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Speciation and evolutionary genetics

This section considers studies into speciation and the role of inheritance and variation in individuals and among populations in evolution.

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  1. Tubifex tubifex is a widespread annelid characterized by considerable variability in its taxonomic characteristics and by a mixed reproductive strategy, with both parthenogenesis and biparental reproduction. In a...

    Authors: Roberto Marotta, Angelica Crottini, Elena Raimondi, Cristina Fondello and Marco Ferraguti
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:73
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  2. The red brocket deer, Mazama americana, has at least six distinct karyotypes in different regions of South America that suggest the existence of various species that are today all referred to as M. americana. Fro...

    Authors: Marina Suzuki Cursino, Maurício Barbosa Salviano, Vanessa Veltrini Abril, Eveline dos Santos Zanetti and José Maurício Barbanti Duarte
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:40
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  3. Traditional morphological and biological species concepts are difficult to apply to closely related, asexual taxa because of the lack of an active sexual phase and paucity of morphological characters. Phylogen...

    Authors: Jane E Stewart, Lavern W Timmer, Christopher B Lawrence, Barry M Pryor and Tobin L Peever
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:38
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  4. The glaciation cycles that occurred throughout the Pleistocene in western North America caused frequent shifts in species’ ranges with important implications for models of species divergence. For example, long...

    Authors: Emily M Rubidge, James L Patton and Craig Moritz
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:34
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  5. Geographic barriers to gene flow and divergence among populations in sexual traits are two important causes of genetic isolation which may lead to speciation. Genetic isolation may be facilitated if these two ...

    Authors: Magdalena Herdegen, Heather J Alexander, Wiesław Babik, Jesús Mavárez, Felix Breden and Jacek Radwan
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:28
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  6. Hybridization and polyploidy are central processes in evolution and speciation. These mechanisms often lead to complex patterns of genetic variation and the creation of novel genotypes, which may establish if ...

    Authors: Isabel Marques, David Draper, Lorena Riofrío and Carlos Naranjo
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:20
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  7. Temporal variation in the genetic structure of populations can be caused by multiple factors, including natural selection, stochastic environmental variation, migration, or genetic drift. In benthic marine spe...

    Authors: Jenni E Kesäniemi, Marina Mustonen, Christoffer Boström, Benni W Hansen and K Emily Knott
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:12
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  8. The most toxic aromatic hydrocarbon pollutants are categorized as dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) to which extreme tolerance has evolved independently and contemporaneously in (at least) four populations of Atlan...

    Authors: Dina A Proestou, Patrick Flight, Denise Champlin and Diane Nacci
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:7
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  9. The non-migratory killifish Fundulus heteroclitus inhabits clean and polluted environments interspersed throughout its range along the Atlantic coast of North America. Several populations of this species have suc...

    Authors: Adam M Reitzel, Sibel I Karchner, Diana G Franks, Brad R Evans, Diane Nacci, Denise Champlin, Verónica M Vieira and Mark E Hahn
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:6
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  10. Maize is the most produced crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, but yields are low and climate change is projected to further constrain smallholder production. The current efforts to breed and disseminate new high yiel...

    Authors: Ola T Westengen, Kristoffer H Ring, Paul R Berg and Anne K Brysting
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2014 14:1
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  11. The evolution of ecological divergence in closely related species is a key component of adaptive radiation. However, in most examples of adaptive radiation the mechanistic basis of ecological divergence remain...

    Authors: Matthew D McGee, Dolph Schluter and Peter C Wainwright
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:277
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  13. Radiation in some plant groups has occurred on islands and due to the characteristic rapid pace of phenotypic evolution, standard molecular markers often provide insufficient variation for phylogenetic reconst...

    Authors: Barbara Turner, Ovidiu Paun, Jérôme Munzinger, Sutee Duangjai, Mark W Chase and Rosabelle Samuel
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:269
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  14. Positive multi-locus heterozygosity-fitness correlations have been observed in a number of natural populations. They have been explained by the correlation between heterozygosity and inbreeding, and the negati...

    Authors: Gemma GR Murray, Mark EJ Woolhouse, Miika Tapio, Mary N Mbole-Kariuki, Tad S Sonstegard, Samuel M Thumbi, Amy E Jennings, Ilana Conradie van Wyk, Margo Chase-Topping, Henry Kiara, Phil Toye, Koos Coetzer, Barend M deC Bronsvoort and Olivier Hanotte
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:246
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  15. To survive in a hostile environment, insects have evolved an innate immune system to defend against infection. Studies have shown that natural selection may drive the evolution of immune system-related protein...

    Authors: Ming Han, Sheng Qin, Xiaojun Song, Yafang Li, Ping Jin, Liming Chen and Fei Ma
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:245
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  16. Species are the fundamental units in evolutionary biology. However, defining them as evolutionary independent lineages requires integration of several independent sources of information in order to develop rob...

    Authors: Matthias Markolf, Hanitriniaina Rakotonirina, Claudia Fichtel, Phillip von Grumbkow, Markus Brameier and Peter M Kappeler
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:233
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  17. Evaluating patterns of genetic variation is important to identify conservation units (i.e., evolutionarily significant units [ESUs], management units [MUs], and adaptive units [AUs]) in endangered species. Whi...

    Authors: Ying Zhu, Qiu-Hong Wan, Bin Yu, Yun-Fa Ge and Sheng-Guo Fang
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:227
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  18. Hybridization and reproductive isolation are central to the origin and maintenance of species, and especially for sympatric species, gene flow is often inhibited through barriers that depend upon mating compat...

    Authors: Britta Büker, Elsa Petit, Dominik Begerow and Michael E Hood
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:224
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  19. Sperm and testes-expressed Adam genes have been shown to undergo bouts of positive selection in mammals. Despite the pervasiveness of positive selection signals, it is unclear what has driven such selective bouts...

    Authors: Phil Grayson and Alberto Civetta
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:217
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  20. Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii (Diptera: Culicidae) is a primary vector of human and simian malaria parasites in southern and southeastern Brazil. Earlier studies using chromosome inversions, isoenzymes and a numbe...

    Authors: Luísa DP Rona, Carlos J Carvalho-Pinto and Alexandre A Peixoto
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:207
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  21. The evolutionary events that have shaped biodiversity patterns in the African rainforests are still poorly documented. Past forest fragmentation and ecological gradients have been advocated as important driver...

    Authors: Jerome Duminil, Richard P Brown, Eben-Ezer BK Ewédjè, Patrick Mardulyn, Jean-Louis Doucet and Olivier J Hardy
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:195
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  22. The maternally inherited bacterium Wolbachia often acts as a subtle parasite that manipulates insect reproduction, resulting potentially in reproductive isolation between host populations. Whilst distinct Wolbach...

    Authors: Emilie Dumas, Célestine M Atyame, Pascal Milesi, Dina M Fonseca, Elena V Shaikevich, Sandra Unal, Patrick Makoundou, Mylène Weill and Olivier Duron
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:181
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  23. The Galapagos Islands constitute a highly diverse ecosystem and a unique source of variation in the form of endemic species. There are two endemic tomato species, Solanum galapagense and S. cheesmaniae and two in...

    Authors: Alejandro F Lucatti, Adriaan W van Heusden, Ric CH de Vos, Richard GF Visser and Ben Vosman
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:175
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  24. Light, the driving force of photosynthesis, can be harmful when present in excess; therefore, any light harvesting system requires photoprotection. Members of the extended light-harvesting complex (LHC) protei...

    Authors: Sabine Sturm, Johannes Engelken, Ansgar Gruber, Sascha Vugrinec, Peter G Kroth, Iwona Adamska and Johann Lavaud
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:159
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  25. Birnaviruses form a distinct family of double-stranded RNA viruses infecting animals as different as vertebrates, mollusks, insects and rotifers. With such a wide host range, they constitute a good model for s...

    Authors: Jean-François Gibrat, Mahendra Mariadassou, Pierre Boudinot and Bernard Delmas
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:154
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  26. Gen(om)e duplication events are hypothesized as key mechanisms underlying the origin of phenotypic diversity and evolutionary innovation. The diverse and species-rich lineage of teleost fishes is a renowned ex...

    Authors: Eveline T Diepeveen, Fabienne D Kim and Walter Salzburger
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:153
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  27. Individuals commonly prefer certain trait values over others when choosing their mates. If such preferences diverge between populations, they can generate behavioral reproductive isolation and thereby contribu...

    Authors: Tanja Schwander, Devin Arbuthnott, Regine Gries, Gerhard Gries, Patrik Nosil and Bernard J Crespi
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:151
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  28. Currently, there is very limited knowledge about the genes involved in normal pigmentation variation in East Asian populations. We carried out a genome-wide scan of signatures of positive selection using the 1...

    Authors: Jessica L Hider, Rachel M Gittelman, Tapan Shah, Melissa Edwards, Arnold Rosenbloom, Joshua M Akey and Esteban J Parra
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:150
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  29. Genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exhibit high levels of variability, which is believed to have arisen through pathogen-mediated selection. We investigated the relationship between parasite l...

    Authors: Min Zhang and Hongxuan He
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:149
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  31. Many groups of insects have obligate bacterial symbionts that are vertically transmitted. Such associations are typically characterized by the presence of a monophyletic group of bacteria living in a well-defi...

    Authors: Wendy A Smith, Kelly F Oakeson, Kevin P Johnson, David L Reed, Tamar Carter, Kari L Smith, Ryuichi Koga, Takema Fukatsu, Dale H Clayton and Colin Dale
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:109
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  32. Speciation reversal: the erosion of species differentiation via an increase in introgressive hybridization due to the weakening of previously divergent selection regimes, is thought to be an important, yet poo...

    Authors: Alan G Hudson, Pascal Vonlanthen, Etienne Bezault and Ole Seehausen
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:108
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  33. Rapid and reliable identification of quarantine pests is essential for plant inspection services to prevent introduction of invasive species. For insects, this may be a serious problem when dealing with morpho...

    Authors: Juerg E Frey, Larissa Guillén, Beatrice Frey, Joerg Samietz, Juan Rull and Martín Aluja
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:106
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  34. Chromosomal inversions are increasingly being recognized as important in adaptive shifts and are expected to influence patterns of genetic variation, but few studies have examined genetic patterns in inversion...

    Authors: W Jason Kennington and Ary A Hoffmann
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:100
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  35. In evolutionary and conservation biology, parasitism is often highlighted as a major selective pressure. To fight against parasites and pathogens, genetic diversity of the immune genes of the major histocompat...

    Authors: Victor A Stiebens, Sonia E Merino, Frédéric J J Chain and Christophe Eizaguirre
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:95
    Content type: Methodology article Published on:

  36. Gammarus minus, a freshwater amphipod living in the cave and surface streams in the eastern USA, is a premier candidate for studying the evolution of troglomorphic traits such as pigmentation loss, elongated appe...

    Authors: David B Carlini, Suma Satish and Daniel W Fong
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:89
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  38. Adaptation to different ecological environments is thought to drive ecological speciation. This phenomenon culminates in the radiations of cichlid fishes in the African Great Lakes. Multiple characteristic tra...

    Authors: Joost AM Raeymaekers, Pascal I Hablützel, Arnout F Grégoir, Jolien Bamps, Anna K Roose, Maarten PM Vanhove, Maarten Van Steenberge, Antoine Pariselle, Tine Huyse, Jos Snoeks and Filip AM Volckaert
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:41
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  39. DNA barcoding of land plants has relied traditionally on a small number of markers from the plastid genome. In contrast, low-copy nuclear genes have received little attention as DNA barcodes because of the abs...

    Authors: Yohan Pillon, Jennifer Johansen, Tomoko Sakishima, Srikar Chamala, W Brad Barbazuk, Eric H Roalson, Donald K Price and Elizabeth A Stacy
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:35
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  40. Wolbachia pipientis, a diverse group of α-proteobacteria, can alter arthropod host reproduction and confer a reproductive advantage to Wolbachia-infected females (cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI)). This advantage...

    Authors: Rebecca E Symula, Uzma Alam, Corey Brelsfoard, Yineng Wu, Richard Echodu, Loyce M Okedi, Serap Aksoy and Adalgisa Caccone
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:31
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  41. Molecular techniques are increasingly employed to recognize the presence of cryptic species, even among commonly observed taxa. Previous studies have demonstrated that bats using high-duty cycle echolocation m...

    Authors: Elizabeth L Clare, Amanda M Adams, Aline Z Maya-Simões, Judith L Eger, Paul DN Hebert and M Brock Fenton
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:26
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  42. Invasive pest species offers a unique opportunity to study the effects of genetic architecture, demography and selection on patterns of genetic variability. Invasive Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemline...

    Authors: Saija Piiroinen, Leena Lindström, Anne Lyytinen, Johanna Mappes, Yolanda H Chen, Victor Izzo and Alessandro Grapputo
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:13
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  43. The enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, PEPCK, occurs in its guanosine-nucleotide-using form in animals and a few prokaryotes. We study its natural genetic variation in Colias (Lepidoptera, Pieridae). PEPCK...

    Authors: Ward B Watt, Richard R Hudson, Baiqing Wang and Eddie Wang
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013 13:9
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  45. Understanding demographic histories, such as divergence time, patterns of gene flow, and population size changes, in ecologically diverging lineages provide implications for the process and maintenance of popu...

    Authors: Yuki Mitsui and Hiroaki Setoguchi
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2012 12:254
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  46. Phenotypic evolution may occur through mutations that affect either the structure or expression of protein-coding genes. Although the evolution of color vision has historically been attributed to structural mutat...

    Authors: Kelly E O’Quin, Jane E Schulte, Zil Patel, Nadia Kahn, Zan Naseer, Helena Wang, Matthew A Conte and Karen L Carleton
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2012 12:251
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  47. Allorecognition, the ability of an organism to distinguish self from non-self, occurs throughout the entire tree of life. Despite the prevalence and importance of allorecognition systems, the genetic basis of ...

    Authors: Marie L Nydam and Anthony W De Tomaso
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2012 12:249
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  49. The symbiosis between reef-building corals and photosynthetic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium) is an integral part of the coral reef ecosystem, as corals are dependent on Symbiodinium for the majority of their ener...

    Authors: Jason T Ladner, Daniel J Barshis and Stephen R Palumbi
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2012 12:217
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  50. Chrysanthemyl diphosphate synthase (CDS) is a key enzyme in biosynthetic pathways producing pyrethrins and irregular monoterpenes. These compounds are confined to plants of the tribe Anthemideae of the Asterac...

    Authors: Ping-Li Liu, Jun-Nan Wan, Yan-Ping Guo, Song Ge and Guang-Yuan Rao
    Citation: BMC Evolutionary Biology 2012 12:214
    Content type: Research article Published on:
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