Kompetenzen sammeln. Die Vernetzung dieser bisher teilweise eigenständigen, teilweise auch neuen Evaluationsbereiche soll kurzfristig dazu führen diese verschiedenen Quellen sichtbarer zu machen. Mittelfristig soll dadurch die Qualität der gesammelten Information erhöht werden. Wir erhoffen uns durch die Bündelung der Informationen auch einen einfacheren Überblick für Steuerung und Fortentwicklung im Fach Psychologie geben zu können

Evaluationsbericht Psychologie 2009:gemeinsamer Bericht über die Evaluationen im Fach Psychologie im WiSe 08/09 und SoSe 09 ; öffentliche Berichtsversion ohne Anhänge

<br

Strong differences in the clonal variation of two Daphnia species from mountain lakes affected by overwintering strategy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The population structure of cyclical parthenogens such as water fleas is strongly influenced by the frequency of alternations between sexual and asexual (parthenogenetic) reproduction, which may differ among populations and species. We studied genetic variation within six populations of two closely related species of water fleas of the genus <it>Daphnia </it>(Crustacea, Cladocera). <it>D. galeata </it>and <it>D. longispina </it>both occur in lakes in the Tatra Mountains (Central Europe), but their populations show distinct life history strategies in that region. In three studied lakes inhabited by <it>D. galeata</it>, daphnids overwinter under the ice as adult females. In contrast, in lakes inhabited by <it>D. longispina</it>, populations apparently disappear from the water column and overwinter as dormant eggs in lake sediments. We investigated to what extent these different strategies lead to differences in the clonal composition of late summer populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analysis of genetic variation at nine microsatellite loci revealed that clonal richness (expressed as the proportion of different multilocus genotypes, MLGs, in the whole analysed sample) consistently differed between the two studied species. In the three <it>D. longispina </it>populations, very high clonal richness was found (MLG/N ranging from 0.97 to 1.00), whereas in <it>D. galeata </it>it was much lower (0.05 to 0.50). The dominant MLGs in all <it>D. galeata </it>populations were heterozygous at five or more loci, suggesting that such individuals all represented the same clonal lineages rather than insufficiently resolved groups of different clones.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The low clonal diversities and significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in <it>D. galeata </it>populations were likely a consequence of strong clonal erosion over extended periods of time (several years or even decades) and the limited influence of sexual reproduction. Our data reveal that populations of closely related <it>Daphnia </it>species living in relatively similar habitats (permanent, oligotrophic mountain lakes) within the same region may show strikingly different genetic structures, which most likely depend on their reproductive strategy during unfavourable periods. We assume that similar impacts of life history on population structures are also relevant for other cyclical parthenogen groups. In extreme cases, prolonged clonal erosion may result in the dominance of a single clone within a population, which might limit its microevolutionary potential if selection pressures suddenly change.</p

Thermomechanical characterization of on-chip buckled dome Fabry-Perot microcavities

We report on the thermomechanical and thermal tuning properties of curved-mirror Fabry-Perot resonators, fabricated by the guided assembly of circular delamination buckles within a multilayer a-Si/SiO2 stack. Analytical models for temperature dependence, effective spring constants, and mechanical mode frequencies are described and shown to be in good agreement with experimental results. The cavities exhibit mode volumes as small as $\sim10\lambda^3$, reflectance-limited finesse $\sim3\times10^3$, and mechanical resonance frequencies in the MHz range. Monolithic cavity arrays of this type might be of interest for applications in sensing, cavity quantum electrodynamics, and optomechanics.Comment: \c{opyright} 2015 Optical Society of America. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibite

Discrimination of hybrid classes using cross-species amplification of microsatellite loci: methodological challenges and solutions in Daphnia

Microsatellite markers are important tools in population, conservation and forensic studies and are frequently used for species delineation, the detection of hybridization and introgression. Therefore, marker sets that amplify variable DNA regions in two species are required; however, cross-species amplification is often difficult, as genotyping errors such as null alleles may occur. To estimate the level of potential misidentifications based on genotyping errors, we compared the occurrence of parental alleles in laboratory and natural Daphnia hybrids (Daphnia longispina group). We tested a set of 12 microsatellite loci with regard to their suitability for unambiguous species and hybrid class identification using F1 hybrids bred in the laboratory. Further, a large set of 44 natural populations of D. cucullata, D. galeata and D. longispina (1715 individuals) as well as their interspecific hybrids were genotyped to validate the discriminatory power of different marker combinations. Species delineation using microsatellite multilocus genotypes produced reliable results for all three studied species using assignment tests. Daphnia galeata × cucullata hybrid detection was limited due to three loci exhibiting D. cucullata-specific null alleles, which most likely are caused by differences in primer-binding sites of parental species. Overall, discriminatory power in hybrid detection was improved when a subset of markers was identified that amplifies equally well in both species

ArF radiation resistance of optical coatings on CaF2 in relation to the surface finish of the substrate

CaF2 has received increasing attention as a promising substrate for coatings in the VUV range. Optimization of the optical properties of these optical components requires the study of basic characteristics of the coated and uncoated CaF2 substrates such as surface roughness, optical performance, absorption and scatter losses, and laser induced damage threshold. The investigations have revealed the influence of different substrate polishing grades on the quality of AR-193nm -and HR-193nm/0 degrees coated samples. LIDT values at the ArF-excimer laser wavelength were measured as high as 5.6 J/cm2 and 4.6 J/cm2 for the best AR- and HR-coated samples, respectively