Adaptive radiation – the proliferation of species from a single ancestor and diversification into many ecologically different forms – has long been heralded as an important process in the generation of phenotypic diversity. However, the early stages of adaptive radiation are notoriously elusive to observe and study. In this dissertation, I capitalize on communities of introduced non-native Anolis lizards as analogues of early stage adaptive radiations. In Chapter II, I begin by reviewing the concept of “ecological opportunity” – a classic hypothesis put forward as a potential key to understanding when and how adaptive radiation occurs. In Chapter III, I investigate the mechanisms which allow for coexistence and community assembly among ecologically-similar species. To do this I investigate range dynamics and assembly patterns of introduced anoles on the oceanic island of Bermuda. I discover that interspecific partitioning of the structural environment facilitates species coexistence, however the order of species assembly was an important predictor of final community composition. In Chapter IV, I then investigate how interspecific interactions between coexisting species may drive phenotypic divergence. This is the process of character displacement, which has been widely hypothesized to be an important mechanism driving phenotypic divergence in adaptive radiations. To do this I investigate sympatric and allopatric populations of introduced Cuban brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) and Puerto Rican crested anoles (A. cristatellus) in Miami FL, USA. I identify morphological shifts in sympatry, driven by divergence in habitat use and decreases in abundance. This study provides evidence of how selection on both ecologically and sexually-important traits can both drive phenotypic divergence during character displacement. Finally, in Chapter V, after taking advantage of non-native species as model eco-evolutionary systems in previous chapters, I investigate the potentially harmful effects that their presence may have on vulnerable native biodiversity. To do this I investigate the conservation risk posed by newly-discovered populations of A. sagrei on Bermuda to Critically Endangered endemic Bermuda skinks (Plestiodon longirostris). Through a detailed analysis of habitat use, diet, population size, and morphology of A. sagrei on Bermuda, we conclude it likely poses a high conservation threat to P. longirostris through interspecific competition.

<p>The online adaptive radiation therapy for prostate cancer based on re-optimization has been shown to provide better daily target coverage through the treatment course, especially in treatment sessions with large anatomical deformation. However, the clinical implementation of such technique is still limited primarily due to two major challenges: the low efficiency of re-optimization and the lack of online quality assurance technique to verify delivery accuracy. This project aims at developing new techniques and understandings to address these two challenges. </p><p>The study was based on retrospective study on patient data following IRB-approved protocol, including both planning Computer Tomography (CT) and daily Cone-Beam Computer Tomography (CBCT) images. The project is divided in to three parts. The first two parts address primarily the efficiency challenge; and the third part of this project aims at validating the deliverability of the online re-optimized plans and developing an online delivery monitoring system. </p><p><bold>I. Overall implementation scheme.</bold> In this part, an evidence-based scheme, named Adaptive Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (AIGRT), was developed to integrate the re-optimization technique with the current IGRT technique. The AIGRT process first searches for a best plan for the daily target from a plan pool, which consists the original CT plan and all previous re-optimized plans. If successful, the selected plan is used for the daily treatment with translational shifts. Otherwise, the AIGRT invokes re-optimization process of the CT plan for the anatomy-of-the-day, which is added to the plan pool afterwards as a candidate plan for future fractions. The AIGRT scheme is evaluated by comparisons with daily re-optimization and online repositioning techniques based on daily target coverage, Organ-at-Risk (OAR) sparing and implementation efficiency. Simulated treatment courses for 18 patients with re-optimization alone, re-positioning alone and AIGRT shows that AIGRT offers reliable daily target coverage that is highly comparable to re-optimization everyday and significantly improves compared to re-positioning. AIGRT is also seen to provide improved organs-at-risk (OARs) sparing compared to re-positioning. Apart from dosimetric benefits, AIGRT in addition offers an efficient scheme to integrate re-optimization to current re-positioning-based IGRT workflow.</p><p><bold>II. Strategies for automatic re-optimization.</bold> This part aims at improving the efficiency of re-optimization through automation and strategic selections of optimization parameters. It investigates the strategies for performing fast (~2 min) automatic online re-optimization with a clinical treatment planning system; and explores the performance with different input parameters settings: the DVH objective settings, starting stage and iteration number (in the context of real time planning). Simulated treatments of 10 patients were re-optimized daily for the first week of treatment (5 fractions) using 12 different combinations of optimization strategies. Options for objective settings included guideline-based RTOG objectives, patient-specific objectives based on anatomy on the planning CT, and daily-CBCT anatomy-based objectives adapted from planning CT objectives. Options for starting stages involved starting re-optimization with and without the original plan's fluence map. Options for iteration numbers were 50 and 100. The adapted plans were then analysed by statistical modelling, and compared both in terms of dosimetry and delivery efficiency. The results show that all fast online re-optimized plans provide consistent coverage and conformity to the daily target. For OAR sparing however, different planning parameters led to different optimization results. The 3 input parameters, i.e. DVH objectives, starting stages and iteration numbers, contributed to the outcome of optimization nearly independently. Patient-specific objectives generally provided better OAR sparing compared to guideline-based objectives. The benefit in high-dose sparing from incorporating daily anatomy into objective settings was positively correlated with the relative change in OAR volumes from planning CT to daily CBCT. The use of the original plan fluence map as the starting stage reduced OAR dose at the mid-dose region, but increased 17% more monitor units. Only < 2cc differences in OAR V50% / V70Gy / V76Gy were observed between 100 and 50 iterations. Based on these results, it is feasible to perform automatic online re-optimization in ~2 min using a clinical treatment planning system. Selecting optimal sets of input parameters is the key to achieving high quality re-optimized plans, and should be based on the individual patient's daily anatomy, delivery efficiency and time allowed for plan adaptation. </p><p><bold>III. Delivery accuracy evaluation and monitoring.</bold> This part of the project aims at validating the deliverability of the online re-optimized plans and developing an online delivery monitoring system. This system is based on input from Dynamic Machine Information (DMI), which continuously reports actual multi-leaf collimator (MLC) positions and machine monitor units (MUs) at 50ms intervals. Based on these DMI inputs, the QA system performed three levels of monitoring/verification on the plan delivery process: (1) Following each input, actual and expected fluence maps delivered up to the current MLC position were dynamically updated using corresponding MLC positions in the DMI. The difference between actual and expected fluence maps creates a fluence error map (FEM), which is used to assess the delivery accuracy. (2) At each control point, actual MLC positions were verified against the treatment plan for potential errors in data transfer between the treatment planning system (TPS) and the MLC controller. (3) After treatment, delivered dose was reconstructed in the treatment planning system based on DMI data during delivery, and compared to planned dose. FEMs from 210 prostate IMRT beams were evaluated for error magnitude and patterns. In addition, systematic MLC errors of ±0.5 and ±1 mm for both banks were simulated to understand error patterns in resulted FEMs. Applying clinical IMRT QA standard to the online re-optimized plans suggests the deliverability of online re-optimized plans are similar to regular IMRT plans. Applying the proposed QA system to online re-optimized plans also reveals excellent delivery accuracy: over 99% leaf position differences are < 0.5 mm, and the majority of pixels in FEMs are < 0.5 MU with errors exceeding 0.5 MU primarily located on the edge of the fields. All clinical FEMs observed in this study have positive errors on the left edges, and negative errors on the right. Analysis on a typical FEM reveals positive correlation between the magnitude of fluence errors and the corresponding leaf speed. FEMs of simulated erroneous delivery exhibit distinct patterns for different MLC error magnitudes and directions, indicating the proposed QA system is highly specific in detecting the source of errors. Based on these results, it can be concluded that the proposed online delivery monitoring system is very sensitive to leaf position errors, highly specific of the error types, and therefore meets the purpose for online delivery accuracy verification. Post-treatment dosimetric verification shows minimal difference between planned and actual delivered DVH, further confirming that the online re-optimized plans can be accurately delivered.</p><p>In summary, this project addressed two most important challenges for clinical implementation of online ART, efficiency and quality assurance, through innovative system design, technique development and validation with clinical data. The efficiencies of the overall treatment scheme and the re-optimization process have been improved significantly; and the proposed online quality assurance system is found to be effective in catching and differentiating leaf motion errors.</p> / Dissertation

The recognition of ecological speciation and hybridisation as key components of speciation has led to a major shift in evolutionary biology over the last decade. The mimetic Heliconius butterflies of the Neotropics have served as a prominent example of both, although the vast majority of studies have focused exclusively on very recent divergences and on colour pattern adaptation, neglecting deeper timescales and patterns across the rich diversity of the adaptive radiation. The relative importance across adaptive radiations of allopatry, changing ecological pressures, adaptive morphology and introgression promoted by natural and sexual selection remains unknown. I combine phylogenetics, genomics and comparative approaches to elucidate the patterns and identify the key drivers of diversification in the continental-scale radiation of Heliconius and nine related genera. I present the first comprehensive, multilocus and time-calibrated phylogeny of the group and find that shifts in diversification rate cannot be unequivocally attributed to a single environmental factor. The potential role of coevolution with the obligatory host plants Passiflora is examined with the aid of a new phylogeny of the passion vines. Evidence is found for diffuse coevolution, as the diet of most Heliconiini is not predicted by their phylogeny and varies at short timescales. Although passion vine butterflies are the leading example of speciation by hybridisation, this process has been described in only one subgenus. I utilise whole exome data to examine the morphologically suggestive case of a putative hybrid from another clade and find no evidence of introgression. The data is further used to answer long-standing questions about the origins of the most phenotypically diverse species. In the final chapter whole genome data are applied to characterise the patterns of divergence and gene flow across the entire genera Heliconius and Eueides, characterising the patterns of conflicting signal and comparing the performance of philosophically distinct approaches to reflect the heterogeneity across the genome. I find that the phylogeny is unstable due to a combination if incomplete lineage sorting and introgression and may never be fully resolved, perhaps necessitating a network representation. Genomic admixture is a unique property of just one clade comprising a quarter of all species, and involves primarily the adaptive wing pattern loci. Surprisingly, the sex-linked Z chromosome shows a different order of speciation events. Altogether my results show unexpectedly limited role of allopatry, geoclimatic variables and host plant adaptation in the diversification of a major insect radiation, thus confirming the importance of ecological speciation driven by selection on wing patterns. However, I also demonstrate that introgression may be less important in this group than previously thought.

Juste après son apparition au début de l'Ère Tertiaire, l'ordre des Primates connaît plusieurs phases de diversification intenses. Ces épisodes successifs sont à l'origine de l'émergence des groupes actuels. Malgré l'importance de ces évènements, leurs modalités restent peu connues, particulièrement l'importance des facteurs écologiques. En Europe et en Amérique du Nord, la transition Paléocène-Éocène est marquée par un réchauffement climatique majeur. C'est à cette époque que les primates modernes (Euprimates) apparaissent, se dispersent, et se diversifient de manière explosive au cours de l'Éocène. Ce travail a pour objectif de caractériser l'émergence de cette diversité à travers les facteurs écologiques tels que le partage des ressources, les phénomènes de compétition, et les changements paléoenvironnementaux. Dans ce but, l'étude de la structure des dents et des micro-usures laissées par le bol alimentaire permet la reconstruction du régime alimentaire des primates paléogènes (Adapiformes, Omomyiformes, Anthropoidea et Plesiadapiformes), l'un des meilleurs indicateurs de l'écologie d'un animal.En Europe, les premiers euprimates (e.g., Donrussellia [adapiformes]), bien qu'ayant un patron dentaire de type insectivore, étaient majoritairement frugivores et secondairement insectivores. Ils occupaient ainsi des niches distinctes des plésiadapiformes (folivores, frugivores et gommivores). La diversification des euprimates au cours de l'Éocène a conduit à l'augmentation des pressions de compétition au sein des communautés et à l'apparition de spécialisations écologiques. Par exemple, les adapinés, initialement frugivores, ont montré une évolution de leur régime alimentaire par l'intégration de feuilles et d'objets durs.En Asie, l'étude des communautés fossiles a mis en exergue une forte pression de compétition entre les formes de petite taille (éosimiidés, tarsiidés, adapidés), qui avaient tous un régime alimentaire à base de fruits et d'insectes. Les anthropoïdes asiatiques (amphipithècidés) montrent des spécialisations écologiques très singulières avec notamment un régime alimentaire à base d'objets durs. En Afrique, les communautés éocènes témoignent d'une diversité importante, avec la colonisation des niches insectivores (adapiformes), frugivores (adapiformes, strepsirhiniens et anthropoïdes) et folivores (adapiformes, anthropoïdes).Cette étude a mis en exergue la diversité et la variabilité du régime alimentaire qui peut exister pour une espèce donnée (actuelle ou fossile) en fonction des facteurs biotiques (compétition) et abiotiques (environnement, géographie). La comparaison entre les différents continents montre que les primates (adapiformes, omomyiformes et anthropoïdes) n'occupaient pas les mêmes niches écologiques au sein des différentes communautés. Ces différences au niveau du partage des ressources et des phénomènes de compétition se sont répercutées sur la dynamique des différentes radiations. / Soon after its appearance at the beginning of the Tertiary, the Primate order underwent several successive episodes of diversification which were the basis for the emergence of the higher taxonomic groups that can be observed in nature today. Despite the importance of these events, little is known regarding the factors that governed them, in particular the importance of the ecological factors involved. The Paleocene-Eocene transition in North America and Europe was marked by a period of major global warming. It was during this time that modern primates (Euprimates) appeared and dispersed before experiencing an explosive diversification throughout the Eocene. This study aims to characterize the emergence of this diversity through the identification of ecological factors, such as environment, resource partitioning and competition. In this framework, the study of dental structure and of dental microwear is used to reconstruct the diet of Paleogene primates (Adapiformes, Omomyiformes, Anthropoidea and Plesiadapiformes), one of the best indicators of the ecology of a given animal. In Europe, although exhibiting a dental morphology better suited to insect-eating, the first euprimates (e.g., Donrussellia [adapiformes]) were fruit-eaters, only supplementing their diet with insects. They mostly occupied different niches to co-occurring plesiadapiforms (leaf-, fruit- and gum-eaters). The diversification of euprimates led to the increasing competition among primate communities and to the apparition of different dietary specializations. For example, Adapines, initially having a diet based on fruit, show a dietary shift by incorporating leaves and harder objects in their diet.In Asia, the study of fossil primate communities has highlighted resource partitioning and competition among small-bodied primates (eosimiids, tarsiids, and adapids), which all had a diet based on fruit and insects. Asian anthropoids (amphipithecids) show some singular ecological specialization towards sclerocarpic foraging.In Africa, Eocene primates show a high diversity, with the colonisation of numerous ecological niches such as insect-eating (adapiformes), fruit-eating (adapiformes, strepsirhines and anthropoids) et leaf-eating (adapiformes, anthropoides).This study highlights dietary diversity and variability which can exist for a given primate (extant or fossil) according to factors which can be biological in nature (i.e., competition) or not (i.e., environment, geography). The comparison between the different continents demonstrates that primates (Adapiformes, Omomyiformes, and Anthropoidea) occupied different niches in different primate communities. These differences in resource partitioning and competition are most probably reflected in the different paths these adaptive radiations took.

Three new species of cichlid fishes of the genus Geophagus, part of the Neotropical subfamily Geophaginae, are described from the Orinoco and Casiquiare drainages in Venezuela. Phylogenetic relationships among 16 genera and 30 species of Geophaginae are investigated using 136 morphological characters combined with DNA sequences coding for the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) and the nuclear Recombination Activating Gene 2 (RAG2). Data from previous studies are integrated with the new dataset by incorporating published DNA sequences from the mitochondrial genes cytochrome b and 16S and the microsatellite flanking regions Tmo-M27 and Tmo-4C4. Total-evidence analysis revealed that Geophaginae is monophyletic and includes eighteen genera grouped into two major clades. In the first clade, the tribe Acarichthyini (genera Acarichthys and Guianacara) is sister-group to a clade in which Gymnogeophagus, 'Geophagus' steindachneri, and Geophagus sensu stricto are sister to 'Geophagus' brasiliensis and Mikrogeophagus; all these are in turn sister-group to Biotodoma, Dicrossus and Crenicara. In the second clade, Satanoperca, Apistogramma (including Apistogrammoides), and Taeniacara are sister to Crenicichla and Biotoecus. Monophyly and significantly short branches at the base of the phylogeny indicate that genera within Geophaginae differentiated rapidly within a relatively short period. High morphological, ecological, and behavioral diversity within the subfamily suggest that geophagine divergence may be the result of adaptive radiation.

Three new species of cichlid fishes of the genus Geophagus, part of the Neotropical subfamily Geophaginae, are described from the Orinoco and Casiquiare drainages in Venezuela. Phylogenetic relationships among 16 genera and 30 species of Geophaginae are investigated using 136 morphological characters combined with DNA sequences coding for the mitochondrial gene NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 (ND4) and the nuclear Recombination Activating Gene 2 (RAG2). Data from previous studies are integrated with the new dataset by incorporating published DNA sequences from the mitochondrial genes cytochrome b and 16S and the microsatellite flanking regions Tmo-M27 and Tmo-4C4. Total-evidence analysis revealed that Geophaginae is monophyletic and includes eighteen genera grouped into two major clades. In the first clade, the tribe Acarichthyini (genera Acarichthys and Guianacara) is sister-group to a clade in which Gymnogeophagus, 'Geophagus' steindachneri, and Geophagus sensu stricto are sister to 'Geophagus' brasiliensis and Mikrogeophagus; all these are in turn sister-group to Biotodoma, Dicrossus and Crenicara. In the second clade, Satanoperca, Apistogramma (including Apistogrammoides), and Taeniacara are sister to Crenicichla and Biotoecus. Monophyly and significantly short branches at the base of the phylogeny indicate that genera within Geophaginae differentiated rapidly within a relatively short period. High morphological, ecological, and behavioral diversity within the subfamily suggest that geophagine divergence may be the result of adaptive radiation.

The plant genus Tolpis (Asteraceae) is a predominantly insular plant lineage. It inhabits four of the five archipelagoes that comprise the Atlantic region of Macaronesia and also occurs in Mediterranean Europe and North Africa. Twelve species are currently recognized in Tolpis, of which ten are insular and two continental. The majority of the insular species inhabit the five western Canarian islands, where they constitute endemics to specific ecological habitats. A comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Tolpis is generated via DNA sequences of one nuclear ribosomal and two low-copy nuclear DNA markers. Considerable phylogenetic uncertainty among inferred tree topologies is detected, and incongruence between these topologies is resolved via statistical hypotheses testing. The extant diversity of the genus is identified to be the result of two independent colonization pathways and adaptive radiations on several islands. Moreover, potential hybridization is detected between species that inhabit different islands and archipelagoes, indicating a more widespread historical distribution of the genus. Details of the biogeographic history of Tolpis are inferred via ancestral area reconstructions under parsimony and likelihood optimality criteria. The hypothesis that Tolpis may have undergone a back-dispersal from an island to a continental habitat is also tested. Uncertainty in taxon cladograms owing to the presence of hybrid or allopolyploid taxa is characterized and a potential adjustment strategy evaluated. Averaging reconstruction results over all optimal phylogenetic trees and the manual pruning of cloned DNA sequences are found potential adjustment strategies against the impact of topological uncertainty owning to hybrid or allopolyploid taxa. Adjusted ancestral area reconstructions in Tolpis do not support the scenario that the genus has undergone a reverse colonization of the continent. In addition to the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of the genus, the diversity of symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi associated with Tolpis is characterized. A molecular survey using two nuclear ribosomal DNA markers and 454 pyrosequencing is performed. Particular emphasis is placed on the quality filtering of resulting fungal DNA sequences, the generation of operational taxonomic units, and their taxonomic assignment via similarity searches against DNA sequence databases. Numerous potentially novel fungal genotypes are identified. / text

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / One of the major causes of the phylogenetic, temporal and spatial variation of species richness is attributed to the processes of differential speciation and extinction of lineages, named diversification. There is also a great phenotypic diversity among species that may be related to diversification. The development of phylogenetic comparative methods allowed the study of the diversification and evolution of species traits. The aim of this study is to investigate the pattern of diversification and trait evolution of the suckermouth armored catfish, Loricariinae subfamily, and to investigate if these attributes are related to the diversification rates within the clade. We used a phylogeny containing 114 representatives of subfamily species and their attributes body size, climatic niche and microhabitat (substrate) - position and width for both - to evaluate the evolutionary rates and test the relationship between these different axes of the species niche and their evolutionary rates. We estimated diversification rates with BAMM and performed phylogenetic correlation analyzes (STRAPP) to address the question of whether the attributes are related to the diversification process in the subfamily. We also performed analyzes of disparity through time (DTT) to explore the temporal pattern of phenotypic evolution. The diversification analysis showed that the subfamily had high rates of diversification. Body size presented heterogeneous rates among clades, presenting a shift of diversification in which the specie Paraloricaria agastor had the smallest size of the clade. Climatic niche position presented a heterogeneous pattern of diversification rates, with a shift involving six species of Rineloricaria that retained their niche position. Diversification of the climatic niche width revealed the most heterogeneous pattern, presenting four shifts occurring in clades in which some species possessed greater climatic niche widths. However, the rates of diversification of both micro-habitat position and width did not show any shift. The STRAPP test revealed no correlation between any of the traits studied with diversification, showing that evolutionary process of Loricariinae seems to be independent of the phenotypic attributes investigated. The DTT revealed that in most of the Loricariinae’s evolutionary history, the averages of disparity of the studied attributes evolved under neutral evolution, although they presented peaks of phenotypic disparity within the clades in the most recent time. The results showed that Loricarinae evolved through a non-adaptive radiation where vicariant events would have promoted allopatric speciation and the high diversification rates. In fact, it is known that the radiation of Neotropical fishes was closely related to geological processes of basin formation (hydrogeological hypothesis). DTTs analyzes reinforces this claim, because in most of the evolutionary history the attributes evolved neutrally, without association with diversification, as expected in non-adaptive radiation. Although the subfamily evolved under non-adaptive radiation, divergent selection processes possibly occurred in species independently, promoting significant disparity of attributes within the clades at the present time. The results obtained highlights a peculiar evolutionary history for Loricariinae and a unique known example of nonadaptive radiation for the Neotropics, which can be enlighten the understanding of the yet little known processes that led to the extraordinary diversification of the Neotropical fishes. / Uma das causas da variação filogenética, temporal e espacial da riqueza das espécies são atribuídas aos processos de especiação e extinção diferencial das linhagens, chamado de diversificação. Existe também uma grande diversidade fenotípica entre as espécies que pode estar relacionada à diversificação. O desenvolvimento de métodos filogenéticos comparativos permitiu o estudo da diversificação e evolução de atributos das espécies. O objetivo do presente estudo é investigar os padrões de diversificação e evolução de atributos de peixes Cascudos da subfamília Loricariinae, e investigar se esses atributos estão correlacionados com as taxas de diversificação. Foi utilizada uma filogenia contendo 114 representantes de espécies da subfamília e os atributos tamanho corporal, posição e largura de nicho climático de microhábitat (substrato), para avaliar as taxas evolutivas e relação entre esses diferentes eixos do nicho das espécies e as taxas evolutivas da subfamília. As taxas de diversificação da subfamília e dos atributos foram estimadas através do BAMM e foram realizadas análises de correlação filogenética (STRAPP) a fim de detectar se os atributos estão moldando o processo de diversificação na subfamília. Foram realizadas também análises de disparidade ao longo do tempo (DTT) para explorar o padrão temporal de evolução fenotípica. A análise de diversificação mostrou que a subfamília possui altas taxas de diversificação. O tamanho corporal apresentou taxas heterogêneas entre os subclados, apresentando um shift de diversificação no clado em que a espécie Paraloricaria agastor apresentou o menor tamanho do clado. A posição de nicho climático apresentou um padrão heterogêneo de taxas de diversificação, apresentando um shift envolvendo seis espécies de Rineloricaria que conservaram sua posição de nicho. A diversificação da largura de nicho climático revelou o padrão mais heterogêneo, apresentando quatro shifts que ocorreram em clados que contém espécies com maiores larguras de nicho climático. Já as taxas de diversificação da posição e largura de micro-hábitat não apresentaram shifts. Os testes STRAPP revelaram não haver correlação entre nenhum dos atributos considerados no presente estudo e a diversificação, mostrando que o processo evolutivo de Loricariinae parece ser independente dos atributos fenotípicos investigados. O DTT revelou que na maior parte da história evolutiva da subfamília as médias de disparidade dos atributos estudados evoluíram de forma neutra, porém apresentaram picos de disparidade fenotípica dentro dos clados no tempo mais recente. Os resultados mostram que provavelmente os Loricaríneos evoluíram através de uma radiação não adaptativa onde eventos vicariantes teriam promovido especiação alopátrica e as altas taxas de diversificação. De fato, acredita-se que a radiação dos peixes Neotropicais esteve intimamente relacionada aos processos geológicos de formação de bacias (hipótese hidrogeológica). O DTT reforça essa conclusão, pois em boa parte da história evolutiva os atributos evoluíram neutramente, sem associação com a diversificação, como seria esperado em uma radiação não adaptativa. Entretanto, apesar de a subfamília ter evoluído sob radiação não adaptativa, processos de seleção divergente possivelmente ocorreram em espécies independentemente, promovendo disparidade significativa dos atributos dentro dos clados no tempo presente. Os resultados obtidos revelam uma história evolutiva peculiar para os Loricaríneos e um exemplo raro de radiação não adaptativa nos Neotrópicos, que pode elucidar o entendimento dos processos que levaram a extraordinária diversificação dos peixes Neotropicais, ainda pouco conhecidos. / São Cristóvão, SE

Paroedura genus includes 17 described species endemic to Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, where they went through a significant adaptive radiation. The genus Paroedura is monophyletic and well supported hypothesis on phylogenetic relationships among its species was published. Species vary considerably in body size and morphology and in preferences for habitat, some species live in sympatry. The genus Paroedura belongs to cytogenetically poorly studied family Gekkonidae which exhibits high variability in modes of sex determination and in comparison with basal gecko lineages, also considerable variability in the chromosome number and morphology. Karyotypes of only two species of the genus (P. picta, P. sp.) have been published. The aim of my thesis was to describe karyotypes of both sexes in all available species of the genus using conventional and molecular cytogenetic methods, to perform the phylogenetic analysis of karyotype evolution and chromosomal rearrangements in the genus, to assess the role of these rearrangements in the speciation of the genus and to detect sex chromosomes. I acquired karyotypes of both sexes in nine species representing the most of major phylogenetic lineages of the genus. According to the results, species can be divided into three groups according to diploid...

Inspired by Gould, who claimed life would be arriving at a different outcome each time it were allowed to run from the same beginning, I have attempted to determine the repeatability of the adaptive course of one Pseudomonas fluorescens lineage. In addition, my study aimed to establish whether the likelihood of parallel evolution of the two synonymous single-nucleotide substitutions was contingent upon a prior motility-impairing deletion or a prior increase in fitness. Further, the study was designed to provide empirical data addressing the long-standing question of the effect of starting fitness on the ensuing rate of adaptation. Although no exact replay of the initial evolutionary trajectory was observed, I have demonstrated that gtsB, but not gtsC gene, is likely to be a mutational hotspot under the low glucose with a recovery of two undescribed mutations in gtsB. My data are consistent with a notion that substitutions in gtsB may be contingent upon Δ35kB(fliJ-PFLU4466) motility-impairing deletion, but not the fitness increase associated with it. Finally, the features of the adaptive landscape of P. fluorescens in the minimal glucose provide languid support for Fisher’s hypothesis of a decrease in adaptation rate with the rise in the starting fitness. Taken together, these original results reinforce the non-negligible role of history in shaping the outcomes of biological evolution and call for caution in attempting a formulation of rigid predictive models of evolutionary change. Inspiré par les travaux de Stephen J. Gould qui affirmait que la vie sur terre arriverait à une forme différente si elle repartait à zéro, je présente ici mes travaux où je teste la reproductibilité du cours adaptatif d’une lignée expérimentale de Pseudomonas fluorescens. L’objectif de cette étude était de déterminer si la probabilité que deux mutations synonymes évoluent en parallèle est affectée par la présence d’une délétion affectant la motilité de la bactérie ou de l’augmentation de la valeur sélective de celle-ci. De plus, le design expérimental de cette étude permet de tester si la valeur sélective initiale d’une population affecte le taux d’adaptation de cette même population. Bien d’une reproductibilité exacte du cours adaptatif initial ne fut pas observée, je démontre que le gène gtsB est probablement un « hotspot »mutationnel permettant l’adaptation à de bas niveau de glucose, ayant trouvé deux mutations dans ce site; alors que le gène gtsC ne l’est pas. Mes données sont également conséquentes avec le fait que les mutation dans le gène gtsB dépendent de l’effet de la délétion Δ35kB(fliJ-PFLU4466) affectant la motilité de la bactérie, mais non de l’augmentation de la valeur sélective qui y est associée. Finalement, la forme du plateau adaptative associé à de bas niveaux de glucose chez P. fluorescens supporte l’hypothèse émise par Fisher qui stipule que le taux d’adaptation d’un organisme diminue avec la valeur sélective initiale qui y est associée. L’ensemble de ces résultats supporte le rôle non-négligeable de l’histoire de vie d’une population en ce qui attrait à l’évolution future de cette même population. Aussi, ces résultats appelle à la prudence quand vient le temps de formuler des modèles prédictifs des changements évolutifs d’une population.