@article{KobelHoellerGleyJochinkeetal.2018,
  author    = {Kobel-H{\"o}ller, Konstanze and Gley, Kevin and Jochinke, Janina and Heider, Kristina and Fritsch, Verena Nadin and Ha Viet Duc Nguyen, and Lischke, Timo and Radek, Renate and Baumgrass, Ria and Mutzel, Rupert and Thewes, Sascha},
  title     = {Calcineurin Silencing in Dictyostelium discoideum Leads to Cellular Alterations Affecting Mitochondria, Gene Expression, and Oxidative Stress Response},
  series = {Protist},
  volume    = {169},
  journal   = {Protist},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Elsevier GMBH},
  address   = {M{\"u}nchen},
  issn      = {1434-4610},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.protis.2018.04.004},
  pages     = {584 -- 602},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Calcineurin is involved in development and cell differentiation of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. However, since knockouts of the calcineurin-encoding genes are not possible in D. discoideum it is assumed that the phosphatase also plays a crucial role during vegetative growth of the amoebae. Therefore, we investigated the role of calcineurin during vegetative growth in D. discoideum. RNAi-silenced calcineurin mutants showed cellular alterations with an abnormal morphology of mitochondria and had increased content of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). In contrast, mitochondria showed no substantial functional impairment. Calcineurin-silencing led to altered expression of calcium-regulated genes as well as mitochondrially-encoded genes. Furthermore, genes related to oxidative stress were higher expressed in the mutants, which correlated to an increased resistance towards reactive oxygen species (ROS). Most of the changes observed during vegetative growth were not seen after starvation of the calcineurin mutants. We show that impairment of calcineurin led to many subtle, but in the sum crucial cellular alterations in vegetative D. discoideum cells. As these alterations were not observed after starvation we propose a dual role for calcineurin during growth and development. Our results imply that calcineurin is one player in the mutual interplay between mitochondria and ROS during vegetative growth.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{PaijmansBarlowFoersteretal.2018,
  author    = {Paijmans, Johanna L. A. and Barlow, Axel and F{\"o}rster, Daniel W. and Henneberger, Kirstin and Meyer, Matthias and Nickel, Birgit and Nagel, Doris and Wors{\o}e Havm{\o}ller, Rasmus and Baryshnikov, Gennady F. and Joger, Ulrich and Rosendahl, Wilfried and Hofreiter, Michael},
  title     = {Historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and its extinct Eurasian populations},
  series = {BMC Evolutionary Biology},
  volume    = {18},
  journal   = {BMC Evolutionary Biology},
  number    = {156},
  publisher = {BioMed Central und Springer},
  address   = {London, Berlin und Heidelberg},
  issn      = {1471-2148},
  doi       = {10.1186/s12862-018-1268-0},
  pages     = {12},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {Background Resolving the historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) is a complex issue, because patterns inferred from fossils and from molecular data lack congruence. Fossil evidence supports an African origin, and suggests that leopards were already present in Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene. Analysis of DNA sequences however, suggests a more recent, Middle Pleistocene shared ancestry of Asian and African leopards. These contrasting patterns led researchers to propose a two-stage hypothesis of leopard dispersal out of Africa: an initial Early Pleistocene colonisation of Asia and a subsequent replacement by a second colonisation wave during the Middle Pleistocene. The status of Late Pleistocene European leopards within this scenario is unclear: were these populations remnants of the first dispersal, or do the last surviving European leopards share more recent ancestry with their African counterparts? Results In this study, we generate and analyse mitogenome sequences from historical samples that span the entire modern leopard distribution, as well as from Late Pleistocene remains. We find a deep bifurcation between African and Eurasian mitochondrial lineages (~ 710 Ka), with the European ancient samples as sister to all Asian lineages (~ 483 Ka). The modern and historical mainland Asian lineages share a relatively recent common ancestor (~ 122 Ka), and we find one Javan sample nested within these. Conclusions The phylogenetic placement of the ancient European leopard as sister group to Asian leopards suggests that these populations originate from the same out-of-Africa dispersal which founded the Asian lineages. The coalescence time found for the mitochondrial lineages aligns well with the earliest undisputed fossils in Eurasia, and thus encourages a re-evaluation of the identification of the much older putative leopard fossils from the region. The relatively recent ancestry of all mainland Asian leopard lineages suggests that these populations underwent a severe population bottleneck during the Pleistocene. Finally, although only based on a single sample, the unexpected phylogenetic placement of the Javan leopard could be interpreted as evidence for exchange of mitochondrial lineages between Java and mainland Asia, calling for further investigation into the evolutionary history of this subspecies.},
  language  = {en}
}