scholarly journals Ancient proteins resolve the evolutionary history of Darwin’s South American ungulates

Nature ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 522 (7554) ◽  
pp. 81-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frido Welker ◽  
Matthew J. Collins ◽  
Jessica A. Thomas ◽  
Marc Wadsley ◽  
Selina Brace ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
South American ◽  
Ancient Proteins ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Floral-oil-producing Plantaginaceae species: geographical distribution, pollinator rewards and interactions with oil-collecting bees

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 77-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Cristina Martins ◽  
Isabel Alves-dos-Santos
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
South American ◽  
Oil Glands ◽  
Especial Case ◽  
History Of ◽  
Plant Families ◽  
Floral Oil ◽  
Pollinator Rewards

Floral oils as reward to pollinators occur in eleven plant families and appeared at least 28 times in the evolutionary history of flowering plants. They are produced in epithelial or tricomatic glands and collected by oil bee visitors. The present paper focuses on floral-oil-producing species of Plantaginaceae, a Neotropical group namely Angelonia clade. This group comprises around 40 described species in the genera Angelonia, Basistemon, Monttea, Monopera and the oil-less Melosperma. We present a revision of all species of the Angelonia clade, their geographical distribution, resources offered to pollinators and records of flower visitors, especially oil-collecting bees. These plants rely only on oil-collecting species in the tribe Centridini and Tapinotaspidini for a successful pollination, being the interaction between both partners an especial case of bee/flower adaptation in Neotropical region. Some bee species depend only on the oil of Plantaginaceae flowers to survive, while others can collect on several floral oil sources. The pollinating bees explore the oil glands located in sacs using specialized hairs in the forelegs. With this study, we hope to inspire further research relating to this fascinating group of plants, in which most species are rare and occur in highly endangered habitats in South American open vegetation biomes.

scholarly journals The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 150635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanesa L. De Pietri ◽  
R. Paul Scofield ◽  
Nikita Zelenkov ◽  
Walter E. Boles ◽  
Trevor H. Worthy
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
South Australia ◽  
First Record ◽  
South American ◽  
Crown Group ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Skeletal Morphology ◽  
Ancient Lineage ◽  
History Of

Presbyornithids were the dominant birds in Palaeogene lacustrine assemblages, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, but are thought to have disappeared worldwide by the mid-Eocene. Now classified within Anseriformes (screamers, ducks, swans and geese), their relationships have long been obscured by their strange wader-like skeletal morphology. Reassessment of the late Oligocene South Australian material attributed to Wilaru tedfordi , long considered to be of a stone-curlew (Burhinidae, Charadriiformes), reveals that this taxon represents the first record of a presbyornithid in Australia. We also describe the larger Wilaru prideauxi sp. nov. from the early Miocene of South Australia, showing that presbyornithids survived in Australia at least until ca 22 Ma. Unlike on other continents, where presbyornithids were replaced by aquatic crown-group anatids (ducks, swans and geese), species of Wilaru lived alongside these waterfowl in Australia. The morphology of the tarsometatarsus of these species indicates that, contrary to other presbyornithids, they were predominantly terrestrial birds, which probably contributed to their long-term survival in Australia. The morphological similarity between species of Wilaru and the Eocene South American presbyornithid Telmabates antiquus supports our hypothesis of a Gondwanan radiation during the evolutionary history of the Presbyornithidae. Teviornis gobiensis from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia is here also reassessed and confirmed as a presbyornithid. These findings underscore the temporal continuance of Australia’s vertebrates and provide a new context in which the phylogeny and evolutionary history of presbyornithids can be examined.

Development and evolution of the gynoecium in Myrteae (Myrtaceae)

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael R. Pimentel ◽  
Natália P. Barreira ◽  
Diego P. Spala ◽  
Nathane B. Cardim ◽  
Marcelo C. Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Floral Anatomy ◽  
Structural Diversity ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Fleshy Fruit ◽  
South American ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ovule Number ◽  
Development And Evolution

Characters of the gynoecium are considered potentially significant for the systematics of Myrtaceae. However, only two such characters – ovule number and placentation – have been addressed from an evolutionary perspective. Colleter presence in flowers is a synapomorphy of Myrtales; however, no morphological and histochemical descriptions of such structures have been done in Myrtaceae. Here we analysed the ontogeny and anatomy of the gynoecium combined with the ontogeny, anatomy, ultrastructure, and histochemistry of the colleters to study the evolution of these characters and map their states in the Myrteae phylogenetic tree. Our findings may help elucidate the evolutionary history of this tribe of fleshy-fruit producers so important towards maintaining ecological balance in the rainforest. Floral anatomy and ontogeny were analysed using light microscopy. Colleter samples were processed using standard methods for light and transmission electron microscopy. The main metabolites in colleters were detected via histochemistry. To map character states the program Mesquite version 2.71 was used. The morphological characters of the South American Myrteae here analysed provided an overview of the evolution of gynoecium – with cauline or carpellate placenta – and of colleters, as well as synapomorphies for the clades Plinia + Myrcia and Eugenia + Pimenta. The presence of two integuments in the ovules associated with sclereids and colleters in the gynoecium and the young fleshy fruit assures the efficient dispersal of their seeds. Our findings regarding gynoecium structural diversity of the tribe Myrteae give a new insight on their morphologically uniform flowers.

Evolutionary History of the South American Mistletoe Tripodanthus (Loranthaceae) Using Nuclear and Plastid Markers

2012 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo C. Amico ◽  
Romina Vidal-Russell ◽  
Miguel A. Garcia ◽  
Daniel L. Nickrent
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
South American ◽  
The South ◽  
History Of ◽  
Plastid Markers ◽  
History Of The South

scholarly journals Lineage-independent retrotransposition of UTP14 associated with male fertility has occurred multiple times throughout mammalian evolution

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 171049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Rohozinski
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Male Gamete ◽  
Housekeeping Genes ◽  
Evolutionary Trees ◽  
South American ◽  
Mammalian Evolution ◽  
Interesting Aspect ◽  
New Genes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gamete Production

In mammals, gamete production is essential for reproductive success. This is particularly true for males where large quantities of sperm are produced to fertilize a limited number of eggs released by the female. Because of this, new genes associated with increased spermatogenic efficiency have been accumulating throughout the evolution of therian mammals. Many of these new genes are testis-specific retrotransposed copies of housekeeping genes located on the X chromosome. Of particular interest are retrotransposed copies of UTP14 that are present in many distantly related eutherian mammals. Analysis of genomic data available in ENSEMBL indicates that these UTP14 retrogenes have arisen independently in the various eutherian clades. They represent an interesting aspect of evolution whereby new homologues of UTP14 have become independently fixed in multiple mammalian lineages due to the reproductive advantage that may be conferred to males. Surprisingly, these genes may also be lost, even after being present within a lineage for millions of years. This phenomenon may potentially be used to delineate evolutionary trees in closely related groups of mammals, particularly in the case of South American primates. Studying these retrogenes will yield new insights into the evolutionary history of male gamete production and the phylogeny of eutherian mammals.

scholarly journals Insights into the Evolutionary History of an Extinct South American Freshwater Snail Based on Historical DNA

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e0169191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto E. Vogler ◽  
Ariel A. Beltramino ◽  
Ellen E. Strong ◽  
Alejandra Rumi ◽  
Juana G. Peso
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Freshwater Snail ◽  
South American ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Dna

scholarly journals Reconstructing the Evolutionary History of Nitrogenases: Evidence for Ancestral Molybdenum-Cofactor Utilization

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda K. Garcia ◽  
Hanon McShea ◽  
Bryan Kolaczkowski ◽  
Betül Kaçar
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Fixed Nitrogen ◽  
Ancestral Sequences ◽  
Cofactor Biosynthesis ◽  
Ancient Proteins ◽  
History Of ◽  
Femo Cofactor ◽  
Global Biogeochemical Cycles ◽  
Active Site Sequence

ABSTRACTThe nitrogenase metalloenzyme family, essential for supplying fixed nitrogen to the biosphere, is one of life’s key biogeochemical innovations. The three isozymes of nitrogenase differ in their metal dependence, each binding either a FeMo-, FeV-, or FeFe-cofactor where the reduction of dinitrogen takes place. The history of nitrogenase metal dependence has been of particular interest due to the possible implication that ancient marine metal availabilities have significantly constrained nitrogenase evolution over geologic time. Here, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of nitrogenases, and combined phylogenetic reconstruction, ancestral sequence inference, and structural homology modeling to evaluate the potential metal dependence of ancient nitrogenases. We find that active-site sequence features can reliably distinguish extant Mo-nitrogenases from V- and Fe-nitrogenases, and that inferred ancestral sequences at the deepest nodes of the phylogeny suggest these ancient proteins most resemble modern Mo-nitrogenases. Taxa representing early-branching nitrogenase lineages lack one or more biosynthetic nifE and nifN genes that both contribute to the assembly of the FeMo-cofactor in studied organisms, suggesting that early Mo-nitrogenases may have utilized an alternate and/or simplified pathway for cofactor biosynthesis. Our results underscore the profound impacts that protein-level innovations likely had on shaping global biogeochemical cycles throughout the Precambrian, in contrast to organism-level innovations that characterize the Phanerozoic Eon.

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