TY - JOUR A1 - Nickerson, David A1 - Atalag, Koray A1 - de Bono, Bernard A1 - Geiger, Joerg A1 - Goble, Carole A1 - Hollmann, Susanne A1 - Lonien, Joachim A1 - Mueller, Wolfgang A1 - Regierer, Babette A1 - Stanford, Natalie J. A1 - Golebiewski, Martin A1 - Hunter, Peter T1 - The Human Physiome: how standards, software and innovative service infrastructures are providing the building blocks to make it achievable JF - Interface focus N2 - Reconstructing and understanding the Human Physiome virtually is a complex mathematical problem, and a highly demanding computational challenge. Mathematical models spanning from the molecular level through to whole populations of individuals must be integrated, then personalized. This requires interoperability with multiple disparate and geographically separated data sources, and myriad computational software tools. Extracting and producing knowledge from such sources, even when the databases and software are readily available, is a challenging task. Despite the difficulties, researchers must frequently perform these tasks so that available knowledge can be continually integrated into the common framework required to realize the Human Physiome. Software and infrastructures that support the communities that generate these, together with their underlying standards to format, describe and interlink the corresponding data and computer models, are pivotal to the Human Physiome being realized. They provide the foundations for integrating, exchanging and re-using data and models efficiently, and correctly, while also supporting the dissemination of growing knowledge in these forms. In this paper, we explore the standards, software tooling, repositories and infrastructures that support this work, and detail what makes them vital to realizing the Human Physiome. KW - Human Physiome KW - standards KW - repositories KW - service infrastructure KW - reproducible science KW - managing big data Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rsfs.2015.0103 SN - 2042-8898 SN - 2042-8901 VL - 6 SP - 57 EP - 61 PB - Royal Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Metz, Johannes A1 - Tielboerger, Katja T1 - Spatial and temporal aridity gradients provide poor proxies for plant-plant interactions under climate change: a large-scale experiment JF - Functional ecology : an official journal of the British Ecological Society N2 - 1. Plant-plant interactions may critically modify the impact of climate change on plant communities. However, the magnitude and even direction of potential future interactions remains highly debated, especially for water-limited ecosystems. Predictions range from increasing facilitation to increasing competition with future aridification. 2. The different methodologies used for assessing plant-plant interactions under changing environmental conditions may affect the outcome but they are not equally represented in the literature. Mechanistic experimental manipulations are rare compared with correlative approaches that infer future patterns from current observations along spatial climatic gradients. 3. Here, we utilize a unique climatic gradient in combination with a large-scale, long-term experiment to test whether predictions about plant-plant interactions yield similar results when using experimental manipulations, spatial gradients or temporal variation. We assessed shrub-annual interactions in three different sites along a natural rainfall gradient (spatial) during 9 years of varying rainfall (temporal) and 8 years of dry and wet manipulations of ambient rainfall (experimental) that closely mimicked regional climate scenarios. 4. The results were fundamentally different among all three approaches. Experimental water manipulations hardly altered shrub effects on annual plant communities for the assessed fitness parameters biomass and survival. Along the spatial gradient, shrub effects shifted from clearly negative to mildly facilitative towards drier sites, whereas temporal variation showed the opposite trend: more negative shrub effects in drier years. 5. Based on our experimental approach, we conclude that shrub-annual interaction will remain similar under climate change. In contrast, the commonly applied space-for-time approach based on spatial gradients would have suggested increasing facilitative effects with climate change. We discuss potential mechanisms governing the differences among the three approaches. 6. Our study highlights the critical importance of long-term experimental manipulations for evaluating climate change impacts. Correlative approaches, for example along spatial or temporal gradients, may be misleading and overestimate the response of plant-plant interactions to climate change. KW - annual plant communities KW - climate manipulation KW - competition KW - facilitation KW - Mediterranean shrubland KW - nurse plant KW - rainfall gradient KW - Sarcopoterium spinosum KW - semi-arid KW - stress-gradient hypothesis Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12599 SN - 0269-8463 SN - 1365-2435 VL - 30 SP - 20 EP - 29 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bilton, Mark C. A1 - Metz, Johannes A1 - Tielboerger, Katja T1 - Climatic niche groups: A novel application of a common assumption predicting plant community response to climate change JF - Perspectives in plant ecology, evolution and systematics N2 - Defining species by their climatic niche is the simple and intuitive principle underlying Bioclimatic Envelope Model (BEM) predictions for climate change effects. However, these correlative models are often criticised for neglecting many ecological processes. Here, we apply the same niche principle to entire communities within a medium/long-term climate manipulation study, where ecological processes are inherently included. In a nine generation study in Israel, we manipulated rainfall (Drought -30%; Irrigation +30%; Control natural rainfall) at two sites which differ chiefly in rainfall quantity and variability. We analysed community responses to the manipulations by grouping species based on their climatic rainfall niche. These responses were compared to analyses based on single species, total densities, and commonly used taxonomic groupings. Climate Niche Groups yielded clear and consistent results: within communities, those species distributed in drier regions performed relatively better in the drought treatment, and those from wetter climates performed better when irrigated. In contrast, analyses based on other principles revealed little insight into community dynamics. Notably, most relationships were weaker at the drier, more variable site, suggesting that enhanced adaptation to variability may buffer climate change impacts. We provide robust experimental evidence that using climatic niches commonly applied in BEMs is a valid approach for eliciting community changes in response to climate change. However, we also argue that additional empirical information needs to be gathered using experiments in situ to correctly assess community vulnerability. Climatic Niche Groups used in this way, may therefore provide a powerful tool and directional testing framework to generalise and compare climate change impacts across habitats. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH. KW - Annual plant communities KW - Bioclimatic envelope modelling KW - Climate change manipulations KW - Experimental evidence KW - Plant functional groups KW - Rainfall niche Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2016.02.006 SN - 1433-8319 VL - 19 SP - 61 EP - 69 PB - Elsevier CY - Jena ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Makowicz, Amber M. A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Steele, Rachel N. A1 - Schlupp, Ingo T1 - Kin Recognition in a Clonal Fish, Poecilia formosa JF - PLoS one N2 - Relatedness strongly influences social behaviors in a wide variety of species. For most species, the highest typical degree of relatedness is between full siblings with 50% shared genes. However, this is poorly understood in species with unusually high relatedness between individuals: clonal organisms. Although there has been some investigation into clonal invertebrates and yeast, nothing is known about kin selection in clonal vertebrates. We show that a clonal fish, the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), can distinguish between different clonal lineages, associating with genetically identical, sister clones, and use multiple sensory modalities. Also, they scale their aggressive behaviors according to the relatedness to other females: they are more aggressive to non-related clones. Our results demonstrate that even in species with very small genetic differences between individuals, kin recognition can be adaptive. Their discriminatory abilities and regulation of costly behaviors provides a powerful example of natural selection in species with limited genetic diversity. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0158442 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lah, Ljerka A1 - Trense, Daronja A1 - Benke, Harald A1 - Berggren, Per A1 - Gunnlaugsson, Porvaldur A1 - Lockyer, Christina A1 - Öztürk, Ayaka A1 - Öztürk, Bayram A1 - Pawliczka, Iwona A1 - Roos, Anna A1 - Siebert, Ursula A1 - Skora, Krzysztof A1 - Vikingsson, Gisli A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Spatially Explicit Analysis of Genome-Wide SNPs Detects Subtle Population Structure in a Mobile Marine Mammal, the Harbor Porpoise JF - PLoS one N2 - The population structure of the highly mobile marine mammal, the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), in the Atlantic shelf waters follows a pattern of significant isolation-by-distance. The population structure of harbor porpoises from the Baltic Sea, which is connected with the North Sea through a series of basins separated by shallow underwater ridges, however, is more complex. Here, we investigated the population differentiation of harbor porpoises in European Seas with a special focus on the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters, using a population genomics approach. We used 2872 single nucleotide polymor-phisms (SNPs), derived from double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq), as well as 13 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial haplotypes for the same set of individuals. Spatial principal components analysis (sPCA), and Bayesian clustering on a subset of SNPs suggest three main groupings at the level of all studied regions: the Black Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, we observed a distinct separation of the North Sea harbor porpoises from the Baltic Sea populations, and identified splits between porpoise populations within the Baltic Sea. We observed a notable distinction between the Belt Sea and the Inner Baltic Sea sub-regions. Improved delineation of harbor porpoise population assignments for the Baltic based on genomic evidence is important for conservation management of this endangered cetacean in threatened habitats, particularly in the Baltic Sea proper. In addition, we show that SNPs outperform microsatellite markers and demonstrate the utility of RAD-tags from a relatively small, opportunistically sampled cetacean sample set for population diversity and divergence analysis. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162792 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhu, Fangjun A1 - Schlupp, Ingo A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Sequence Evolution and Expression of the Androgen Receptor and Other Pathway-Related Genes in a Unisexual Fish, the Amazon Molly, Poecilia formosa, and Its Bisexual Ancestors JF - PLoS one N2 - The all-female Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) originated from a single hybridization of two bisexual ancestors, Atlantic molly (Poecilia mexicana) and sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna). As a gynogenetic species, the Amazon molly needs to copulate with a heterospecific male, but the genetic information of the sperm-donor does not contribute to the next generation, as the sperm only acts as the trigger for the diploid eggs’ embryogenesis. Here, we study the sequence evolution and gene expression of the duplicated genes coding for androgen receptors (ars) and other pathway-related genes, i.e., the estrogen receptors (ers) and cytochrome P450, family19, subfamily A, aromatase genes (cyp19as), in the Amazon molly, in comparison to its bisexual ancestors. Mollies possess–as most other teleost fish—two copies of the ar, er, and cyp19a genes, i.e., arα/arβ, erα/erβ1, and cyp19a1 (also referred as cyp19a1a)/cyp19a2 (also referred to as cyp19a1b), respectively. Non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among the ancestral bisexual species were generally predicted not to alter protein function. Some derived substitutions in the P. mexicana and one in P. formosa are predicted to impact protein function. We also describe the gene expression pattern of the ars and pathway-related genes in various tissues (i.e., brain, gill, and ovary) and provide SNP markers for allele specific expression research. As a general tendency, the levels of gene expression were lowest in gill and highest in ovarian tissues, while expression levels in the brain were intermediate in most cases. Expression levels in P. formosa were conserved where expression did not differ between the two bisexual ancestors. In those cases where gene expression levels significantly differed between the bisexual species, P. formosa expression was always comparable to the higher expression level among the two ancestors. Interestingly, erβ1 was expressed neither in brain nor in gill in the analyzed three molly species, which implies a more important role of erα in the estradiol synthesis pathway in these tissues. Furthermore, our data suggest that interactions of steroid-signaling pathway genes differ across tissues, in particular the interactions of ars and cyp19as. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156209 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 PB - PLoS CY - San Fransisco ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Marrone, F. A1 - Havenstein, Katja A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Ketmaier, V. T1 - Identification and characterization of five polymorphic microsatellite loci in the freshwater copepod Hemidiaptomus gurneyi (Copepoda: Calanoida: Diaptomidae) JF - The Italian journal of zoology N2 - Hemidiaptomus diaptomid copepods are known to be excellent biological indicators for the highly biodiverse crustacean communities inhabiting Mediterranean temporary ponds (MTPs), an endangered inland water habitat whose conservation is considered a priority according to the "Habitat Directive" of the European Union. This study reports on the characterization of five polymorphic microsatellite loci in Hemidiaptomus gurneyi, to be used as markers for fine-scale studies on the population genetic structure and metapopulation dynamics of a typical and obligate MTP dweller. The five selected loci proved to be polymorphic in the species, with three to five polymorphic loci per studied population. Overall, mean heterozygosity scored for all loci and populations was lower than that reported for the few other diaptomid species for which microsatellite loci have been to date described; this is possibly due to the intrinsically fragmented and isolated peculiar habitat inhabited by the species. Furthermore, the presence of indels within the flanking regions of selected loci was scored. This study, albeit confirming the technical difficulties in finding proper microsatellite markers in copepods, provides for the first time a set of useful polymorphic microsatellite loci for a Hemidiaptomus species, thus allowing the realization of fine-scale phylogeographic and population genetics studies of this flagship crustacean taxon for MTPs. KW - Mediterranean temporary ponds KW - diaptomid copepods KW - SSRs Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/11250003.2015.1126363 SN - 1125-0003 SN - 1748-5851 VL - 83 SP - 146 EP - 150 PB - Springer CY - Abingdon ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lah, Ljerka A1 - Trense, Daronja A1 - Benke, Harald A1 - Berggren, Per A1 - Gunnlaugsson, Þorvaldur A1 - Lockyer, Christina A1 - Öztürk, Ayaka A1 - Öztürk, Bayram A1 - Pawliczka, Iwona A1 - Roos, Anna A1 - Siebert, Ursula A1 - Skóra, Krzysztof A1 - Víkingsson, Gísli A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Spatially Explicit Analysis of Genome-Wide SNPs Detects Subtle Population Structure in a Mobile Marine Mammal, the Harbor Porpoise JF - PLoS one N2 - The population structure of the highly mobile marine mammal, the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), in the Atlantic shelf waters follows a pattern of significant isolation-by-distance. The population structure of harbor porpoises from the Baltic Sea, which is connected with the North Sea through a series of basins separated by shallow underwater ridges, however, is more complex. Here, we investigated the population differentiation of harbor porpoises in European Seas with a special focus on the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters, using a population genomics approach. We used 2872 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), derived from double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq), as well as 13 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial haplotypes for the same set of individuals. Spatial principal components analysis (sPCA), and Bayesian clustering on a subset of SNPs suggest three main groupings at the level of all studied regions: the Black Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, we observed a distinct separation of the North Sea harbor porpoises from the Baltic Sea populations, and identified splits between porpoise populations within the Baltic Sea. We observed a notable distinction between the Belt Sea and the Inner Baltic Sea sub-regions. Improved delineation of harbor porpoise population assignments for the Baltic based on genomic evidence is important for conservation management of this endangered cetacean in threatened habitats, particularly in the Baltic Sea proper. In addition, we show that SNPs outperform microsatellite markers and demonstrate the utility of RAD-tags from a relatively small, opportunistically sampled cetacean sample set for population diversity and divergence analysis. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162792 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 IS - 10 PB - PLoS CY - Lawrence, Kan. ER - TY - THES A1 - Zhu, Fangjun T1 - Gene evolution and expression patterns in the all-female fish Amazon molly: Poecilia formosa Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhu, Fangjun A1 - Schlupp, Ingo A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Sequence Evolution and Expression of the Androgen Receptor and Other Pathway-Related Genes in a Unisexual Fish, the Amazon Molly, Poecilia formosa, and Its Bisexual Ancestors JF - PLoS one N2 - The all-female Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) originated from a single hybridization of two bisexual ancestors, Atlantic molly (Poecilia mexicana) and sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna). As a gynogenetic species, the Amazon molly needs to copulate with a heterospecific male, but the genetic information of the sperm-donor does not contribute to the next generation, as the sperm only acts as the trigger for the diploid eggs’ embryogenesis. Here, we study the sequence evolution and gene expression of the duplicated genes coding for androgen receptors (ars) and other pathway-related genes, i.e., the estrogen receptors (ers) and cytochrome P450, family19, subfamily A, aromatase genes (cyp19as), in the Amazon molly, in comparison to its bisexual ancestors. Mollies possess–as most other teleost fish—two copies of the ar, er, and cyp19a genes, i.e., arα/arβ, erα/erβ1, and cyp19a1 (also referred as cyp19a1a)/cyp19a2 (also referred to as cyp19a1b), respectively. Non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among the ancestral bisexual species were generally predicted not to alter protein function. Some derived substitutions in the P. mexicana and one in P. formosa are predicted to impact protein function. We also describe the gene expression pattern of the ars and pathway-related genes in various tissues (i.e., brain, gill, and ovary) and provide SNP markers for allele specific expression research. As a general tendency, the levels of gene expression were lowest in gill and highest in ovarian tissues, while expression levels in the brain were intermediate in most cases. Expression levels in P. formosa were conserved where expression did not differ between the two bisexual ancestors. In those cases where gene expression levels significantly differed between the bisexual species, P. formosa expression was always comparable to the higher expression level among the two ancestors. Interestingly, erβ1 was expressed neither in brain nor in gill in the analyzed three molly species, which implies a more important role of erα in the estradiol synthesis pathway in these tissues. Furthermore, our data suggest that interactions of steroid-signaling pathway genes differ across tissues, in particular the interactions of ars and cyp19as. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0156209 SN - 1932-6203 VL - 11 IS - 6 PB - PLoS CY - Lawrence, Kan. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weyrich, Alexandra A1 - Benz, Stephanie A1 - Karl, Stephan A1 - Jeschek, Marie A1 - Jewgenow, Katarina A1 - Fickel, Jörns T1 - Paternal heat exposure causes DNA methylation and gene expression changes of Stat3 in Wild guinea pig sons JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - Epigenetic mechanisms convey environmental information through generations and can regulate gene expression. Epigenetic studies in wild mammals are rare, but enable understanding adaptation processes as they may occur in nature. In most wild mammal species, males are the dispersing sex and thus often have to cope with differing habitats and thermal changes more rapidly than the often philopatric females. As temperature is a major environmental selection factor, we investigated whether genetically heterogeneous Wild guinea pig (Cavia aperea) males adapt epigenetically to an increase in temperature, whether that response will be transmitted to the next generation(s), and whether it regulates mRNA expression. Five (F0) adult male guinea pigs were exposed to an increased ambient temperature for 2 months, corresponding to the duration of the species' spermatogenesis. To study the effect of heat, we focused on the main thermoregulatory organ, the liver. We analyzed CpG-methylation changes of male offspring (F1) sired before and after the fathers' heat treatment (as has recently been described in Weyrich et al. [Mol. Ecol., 2015]). Transcription analysis was performed for the three genes with the highest number of differentially methylated changes detected: the thermoregulation gene Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (Stat3), the proteolytic peptidase gene Cathepsin Z (Ctsz), and Sirtuin 6 (Sirt6) with function in epigenetic regulation. Stat3 gene expression was significantly reduced (P < 0.05), which indicated a close link between CpG-methylation and expression levels for this gene. The two other genes did not show gene expression changes. Our results indicate the presence of a paternal transgenerational epigenetic effect. Quick adaptation to climatic changes may become increasingly relevant for the survival of wildlife species as global temperatures are rising. KW - Adaptation KW - DNA methylation KW - nonmodel species KW - Paternal effects KW - thermoregulation KW - transgenerational epigenetic inheritance Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1993 SN - 2045-7758 VL - 6 SP - 2657 EP - 2666 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weyrich, Alexandra A1 - Lenz, Dorina A1 - Jeschek, Marie A1 - Tzu Hung Chung, A1 - Ruebensam, Kathrin A1 - Goeritz, Frank A1 - Jewgenow, Katarina A1 - Fickel, Jörns T1 - Paternal intergenerational epigenetic response to heat exposure in male Wild guinea pigs JF - Molecular ecology N2 - Epigenetic modifications, of which DNA methylation is the best studied one, can convey environmental information through generations via parental germ lines. Past studies have focused on the maternal transmission of epigenetic information to the offspring of isogenic mice and rats in response to external changes, whereas heterogeneous wild mammals as well as paternal epigenetic effects have been widely neglected. In most wild mammal species, males are the dispersing sex and have to cope with differing habitats and thermal changes. As temperature is a major environmental factor we investigated if genetically heterogeneous Wild guinea pig (Cavia aperea) males can adapt epigenetically to an increase in temperature and if that response will be transmitted to the next generation(s). Five adult male guinea pigs (F0) were exposed to an increased ambient temperature for 2 months, i.e. the duration of spermatogenesis. We studied the liver (as the main thermoregulatory organ) of F0 fathers and F1 sons, and testes of F1 sons for paternal transmission of epigenetic modifications across generation(s). Reduced representation bisulphite sequencing revealed shared differentially methylated regions in annotated areas between F0 livers before and after heat treatment, and their sons’ livers and testes, which indicated a general response with ecological relevance. Thus, paternal exposure to a temporally limited increased ambient temperature led to an ‘immediate’ and ‘heritable’ epigenetic response that may even be transmitted to the F2 generation. In the context of globally rising temperatures epigenetic mechanisms may become increasingly relevant for the survival of species. KW - adaptation KW - Cavia aperea KW - DNA methylation KW - environmental factor KW - global change KW - plasticity KW - temperature increase Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.13494 SN - 0962-1083 SN - 1365-294X VL - 25 SP - 1729 EP - 1740 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - THES A1 - Breuer, David T1 - The plant cytoskeleton as a transportation network T1 - Modellierung des pflanzliche Zytoskeletts als Transportnetzwerk N2 - The cytoskeleton is an essential component of living cells. It is composed of different types of protein filaments that form complex, dynamically rearranging, and interconnected networks. The cytoskeleton serves a multitude of cellular functions which further depend on the cell context. In animal cells, the cytoskeleton prominently shapes the cell's mechanical properties and movement. In plant cells, in contrast, the presence of a rigid cell wall as well as their larger sizes highlight the role of the cytoskeleton in long-distance intracellular transport. As it provides the basis for cell growth and biomass production, cytoskeletal transport in plant cells is of direct environmental and economical relevance. However, while knowledge about the molecular details of the cytoskeletal transport is growing rapidly, the organizational principles that shape these processes on a whole-cell level remain elusive. This thesis is devoted to the following question: How does the complex architecture of the plant cytoskeleton relate to its transport functionality? The answer requires a systems level perspective of plant cytoskeletal structure and transport. To this end, I combined state-of-the-art confocal microscopy, quantitative digital image analysis, and mathematically powerful, intuitively accessible graph-theoretical approaches. This thesis summarizes five of my publications that shed light on the plant cytoskeleton as a transportation network: (1) I developed network-based frameworks for accurate, automated quantification of cytoskeletal structures, applicable in, e.g., genetic or chemical screens; (2) I showed that the actin cytoskeleton displays properties of efficient transport networks, hinting at its biological design principles; (3) Using multi-objective optimization, I demonstrated that different plant cell types sustain cytoskeletal networks with cell-type specific and near-optimal organization; (4) By investigating actual transport of organelles through the cell, I showed that properties of the actin cytoskeleton are predictive of organelle flow and provided quantitative evidence for a coordination of transport at a cellular level; (5) I devised a robust, optimization-based method to identify individual cytoskeletal filaments from a given network representation, allowing the investigation of single filament properties in the network context. The developed methods were made publicly available as open-source software tools. Altogether, my findings and proposed frameworks provide quantitative, system-level insights into intracellular transport in living cells. Despite my focus on the plant cytoskeleton, the established combination of experimental and theoretical approaches is readily applicable to different organisms. Despite the necessity of detailed molecular studies, only a complementary, systemic perspective, as presented here, enables both understanding of cytoskeletal function in its evolutionary context as well as its future technological control and utilization. N2 - Das Zytoskelett ist ein notwendiger Bestandteil lebender Zellen. Es besteht aus verschiedenen Arten von Proteinfilamenten, die ihrerseits komplexe, sich dynamisch reorganisierende und miteinander verknüpfte Netzwerke bilden. Das Zytoskelett erfüllt eine Vielzahl von Funktionen in der Zelle. In Tierzellen bestimmt das Aktin-Zytoskelett maßgeblich die mechanischen Zelleigenschaften und die Zellbewegung. In Pflanzenzellen hingegen kommt dem Aktin-Zytoskelett eine besondere Bedeutung in intrazellulären Transportprozessen zu, bedingt insbesondere durch die starre pflanzliche Zellwand sowie die Zellgröße. Als wesentlicher Faktor für Zellwachstum und somit auch die Produktion von Biomasse, ist Zytoskelett-basierter Transport daher von unmittelbarer ökologischer und ökonomischer Bedeutung. Während das Wissen über die molekularen Grundlagen Zytoskelett-basierter Transportprozesse beständig wächst, sind die zugrunde liegenden Prinzipien zellweiter Organisation bisher weitgehend unbekannt. Diese Dissertation widmet sich daher folgender Frage: Wie hängt die komplexe Architektur des pflanzlichen Zytoskeletts mit seiner intrazellulären Transportfunktion zusammen? Eine Antwort auf diese Frage erfordert eine systemische Perspektive auf Zytoskelettstruktur und -transport. Zu diesem Zweck habe ich Mikroskopiedaten mit hoher raumzeitlicher Auflösung sowie Computer-gestützte Bildanalysen und mathematische Ansätzen der Graphen- und Netzwerktheorie kombiniert. Die vorliegende Dissertation umfasst fünf meiner Publikationen, die sich einem systemischen Verständnis des pflanzlichen Zytoskeletts als Transportnetzwerk widmen: (1) Dafür habe ich Bilddaten-basierte Netzwerkmodelle entwickelt, die eine exakte und automatisierte Quantifizierung der Architektur des Zytoskeletts ermöglichen. Diese Quantifizierung kann beispielsweise in genetischen oder chemischen Versuchen genutzt werden und für eine weitere Erforschung der genetischen Grundlagen und möglicher molekularer Interaktionspartner des Zytoskeletts hilfreich sein; (2) Ich habe nachgewiesen, dass das pflanzliche Aktin-Zytoskelett Eigenschaften effizienter Transportnetzwerk aufweist und Hinweise auf seine evolutionären Organisationsprinzipien liefert; (3) Durch die mathematische Optimierung von Transportnetzwerken konnte ich zeigen, dass unterschiedliche Pflanzenzelltypen spezifische und optimierte Organisationsstrukturen des Aktin-Zytoskeletts aufweisen; (4) Durch quantitative Analyse des Transports von Organellen in Pflanzenzellen habe ich nachgewiesen, dass sich Transportmuster ausgehend von der Struktur des Aktin-Zytoskeletts vorhersagen lassen. Dabei spielen sowohl die Organisation des Zytoskeletts auf Zellebene als auch seine Geometrie eine zentrale Rolle. (5) Schließlich habe ich eine robuste, optimierungs-basierte Methode entwickelt, die es erlaubt, individuelle Filamente eines Aktin-Netzwerks zu identifizieren. Dadurch ist es möglich, die Eigenschaften einzelner Zytoskelettfilamente im zellulären Kontext zu untersuchen. Die im Zuge dieser Dissertation entwickelten Methoden wurden frei und quelloffen als Werkzeuge zur Beantwortung verwandter Fragestellung zugänglich gemacht. Insgesamt liefern die hier präsentierten Ergebnisse und entwickelten Methoden quantitative, systemische Einsichten in die Transportfunktion des Zytoskeletts. Die hier etablierte Kombination von experimentellen und theoretischen Ansätzen kann, trotz des Fokusses auf das pflanzliche Zytoskelett, direkt auf andere Organismen angewendet werden. Als Ergänzung molekularer Studien bildet ein systemischer Blickwinkel, wie er hier entwickelt wurde, die Grundlage für ein Verständnis sowohl des evolutionären Kontextes als auch zukünftiger Kontroll- und Nutzungsmöglichkeiten des pflanzlichen Zytoskeletts. KW - systems biology KW - mathematical modeling KW - cytoskeleton KW - plant science KW - graph theory KW - image analysis KW - Systembiologie KW - mathematische Modellierung KW - Zytoskelett KW - Zellbiologie KW - Graphtheorie KW - Bildanalyse Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93583 ER - TY - THES A1 - Nietzsche, Madlen T1 - Identifizierung und Charakterisierung neuer Komponenten der SnRK1-Signaltransduktion in Arabidopsis thaliana T1 - Identification and characterization of novel components of SnRK1-Signalling in Arabidopsis thaliana N2 - Für alle Organismen ist die Aufrechterhaltung ihres energetischen Gleichgewichts unter fluktuierenden Umweltbedingungen lebensnotwendig. In Eukaryoten steuern evolutionär konservierte Proteinkinasen, die in Pflanzen als SNF1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE1 (SnRK1) bezeichnet werden, die Adaption an Stresssignale aus der Umwelt und an die Limitierung von Nährstoffen und zellulärer Energie. Die Aktivierung von SnRK1 bedingt eine umfangreiche transkriptionelle Umprogrammierung, die allgemein zu einer Repression energiekonsumierender Prozesse wie beispielsweise Zellteilung und Proteinbiosynthese und zu einer Induktion energieerzeugender, katabolischer Stoffwechselwege führt. Wie unterschiedliche Signale zu einer generellen sowie teilweise gewebe- und stressspezifischen SnRK1-vermittelten Antwort führen ist bisher noch nicht ausreichend geklärt, auch weil bislang nur wenige Komponenten der SnRK1-Signaltransduktion identifiziert wurden. In dieser Arbeit konnte ein Protein-Protein-Interaktionsnetzwerk um die SnRK1αUntereinheiten aus Arabidopsis AKIN10/AKIN11 etabliert werden. Dadurch wurden zunächst Mitglieder der pflanzenspezifischen DUF581-Proteinfamilie als Interaktionspartner der SnRK1α-Untereinheiten identifiziert. Diese Proteine sind über ihre konservierte DUF581Domäne, in der ein Zinkfinger-Motiv lokalisiert ist, fähig mit AKIN10/AKIN11 zu interagieren. In planta Ko-Expressionsanalysen zeigten, dass die DUF581-Proteine eine Verschiebung der nucleo-cytoplasmatischen Lokalisierung von AKIN10 hin zu einer nahezu ausschließlichen zellkernspezifischen Lokalisierung begünstigen sowie die Ko-Lokalisierung von AKIN10 und DUF581-Proteinen im Nucleus. In Bimolekularen Fluoreszenzkomplementations-Analysen konnte die zellkernspezifische Interaktion von DUF581-Proteinen mit SnRK1α-Untereinheiten in planta bestätigt werden. Außerhalb der DUF581-Domäne weisen die Proteine einander keine große Sequenzähnlichkeit auf. Aufgrund ihrer Fähigkeit mit SnRK1 zu interagieren, dem Fehlen von SnRK1Phosphorylierungsmotiven sowie ihrer untereinander sehr variabler gewebs-, entwicklungs- und stimulusspezifischer Expression wurde für DUF581-Proteine eine Funktion als Adaptoren postuliert, die unter bestimmten physiologischen Bedingungen spezifische Substratproteine in den SnRK1-Komplex rekrutieren. Auf diese Weise könnten DUF581Proteine die Interaktion von SnRK1 mit deren Zielproteinen modifizieren und eine Feinjustierung der SnRK1-Signalweiterleitung ermöglichen. Durch weiterführende Interaktionsstudien konnten DUF581-interagierende Proteine darunter Transkriptionsfaktoren, Proteinkinasen sowie regulatorische Proteine gefunden werden, die teilweise ebenfalls Wechselwirkungen mit SnRK1α-Untereinheiten aufzeigten. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde eines dieser Proteine für das eine Beteiligung an der SnRK1Signalweiterleitung als Transkriptionsregulator vermutet wurde näher charakterisiert. STKR1 (STOREKEEPER RELATED 1), ein spezifischer Interaktionspartner von DUF581-18, gehört zu einer pflanzenspezifischen Leucin-Zipper-Transkriptionsfaktorfamilie und interagiert in Hefe sowie in planta mit SnRK1. Die zellkernspezifische Interaktion von STKR1 und AKIN10 in Pflanzen unterstützt die Vermutung der kooperativen Regulation von Zielgenen. Weiterhin stabilisierte die Anwesenheit von AKIN10 die Proteingehalte von STKR1, das wahrscheinlich über das 26S Proteasom abgebaut wird. Da es sich bei STKR1 um ein Phosphoprotein mit SnRK1-Phosphorylierungsmotiv handelt, stellt es sehr wahrscheinlich ein SnRK1-Substrat dar. Allerdings konnte eine SnRK1-vermittelte Phosphorylierung von STKR1 in dieser Arbeit nicht gezeigt werden. Der Verlust von einer Phosphorylierungsstelle beeinflusste die Homo- und Heterodimerisierungsfähigkeit von STKR1 in Hefeinteraktionsstudien, wodurch eine erhöhte Spezifität der Zielgenregulation ermöglicht werden könnte. Außerdem wurden Arabidopsis-Pflanzen mit einer veränderten STKR1-Expression phänotypisch, physiologisch und molekularbiologisch charakterisiert. Während der Verlust der STKR1-Expression zu Pflanzen führte, die sich kaum von Wildtyp-Pflanzen unterschieden, bedingte die konstitutive Überexpression von STKR1 ein stark vermindertes Pflanzenwachstum sowie Entwicklungsverzögerungen hinsichtlich der Blühinduktion und Seneszenz ähnlich wie sie auch bei SnRK1α-Überexpression beschrieben wurden. Pflanzen dieser Linien waren nicht in der Lage Anthocyane zu akkumulieren und enthielten geringere Gehalte an Chlorophyll und Carotinoiden. Neben einem erhöhten nächtlichen Stärkeumsatz waren die Pflanzen durch geringere Saccharosegehalte im Vergleich zum Wildtyp gekennzeichnet. Eine Transkriptomanalyse ergab, dass in den STKR1-überexprimierenden Pflanzen unter Energiemangelbedingungen, hervorgerufen durch eine verlängerte Dunkelphase, eine größere Anzahl an Genen im Vergleich zum Wildtyp differentiell reguliert war als während der Lichtphase. Dies spricht für eine Beteiligung von STKR1 an Prozessen, die während der verlängerten Dunkelphase aktiv sind. Ein solcher ist beispielsweise die SnRK1-Signaltransduktion, die unter energetischem Stress aktiviert wird. Die STKR1Überexpression führte zudem zu einer verstärkten transkriptionellen Induktion von Abwehrassoziierten Genen sowie NAC- und WRKY-Transkriptionsfaktoren nach verlängerter Dunkelphase. Die Transkriptomdaten deuteten auf eine stimulusunabhängige Induktion von Abwehrprozessen hin und konnten eine Erklärung für die phänotypischen und physiologischen Auffälligkeiten der STKR1-Überexprimierer liefern. N2 - For all living organism maintenance of energy homeostasis under changing environmental conditions is indispensable. In eukaryotes, evolutionary conserved protein kinases, such as the SNF1-RELATED PROTEIN KINASE1 (SnRK1) in plants, integrate environmental stress signals, nutrient availability and energy depletion during adaptational responses. Activation of SnRK1 triggers a broad transcriptional reprogramming, which in general represses energy consuming processes such as proliferation and protein biosynthesis and induces energy producing catabolic pathways. Although SnRK1 acts as a convergent point for many different environmental and metabolic signals to control growth and development, it is currently unknown how these many different signals could be translated into a cell-type or stimulusspecific response. This is also due to the fact that only a few proteins participating in SnRK1 signal transduction have yet been identified. In this work, a protein-protein interaction network of the Arabidopsis SnRK1α-subunits AKIN10/AKIN11 was established. Thereby, members of the plant specific DUF581 protein family were identified as SnRK1α interacting proteins. The highly conserved DUF581 domain possesses a zinc finger motif and mediates the interaction with AKIN10/AKIN11. In planta co-expression of AKIN10 with DUF581 proteins leads to a shift of subcellular localization from a nucleo-cytoplasmic distribution of both proteins to a nearly exclusive nuclear localization and show that AKIN10 and DUF581 proteins co-localize in nuclei of plant cells. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis revealed that SnRK1α-subunits interact with DUF581 proteins in plants. Apart from their DUF581 domain there is no strong sequence similarity between DUF581 proteins. Because of their ability to interact with SnRK1, the absence of SnRK1-target motifs and their highly variable transcriptional regulation in a tissue-, development- or stimuli-specific manner, it is possible that DUF581 proteins act as adaptor proteins recruiting substrate proteins into the SnRK1 complex under defined physiological conditions. That said, DUF581 could modify the interaction of SnRK1 with its target proteins and facilitate fine-tuning of SnRK1 signal transduction. Additional interaction studies revealed further DUF581 interacting proteins such as transcription factors, protein kinases and regulatory proteins that in part were also able to interact with SnRK1α. One of these proteins which is supposed to be involved in SnRK1 signaling as a transcriptional regulator was characterized in more detail: Arabidopsis STKR1 (STOREKEPPER RELATED 1) a DUF581-18 interaction partner belongs to a plant specific leucine zipper transcription factor family and is able to interact with SnRK1 in yeast and in planta. Co-operative regulation of target genes by STKR1 and AKIN10 is supported by the specific interaction of these proteins inside the plant nucleus. Furthermore, AKIN10 seems to stabilize protein levels of STKR1 in that it attenuates its proteasomal turnover. Due to the fact that STKR1 is a phosphoprotein with putative SnRK1 target motives it is likely a SnRK1 substrate. However, SnRK1 mediated phosphorylation of STKR1 could not be shown in this work. Though, interaction studies in yeast revealed that a loss of putative phosphorylation sites influences the ability of homo- and hetero-dimerization of STKR1, possibly allowing a higher specificity during target gene regulation. Another part of this work was the phenotypic, physiological and molecular characterization of Arabidopsis plants with altered expression of STKR1. Whereas the absence of STKR1 expression results in plants without strong phenotypic abnormality compared to wildtype the overexpression leads to a strong decrease in plant growth as well as developmental retardations regarding to the induction of flowering and senescence reminiscent of SnRK1overexpressing plants. Plants of these lines were not able to accumulate anthocyanins and also contain reduced levels of chlorophyll and carotenoids. Besides a higher starch turnover in dark, these plants displayed lower sucrose contents. Microarray analysis revealed that under energy deficit stress, induced by extended darkness, a higher number of genes were differentially regulated in plants overexpressing STKR1 compared to wildtype than during the light period. This observation argues for a participation of STKR1 in processes, which are active under extended darkness, being the case for SnRK1 signaling which is strongly activated under energy deficient stress. Overexpression of STKR1 also leads to transcriptional induction of genes associated with defense like NAC and WRKY transcription factors after an extended dark. Results of transcriptome data analysis indicate a stimulus independent induction of defense associated processes and are suitable to explain phenotypical and physiological abnormality of the STKR1 overexpressing lines. KW - SnRK1 KW - Proteinkinase KW - Phosphorylierung KW - Arabidopsis thaliana KW - Energiemangel KW - phosphorylation KW - energy starvation KW - protein kinase Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-98678 ER - TY - THES A1 - Kloß, Lena T1 - The link between genetic diversity and species diversity BT - patterns and processes in plants of agriculturally managed grassland Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Bolger, Anthony T1 - Sequencing the Genome of the stress-tolerant wild tomato Solanum pennellii and Novel Algorithms motivated thereby Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Dotzek, Jana T1 - Mitochondria in the genus Oenothera - Non-Mendelian inheritance patterns, in vitro structure and evolutionary dynamics Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Klauschies, Toni A1 - Vasseur, David A. A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - Trait adaptation promotes species coexistence in diverse predator and prey communities JF - Ecology and evolution N2 - Species can adjust their traits in response to selection which may strongly influence species coexistence. Nevertheless, current theory mainly assumes distinct and time-invariant trait values. We examined the combined effects of the range and the speed of trait adaptation on species coexistence using an innovative multispecies predator–prey model. It allows for temporal trait changes of all predator and prey species and thus simultaneous coadaptation within and among trophic levels. We show that very small or slow trait adaptation did not facilitate coexistence because the stabilizing niche differences were not sufficient to offset the fitness differences. In contrast, sufficiently large and fast trait adaptation jointly promoted stable or neutrally stable species coexistence. Continuous trait adjustments in response to selection enabled a temporally variable convergence and divergence of species traits; that is, species became temporally more similar (neutral theory) or dissimilar (niche theory) depending on the selection pressure, resulting over time in a balance between niche differences stabilizing coexistence and fitness differences promoting competitive exclusion. Furthermore, coadaptation allowed prey and predator species to cluster into different functional groups. This equalized the fitness of similar species while maintaining sufficient niche differences among functionally different species delaying or preventing competitive exclusion. In contrast to pre- vious studies, the emergent feedback between biomass and trait dynamics enabled supersaturated coexistence for a broad range of potential trait adaptation and parameters. We conclude that accounting for trait adaptation may explain stable and supersaturated species coexistence for a broad range of environmental conditions in natural systems when the absence of such adaptive changes would preclude it. Small trait changes, coincident with those that may occur within many natural populations, greatly enlarged the number of coexisting species. KW - Coadaptation KW - equalizing and stabilizing mechanisms KW - maintenance of functional diversity KW - niche and fitness differences KW - supersaturated species coexistence KW - trait convergence and divergence Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2172 SN - 2045-7758 PB - John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ER - TY - GEN A1 - Klauschies, Toni A1 - Vasseur, David A. A1 - Gaedke, Ursula T1 - Trait adaptation promotes species coexistence in diverse predator and prey communities N2 - Species can adjust their traits in response to selection which may strongly influence species coexistence. Nevertheless, current theory mainly assumes distinct and time-invariant trait values. We examined the combined effects of the range and the speed of trait adaptation on species coexistence using an innovative multispecies predator–prey model. It allows for temporal trait changes of all predator and prey species and thus simultaneous coadaptation within and among trophic levels. We show that very small or slow trait adaptation did not facilitate coexistence because the stabilizing niche differences were not sufficient to offset the fitness differences. In contrast, sufficiently large and fast trait adaptation jointly promoted stable or neutrally stable species coexistence. Continuous trait adjustments in response to selection enabled a temporally variable convergence and divergence of species traits; that is, species became temporally more similar (neutral theory) or dissimilar (niche theory) depending on the selection pressure, resulting over time in a balance between niche differences stabilizing coexistence and fitness differences promoting competitive exclusion. Furthermore, coadaptation allowed prey and predator species to cluster into different functional groups. This equalized the fitness of similar species while maintaining sufficient niche differences among functionally different species delaying or preventing competitive exclusion. In contrast to previous studies, the emergent feedback between biomass and trait dynamics enabled supersaturated coexistence for a broad range of potential trait adaptation and parameters. We conclude that accounting for trait adaptation may explain stable and supersaturated species coexistence for a broad range of environmental conditions in natural systems when the absence of such adaptive changes would preclude it. Small trait changes, coincident with those that may occur within many natural populations, greatly enlarged the number of coexisting species. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 227 KW - Coadaptation KW - equalizing and stabilizing mechanisms KW - maintenance of functional diversity KW - niche and fitness differences KW - supersaturated species coexistence KW - trait convergence and divergence Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-91498 SN - 1866-8372 ER - TY - THES A1 - Beltran, Juan Camilo Moreno T1 - Characterization of the Clp protease complex and identification of putative substrates in N. tabacum Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Klauschies, Toni T1 - Revealing causes and consequences of functional diversity using trait-based models Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Zhang, Youjun T1 - Investigation of the TCA cycle and glycolytic metabolons and their physiological impacts in plants Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Reinecke, Antje Adriana T1 - Impact of protein structure on the mechanics and assembly of mytilus byssal threads Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Shahnejat-Bushehri, Sara T1 - Unravelling the role of the Arabidopsis NAC transcription factor JUNGBRUNNEN1 (JUB1) for the regulation of growth and stress responses Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Makower, Katharina T1 - The roles of secondary metabolites in microcystis inter-strain interactions T1 - Die Rolle von Sekundärmetaboliten in den Wechselbeziehungen zwischen Microcystis-Stämmen N2 - Among the bloom-forming and potentially harmful cyanobacteria, the genus Microcystis represents a most diverse taxon, on the genomic as well as on morphological and secondary metabolite levels. Microcystis communities are composed of a variety of diversified strains. The focus of this study lies on potential interactions between Microcystis representatives and the roles of secondary metabolites in these interaction processes. The role of secondary metabolites functioning as signaling molecules in the investigated interactions is demonstrated exemplary for the prevalent hepatotoxin microcystin. The extracellular and intracellular roles of microcystin are tested in microarray-based transcriptomic approaches. While an extracellular effect of microcystin on Microcystis transcription is confirmed and connected to a specific gene cluster of another secondary metabolite in this study, the intracellularly occurring microcystin is related with several pathways of the primary metabolism. A clear correlation of a microcystin knockout and the SigE-mediated regulation of carbon metabolism is found. According to the acquired transcriptional data, a model is proposed that postulates the regulating effect of microcystin on transcriptional regulators such as the alternative sigma factor SigE, which in return captures an essential role in sugar catabolism and redox-state regulation. For the purpose of simulating community conditions as found in the field, Microcystis colonies are isolated from the eutrophic lakes near Potsdam, Germany and established as stably growing under laboratory conditions. In co-habitation simulations, the recently isolated field strain FS2 is shown to specifically induce nearly immediate aggregation reactions in the axenic lab strain Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806. In transcriptional studies via microarrays, the induced expression program in PCC 7806 after aggregation induction is shown to involve the reorganization of cell envelope structures, a highly altered nutrient uptake balance and the reorientation of the aggregating cells to a heterotrophic carbon utilization, e.g. via glycolysis. These transcriptional changes are discussed as mechanisms of niche adaptation and acclimation in order to prevent competition for resources. N2 - Die Gattung Microcystis stellt unter den blüten-bildenden Cyanobakterien ein Taxon besonderer Diversität dar. Dies gilt sowohl für die Genomstruktur als auch für morphologische Charakteristika und Sekundärmetabolite. Microcystis-Communities weisen eine Zusammensetzung aus einer Vielzahl von diversifizierten Stämmen auf. Das Hauptaugenmerk dieser Arbeit lag darauf, potentielle Wechselwirkungen zwischen Microcystis-Vertretern zu charakterisieren und die Rolle von Sekundärmetaboliten in Interaktions-Prozessen zu untersuchen. Die Rolle von Sekundärmetaboliten als Signalstoffe in Microcystis-Interaktionen wurde exemplarisch für das Hepatotoxin Microcystin demonstriert. Sowohl die extrazelluläre als auch die intrazellulare Funktion von Microcystin wurde anhand von Microarray-basierten Transkriptomstudien getestet. Dabei konnte eine extrazelluläre Wirkung von Microcystin bestätigt werden und mit der Transkription eines spezifischen anderen Sekundärmetaboliten in Verbindung gebracht werden. Intrazellulär vorkommendes Microcystin wurde hingegen mit verschiedenen Stoffwechselwegen des Primärstoffwechsels verknüpft. Es konnte ein deutlicher Zusammenhang zwischen einem Microcystin-Knockout und der SigE-vermittelten Regulation des Kohlenstoffmetabolismus festgestellt werden. Anhand der erworbenen Transkriptionsdaten wurde ein Modell vorgeschlagen, das eine regulierende Wirkung von Microcystin auf Transkriptionsfaktoren wie den alternativen Sigmafaktor SigE postuliert, welcher seinerseits eine zentrale Rolle in Zuckerabbauprozessen und zellulärer Redoxregulation einnimmt. Mit dem Ziel, Community-ähnliche Bedingungen zu simulieren, wurden Microcystis-Freiland-Kolonien aus eutrophen Gewässern in der Umgebung von Potsdam isoliert und ein stabiles Wachstum unter Laborbedingungen etabliert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass der frisch isolierte Freilandstamm FS2 spezifisch eine starke Zellaggregation in Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 (einem axenischen Labortstamm) auslösen konnte. In Transkriptionsstudien mit Hilfe von Microarrays wurden Expressionsprogramme gefunden, die sowohl einen Umbau von Zellhüllstrukturen, als auch einen stark veränderten transmembranen Nährstofftransport beinhalteten. Darüber hinaus konnte in den aggregierenden PCC 7806-Zellen eine Verlagerung zu heterotrophen Kohlenstoffabbauprozessen wie der Glykolyse gefunden werden. Die transkriptionellen Veränderungen wurden als Akklimationsmechanismen zur Positionierung in ökologische Nischen diskutiert, um Konkurrenzen um Ressourcen zu vermeiden. KW - microcystis KW - microcystin KW - secondary metabolites KW - transcriptomics KW - interactions KW - Sekundärmetabolite KW - Transkriptomik KW - Wechselwirkungen Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93916 ER - TY - THES A1 - Rolke, Daniel T1 - Räumliche und zeitliche Expressionsmuster sowie Funktionen der Serotonin-Rezeptor-Subtypen der Honigbiene, Apis mellifera L., 1758 T1 - Spatial and temporal expression patterns as well as functions of the serotonin-receptor-subtypes in the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., 1758 N2 - Das biogene Amin Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamin, 5-HT) agiert als wichtiger chemischer Botenstoff bei einer Vielzahl von Organismen. Das durch 5 HT vermittelte Signal wird dabei durch spezifische Rezeptoren wahrgenommen und in eine zelluläre Reaktion umgesetzt. Diese 5 HT Rezeptoren gehören überwiegend zur Familie der G Protein gekoppelten Rezeptoren (GPCRs). Die Honigbiene Apis mellifera bietet unter anderem aufgrund ihrer eusozialen Lebensweise vielfältige Ansatzpunkte zur Erforschung der Funktionen des serotonergen Systems in Insekten. Bei A. mellifera wurden bereits vier 5-HT-Rezeptor-Subtypen beschrieben und molekular sowie pharmakologisch charakterisiert: Am5 HT1A, Am5 HT2α, Am5 HT2β und Am5 HT7. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, gewebespezifische sowie alters- und tageszeitabhängige Expressionsmuster der 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen zu untersuchen, um zu einem umfassenden Verständnis des serotonergen Systems der Honigbiene beizutragen und eine Basis zur Hypothesenentwicklung für mögliche physiologische Funktionen zu schaffen. Es wurde die Expression der 5 HT Rezeptorgene sowohl im zentralen Nervensystem, als auch in Teilen des Verdauungs-, Exkretions- und Speicheldrüsensystems gemessen. Dabei konnte gezeigt werden, dass die untersuchten 5-HT-Rezeptor-Subtypen generell weit im Organismus der Honigbiene verbreitet sind. Interessanterweise unterschieden sich die untersuchten Gewebe hinsichtlich der mRNA-Expressionsmuster der untersuchten Rezeptoren. Während beispielsweise im Gehirn Am5 ht1A und Am5 ht7 stärker als Am5 ht2α und Am5 ht2β exprimiert wurden, zeigte sich in Darmgewebe ein umgekehrtes Muster. Es war bereits bekannt, dass es bei der Expression der Am5-ht2-Gene zu alternativem Spleißen kommt. Dies führt zur Entstehung der verkürzten mRNA-Varianten Am5 ht2αΔIII und Am5 ht2βΔII. Die daraus resultierenden Proteine können nicht als funktionelle GPCRs agieren. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass diese verkürzten Spleißvarianten dennoch ubiquitär in der Honigbiene exprimiert werden. Bemerkenswerterweise wurden gewebeübergreifende Ähnlichkeiten der Expressionsmuster der Spleißvarianten gegenüber deren zugehörigen Volllängenvarianten festgestellt, welche auf Funktionen der verkürzten Varianten in vivo hindeuten. Im Hinblick auf die bei A. mellifera hauptsächlich altersbedingte Arbeitsteilung wurde die Expression der 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen in Gehirnen von unterschiedlich alten Arbeiterinnen mit unterschiedlichen sozialen Rollen verglichen. Während auf mRNA-Ebene keines der vier 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen eine altersabhängig unterschiedliche Expression zeigte, konnte für das Am5-HT1A-Protein eine höhere Konzentration in den Gehirnen älterer Tiere gefunden werden. Dies deutet auf eine posttranskriptionale Regulation der 5 HT1A Rezeptorexpression hin, welche im Zusammenhang mit der Arbeitsteilung stehen könnte. Es erfolgte die Untersuchung tageszeitlicher Änderungen sowohl der Expression der 5 HT Rezeptor-Subtypen, als auch des biogenen Amins 5 HT selbst. Während es in den Gehirnen von Arbeiterinnen, welche unter natürlichen Bedingungen gehalten wurden, zu keiner tageszeitabhängigen Veränderung des 5 HT-Titers kam, zeigte die mRNA-Expression von Am5-ht2α und Am5-ht2β eine periodische Oszillation mit Zunahme während des Tages und Abnahme während der Nacht. Diese Regulation wird durch externe Faktoren hervorgerufen und ist nicht auf einen endogenen circadianen Rhythmus zurückzuführen. Dies ging aus der Wiederholung der Expressionsmessungen an Gehirnen von Bienen, welche unter konstanten Laborbedingungen gehalten wurden, hervor. Weiterhin wurde die Beteiligung des serotonergen Systems an der Steuerung von Aspekten des circadianen lokomotorischen Aktivitätsrhythmus anhand von Verhaltensexperimenten untersucht. Mit 5 HT gefütterte Arbeiterinnen zeigten dabei unter konstanten Bedingungen eine längere Periode des Aktivitätsrhythmus als Kontrolltiere. Dies deutet auf einen Einfluss von 5 HT auf die Modulation der Synchronisation der inneren Uhr hin. Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse tragen wesentlich zum tieferen Verständnis des serotonergen Systems der Honigbiene bei und bieten Ansatzpunkte für weitergehende Studien zur Funktion von 5 HT im Zusammenhang mit der Modulation von physiologischen Prozessen, Arbeitsteilung und circadianen Rhythmen. N2 - The biogenic amine serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) acts as an important chemical messenger in a variety of organisms. The 5 HT-mediated signal is perceived by specific receptors and converted to a cellular response. This 5 HT receptors mainly belong to the family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The honeybee offers various starting points to explore the functions of the serotonergic system in insects, among other things because of their eusocial lifestyle. In A. mellifera four 5-HT receptor subtypes have been described and molecularly and pharmacologically characterized: Am5 HT1A, Am5 HT2α, Am5 HT2β and Am5 HT7. The aim of this study was to investigate the tissue-specific and age- and daytime-dependent expression patterns of the 5 HT receptor subtypes in order to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the serotonergic system in A. mellifera. The expression of the 5 HT receptor genes was measured in the central nervous system, as well as in parts of the digestive, excretory and salivary system. It was shown that the investigated 5-HT receptor subtypes are widely distributed in the honeybee. Interestingly, the tissues examined differed with regard to the mRNA expression pattern of the studied receptors. While in the brain the expression of Am5 ht1A and Am5 ht7 was higher than that of Am5 ht2α and Am5 ht2β, the opposite held true for intestinal tissue. It was already known that alternative splicing occurs in the expression of both Am5-ht2 genes. This leads to the formation of the truncated mRNA variants Am5 ht2αΔIII and Am5 ht2βΔII. The resulting proteins cannot act as functional GPCRs. However, it was demonstrated that these truncated splice variants are still ubiquitously expressed in the honeybee. Remarkably, similarities in the expression patterns of the shortened splice variants towards their corresponding full length variants were found throughout different tissues that indicate in vivo functions of the shortened variants. In view of the mainly age related division of labor in A. mellifera, the expression of the 5 HT receptor subtypes was compared in brains of different aged workers with different social roles. While none of the four 5 HT receptor subtypes showed an age-dependent differential expression at the mRNA level, a higher concentration in the brains of older animals could be found for the Am5-HT1A protein. This points to a post-transcriptional regulation of 5 HT1A receptor expression, which could be associated with the division of labor. It was carried out the investigation of diurnal changes in both the expression of the 5 HT receptor subtypes, and of the biogenic amine 5 HT itself. While in the brains of workers, which were kept under natural conditions, no daytime-dependent changes of the 5 HT titer could be found, the mRNA expression of Am5 ht2α and Am5-ht2β showed a periodic oscillation with an increase during the day and a decrease at night. This regulation is caused by external factors and not due to an endogenous circadian rhythm. That was shown by the repetition of the expression measurements on brains of bees, which were kept under constant laboratory conditions. Furthermore, the involvement of the serotonergic system in controlling aspects of circadian locomotor activity rhythm was investigated in behavioral experiments. Under constant conditions, worker bees which were fed with 5 HT showed a longer period of locomotor rhythm than control animals. This suggests an influence of 5 HT in the modulation of the synchronization of the internal clock. In conclusion, the present results contribute to a more detailed understanding of the serotonergic system of the honeybee and provide a basis for further studies on the function of 5 HT in connection with the modulation of physiological processes, division of labor and circadian rhythms. KW - Serotonin KW - Rezeptor KW - Honigbiene KW - serotonin KW - receptors KW - honey bee Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-96667 ER - TY - THES A1 - Orf, Isabel T1 - Photorespiratory metabolism in the cyanobacterial model Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 BT - a systems biology approach Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Geyer, Juliane T1 - Adapting biodiversity conservation management to climate change Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Pellizzer, Tommaso T1 - A novel approach to identify plastidic factors for plastome genome incompatibility and evidence for the central involvement of the chloroplast in leaf shaping Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Korkuć, Paula T1 - Spatial investigations of protein structures with regard to compound binding and post-translational modifications Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Sokolowska, Ewelina Maria T1 - Implementation of a plasmodesmata gatekeeper system, and its effect on intercellular transport Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Sin, Celine T1 - Post-transcriptional control of gene expression T1 - Post-Transkription Steuerung der Genexpression N2 - Gene expression describes the process of making functional gene products (e.g. proteins or special RNAs) from instructions encoded in the genetic information (e.g. DNA). This process is heavily regulated, allowing cells to produce the appropriate gene products necessary for cell survival, adapting production as necessary for different cell environments. Gene expression is subject to regulation at several levels, including transcription, mRNA degradation, translation and protein degradation. When intact, this system maintains cell homeostasis, keeping the cell alive and adaptable to different environments. Malfunction in the system can result in disease states and cell death. In this dissertation, we explore several aspects of gene expression control by analyzing data from biological experiments. Most of the work following uses a common mathematical model framework based on Markov chain models to test hypotheses, predict system dynamics or elucidate network topology. Our work lies in the intersection between mathematics and biology and showcases the power of statistical data analysis and math modeling for validation and discovery of biological phenomena. N2 - Das „zentrale Dogma der Molekularbiologie“ besagt, dass der Fluss genetischer Information mit der DNS startet, die dann auf die RNS kopiert und in Proteine übersetzt wird (Crick 1970). Dieses System der Informationsübertragung bietet zwei natürliche Eingriffspunkte, an denen Genausprägungen manipuliert werden können -- entweder auf dem Level der mRNS (z.B. durch Kontrolle der Transkriptions- oder mRNS- Degradationsprozesse) oder auf dem Level des Proteins (z.B. durch Kontrolle der Translations- oder Proteindegradationsprozesse). An jedem Eingriffspunkt sind eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Prozesse zeitgleich aktiv, um die Konzentrationen von mRNS und Proteinen präzise einzustellen. All diese Prozesse tragen dazu bei, die Zelle intern im stationäzen Zustand zu halten, denn eine Fehlfunktion im System kann zu Krankheitszuständen oder zum Zelltot führen. In dieser Arbeit untersuchen wir verschiedene Aspekte der Kontrolle der Genausprägungs, indem wir Daten biologischer Experimente analysieren. Unsere Arbeit liegt hierbei zwischen den Bereichen der mathematischer Modellierung und der Biologie und zeigt den immensen Nutzen von statistischen Analysemethoden und mathematischer Modellbildung zur Validierung und Neuentdeckung biologischer Phänomene auf. KW - mRNA degradation KW - protein degradation KW - gene expression control KW - mathematical modeling KW - stochastic modeling KW - data analysis and statistics KW - next generation sequencing (NGS) KW - ribosome KW - Datenanalyse und Statistik KW - Regulierung der Genexpression KW - mRNA Degradierung KW - mathematisches Modellierung KW - Proteindegradierung KW - Ribosom KW - stochastische Modellierung Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-102469 ER - TY - THES A1 - Shikangalah, Rosemary Ndawapeka T1 - An ecohydrological impact assessment in urban areas BT - urban water erosion in Windhoek, Namibia N2 - Over the last decades, the world’s population has been growing at a faster rate, resulting in increased urbanisation, especially in developing countries. More than half of the global population currently lives in urbanised areas with an increasing tendency. The growth of cities results in a significant loss of vegetation cover, soil compaction and sealing of the soil surface which in turn results in high surface runoff during high-intensity storms and causes the problem of accelerated soil water erosion on streets and building grounds. Accelerated soil water erosion is a serious environmental problem in cities as it gives rise to the contamination of aquatic bodies, reduction of ground water recharge and increase in land degradation, and also results in damages to urban infrastructures, including drainage systems, houses and roads. Understanding the problem of water erosion in urban settings is essential for the sustainable planning and management of cities prone to water erosion. However, in spite of the vast existence of scientific literature on water erosion in rural regions, a concrete understanding of the underlying dynamics of urban erosion still remains inadequate for the urban dryland environments. This study aimed at assessing water erosion and the associated socio-environmental determinants in a typical dryland urban area and used the city of Windhoek, Namibia, as a case study. The study used a multidisciplinary approach to assess the problem of water erosion. This included an in depth literature review on current research approaches and challenges of urban erosion, a field survey method for the quantification of the spatial extent of urban erosion in the dryland city of Windhoek, and face to face interviews by using semi-structured questionnaires to analyse the perceptions of stakeholders on urban erosion. The review revealed that around 64% of the literatures reviewed were conducted in the developed world, and very few researches were carried out in regions with extreme climate, including dryland regions. Furthermore, the applied methods for erosion quantification and monitoring are not inclusive of urban typical features and they are not specific for urban areas. The reviewed literature also lacked aspects aimed at addressing the issues of climate change and policies regarding erosion in cities. In a field study, the spatial extent and severity of an urban dryland city, Windhoek, was quantified and the results show that nearly 56% of the city is affected by water erosion showing signs of accelerated erosion in the form of rills and gullies, which occurred mainly in the underdeveloped, informal and semi-formal areas of the city. Factors influencing the extent of erosion in Windhoek included vegetation cover and type, socio-urban factors and to a lesser extent slope estimates. A comparison of an interpolated field survey erosion map with a conventional erosion assessment tool (the Universal Soil Loss Equation) depicted a large deviation in spatial patterns, which underlines the inappropriateness of traditional non-urban erosion tools to urban settings and emphasises the need to develop new erosion assessment and management methods for urban environments. It was concluded that measures for controlling water erosion in the city need to be site-specific as the extent of erosion varied largely across the city. The study also analysed the perceptions and understanding of stakeholders of urban water erosion in Windhoek, by interviewing 41 stakeholders using semi-structured questionnaires. The analysis addressed their understanding of water erosion dynamics, their perceptions with regards to the causes and the seriousness of erosion damages, and their attitudes towards the responsibilities for urban erosion. The results indicated that there is less awareness of the process as a phenomenon, instead there is more awareness of erosion damages and the factors contributing to the damages. About 69% of the stakeholders considered erosion damages to be ranging from moderate to very serious. However, there were notable disparities between the private householders and public authority groups. The study further found that the stakeholders have no clear understanding of their responsibilities towards the management of the control measures and payment for the damages. The private householders and local authority sectors pointed fingers at each other for the responsibilities for erosion damage payments and for putting up prevention measures. The reluctance to take responsibility could create a predicament for areas affected, specifically in the informal settlements where land management is not carried out by the local authority and land is not owned by the occupants. The study concluded that in order to combat urban erosion, it is crucial to understand diverse dynamics aggravating the process of urbanisation from different scales. Accordingly, the study suggests that there is an urgent need for the development of urban-specific approaches that aim at: (a) incorporating the diverse socio-economic-environmental aspects influencing erosion, (b) scientifically improving natural cycles that influence water storages and nutrients for plants in urbanised dryland areas in order to increase the amount of vegetation cover, (c) making use of high resolution satellite images to improve the adopted methods for assessing urban erosion, (d) developing water erosion policies, and (e) continuously monitoring the impact of erosion and the influencing processes from local, national and international levels. N2 - In den letzten Jahrzehnten ist die Erdbevölkerung mit großer Geschwindigkeit gewachsen. Das hatte eine verstärkte Urbanisierung zur Folge, insbesondere in den Entwicklungsländern. Zurzeit lebt über die Hälfte der globalen Bevölkerung in Stadtgebieten, mit steigender Tendenz. Städtewachstum geht mit einem signifikanten Verlust von Vegetationsbedeckung, sowie mit Bodenverdichtung und -versiegelung einher. Diese Faktoren führen bei Starkregenereignissen zu einem hohen Oberflächenabfluss, und zu Problemen durch beschleunigte wasserbedingte Bodenerosion in Straßen und auf Baugelände. In Städten ist eine beschleunigte wasserbedingte Bodenerosion ist ein ernstzunehmendes Umweltproblem, denn sie verursacht eine Verschmutzung der Gewässer, eine verminderte Grundwasserneubildung und erhöhte Landdegradierung. Darüber hinaus kommt es zu erosionsbedingten Schäden in der städtischen Infrastruktur, inklusive der Entwässerungssysteme, sowie an Häusern und Straßen. Für ein nachhaltiges Planen und Management von erosionsanfälligen Städten ist es von essentieller Bedeutung, die Probleme der Wassererosion in städtischen Gebieten zu verstehen. Trotz der großen Anzahl wissenschaftlicher Studien über Wassererosion in ländlichen Gegenden bleibt unser Verständnis der zu Grunde liegenden Erosionsdynamiken in urbanen Trockengebieten unzureichend. Diese Studie zielt darauf ab, Wassererosion, sowie die dazu beitragenden sozio-ökologischen Faktoren, in einem typischen urbanen Trockengebiet zu erfassen. Hierzu wurde ein fachübergreifender Ansatz am Fallbeispiel der Stadt Windhoek, Namibia, gewählt. Die Arbeit umfasst eine detaillierte Literaturanalyse der aktuellen Forschungsansätze zur urbanen Wassererosion und den damit verbundenen Herausforderungen. Außerdem wurde eine feldstudienbasierte Methode entwickelt, mit der das Ausmaß der Wassererosion in der Stadt Windhoek quantifiziert und räumlich erfasst wurde. Schließlich wurden persönliche Befragungen mit halbstrukturierten Fragebögen durchgeführt, um die Wahrnehmung der verschiedenen Interessenvertreter zum Thema Erosion in Stadtgebieten zu analysieren. Die Literaturanalyse hat gezeigt, dass 64% der untersuchten Studien in der entwickelten Welt durchgeführt wurden und nur sehr wenige Regionen mit extremen Klimabedingungen, einschließlich Trockengebieten, untersucht wurden. Hinzu kommt, dass die verwendeten Methoden zur Erosionsquantifizierung und -beobachtung die für urbane Gebiete typischen Merkmale nicht beinhalten und dafür auch nicht ausgerichtet sind. Des Weiteren mangelt es der untersuchten Literatur an Ansätzen, die den Einfluss des Klimawandels und politische Aspekte in Bezug auf Erosion in Stadtgebieten thematisieren. In einer Feldstudie wurde das Ausmaß von Wassererosion in der trocken gelegenen Stadt Windhoek quantifiziert und räumlich erfasst. Beinahe 56% der Stadt waren von Wassererosion betroffen und wiesen Anzeichen beschleunigter Erosion in Form von Rinnen und Rillen auf. Letztere traten vor allem in den unterentwickelten, informellen und semi-formellen Stadtgebieten auf. Das Ausmaß der Erosion in Windhoek wurde unter anderem von der Vegetationsbedeckung und dem Vegetationstyp, von sozial-urbanen Faktoren, und zu einem geringeren Grad von dem geschätzten Gefälle bestimmt. Der Vergleich einer interpolierten feldstudienbasierten Erosionskarte mit Ergebnissen, die auf einer konventionellen Methode zur Erosionserfassung (der Allgemeinen Bodenabtragsgleichung (ABAG)) basieren, ergab eine starke Abweichung in den räumlichen Mustern. Das verdeutlicht die Unzulänglichkeit einer direkten Übertragung von traditionellen nicht-urbanen Methoden zur Erosionserfassung auf ein urbanes Umfeld und betont die Notwendigkeit, neue Methoden sowohl zur Erfassung als auch zum Management von Erosion für urbane Gebiete zu entwickeln. Aus der großen Variabilität des Erosionsausmaßes innerhalb der Stadt lässt sich folgern, dass Methoden zur Kontrolle von Wassererosion in Städten standortspezifisch sein sollten. Anhand von halbstrukturierten Fragebögen wurde in einem weiteren Teil der Arbeit die Wahrnehmung und das Verständnis der unterschiedlichen Interessenvertreter zum Thema urbane Wassererosion in Windhoek untersucht. Insgesamt wurden 41 Interessenvertreter zu ihrem Verständnis der Wassererosionsdynamiken, zu ihrer Wahrnehmung in Bezug auf mögliche Ursachen und zum Ausmaß der Erosionsschäden, sowie zu ihrer Einstellung zur Verantwortlichkeit für die Erosion in der Stadt befragt. Die Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass es eine geringe Wahrnehmung für das Phänomen der Erosion als Prozess gibt, dafür aber eine im Vergleich erhöhte Wahrnehmung der Erosionsschäden und der Faktoren, die zu den Schäden beitragen. Ungefähr 69% der Interessenvertreter stuften die Erosionsschäden als moderat bis sehr ernsthaft ein. Dabei gab es erkennbare Differenzen zwischen der Gruppe der privaten Haushalte und der der öffentlichen Behörden. Des Weiteren hat die Untersuchung ergeben, dass die Interessenvertreter kein klares Verständnis ihrer Verantwortung in Bezug auf das Management der Kontrollmaßnahmen, sowie ihrer finanziellen Verantwortung für die Schäden haben. Die privaten Haushalte und die örtlichen Behörden wiesen sich gegenseitig die Zahlungsverantwortung für die Erosionsschäden und für vorbeugende Maßnahmen zu. Der Unwille der einzelnen Akteure, Verantwortung zu übernehmen, könnte eine Zwickmühle für die betroffenen Gebiete werden. Dies gilt insbesondere für die informellen Siedlungen, in denen von den örtlichen Behörden kein Landmanagement durchgeführt wird, das Land aber auch nicht Eigentum der Bewohnern ist. Abschließend hat die Studie ergeben, dass es für eine effektive Erosionsbekämpfung in der Stadt von ausschlaggebender Bedeutung ist, die verschiedenen, den Prozess der Urbanisierung auf negative Weise verstärkenden Dynamiken, auf ihren unterschiedlichen Skalen zu verstehen. Auf Grundlage der hier präsentierten Ergebnisse wird eine Entwicklung speziell auf Stadtgebiete ausgerichteter Ansätze mit folgenden Zielen dringend nahegelegt: (a) Einer Integration von diversen sozio-ökonomisch-ökologischen Aspekten, die sich auf Erosion auswirken; (b) Einer wissenschaftlich begründeten Verbesserung der natürlichen Kreisläufe, die sich positiv auf die Wasserspeicherung im Boden und die Nährstoffverfügbarkeit für Pflanzen auswirken, um dadurch einen höheren Vegetationsbedeckungsgrad zu erreichen; (c) Der Nutzung hoch aufgelöster Satellitendaten, um die Methoden zur Erosionserfassung für urbane Gebiete zu verbessern; (d) Der Entwicklung politischer Maßnahmen zur Bekämpfung von Wassererosion. KW - urban soil erosion KW - water erosion KW - risk mapping KW - urbane Bodenerosion KW - Wassererosion KW - Risikoabbildung Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-102356 ER - TY - THES A1 - Kersten, Birgit T1 - Proteom-weite Studien zur Phosphorylierung pflanzlicher Proteine mittels Proteinmikroarrays und Bioinformatik Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmidt, Andreas A1 - Rabsch, Wolfgang A1 - Broeker, Nina K. A1 - Barbirz, Stefanie T1 - Bacteriophage tailspike protein based assay to monitor phase variable glucosylations in Salmonella O-antigens JF - BMC microbiology N2 - Background Non-typhoid Salmonella Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) accounts for a high number of registered salmonellosis cases, and O-serotyping is one important tool for monitoring epidemiology and spread of the disease. Moreover, variations in glucosylated O-antigens are related to immunogenicity and spread in the host. However, classical autoagglutination tests combined with the analysis of specific genetic markers cannot always reliably register phase variable glucose modifications expressed on Salmonella O-antigens and additional tools to monitor O-antigen glucosylation phenotypes of S. Typhimurium would be desirable. Results We developed a test for the phase variable O-antigen glucosylation state of S. Typhimurium using the tailspike proteins (TSP) of Salmonella phages 9NA and P22. We used this ELISA like tailspike adsorption (ELITA) assay to analyze a library of 44 Salmonella strains. ELITA was successful in discriminating strains that carried glucose 1-6 linked to the galactose of O-polysaccharide backbone (serotype O1) from non-glucosylated strains. This was shown by O-antigen compositional analyses of the respective strains with mass spectrometry and capillary electrophoresis. The ELITA test worked rapidly in a microtiter plate format and was highly O-antigen specific. Moreover, TSP as probes could also detect glucosylated strains in flow cytometry and distinguish multiphasic cultures differing in their glucosylation state. Conclusions Tailspike proteins contain large binding sites with precisely defined specificities and are therefore promising tools to be included in serotyping procedures as rapid serotyping agents in addition to antibodies. In this study, 9NA and P22TSP as probes could specifically distinguish glucosylation phenotypes of Salmonella on microtiter plate assays and in flow cytometry. This opens the possibility for flow sorting of cell populations for subsequent genetic analyses or for monitoring phase variations during large scale O-antigen preparations necessary for vaccine production. KW - Salmonella Typhimurium KW - O-antigen KW - Tailspike protein KW - Bacteriophage KW - Phase variation KW - O-serotyping KW - Flow cytometry Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-016-0826-0 SN - 1471-2180 VL - 16 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - THES A1 - Schöppler, Vanessa T1 - Material properties of Banksia follicles Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Reichel, Victoria Eleonore T1 - Biomedical applications and multifunctional nanostructures based on magnetite nanoparticles synthesized in presence of biological additives Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Heinze, Johannes T1 - The impact of soil microbiota on plant species performance and diversity in semi-natural grasslands Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Gopalakrishnan, Sathej T1 - Mathematical modelling of host-disease-drug interactions in HIV disease T1 - Mathematische Modellierung von Pathogen-Wirkstoff-Wirt-Interaktionen im Kontext der HIV Erkrankung N2 - The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has resisted nearly three decades of efforts targeting a cure. Sustained suppression of the virus has remained a challenge, mainly due to the remarkable evolutionary adaptation that the virus exhibits by the accumulation of drug-resistant mutations in its genome. Current therapeutic strategies aim at achieving and maintaining a low viral burden and typically involve multiple drugs. The choice of optimal combinations of these drugs is crucial, particularly in the background of treatment failure having occurred previously with certain other drugs. An understanding of the dynamics of viral mutant genotypes aids in the assessment of treatment failure with a certain drug combination, and exploring potential salvage treatment regimens. Mathematical models of viral dynamics have proved invaluable in understanding the viral life cycle and the impact of antiretroviral drugs. However, such models typically use simplified and coarse-grained mutation schemes, that curbs the extent of their application to drug-specific clinical mutation data, in order to assess potential next-line therapies. Statistical models of mutation accumulation have served well in dissecting mechanisms of resistance evolution by reconstructing mutation pathways under different drug-environments. While these models perform well in predicting treatment outcomes by statistical learning, they do not incorporate drug effect mechanistically. Additionally, due to an inherent lack of temporal features in such models, they are less informative on aspects such as predicting mutational abundance at treatment failure. This limits their application in analyzing the pharmacology of antiretroviral drugs, in particular, time-dependent characteristics of HIV therapy such as pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and also in understanding the impact of drug efficacy on mutation dynamics. In this thesis, we develop an integrated model of in vivo viral dynamics incorporating drug-specific mutation schemes learned from clinical data. Our combined modelling approach enables us to study the dynamics of different mutant genotypes and assess mutational abundance at virological failure. As an application of our model, we estimate in vivo fitness characteristics of viral mutants under different drug environments. Our approach also extends naturally to multiple-drug therapies. Further, we demonstrate the versatility of our model by showing how it can be modified to incorporate recently elucidated mechanisms of drug action including molecules that target host factors. Additionally, we address another important aspect in the clinical management of HIV disease, namely drug pharmacokinetics. It is clear that time-dependent changes in in vivo drug concentration could have an impact on the antiviral effect, and also influence decisions on dosing intervals. We present a framework that provides an integrated understanding of key characteristics of multiple-dosing regimens including drug accumulation ratios and half-lifes, and then explore the impact of drug pharmacokinetics on viral suppression. Finally, parameter identifiability in such nonlinear models of viral dynamics is always a concern, and we investigate techniques that alleviate this issue in our setting. N2 - Das Humane Immundefiecienz-Virus (HIV) widerstanden hat fast drei Jahrzehnten eff Orts targeting eine Heilung. Eine anhaltende Unterdrückung des Virus hat noch eine Herausforderung, vor allem aufgrund der bemerkenswerten evolutionären Anpassung, dass das Virus Exponate durch die Ansammlung von Medikamenten-resistenten Mutationen in seinem Genom. Aktuelle therapeutische Strategien zielen auf das Erreichen und die Erhaltung einer niedrigen virale Belastung und umfassen in der Regel mehrere Medikamente. Die Wahl der optimalen Kombinationen dieser Medikamente ist von entscheidender Bedeutung, besonders im Hintergrund der Behandlung Fehler eingetreten, die zuvor mit bestimmten anderen Medikamenten. Ein Verständnis für die Dynamik der viralen mutierten Genotypen Aids in die Bewertung der Behandlung Fehler mit einer bestimmten Kombination und der Erkundung potenzieller Bergung Behandlungsschemata. Mathematische Modelle für virale Dynamik haben sich als unschätzbar erwiesen hat im Verständnis der viralen Lebenszyklus und die Auswirkungen von antiretroviralen Medikamenten. Allerdings sind solche Modelle verwenden in der Regel simplified und grobkörnigen Mutation Regelungen, dass Aufkantungen den Umfang ihrer Anwendung auf Arzneimittel-ganz speziellec Mutation klinische Daten, um zu beurteilen, mögliche nächste-line Therapien. Statistische Modelle der Mutation Anhäufung gedient haben gut in präparieren Mechanismen der Resistenz Evolution durch Mutation Rekonstruktion Pathways unter verschiedenen Medikamenten-Umgebungen. Während diese Modelle führen gut in der Vorhersage der Ergebnisse der Behandlung durch statistische lernen, sie enthalten keine Droge E ffect mechanistisch. Darüber hinaus aufgrund einer innewohnenden Mangel an zeitlichen Funktionen in solchen Modellen, sie sind weniger informativ auf Aspekte wie die Vorhersage mutational Fülle an Versagen der Behandlung. Dies schränkt die Anwendung in der Analyse der Pharmakologie von antiretroviralen Medikamenten, insbesondere, Zeit-abhängige Merkmale der HIV-Therapie wie Pharmakokinetik und Pharmakodynamik, und auch in dem Verständnis der Auswirkungen von Drogen e fficacy auf Mutation Dynamik. In dieser Arbeit, die wir bei der Entwicklung eines integrierten Modells von In-vivo-virale Dynamik Einbeziehung drug-ganz speziellec Mutation Systeme gelernt aus den klinischen Daten. Unsere kombinierten Modellansatz ermöglicht uns die Untersuchung der Dynamik von diff schiedene mutierten Genotypen und bewerten mutational Fülle an virologischem Versagen. Als Anwendung unseres Modells schätzen wir In-vivo-fitness Merkmale der viralen Mutanten unter di fferent drug Umgebungen. Unser Ansatz erstreckt sich auch natürlich auf mehrere-Therapien. Weitere zeigen wir die Vielseitigkeit unseres Modells zeigen, wie es können Modified zu integrieren kürzlich aufgeklärt Mechanismen der Drug Action einschließlich Molekülen, dass target host Faktoren. Zusätzlich haben wir Adresse ein weiterer wichtiger Aspekt in der klinischen Management der HIV-Erkrankung, das heißt Drogen Pharmakokinetik. Es ist klar, dass die Zeit-abhängige Änderungen in In-vivo-Wirkstoffkonzentration könnten die Auswirkungen auf die antivirale E ffect und haben auch Einfluss auf die Entscheidungen über Dosierungsintervalle. Wir präsentieren ein Framework, bietet ein integriertes Verständnis der wichtigsten Merkmale von mehreren Dosierungsschemata einschließlich Kumulation Übersetzungen und Halbwertszeiten, und untersuchen Sie die Auswirkungen von Drogen auf die Pharmakokinetik Virussuppression. Schließlich, Parameter identifiFähigkeit in solchen nichtlineare Modelle der virale Dynamik ist immer ein Anliegen, und wir untersuchen Methoden, um dieses Problem in unserer Einstellung. KW - HIV KW - mathematical modelling KW - viral fitness KW - pharmacokinetics KW - parameter estimation KW - HIV Erkrankung KW - Pharmakokinetik KW - Fitness KW - mathematische Modellierung KW - Kombinationstherapie Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-100100 ER - TY - THES A1 - Wutke, Saskia T1 - Tracing Changes in Space and Time BT - Paternal Diversity and Phenotypic Traits during Horse Domestication N2 - The horse is a fascinating animal symbolizing power, beauty, strength and grace. Among all the animal species domesticated the horse had the largest impact on the course of human history due to its importance for warfare and transportation. Studying the process of horse domestication contributes to the knowledge about the history of horses and even of our own species. Research based on molecular methods has increasingly focused on the genetic basis of horse domestication. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analyses of modern and ancient horses detected immense maternal diversity, probably due to many mares that contributed to the domestic population. However, mtDNA does not provide an informative phylogeographic structure. In contrast, Y chromosome analyses displayed almost complete uniformity in modern stallions but relatively high diversity in a few ancient horses. Further molecular markers that seem to be well suited to infer the domestication history of horses or genetic and phenotypic changes during this process are loci associated with phenotypic traits. This doctoral thesis consists of three different parts for which I analyzed various single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with coat color, locomotion or Y chromosomal variation of horses. These SNPs were genotyped in 350 ancient horses from the Chalcolithic (5,000 BC) to the Middle Ages (11th century). The distribution of the samples ranges from China to the Iberian Peninsula and Iceland. By applying multiplexed next-generation sequencing (NGS) I sequenced short amplicons covering the relevant positions: i) eight coat-color-associated mutations in six genes to deduce the coat color phenotype; ii) the so-called ’Gait-keeper’ SNP in the DMRT3 gene to screen for the ability to amble; iii) 16 SNPs previously detected in ancient horses to infer the corresponding haplotype. Based on these data I investigated the occurrence and frequencies of alleles underlying the respective phenotypes as well as Y chromosome haplotypes at different times and regions. Also, selection coefficients for several Y chromosome lineages or phenotypes were estimated. Concerning coat color differences in ancient horses my work constitutes the most comprehensive study to date. I detected an increase of chestnut horses in the Middle Ages as well as differential selection for spotted and solid phenotypes over time which reflects changing human preferences. With regard to ambling horses, the corresponding allele was present in medieval English and Icelandic horses. Based on these results I argue that Norse settlers, who frequently invaded parts of Britain, brought ambling individuals to Iceland from the British Isles which can be regarded the origin of this trait. Moreover, these settlers appear to have selected for ambling in Icelandic horses. Relating to the third trait, the paternal diversity, these findings represent the largest ancient dataset of Y chromosome variation in non-humans. I proved the existence of several Y chromosome haplotypes in early domestic horses. The decline of Y chromosome variation coincides with the movement of nomadic peoples from the Eurasian steppes and later with different breeding practices in the Roman period. In conclusion, positive selection was estimated for several phenotypes/lineages in different regions or times which indicates that these were preferred by humans. Furthermore, I could successfully infer the distribution and dispersal of horses in association with human movements and actions. Thereby, a better understanding of the influence of people on the changing appearance and genetic diversity of domestic horses could be gained. My results also emphasize the close relationship of ancient genetics and archeology or history and that only in combination well-founded conclusions can be reached. KW - ancient DNA KW - domestication KW - horse KW - equus caballus KW - locomotion KW - Y chromosome KW - coat colour Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Avcilar-Kucukgoze, Irem T1 - Effect of tRNA Aminoacylation and Cellular Resources Allocation on the Dynamics of Translation in Escherichia coli Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Hofferek, Vinzenz T1 - Starvation response of Drosophila melanogaster BT - a Lipidomic Approach Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lah, Ljerka A1 - Trense, Daronja A1 - Benke, Harald A1 - Berggren, Per A1 - Gunnlaugsson, Þorvaldur A1 - Lockyer, Christina A1 - Öztürk, Ayaka A1 - Öztürk, Bayram A1 - Pawliczka, Iwona A1 - Roos, Anna A1 - Siebert, Ursula A1 - Skóra, Krzysztof A1 - Víkingsson, Gísli A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Spatially Explicit Analysis of Genome-Wide SNPs Detects Subtle Population Structure in a Mobile Marine Mammal, the Harbor Porpoise N2 - The population structure of the highly mobile marine mammal, the harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), in the Atlantic shelf waters follows a pattern of significant isolation-by-distance. The population structure of harbor porpoises from the Baltic Sea, which is connected with the North Sea through a series of basins separated by shallow underwater ridges, however, is more complex. Here, we investigated the population differentiation of harbor porpoises in European Seas with a special focus on the Baltic Sea and adjacent waters, using a population genomics approach. We used 2872 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), derived from double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD-seq), as well as 13 microsatellite loci and mitochondrial haplotypes for the same set of individuals. Spatial principal components analysis (sPCA), and Bayesian clustering on a subset of SNPs suggest three main groupings at the level of all studied regions: the Black Sea, the North Atlantic, and the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, we observed a distinct separation of the North Sea harbor porpoises from the Baltic Sea populations, and identified splits between porpoise populations within the Baltic Sea. We observed a notable distinction between the Belt Sea and the Inner Baltic Sea sub-regions. Improved delineation of harbor porpoise population assignments for the Baltic based on genomic evidence is important for conservation management of this endangered cetacean in threatened habitats, particularly in the Baltic Sea proper. In addition, we show that SNPs outperform microsatellite markers and demonstrate the utility of RAD-tags from a relatively small, opportunistically sampled cetacean sample set for population diversity and divergence analysis. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 295 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-100813 SN - 1866-8372 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Zhu, Fangjun A1 - Schlupp, Ingo A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Sequence Evolution and Expression of the Androgen Receptor and Other Pathway-Related Genes in a Unisexual Fish, the Amazon Molly, Poecilia formosa, and Its Bisexual Ancestors N2 - The all-female Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa) originated from a single hybridization of two bisexual ancestors, Atlantic molly (Poecilia mexicana) and sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna). As a gynogenetic species, the Amazon molly needs to copulate with a heterospecific male, but the genetic information of the sperm-donor does not contribute to the next generation, as the sperm only acts as the trigger for the diploid eggs’ embryogenesis. Here, we study the sequence evolution and gene expression of the duplicated genes coding for androgen receptors (ars) and other pathway-related genes, i.e., the estrogen receptors (ers) and cytochrome P450, family19, subfamily A, aromatase genes (cyp19as), in the Amazon molly, in comparison to its bisexual ancestors. Mollies possess–as most other teleost fish—two copies of the ar, er, and cyp19a genes, i.e., arα/arβ, erα/erβ1, and cyp19a1 (also referred as cyp19a1a)/cyp19a2 (also referred to as cyp19a1b), respectively. Non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) among the ancestral bisexual species were generally predicted not to alter protein function. Some derived substitutions in the P. mexicana and one in P. formosa are predicted to impact protein function. We also describe the gene expression pattern of the ars and pathway-related genes in various tissues (i.e., brain, gill, and ovary) and provide SNP markers for allele specific expression research. As a general tendency, the levels of gene expression were lowest in gill and highest in ovarian tissues, while expression levels in the brain were intermediate in most cases. Expression levels in P. formosa were conserved where expression did not differ between the two bisexual ancestors. In those cases where gene expression levels significantly differed between the bisexual species, P. formosa expression was always comparable to the higher expression level among the two ancestors. Interestingly, erβ1 was expressed neither in brain nor in gill in the analyzed three molly species, which implies a more important role of erα in the estradiol synthesis pathway in these tissues. Furthermore, our data suggest that interactions of steroid-signaling pathway genes differ across tissues, in particular the interactions of ars and cyp19as. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 265 Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-97119 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brzezinka, Krzysztof A1 - Altmann, Simone A1 - Czesnick, Hjördis A1 - Nicolas, Philippe A1 - Gorka, Michal A1 - Benke, Eileen A1 - Kabelitz, Tina A1 - Jähne, Felix A1 - Graf, Alexander A1 - Kappel, Christian A1 - Bäurle, Isabel T1 - Arabidopsis FORGETTER1 mediates stress-induced chromatin memory through nucleosome remodeling JF - eLife N2 - Plants as sessile organisms can adapt to environmental stress to mitigate its adverse effects. As part of such adaptation they maintain an active memory of heat stress for several days that promotes a more efficient response to recurring stress. We show that this heat stress memory requires the activity of the FORGETTER1 (FGT1) locus, with fgt1 mutants displaying reduced maintenance of heat-induced gene expression. FGT1 encodes the Arabidopsis thaliana orthologue of Strawberry notch (Sno), and the protein globally associates with the promoter regions of actively expressed genes in a heat-dependent fashion. FGT1 interacts with chromatin remodelers of the SWI/ SNF and ISWI families, which also display reduced heat stress memory. Genomic targets of the BRM remodeler overlap significantly with FGT1 targets. Accordingly, nucleosome dynamics at loci with altered maintenance of heat-induced expression are affected in fgt1. Together, our results suggest that by modulating nucleosome occupancy, FGT1 mediates stress-induced chromatin memory. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17061 SN - 2050-084X VL - 5 PB - eLife Sciences Publications CY - Cambridge ER - TY - THES A1 - Stief, Anna T1 - Genetics and ecology of plant heat stress memory Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - THES A1 - Brzezinka, Krzysztof T1 - Chromatin dynamics during heat stress memory in plants Y1 - 2016 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schlägel, Ulrike E. A1 - Lewis, Mark A. T1 - A framework for analyzing the robustness of movement models to variable step discretization JF - Journal of mathematical biology N2 - When sampling animal movement paths, the frequency at which location measurements are attempted is a critical feature for data analysis. Important quantities derived from raw data, e.g. travel distance or sinuosity, can differ largely based on the temporal resolution of the data. Likewise, when movement models are fitted to data, parameter estimates have been demonstrated to vary with sampling rate. Thus, biological statements derived from such analyses can only be made with respect to the resolution of the underlying data, limiting extrapolation of results and comparison between studies. To address this problem, we investigate whether there are models that are robust against changes in temporal resolution. First, we propose a mathematically rigorous framework, in which we formally define robustness as a model property. We then use the framework for a thorough assessment of a range of basic random walk models, in which we also show how robustness relates to other probabilistic concepts. While we found robustness to be a strong condition met by few models only, we suggest a new method to extend models so as to make them robust. Our framework provides a new systematic, mathematically founded approach to the question if, and how, sampling rate of movement paths affects statistical inference. KW - Animal movement KW - Random walk KW - Sampling rate KW - Discretization KW - GPS data KW - Parameter estimation Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00285-016-0969-5 SN - 0303-6812 SN - 1432-1416 VL - 73 SP - 815 EP - 845 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schlägel, Ulrike E. A1 - Lewis, Mark A. T1 - Robustness of movement models: can models bridge the gap between temporal scales of data sets and behavioural processes? JF - Journal of mathematical biology KW - Animal movement KW - Sampling rate KW - Resource selection KW - GPS data KW - Parameter estimation KW - Markov model Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00285-016-1005-5 SN - 0303-6812 SN - 1432-1416 VL - 73 SP - 1691 EP - 1726 PB - Springer CY - Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lamanna, Francesco A1 - Kirschbaum, Frank A1 - Ernst, Anja R. R. A1 - Feulner, Philine G. D. A1 - Mamonekene, Victor A1 - Paul, Christiane A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph T1 - Species delimitation and phylogenetic relationships in a genus of African weakly-electric fishes (Osteoglossiformes, Mormyridae, Campylomormyrus) JF - Molecular phylogenetics and evolution N2 - African weakly-electric fishes (Mormyridae) are able to communicate through species-specific electric signals; this feature might have favoured the evolutionary radiation observed in this family (over 200 species) by acting as an effective pre-zygotic isolation mechanism. In the present study we used mitochondria((cytb) and nuclear (rps7, scn4aa) markers in order to reconstruct a species-phylogeny and identify species boundaries for the genus Campylomormyrus, by applying inference methods based on the multispecies coalescent model. Additionally, we employed 16 microsatellite markers, landmark-based morphometric measurements, and electro-physiological analyses as independent lines of evidence to the results obtained from the sequence data. The results show that groups that are morphologically different are also significantly divergent at the genetic level, whereas morphologically similar groups, displaying dissimilar electric signals, do not show enough genetic diversity to be considered separate species. Furthermore, the data confirm the presence of a yet undescribed species within the genus Campylomormyrus. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. KW - Mormyridae KW - Multispecies-coalescent KW - Campylomormyrus KW - Geometric morphometrics KW - Microsatellites KW - Species-delimitation Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.035 SN - 1055-7903 SN - 1095-9513 VL - 101 SP - 8 EP - 18 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER -