TY - JOUR A1 - Eckert, Silvia A1 - Herden, Jasmin A1 - Stift, Marc A1 - Joshi, Jasmin Radha A1 - van Kleunen, Mark T1 - Manipulation of cytosine methylation does not remove latitudinal clines in two invasive goldenrod species in Central Europe JF - Molecular ecology N2 - Invasive species frequently differentiate phenotypically in novel environments within a few generations, often even with limited genetic variation. For the invasive plants Solidago canadensis and S. gigantea, we tested whether such differentiation might have occurred through heritable epigenetic changes in cytosine methylation. In a 2-year common-garden experiment, we grew plants from seeds collected along a latitudinal gradient in their non-native Central European range to test for trait differentiation and whether differentiation disappeared when seeds were treated with the demethylation agent zebularine. Microsatellite markers revealed no population structure along the latitudinal gradient in S. canadensis, but three genetic clusters in S. gigantea. Solidago canadensis showed latitudinal clines in flowering phenology and growth. In S. gigantea, the number of clonal offspring decreased with latitude. Although zebularine had a significant effect on early growth, probably through effects on cytosine methylation, latitudinal clines remained (or even got stronger) in plants raised from seeds treated with zebularine. Thus, our experiment provides no evidence that epigenetic mechanisms by selective cytosine methylation contribute to the observed phenotypic differentiation in invasive goldenrods in Central Europe. KW - common‐garden experiment KW - epigenetic variation KW - microsatellites KW - Solidago canadensis KW - Solidago gigantea KW - zebularine Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15722 SN - 0962-1083 SN - 1365-294X VL - 30 IS - 1 SP - 222 EP - 236 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fiorentino, V. A1 - Manganelli, Giuseppe A1 - Giusti, Folco A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Ketmaier, Valerino T1 - A question of time the land snail Murella muralis (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) reveals constraints on past ecological speciation JF - Molecular ecology N2 - The lively debate about speciation currently focuses on the relative importance of factors driving population differentiation. While many studies are increasingly producing results on the importance of selection, little is known about the interaction between drift and selection. Moreover, there is still little knowledge on the spatial-temporal scales at which speciation occurs, that is, arrangement of habitat patches, abruptness of habitat transitions, climate and habitat changes interacting with selective forces. To investigate these questions, we quantified variation on a fine geographical scale analysing morphological (shell) and genetic data sets coupled with environmental data in the land snail Murella muralis, endemic to the Mediterranean island of Sicily. Analysis of a fragment of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) and eight nuclear microsatellite loci showed that genetic variation is highly structured at a very fine spatial scale by local palaeogeographical events and historical population dynamics. Molecular clock estimates, calibrated here specifically for Tyrrhenian land snails, provided a framework of palaeogeographical events responsible for the observed geographical variations and migration routes. Finally, we showed for the first time well-documented lines of evidence of selection in the past, which explains divergence of land snail shell shapes. We suggest that time and palaeogeographical history acted as constraints in the progress along the ecological speciation continuum. Our study shows that testing for correlation among palaeogeography, morphology and genetic data on a fine geographical scale provides information fundamental for a detailed understanding of ecological speciation processes. KW - allopatry KW - cytochrome oxidase I gene KW - ecological speciation KW - land snails KW - microsatellites KW - Murella Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12107 SN - 0962-1083 SN - 1365-294X VL - 22 IS - 1 SP - 170 EP - 186 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Pavesi, Laura A1 - Ketmaier, Valerio T1 - Patterns of genetics structuring and levels of differentiation in supralittoral talitrid amphipods - an overview JF - Crustaceana : international journal of crustacean research N2 - Talitrids are the only family within the order Amphipoda to have colonised supralittoral and terrestrial environments. They live in a variety of settings, from sandy to rocky and pebble beaches, to river and lake banks, and to leaf litter and caves. A common feature is the absence of a planktonic larval stage to facilitate passive dispersal over long-distances. However, some species have broad distributions. Genetic studies over the past 25 years have tried to explain this apparent contradiction by assessing patterns of species genetic structuring on different geographical scales. Here, we review the molecular studies available to date and focus on the population genetics of talitrids. Most of these studies considered populations in the Mediterranean area, but also along the Atlantic coast and in Canary Island caves. From this review, the group emerges as a potential model to understand processes of dispersal and divergence in non-highly-vagile supralittoral organisms. At the same time, studies on these issues are still too restricted geographically: a worldwide scale including different regions would provide us with a better perspective on these problems. KW - Supralittoral talitrids KW - dispersal KW - gene flow KW - allozymes KW - mitochondrial DNA KW - microsatellites Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1163/15685403-00003212 SN - 0011-216X VL - 86 IS - 7-8 SP - 890 EP - 907 PB - Brill CY - Leiden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stillfried, Milena A1 - Fickel, Jörns A1 - Börner, Konstantin A1 - Wittstatt, Ulrich A1 - Heddergott, Mike A1 - Ortmann, Sylvia A1 - Kramer-Schadt, Stephanie A1 - Frantz, Alain C. T1 - Do cities represent sources, sinks or isolated islands for urban wild boar population structure? JF - Journal of applied ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society KW - baps KW - Berlin KW - diyabc KW - human-wildlife conflict KW - hunting KW - microsatellites KW - movement barrier KW - source-sink dynamics KW - structure KW - urban ecology Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12756 SN - 0021-8901 SN - 1365-2664 VL - 54 IS - 1 SP - 272 EP - 281 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken 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 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Schneider, Anja R. R. A1 - Havenstein, Katja A1 - Blanck, Torsten A1 - Meier, Elmar A1 - Raffel, Martina A1 - Zwartepoorte, Henk A1 - Plath, Martin T1 - New microsatellite markers allow high-resolution taxon delimitation in critically endangered Asian box turtles, genus Cuora JF - Salamandra : German journal of herpetology N2 - We isolated and characterized 16 new di- and tetranudeotide microsatellite markers for the critically endangered Asian box turtle genus Cuora, focusing on the "Cuora trifasciata" species complex. The new markers were then used to analyse genetic variability and divergence amongst five described species within this complex, namely C. aurocapitata (n = 18), C. cyclornata (n = 31), C. pani (n = 6), C. trifasciata (n = 58), and C. zhoui (n = 7). Our results support the view that all five species represent valid taxa. Within two species (C. trifasciata and C. cyclornata), two distinct morphotypes were corroborated by microsatellite divergence. For three individuals, morphologically identified as being of hybrid origin, the hybrid status was confirmed by our genetic analysis. Our results confirm the controversial species (Cuora aurocapitata, C. cyclornata) and subspecies/morphotypes (C. cyclornata meieri, C. trifasciata cf. trifasciata) to be genetically distinct, which has critical implications for conservation strategies. KW - Testudines KW - Cuora KW - box turtles KW - captive breeding KW - conservation units KW - microsatellites Y1 - 2014 SN - 0036-3375 VL - 50 IS - 3 SP - 139 EP - 146 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Herpetologie und Terrarienkunde CY - Darmstadt ER -