TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen Rosemarie
A1  - Junginger, Annett
A1  - Olaka, Lydia A.
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Trauth, Martin H.
T1  - Environmental variability in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, over the last two centuries
JF  - Journal of paleolimnolog
N2  - Lake Naivasha, Kenya, is one of a number of freshwater lakes in the East African Rift System. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, it has experienced greater anthropogenic influence as a result of increasingly intensive farming of coffee, tea, flowers, and other horticultural crops within its catchment. The water-level history of Lake Naivasha over the past 200 years was derived from a combination of instrumental records and sediment data. In this study, we analysed diatoms in a lake sediment core to infer past lacustrine conductivity and total phosphorus concentrations. We also measured total nitrogen and carbon concentrations in the sediments. Core chronology was established by (210)Pb dating and covered a similar to 186-year history of natural (climatic) and human-induced environmental changes. Three stratigraphic zones in the core were identified using diatom assemblages. There was a change from littoral/epiphytic diatoms such as Gomphonema gracile and Cymbella muelleri, which occurred during a prolonged dry period from ca. 1820 to 1896 AD, through a transition period, to the present planktonic Aulacoseira sp. that favors nutrient-rich waters. This marked change in the diatom assemblage was caused by climate change, and later a strong anthropogenic overprint on the lake system. Increases in sediment accumulation rates since 1928, from 0.01 to 0.08 g cm(-2) year(-1) correlate with an increase in diatom-inferred total phosphorus concentrations since the beginning of the twentieth century. The increase in phosphorus accumulation suggests increasing eutrophication of freshwater Lake Naivasha. This study identified two major periods in the lake's history: (1) the period from 1820 to 1950 AD, during which the lake was affected mainly by natural climate variations, and (2) the period since 1950, during which the effects of anthropogenic activity overprinted those of natural climate variation.
KW  - Lake sediments
KW  - Diatoms
KW  - Conductivity
KW  - Lake Naivasha
KW  - Human impact
KW  - Eutrophication
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-011-9502-4
SN  - 0921-2728
VL  - 45
IS  - 3
SP  - 353
EP  - 367
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Struck, Torsten H.
A1  - Paul, Christiane
A1  - Hill, Natascha
A1  - Hartmann, Stefanie
A1  - Hoesel, Christoph
A1  - Kube, Michael
A1  - Lieb, Bernhard
A1  - Meyer, Achim
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Purschke, Guenter
A1  - Bleidorn, Christoph
T1  - Phylogenomic analyses unravel annelid evolution
JF  - Nature : the international weekly journal of science
N2  - Annelida, the ringed worms, is a highly diverse animal phylum that includes more than 15,000 described species and constitutes the dominant benthic macrofauna from the intertidal zone down to the deep sea. A robust annelid phylogeny would shape our understanding of animal body-plan evolution and shed light on the bilaterian ground pattern. Traditionally, Annelida has been split into two major groups: Clitellata (earthworms and leeches) and polychaetes (bristle worms), but recent evidence suggests that other taxa that were once considered to be separate phyla (Sipuncula, Echiura and Siboglinidae (also known as Pogonophora)) should be included in Annelida(1-4). However, the deep-level evolutionary relationships of Annelida are still poorly understood, and a robust reconstruction of annelid evolutionary history is needed. Here we show that phylogenomic analyses of 34 annelid taxa, using 47,953 amino acid positions, recovered a well-supported phylogeny with strong support for major splits. Our results recover chaetopterids, myzostomids and sipunculids in the basal part of the tree, although the position of Myzostomida remains uncertain owing to its long branch. The remaining taxa are split into two clades: Errantia (which includes the model annelid Platynereis), and Sedentaria (which includes Clitellata). Ancestral character trait reconstructions indicate that these clades show adaptation to either an errant or a sedentary lifestyle, with alteration of accompanying morphological traits such as peristaltic movement, parapodia and sensory perception. Finally, life history characters in Annelida seem to be phylogenetically informative.
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09864
SN  - 0028-0836
VL  - 471
IS  - 7336
SP  - 95
EP  - U113
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schwarte, Sandra
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
T1  - A Gene Duplication/Loss Event in the Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate-Carboxylase/Oxygenase (Rubisco) Small Subunit Gene Family among Accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana
JF  - Molecular biology and evolution
N2  - Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase; EC 4.1.1.39), the most abundant protein in nature, catalyzes the assimilation of CO(2) (worldwide about 10(11) t each year) by carboxylation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate. It is a hexadecamer consisting of eight large and eight small subunits. Although the Rubisco large subunit (rbcL) is encoded by a single gene on the multicopy chloroplast genome, the Rubisco small subunits (rbcS) are encoded by a family of nuclear genes. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the rbcS gene family comprises four members, that is, rbcS-1a, rbcS-1b, rbcS-2b, and rbcS-3b. We sequenced all Rubisco genes in 26 worldwide distributed A. thaliana accessions. In three of these accessions, we detected a gene duplication/loss event, where rbcS-1b was lost and substituted by a duplicate of rbcS-2b (called rbcS-2b*). By screening 74 additional accessions using a specific polymerase chain reaction assay, we detected five additional accessions with this duplication/loss event. In summary, we found the gene duplication/loss in 8 of 100 A. thaliana accessions, namely, Bch, Bu, Bur, Cvi, Fei, Lm, Sha, and Sorbo. We sequenced an about 1-kb promoter region for all Rubisco genes as well. This analysis revealed that the gene duplication/loss event was associated with promoter alterations (two insertions of 450 and 850 bp, one deletion of 730 bp) in rbcS-2b and a promoter deletion (2.3 kb) in rbcS-2b* in all eight affected accessions. The substitution of rbcS-1b by a duplicate of rbcS-2b (i.e., rbcS-2b*) might be caused by gene conversion. All four Rubisco genes evolve under purifying selection, as expected for central genes of the highly conserved photosystem of green plants. We inferred a single positive selected site, a tyrosine to aspartic acid substitution at position 72 in rbcS-1b. Exactly the same substitution compromises carboxylase activity in the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans. In A. thaliana, this substitution is associated with an inferred recombination. Functional implications of the substitution remain to be evaluated.
KW  - Arabidopsis thaliana
KW  - Arabidopsis lyrata
KW  - Rubisco
KW  - gene duplication
KW  - positive selection
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msr008
SN  - 0737-4038
VL  - 28
IS  - 6
SP  - 1861
EP  - 1876
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Paulus, Kirsten B.
A1  - Havenstein, Katja
A1  - Thorstensen, Sverrir
A1  - Petersen, Aevar
A1  - Lyngs, Peter
A1  - Milinkovitch, Michel C.
T1  - Alien eggs in duck nests brood parasitism or a help from Grandma?
JF  - Molecular ecology
N2  - Intraspecific brood parasitism (IBP) is a remarkable phenomenon by which parasitic females can increase their reproductive output by laying eggs in conspecific females' nests in addition to incubating eggs in their own nest. Kin selection could explain the tolerance, or even the selective advantage, of IBP, but different models of IBP based on game theory yield contradicting predictions. Our analyses of seven polymorphic autosomal microsatellites in two eider duck colonies indicate that relatedness between host and parasitizing females is significantly higher than the background relatedness within the colony. This result is unlikely to be a by-product of relatives nesting in close vicinity, as nest distance and genetic identity are not correlated. For eider females that had been ring-marked during the decades prior to our study, our analyses indicate that (i) the average age of parasitized females is higher than the age of nonparasitized females, (ii) the percentage of nests with alien eggs increases with the age of nesting females, (iii) the level of IBP increases with the host females' age, and (iv) the number of own eggs in the nest of parasitized females significantly decreases with age. IBP may allow those older females unable to produce as many eggs as they can incubate to gain indirect fitness without impairing their direct fitness: genetically related females specialize in their energy allocation, with young females producing more eggs than they can incubate and entrusting these to their older relatives. Intraspecific brood parasitism in ducks may constitute cooperation among generations of closely related females.
KW  - eider duck
KW  - indirect fitness
KW  - intraspecific brood parasitism
KW  - microsatellites
KW  - relatedness
KW  - Somateria mollissima
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05158.x
SN  - 0962-1083
VL  - 20
IS  - 15
SP  - 3237
EP  - 3250
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wiesner, Kerstin R.
A1  - Loxdale, Hugh D.
A1  - Köhler, Günter
A1  - Schneider, Anja R. R.
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Weisser, Wolfgang W.
T1  - Patterns of local and regional genetic structuring in the meadow grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: Acrididae), in Central Germany revealed using microsatellite markers
JF  - Biological journal of the Linnean Society : a journal of evolution
N2  - The meadow grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus (Zetterstedt), is common and widespread in Central Europe, with a low dispersal range per generation. A population study in Central Germany (Frankenwald and Thuringer Schiefergebirge) showed strong interpopulation differences in abundance and individual fitness. We examined genetic variability using microsatellite markers within and between 22 populations in a short-to long-distance sampling (19 populations, Frankenwald, Schiefergebirge, as well as a southern transect), and in the Erzgebirge region (three populations), with the latter aiming to check for effects as a result of historical forest cover. Of the 671 C. parallelus captured, none was macropterous (functionally winged). All populations showed a high level of expected and observed heterozygosity (mean 0.80-0.90 and 0.60-0.75, respectively), whereas there was evidence of inbreeding (F(IS) values all positive). Allelic richness for all locus-population combinations was high (mean 9.3-11.2), whereas alleles per locus ranged from 15-62. At a local level, genic and genotypic differences were significant. Pairwise F(ST) values were in the range 0.00-0.04, indicating little interpopulation genetic differentiation. Similarly, the calculated gene flow was very high, based on the respective F(ST) (19.5) and using private alleles (7.7). A Neighbour-joining tree using Nei's D(A) and principal coordinate analysis separated two populations that were collected in the Erzgebirge region. Populations from this region may have escaped the effects of the historical forest cover. The visualization of the spatial arrangement of genotypes revealed one geographical barrier to gene flow in the short-distance sampling.
KW  - adaptation
KW  - gene flow
KW  - diversity
KW  - landscape structure
KW  - wing polyphenism
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01698.x
SN  - 0024-4066
VL  - 103
IS  - 4
SP  - 875
EP  - 890
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Malden
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bonizzoni, Mariangela
A1  - Bourjea, Jerome
A1  - Chen, Bin
A1  - Crain, B. J.
A1  - Cui, Liwang
A1  - Fiorentino, V.
A1  - Hartmann, Stefanie
A1  - Hendricks, S.
A1  - Ketmaier, Valerio
A1  - Ma, Xiaoguang
A1  - Muths, Delphine
A1  - Pavesi, Laura
A1  - Pfautsch, Simone
A1  - Rieger, M. A.
A1  - Santonastaso, T.
A1  - Sattabongkot, Jetsumon
A1  - Taron, C. H.
A1  - Taron, D. J.
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Yan, Guiyun
A1  - Zheng, Bin
A1  - Zhong, Daibin
T1  - Permanent genetic resources added to molecular ecology resources database 1 April 2011-31 May 2011
JF  - Molecular ecology resources
N2  - This article documents the addition of 92 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Anopheles minimus, An. sinensis, An. dirus, Calephelis mutica, Lutjanus kasmira, Murella muralis and Orchestia montagui. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Calephelis arizonensi, Calephelis borealis, Calephelis nemesis, Calephelis virginiensis and Lutjanus bengalensis.
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03046.x
SN  - 1755-098X
VL  - 11
IS  - 5
SP  - 935
EP  - 936
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Malden
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Epp, Laura Saskia
A1  - Stoof-Leichsenring, Kathleen Rosemarie
A1  - Trauth, Martin H.
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
T1  - Molecular profiling of diatom assemblages in tropical lake sediments using taxon-specific PCR and Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (PCR-DHPLC)
JF  - Molecular ecology resources
N2  - Here we present a protocol to genetically detect diatoms in sediments of the Kenyan tropical Lake Naivasha, based on taxon-specific PCR amplification of short fragments (approximately 100 bp) of the small subunit ribosomal (SSU) gene and subsequent separation of species-specific PCR products by PCR-based denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC). An evaluation of amplicons differing in primer specificity to diatoms and length of the fragments amplified demonstrated that the number of different diatom sequence types detected after cloning of the PCR products critically depended on the specificity of the primers to diatoms and the length of the amplified fragments whereby shorter fragments yielded more species of diatoms. The DHPLC was able to discriminate between very short amplicons based on the sequence difference, even if the fragments were of identical length and if the amplicons differed only in a small number of nucleotides. Generally, the method identified the dominant sequence types from mixed amplifications. A comparison with microscopic analysis of the sediment samples revealed that the sequence types identified in the molecular assessment corresponded well with the most dominant species. In summary, the PCR-based DHPLC protocol offers a fast, reliable and cost-efficient possibility to study DNA from sediments and other environmental samples with unknown organismic content, even for very short DNA fragments.
KW  - diatoms
KW  - environmental DNA
KW  - lake sediments
KW  - PCR-DHPLC
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.03022.x
SN  - 1755-098X
VL  - 11
IS  - 5
SP  - 842
EP  - 853
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ziege, Madlen
A1  - Hennige-Schulz, Carmen
A1  - Muecksch, Frauke
A1  - Bierbach, David
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
A1  - Streit, Bruno
A1  - Plath, Martin
T1  - A comparison of two methods to assess audience-induced changes in male mate choice
JF  - Current zoology
N2  - Multidirectional communicative interactions in social networks can have a profound effect on mate choice behavior. Male Atlantic molly Poecilia mexicana exhibit weaker mating preferences when an audience male is presented. This could be a male strategy to reduce sperm competition risk: interacting more equally with different females may be advantageous because rivals might copy mate choice decisions. In line with this hypothesis, a previous study found males to show a strong audience effect when being observed while exercising mate choice, but not when the rival was presented only before the choice tests. Audience effects on mate choice decisions have been quantified in poeciliid fishes using association preference designs, but it remains unknown if patterns found from measuring association times translate into actual mating behavior. Thus, we created five audience treatments simulating different forms of perceived sperm competition risk and determined focal males' mating preferences by scoring pre-mating (nipping) and mating behavior (gonopodial thrusting). Nipping did not reflect the pattern that was found when association preferences were measured, while a very similar pattern was uncovered in thrusting behavior. The strongest response was observed when the audience could eavesdrop on the focal male's behavior. A reduction in the strength of focal males' preferences was also seen after the rival male had an opportunity to mate with the focal male's preferred mate. In comparison, the reduction of mating preferences in response to an audience was greater when measuring association times than actual mating behavior. While measuring direct sexual interactions between the focal male and both stimulus females not only the male's motivational state is reflected but also females' behavior such as avoidance of male sexual harassment.
KW  - Communication networks
KW  - Male mate choice
KW  - Non-independent mate choice
KW  - Sexual selection
KW  - Sperm competition risk
KW  - Audience effect
Y1  - 2012
SN  - 1674-5507
VL  - 58
IS  - 1
SP  - 84
EP  - 94
PB  - Current Zoology
CY  - Beijing
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Silva-Iturriza, Adriana
A1  - Ketmaier, Valerio
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
T1  - Profound population structure in the Philippine Bulbul Hypsipetes philippinus (Pycnonotidae, Ayes) is not reflected in its Haemoproteus haemosporidian parasite
JF  - Infection, genetics and evolution : journal of molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics and infectious diseases (MEEGID)
N2  - In this study we used molecular markers to screen for the occurrence and prevalence of the three most common haemosporidian genera (Haemoproteus, Plasmodium, and Leucocytozoon) in blood samples of the Philippine Bulbul (Hypsipetes philippinus), a thrush-size passerine bird endemic to the Philippine Archipelago. We then used molecular data to ask whether the phylogeographic patterns in this insular host-parasite system might follow similar evolutionary trajectories or not. We took advantage of a previous study describing the pattern of genetic structuring in the Philippine Bulbul across the Central Philippine Archipelago (6 islands, 7 populations and 58 individuals; three mitochondrial DNA genes). The very same birds were here screened for the occurrence of parasites by species-specific PCR assays of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (471 base pairs). Twenty-eight out of the 58 analysed birds had Haemoproteus (48%) infections while just 2% of the birds were infected with either Leucocytozoon or Plasmodium. Sixteen of the 28 birds carrying Haemoproteus had multiple infections. The phylogeography of the Philippine Bulbul mostly reflects the geographical origin of samples and it is consistent with the occurrence of two different subspecies on (1) Semirara and (2) Carabao, Boracay, North Gigante, Panay, and Negros, respectively. Haemoproteus phylogeography shows very little geographical structure, suggesting extensive gene flow among locations. While movements of birds among islands seem very sporadic, we found co-occurring evolutionary divergent parasite lineages. We conclude that historical processes have played a major role in shaping the host phylogeography, while they have left no signature in that of the parasites. Here ongoing population processes, possibly multiple reinvasions mediated by other hosts, are predominant.
KW  - Haemoproteus
KW  - Hypsipetes philippinus
KW  - Comparative phylogeography
KW  - mtDNA
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2011.10.024
SN  - 1567-1348
VL  - 12
IS  - 1
SP  - 127
EP  - 136
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Girndt, Antje
A1  - Riesch, Rüdiger
A1  - Schröder, Christiane
A1  - Sehlupp, Ingo
A1  - Plath, Martin
A1  - Tiedemann, Ralph
T1  - Multiple paternity in different populations of the sailfin molly, Poecilia latipinna
JF  - Animal biology
N2  - Rates of multiple paternities were investigated in the sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna), using eight microsatellite loci. Genotyping was performed for offspring and mothers in 40 broods from four allopatric populations from the south-eastern U.S.A. along a geographic stretch of 1200 km in west-east direction and approximately 200 km from north to south. No significant differences regarding rates of multiple paternities were found between populations despite sample populations stemming from ecologically divergent habitats. Even the most conservative statistical approach revealed a minimum of 70% of the broods being sired by at least two males, with an average of 1.80-2.95 putative fathers per brood. Within broods, one male typically sired far more offspring than would be expected under an assumed equal probability of all detected males siring offspring.
KW  - Promiscuity
KW  - mate choice
KW  - multiple paternity
KW  - sperm competition
KW  - Poeciliidae
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1163/157075611X618192
SN  - 1570-7555
VL  - 62
IS  - 3
SP  - 245
EP  - 262
PB  - Brill
CY  - Leiden
ER  -