The many ways to delimit species: hairs, genes and surface chemistry

Species identification forms the basis for understanding the diversity of the living world, but it is also a prerequisite for understanding many evolutionary patterns and processes. The most promising approach for correctly delimiting and identifying species is to integrate many types of information in the same study. Our aim was to test how cuticular hydro- carbons, traditional morphometrics, genetic polymorphisms in nuclear markers (allozymes and DNA microsatellites) and DNA barcoding (partial mitochondrial COI gene) perform in delimiting species. As an example, we used two closely related Formica ants, F. fusca and F. lemani, sampled from a sympatric population in the northern part of their distribu- tion. Morphological characters vary and overlap in different parts of their distribution areas, but cuticular hydrocarbons include a strong taxonomic signal and our aim is to test the degree to which morphological and genetic data correspond to the chemical data. In the morphological analysis, species were best separated by the combined number of hairs on pro- notum and mesonotum, but individual workers overlapped in hair numbers, as previously noted by several authors. Nests of the two species were separated but not clustered according to species in a Principal Component Analysis made on nuclear genetic data. However, model-based Bayesian clustering resulted in perfect separation of the species and gave no indication of hybridization. Furthermore, F. lemani and F. fusca did not share any mitochondrial haplotypes, and the species were perfectly separated in a phylogenetic tree. We conclude that F. fusca and F. lemani are valid species that can be separated in our study area relatively well with all methods employed. However, the unusually small genetic differen- tiation in nuclear markers (FST = 0.12) shows that they are closely related, and occasional hybridization between F. fusca and F. lemani cannot be ruled out.

Endemic malaria: an 'indoor' disease in northern Europe

Background: Endemic northern malaria reached 68°N latitude in Europe during the 19th century, where the summer mean temperature only irregularly exceeded 16°C, the lower limit needed for sporogony of Plasmodium vivax. Because of the available historical material and little use of quinine, Finland was suitable for an analysis of endemic malaria and temperature. Methods: Annual malaria death frequencies during 1800–1870 extracted from parish records were analysed against long-term temperature records in Finland, Russia and Sweden. Supporting data from 1750–1799 were used in the interpretation of the results. The life cycle and behaviour of the anopheline mosquitoes were interpreted according to the literature. Results: Malaria frequencies correlated strongly with the mean temperature of June and July of the preceding summer, corresponding to larval development of the vector. Hatching of imagoes peaks in the middle of August, when the temperature most years is too low for the sporogony of Plasmodium. After mating some of the females hibernate in human dwellings. If the female gets gametocytes from infective humans, the development of Plasmodium can only continue indoors, in heated buildings. Conclusion: Northern malaria existed in a cold climate by means of summer dormancy of hypnozoites in humans and indoor transmission of sporozoites throughout the winter by semiactive hibernating mosquitoes. Variable climatic conditions did not affect this relationship. The epidemics, however, were regulated by the population size of the mosquitoes which, in turn, ultimately was controlled by the temperatures of the preceding summer.

The decline of malaria in Finland – the impact of the vector and social variables

Background: Malaria was prevalent in Finland in the 18th century. It declined slowly without deliberate counter-measures and the last indigenous case was reported in 1954. In the present analysis of indigenous malaria in Finland, an effort was made to construct a data set on annual malaria cases of maximum temporal length to be able to evaluate the significance of different factors assumed to affect malaria trends. Methods: To analyse the long-term trend malaria statistics were collected from 1750–2008. During that time, malaria frequency decreased from about 20,000 – 50,000 per 1,000,000 people to less than 1 per 1,000,000 people. To assess the cause of the decline, a correlation analysis was performed between malaria frequency per million people and temperature data, animal husbandry, consolidation of land by redistribution and household size. Results: Anopheles messeae and Anopheles beklemishevi exist only as larvae in June and most of July. The females seek an overwintering place in August. Those that overwinter together with humans may act as vectors. They have to stay in their overwintering place from September to May because of the cold climate. The temperatures between June and July determine the number of malaria cases during the following transmission season. This did not, however, have an impact on the longterm trend of malaria. The change in animal husbandry and reclamation of wetlands may also be excluded as a possible cause for the decline of malaria. The long-term social changes, such as land consolidation and decreasing household size, showed a strong correlation with the decline of Plasmodium. Conclusion: The indigenous malaria in Finland faded out evenly in the whole country during 200 years with limited or no counter-measures or medication. It appears that malaria in Finland was basically a social disease and that malaria trends were strongly linked to changes in human behaviour. Decreasing household size caused fewer interactions between families and accordingly decreasing recolonization possibilities for Plasmodium. The permanent drop of the household size was the precondition for a permanent eradication of malaria.

J. B. S. Haldane, Ernst Mayr and the Beanbag Genetics Dispute

Starting from the early decades of the twentieth century, evolutionary biology began to acquire mathematical overtones. This took place via the development of a set of models in which the Darwinian picture of evolution was shown to be consistent with the laws of heredity discovered by Mendel. The models, which came to be elaborated over the years, define a field of study known as population genetics. Population genetics is generally looked upon as an essential component of modern evolutionary theory. This article deals with a famous dispute between J. B. S. Haldane, one of the founders of population genetics, and Ernst Mayr, a major contributor to the way we understand evolution. The philosophical undercurrents of the dispute remain relevant today. Mayr and Haldane agreed that genetics provided a broad explanatory framework for explaining how evolution took place but differed over the relevance of the mathematical models that sought to underpin that framework. The dispute began with a fundamental issue raised by Mayr in 1959: in terms of understanding evolution, did population genetics contribute anything beyond the obvious? Haldane's response came just before his death in 1964. It contained a spirited defense, not just of population genetics, but also of the motivations that lie behind mathematical modelling in biology. While the difference of opinion persisted and was not glossed over, the two continued to maintain cordial personal relations.

In the dominion of artefacts

Evolutionary biology is above all concerned with the way life on earth and its setting change over time. The problem posed by Daily and Ehrlich, of how humans, the myriads of organisms that humans carry around in their bodies and the stage on which they interact have been changing over time, may then be viewed as one of the concerns of this discipline.

In the dominion of artefacts

Evolutionary biology is above all concerned with the way life on earth and its setting change over time. The problem posed by Daily and Ehrlich, of how humans, the myriads of organisms that humans carry around in their bodies and the stage on which they interact have been changing over time, may then be viewed as one of the concerns of this discipline.

Interspecies and intraspecies interactions in social amoebae

The stable co-existence of individuals of different genotypes and reproductive division of labour within heterogeneous groups are issues of fundamental interest from the viewpoint of evolution. Cellular slime moulds are convenient organisms in which to address both issues. Strains of a species co-occur, as do different species; social groups are often genetically heterogeneous. Intra- and interspecies 1:1 mixes of wild isolates of Dictyostelium giganteum and D.purpureum form chimaeric aggregates, following which they segregate to varying extents. Intraspecies aggregates develop in concert and give rise to chimaeric fruiting bodies that usually contain more spores (reproductives) of one component than the other. Reproductive skew and variance in the proportion of reproductives are positively correlated. Interspecies aggregates exhibit almost complete sorting; most spores in a fruiting body come from a single species. Between strains, somatic compatibility correlates weakly with sexual compatibility. It is highest within clones, lower between strains of a species and lowest between strains of different species. Trade-offs among fitness-related traits (between compatible strains), sorting out (between incompatible strains) and avoidance (between species) appear to lie behind coexistence.

Campylobacter jejuni colonization and transmission in broiler chickens: a modelling perspective.

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of acute enteritis in the developed world. The consumption of contaminated poultry, where C. jejuni is believed to be a commensal organism, is a major risk factor. However, the dynamics of this colonization process in commercially reared chickens is still poorly understood. Quantification of these dynamics of infection at an individual level is vital to understand transmission within populations and formulate new control strategies. There are multiple potential routes of introduction of C. jejuni into a commercial flock. Introduction is followed by a rapid increase in environmental levels of C. jejuni and the level of colonization of individual broilers. Recent experimental and epidemiological evidence suggest that the celerity of this process could be masking a complex pattern of colonization and extinction of bacterial strains within individual hosts. Despite the rapidity of colonization, experimental transmission studies exhibit a highly variable and unexplained delay time in the initial stages of the process. We review past models of transmission of C. jejuni in broilers and consider simple modifications, motivated by the plausible biological mechanisms of clearance and latency, which could account for this delay. We show how simple mathematical models can be used to guide the focus of experimental studies by providing testable predictions based on our hypotheses. We conclude by suggesting that competition experiments could be used to further understand the dynamics and mechanisms underlying the colonization process. The population models for such competition processes have been extensively studied in other ecological and evolutionary contexts. However, C. jejuni can potentially adapt phenotypically through phase variation in gene expression, leading to unification of ecological and evolutionary time-scales. For a theoretician, the colonization dynamics of C. jejuni offer an experimental system to explore these 'phylodynamics', the synthesis of population dynamics and evolutionary biology.

山东山旺中新世植物重要类群演化生物学与古气候定量重建的研究

　　早在20世纪三十年代，前人发现山旺中新世具有丰富的植物化石，枝叶、果实、花保存完好。1940年我国植物学家胡先骗与美国加州大学钱耐发表研究专著《中国山东山旺中新世植物群》，报道了30科61属84种植物，为最早系统地进行山旺植物研究的奠基之作，至今仍然具有很高的科学价值和国际影响。1946年布朗发表论文涉及山旺部分属种修订工作。1951年斯行健发表文章：评胡先骗与钱耐著“山东中新统植物群”， 对部分属种鉴定提出异议。1978年植物所与南古所老一辈科学家又作了大量补充与修订，完成合著《中国新生代植物》，该书对山旺植物群进行了系统整理，总计43科87属125种植物，奠定了 山旺植物群的基本面貌。此后，山旺植物群陆续有新的类群添加。目前所知山旺植物群主要以温带落叶植物为主混生了部分亚热带常绿和落叶阔叶植物。该植物群不仅种类繁多，数量丰富，而且保存完整，是我国新生代植物群中研究程度最好的代表。 尽管山旺研究已经取得如此丰富的成果，但是在Hu&Chaney (1940)研究山旺植物群之后的长达60年里( 1940-1999)，关于山旺叶、果实与花的研究仅局限于外部的形态描述，缺乏对其进行细胞形态结构和角质层等结构植物学的实验分析研究，从而大大制约了对该植物群性质的理解和类群演化生物学的深入的研究。 近年来我们通过与国际国内同行的广泛合作，运用国际古植物学研究的新技术、新方法，如叶结构分析、角质层分析、细胞形态结构分析等，在光学显微镜与电子显微镜不同层次的观察上，将植物体外部形态学与内部细胞结构研究相结合，开展对山旺植物群的类群研究，取得了重要进展。我们首次成功提取了山旺植物“阿斯羌属”(As tronium)的角质层，并观察到气孔器结构，为该类群的正确修订提供了确凿的生物学证据，建立了化石新属钱耐属(Wang andManchester，2000)。山旺中新世地层中过去报道存在大量的“阿斯羌”花化石，为五个萼片宿存的辐射对称的花，果实球形，一枚，项生。这种生殖结构也普遍见于欧洲大陆的中新世地层和北美大陆美国的始新世地层中。欧洲人Heer在1859年提出它属于分布于东亚的旋花科的飞蛾藤属(Porana)植物; Weyland在1937年认为它应当是热带龙脑香科非洲马达加斯加岛屿特有分布的Mono tes属植物;美国人MacGinitie在1953年认为它属于分布于南美的漆树科的阿斯羌属(Astronium)植物，其确切系统位置众说纷纭。在中国新生代植物一书中，采用了美国人MacGinitie在1953年的观点，称之为阿斯羌花。斯行健先生认为是旋花科的飞蛾藤属植物。 我们调查了密苏里北京植物园标本馆馆藏的南美和非洲标本，以及哈佛大学标本馆的馆藏东亚标本，对上述科属现存植物的花结构进行了全面的详细研究。发现5个萼片宿存的辐射对称的花见于多个不同的科属类群，是一种趋同演化性状，而萼片脉纹与表皮细胞气孔器排列、果实形态与数目等特征在上述不同类群中极易区分。因而逐一排除了属于上述现存类群的可能性。我们研究的山旺与北美的化石标本显示的果实个体发育过程与现存植物苦木科苦木属(Picrasma)的果实发育相似，果实发育早期为5枚分离，后期3-4枚退化，仅1-2枚，通常为1枚球形果实留存，花瓣脱落，萼片宿存。但是，它们二者在果实形态与萼片表皮结构上，仍存在很大差异。现在认为它属于一个绝灭的植物类群，化石的系统位置尚无法放入现存的科属系统，可能接近于苦木科。因此，建立了一个化石新属钱耐属(Chaneya)。目前，该属包含二个种，一个分布于北美始新世地层，另一个分布于东亚中新世地层，欧洲的材料由于缺乏深入研究，尚无法确定归属。钱耐属在北半球第三纪地层中呈东亚北美间断分布。钱耐属的研究，不仅为探讨东亚与北美植物区系的联系和植物类群的分化历史提供了重要的证据(Wang and Manchester，2000)，更为深入探讨山旺化石植物重要类群的结构与演化生物学研究提供了成功的范例。 山旺的榉属(Zelkova)是山旺植物群的一个常见分子。榉属是欧亚大陆分布的植物，现存6种，在欧亚大陆第三纪地层中发现了大量的榉属化石，包括果实与叶连生的枝条。在北美大陆虽然有榉属化石报道，但是由于缺乏果实，仅靠叶的特征难以令人信服，榉属是否存在于北美仍有争议( Manchester，1989;Manchester，个人通讯)。近年基于我们在山旺组发现和采集到大量的榉属离散叶片以及联生有果实和叶的生殖枝条的深入研究，获得了化石叶结构、表皮细胞、表皮毛、气孔器、核果的大量结构生物学信息。通过与奥地利维也纳大学的 Ferguson教授合作，建立了欧亚现存榉属6个种的生物学形态与结构信息参照系，古今对比结果清楚表明山旺榉的叶缘齿式结构及表皮特征组合最接近我国南部分布的Z. schneideriana，而不是Hu and Chaney (1940)建议的广布于东亚的Z serrata，也明显不同于欧亚大陆共有、分布于西亚伊朗和东欧高加索地区的Z. carpinifolia。常见于欧洲第三纪的翁格榉(Z. ungeri)在形态学更接近Z.carpinifolia。因此，山旺榉明显不同于翁格榉，有其独立的种级特征，应建立东亚中新世榉属的一新种一山旺榉(Z shanwangensis sp. nov.)。榉属在欧亚大陆上的种级分化可能至少在中中新世即已出现。 我们1995年报道了山旺中新世地层发现中国特有植物杜仲化石，并利用先进的电子显微镜设备，找到了确凿无疑的原位化石杜仲特殊胶丝结构直接证据。《美国植物学报》1997年发表文章评论这是目前我国唯一可靠的、保存有精美的胶丝细胞结构的杜仲化石。近年我们迸一步采用古今结合的方法，运用自创的“特有种气候分析法”，对中国重要特有植物杜仲开展了多学科综合研究，利用现存杜仲种子春季萌发需要特定温度的生理学研究结果，结合自然分布区的温度分布，定量恢复了山旺中新世古春季温度数值;该项研究工作的论文列入著名国际SCI刊物《美国植物学报》2003年1月第一期首篇文章。美国植物学报评审人评价：这是应用现代植物实验数据解决地质时期古气候学问题的一个极好例子，是经典之说“现代是（认知）过去的钥匙”的例证，更是当前古植物学研究的一个范例。该文作出的重要贡献体现在如下几个方面：1、提供了现代植物生理生态的实验数据;2、提供了古植物学研究需要的解剖学证据（胶丝）;3、更正了古生物地理方面的一个假说（杜仲何时在中国出现）; 4、提出了一个解答古气候学问题的新方法。 最后一点实际上也是最重要的一点。” 油杉属的研究显示该属现代有三个种，生活在东亚中国，越南和老挝。它曾经在北半球广泛分布，以球果、种鳞、具翅的种子、木材等形式保存在新生代第三纪地层中，如已经有报道的北美大陆美国俄勒冈渐新世和中新世，欧洲中部中新世，亚洲日本中新世和上新世，俄罗斯远东渐新世到中新世地层。本次山旺中中新世与美国俄勒冈渐新世Rujada flora发现的油杉，接近现存油杉属的属型种油杉。北美中新世和亚洲日本中新世和上新世报道了接近于现存种铁坚油杉的化石。这些证据反映了东亚与北美第三纪植物区系的联系远比今天密切，油杉在北美中新世末期后、在欧洲早更新世之后和在东亚日本上新世结束，在上述地区消失。油杉今天仅孑遗分布于东亚中国秦岭以南、雅砻江以东，长江以南及台湾、海南岛和越南、老挝等亚热带至热带北缘的低山、丘陵山区。山旺油杉的球果化石具有现存油杉和铁坚油杉复合种的特征，可能代表了兼具中国两种油杉共同特征的一个早期类型，由此也表明油杉和铁坚油杉的物种分化在中国有可能是1500万年以来发生的新近事件。同时，油杉球果（松科）的首次发现，解决了山东山旺中中新世化石产地有无裸子植物这个长达半个世纪的争论(Hu andChaney，1940：斯行健，1951)，进一步确证了山旺中中新世气候为亚热带山地气候类型。