@phdthesis{Eckert2022,
  author    = {Eckert, Silvia},
  title     = {Trait variation in changing environments: Assessing the role of DNA methylation in non-native plant species},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-56884},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-568844},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {VIII, 134, CXXX},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The increasing introduction of non-native plant species may pose a threat to local biodiversity. However, the basis of successful plant invasion is not conclusively understood, especially since these plant species can adapt to the new range within a short period of time despite impoverished genetic diversity of the starting populations. In this context, DNA methylation is considered promising to explain successful adaptation mechanisms in the new habitat. DNA methylation is a heritable variation in gene expression without changing the underlying genetic information. Thus, DNA methylation is considered a so-called epigenetic mechanism, but has been studied in mainly clonally reproducing plant species or genetic model plants. An understanding of this epigenetic mechanism in the context of non-native, predominantly sexually reproducing plant species might help to expand knowledge in biodiversity research on the interaction between plants and their habitats and, based on this, may enable more precise measures in conservation biology. For my studies, I combined chemical DNA demethylation of field-collected seed material from predominantly sexually reproducing species and rearing offsping under common climatic conditions to examine DNA methylation in an ecological-evolutionary context. The contrast of chemically treated (demethylated) plants, whose variation in DNA methylation was artificially reduced, and untreated control plants of the same species allowed me to study the impact of this mechanism on adaptive trait differentiation and local adaptation. With this experimental background, I conducted three studies examining the effect of DNA methylation in non-native species along a climatic gradient and also between climatically divergent regions. The first study focused on adaptive trait differentiation in two invasive perennial goldenrod species, Solidago canadensis sensu latu and S. gigantea AITON, along a climate gradient of more than 1000 km in length in Central Europe. I found population differences in flowering timing, plant height, and biomass in the temporally longer-established S. canadensis, but only in the number of regrowing shoots for S. gigantea. While S. canadensis did not show any population structure, I was able to identify three genetic groups along this climatic gradient in S. gigantea. Surprisingly, demethylated plants of both species showed no change in the majority of traits studied. In the subsequent second study, I focused on the longer-established goldenrod species S. canadensis and used molecular analyses to infer spatial epigenetic and genetic population differences in the same specimens from the previous study. I found weak genetic but no epigenetic spatial variation between populations. Additionally, I was able to identify one genetic marker and one epigenetic marker putatively susceptible to selection. However, the results of this study reconfirmed that the epigenetic mechanism of DNA methylation appears to be hardly involved in adaptive processes within the new range in S. canadensis. Finally, I conducted a third study in which I reciprocally transplanted short-lived plant species between two climatically divergent regions in Germany to investigate local adaptation at the plant family level. For this purpose, I used four plant families (Amaranthaceae, Asteraceae, Plantaginaceae, Solanaceae) and here I additionally compared between non-native and native plant species. Seeds were transplanted to regions with a distance of more than 600 kilometers and had either a temperate-oceanic or a temperate-continental climate. In this study, some species were found to be maladapted to their own local conditions, both in non-native and native plant species alike. In demethylated individuals of the plant species studied, DNA methylation had inconsistent but species-specific effects on survival and biomass production. The results of this study highlight that DNA methylation did not make a substantial contribution to local adaptation in the non-native as well as native species studied. In summary, my work showed that DNA methylation plays a negligible role in both adaptive trait variation along climatic gradients and local adaptation in non-native plant species that either exhibit a high degree of genetic variation or rely mainly on sexual reproduction with low clonal propagation. I was able to show that the adaptive success of these non-native plant species can hardly be explained by DNA methylation, but could be a possible consequence of multiple introductions, dispersal corridors and meta-population dynamics. Similarly, my results illustrate that the use of plant species that do not predominantly reproduce clonally and are not model plants is essential to characterize the effect size of epigenetic mechanisms in an ecological-evolutionary context.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{SanockaPagel2009,
  author    = {Sanocka-Pagel, Elżbieta},
  title     = {Estetyczne myślenie w tw{\´o}rczości Andrzeja Stasiuka : w kontekście mityzacji Europy Wschodniej},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-60862},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2009},
  abstract  = {W pracy został przedstawiony innowacyjny spos{\´o}b patrzenia na Europę Wschodnią, widoczny w tw{\´o}rczości Andrzeja Stasiuka odbiegający od klasycznego, czyli "r{\´o}wnoleżnikowego" widzenia tej części kontynentu w odwiecznej konfrontacji i nieustannych por{\´o}wnań z Zachodem. Tw{\´o}rczość tego artysty skupia się na zaniedbanym ,,pasie południowym". 1. Stan badań Tw{\´o}rczość pisarza cieszy się ogromną popularnością w kraju i za granicą. Krytyka literacka z wielką uwagą śledzi kolejno pojawiające się dzieła, niemniej jednak do tej pory stan badań jest stosunkowo niewielki. Nie powstało żadne kompendium wiedzy o wczesnej tw{\´o}rczości pisarza czy monograficzne opracowanie obejmujące ten sam okres tw{\´o}rczości artysty. Do tej pory uwaga krytyki i badaczy zwr{\´o}cona została gł{\´o}wnie na pierwsze utwory powstałe w latach dziewięćdziesiątych. 2. Cel pracy Gł{\´o}wnym celem dysertacji była analiza tw{\´o}rczości Stasiuka w odniesieniu do zagadnień i problem{\´o}w obecnych w filozofii i estetyce takich jak: kategoria piękna i brzydoty w ujęciu ontologicznym, metafizycznym i epistemologicznym, badanie wybranych utwor{\´o}w w kontekście niekonwencjonalnej autobiografii artystycznej, jak r{\´o}wnież nawiązanie do mityzacji Europy Wschodniej z odwołaniem się do prozy Brunona Schulza. Utworami łączącymi te zagadnienia ujmując chronologicznie są: „Opowieści galicyjskie"(1995), „Dukla"(1997), „Dziennik okrętowy"(2000), „Jadąc do Babadag"(2004). Teksty te łączy wsp{\´o}lny kontekst estetyczny, autobiograficzny, mityczny. 3. Podział i budowa pracy Niniejsza praca składa się z trzech części: pierwszej - „Estetyka brzydoty", drugiej - „Homo geographicus Fascynacja geografią w kontekście autobiograficznym" stanowiącą pomost między kontekstem estetycznym i mitycznym oraz trzeciej: „Mityzacja Europy Wschodniej. Inspiracja Schulzem". 4. Uwagi końcowe W zamykających na koniec wnioskach i uwagach warto podkreślić, że w pracy zostały poddane analizie problemy omijane przez wielu badaczy. Celem dysertacji było przedstawienie tw{\´o}rczości tego pisarza w niepodejmowanych do tej pory obszarach tematycznych. Spojrzenie na przedstawioną rzeczywistość i jej zjawiska tym razem w aspekcie estetycznym i mitycznym pozwoliły w zupełnie inny spos{\´o}b spojrzeć na wybrane utwory Andrzeja Stasiuka.},
  language  = {mul}
}