Les variations climatiques du Dernier Maximum Glaciaire ont fortement affecté la distribution des espèces dans les régions tempérées. Dans les régions tropicales, Haffer (1969) a émis l'hypothèse que la forte diversité spécifique des Néotropiques était liée aux variations climatiques du Quaternaire qui auraient fragmenté le couvert forestier en quelques zones "refuges" provoquant une diversification des espèces par spéciation allopatrique. Un tel effet du climat en Amérique du Sud reste cependant aujourd'hui toujours âprement débattu. Cette thèse a pour objectif de tester par des méthodes génétiques les attendus de la théorie des refuges en Guyane en retraçant l'histoire démographique d'Astrocaryum sciophilum, palmier inféodé aux forêts tropicales humides. L'utilisation de marqueurs microsatellites nucléaires et de séquences chloroplastiques nous a permis d'infirmer l'existence des zones refuges proposées par de Granville (1982) et par Tardy (1998). Bien que mettant en évidence une fragmentation de la forêt tropicale humide, la distribution de la diversité génétique ne laisse pas supposer l'existence de zones refuges en Guyane. Nous avons également montré l'absence de forêt tropicale humide sur la bande littorale antérieurement à 129 000 ans BP, ainsi qu'une recolonisation de proche en proche du littoral depuis le Nord-Ouest jusqu'à Kaw, antérieure au Dernier Maximum Glaciaire. Enfin, pour reconstruire l'histoire démographique d'A. sciophilum à une échelle spatiale très fine, nous avons utilisé la méthode d'inférence bayésienne MSVAR basée sur la théorie de la coalescence, qui permet de détecter et dater des changements de taille de population. Nous avons d'abord testé par simulation la performance de la méthode. L'application de MSVAR à notre jeu de données microsatellites a ensuite permis de mettre en évidence l'existence d'une diminution de taille des populations d'A. sciophilum quasi-généralisée en Guyane, à l'exception des populations de la région littorale située entre Sinnamary et Cayenne, également probablement liés à des évènements antérieurs au Quaternaire récent. Ce travail a ainsi permis de proposer de nouvelles hypothèses quant à l'impact des variations climatiques du Quaternaire ancien (antérieur à la dernière période glaciaire) qui semblent avoir eu des répercussions plus importantes sur la végétation que les variations « récentes » du dernier maximum glaciaire. Des études complémentaires seront nécessaires pour déterminer l'importance relative des différents évènements du Quaternaire dans la répartition des espèces forestières du Bouclier Guyanais et du Bassin Amazonien.

O Brasil abrange grande diversidade de espécies da família Orchidaceae, onde o gênero Cattleya se destaca devido a reconhecida importância horticultural e espécies altamente relacionadas de difícil delimitação taxonômica. Anteriormente, Cattleya loddigesii e C. harrisoniana foram reconhecidas como espécies distintas devido à descontinuidade morfológica, fenológica e distribuição geográfica. Entretanto, esses critérios não são suficientes para determinar com clareza a delimitação dessas espécies, uma vez que existem populações com características morfológicas e fenológicas intermediárias consideradas introgredidas. Com o intuito de esclarecer o relacionamento entre C. loddigesii e C. harrisoniana, a relação das populações introgredidas, a estruturação das populações, bem como padrões filogeográficos envolvidos, análises filogeográficas baseadas em sequencias de DNA de cloroplasto (cpDNA) e DNA nuclear ribossomal (ITS) foram utilizadas. No total, foram amostrados 130 indivíduos das duas espécies distribuídos em 17 populações. Os resultados obtidos suportam a distinção entre as plantas, onde a árvore de estimativa de tempo de divergência para ITS separou mais evidentemente em clados distintos as duas espécies, corroborando a alta estruturação encontrada pela AMOVA (ΦCT = 0,597), distribuição haplotípica e análises bayesianas. Apesar disso, os resultados para cpDNA não evidenciaram claramente essa distinção. Os resultados obtidos pelo software Migrate também suportam a distinção das espécies e, ainda, sugerem que as populações introgredidas são mais relacionadas com C. loddigesii. Ademais, os dados sugerem que a estruturação populacional encontrada segue o modelo de isolamento por distância, assim como sugeriram as análises de clados aninhados - NCPA e bayesiana. Ademais, os resultados de estruturação para ambas as regiões, e as possíveis incongruências entre os resultados de cpDNA e ITS estão indicando que existe maior número de indivíduos híbridos e introgressão, necessitando de novos estudos para corroborar essas evidências. Uma das possíveis razões pelo amplo compartilhamento de haplótipos, principalmente para cpDNA, pode ter sido devido à conectividade mantida através das populações introgredidas. Além disso, a reprodução alogâmica, a dispersão por abelhas e a dispersão de sementes pelo vento a longas distâncias podem também ter contribuído para a conexão entre elas. Os resultados da reconstrução filogeográfica, bem como o número de migrantes sugerem que as populações se dispersaram em direção ao Norte-Sul em períodos glaciais do Pleistoceno. Além disso, a alta diversidade e a diferenciação das populações do extremo Sul de SP indicam indícios de uma possível zona de refúgio neste local. / Brazil covers a wide range of species of the orchid family, where the Cattleya genus stands out due to a recognized horticultural importance and highly related species difficult taxonomic delimitation. Previously, Cattleya loddigesii and C. harrisoniana were recognized as distinct species due to morphological, phenological and geographical distribution discontinuity. However, these criteria are not sufficient to determine clearly the identification of these species, as there are populations with intermediate morphological and phenological characteristics considered introgressed. In order to clarify the relationship between C. loddigesii and C. harrisoniana, the ratio of introgressed populations, the population structure and the phylogeographic patterns involved, phylogeographic analyses based on chloroplast DNA sequences (cpDNA) and ribosomal nuclear DNA (ITS), were used. Overall, we sampled 130 individuals of the two species distributed into 17 populations. Results support the distinction between plants, where the tree of divergence time estimate for ITS separated the two species more clearly into distinct clades, corroborating the high structure found by AMOVA (ΦCT = 0.597), haplotype distribution and Bayesian analyses. Nevertheless, the results for cpDNA did not demonstrated that distinction clearly. The results obtained by the Migrate software also support the species distinction and suggest that the introgressed populations are more closely related to C. loddigesii. Furthermore, the data suggest that the population structure found follows the isolation by distance model, as also suggested in the nested clades - NCPA and Bayesian analyses. Furthermore, the population structure results for both regions, plus possible inconsistencies between the cpDNA and ITS results, may indicate that there is a greater number of hybrid individuals and introgression, requiring new studies to corroborate this evidence. One of the possible reasons for the broad sharing of haplotypes, especially for cpDNA, may have been due to connectivity maintained through introgressed populations. Furthermore, the allogamous reproduction, the dispersal by bees and dispersal of seeds by wind over long distances may also have contributed to the connection between them. The results of phylogeographic reconstruction, as well as the number of migrants suggest that the population is dispersed towards North-South in glacial periods of the Pleistocene. In addition, the high diversity and differentiation of populations of the Southern tip of SP indicate evidence of a possible refuge zone at this area.

Le lagopède alpin (Lagopus muta) et la perdrix grise (Perdix perdix) atteignent dans les Pyrénées les limites méridionales de leurs aires de répartition mondiale. Les populations pyrénéennes de ces deux sous-espèces (Lagopus muta pyrenaica et Perdix perdix hispaniensis) sont donc en situation d'isolat biogéographique. Les deux espèces sont d'excellents bio-indicateurs de l'évolution des milieux ouverts d'altitude. Sous la pression conjuguée des contraintes environnementales et anthropiques, ces milieux connaissent actuellement une évolution sensible caractérisée par un relèvement altitudinal des étages de végétation et donc un rétrécissement de l'habitat disponible pour les espèces d'altitude. La régression des activités agro-pastorales accentue ce phénomène généralisé de reforestation des milieux. Une conséquence attendue de ces bouleversements est l'augmentation du degré de fragmentation des habitats notamment pour les populations d'altitude. Au-delà de l'influence du paysage sur la structuration des populations, un autre facteur pourrait structurer les populations de perdrix grise : les lâchers d'individus d'élevage dans des populations sauvages. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à la structuration génétique du lagopède alpin des Pyrénées et de la perdrix grise en France afin d'aider à la décision des plans de conservation.

Background: The blue mussel, Mytilus edulis L., is an important contributor to the shellfish sector of Scottish aquaculture, with 7,270 tonnes worth £8.8 million being produced for the year 2015. Since 2010, production values have fluctuated as a result of inconsistent spat settlement, several business closures, and heightened levels of marine toxins in some areas. On Scotland’s west coast, some farms (most notably Loch Etive) have suffered production losses from the appearance of non-marketable mussels with particularly fragile shells and poor quality meat. Recent research has demonstrated that these undesirable traits have a genetic factor, linked to the presence of a non-native but related species Mytilus trossulus (Gould, 1850) and often its hybrids with the native M. edulis. M. trossulus has been classed as a commercially damaging species under Scottish law, but there is insufficient data on hybridisation and introgression patterns in Scottish mussel populations to evaluate any possible impacts this could have on production. Existing research has focused on single locus genotyping to identify Mytilus spp. and their hybrids in Scotland. By instead utilising multilocus genotyping, introgression could be identified and a better understanding of population structure could be gained, with implications for management to maintain productivity and profitability. The aim of the research presented here was to develop and validate a suite of new species diagnostic markers for multilocus genotyping of field populations of Scottish mussels, thereby establishing a more complete picture of the taxonomic relationships between species than previous studies have permitted. Results: Analysis of SNPs identified with RADseq confirmed the presence of three genetically distinct Mytilus species in Scotland: M. edulis, M. galloprovincialis and M. trossulus. RADseq and KASP genotyping technology successfully identified and validated a suite of 12 highly robust diagnostic SNP markers for multilocus genotyping of Mytilus mussel populations. These markers permitted more comprehensive genotyping than previous studies had, allowing presumed pure species individuals to be distinguished from first generation (F1) hybrids and introgressed (FX) genotypes in reference populations, and subsequently presented the possibility of exploring introgression in a wider scale study. Multilocus genotyping of mussel populations from around Scotland revealed widespread introgression of M. edulis with both M. galloprovincialis and M. trossulus. No pure M. galloprovincialis was identified and pure M. trossulus was restricted to a single site in Loch Etive, possibly part of a relict population. F1 hybrids between M. edulis and M. trossulus were identified in Loch Etive and in Loch Fyne on the west coast. This was evidence of ongoing hybridisation and suggested an active hybrid zone existed in Scotland, something that previous single locus genotyping studies had not acknowledged. A link between shell fragility and M. trossulus introgression was recognised at a single site outside of Loch Etive, but this was not apparent anywhere else and the actual causes of shell fragility remain unevaluated. There was a clear difference between the genetics of most farmed stock and wild populations, which indicated an anthropogenic effect on introgression and subsequent species composition, and had implications for future farm site selection and broodstock sourcing. Temporal species composition in Loch Etive differed over a short time period, but high proportions of M. trossulus alleles were observable some 25 months after a major fallowing event had taken place. Pure M. trossulus was also identifiable, which was consistent with the presence of an established population of M. trossulus existing in this area. Conclusion: Multilocus genotyping has produced a more in depth picture of species diversity in Scottish mussel populations. SNP assays revealed widespread introgression between three genetically distinct species – M. edulis, M. galloprovincialis and M. trossulus – and furthermore recognised that, to date, single locus genotyping has overestimated the abundance of pure Mytilus mussels in Scottish waters. However, this hitherto unidentified genetic complexity does not appear disadvantageous to mussel production, despite the prevalence of M. trossulus introgression among farmed populations, and it is somewhat unlikely that genetics are the sole cause of undesirable shell characteristics among Mytilus spp. mussels.

O Brasil abrange grande diversidade de espécies da família Orchidaceae, onde o gênero Cattleya se destaca devido a reconhecida importância horticultural e espécies altamente relacionadas de difícil delimitação taxonômica. Anteriormente, Cattleya loddigesii e C. harrisoniana foram reconhecidas como espécies distintas devido à descontinuidade morfológica, fenológica e distribuição geográfica. Entretanto, esses critérios não são suficientes para determinar com clareza a delimitação dessas espécies, uma vez que existem populações com características morfológicas e fenológicas intermediárias consideradas introgredidas. Com o intuito de esclarecer o relacionamento entre C. loddigesii e C. harrisoniana, a relação das populações introgredidas, a estruturação das populações, bem como padrões filogeográficos envolvidos, análises filogeográficas baseadas em sequencias de DNA de cloroplasto (cpDNA) e DNA nuclear ribossomal (ITS) foram utilizadas. No total, foram amostrados 130 indivíduos das duas espécies distribuídos em 17 populações. Os resultados obtidos suportam a distinção entre as plantas, onde a árvore de estimativa de tempo de divergência para ITS separou mais evidentemente em clados distintos as duas espécies, corroborando a alta estruturação encontrada pela AMOVA (ΦCT = 0,597), distribuição haplotípica e análises bayesianas. Apesar disso, os resultados para cpDNA não evidenciaram claramente essa distinção. Os resultados obtidos pelo software Migrate também suportam a distinção das espécies e, ainda, sugerem que as populações introgredidas são mais relacionadas com C. loddigesii. Ademais, os dados sugerem que a estruturação populacional encontrada segue o modelo de isolamento por distância, assim como sugeriram as análises de clados aninhados - NCPA e bayesiana. Ademais, os resultados de estruturação para ambas as regiões, e as possíveis incongruências entre os resultados de cpDNA e ITS estão indicando que existe maior número de indivíduos híbridos e introgressão, necessitando de novos estudos para corroborar essas evidências. Uma das possíveis razões pelo amplo compartilhamento de haplótipos, principalmente para cpDNA, pode ter sido devido à conectividade mantida através das populações introgredidas. Além disso, a reprodução alogâmica, a dispersão por abelhas e a dispersão de sementes pelo vento a longas distâncias podem também ter contribuído para a conexão entre elas. Os resultados da reconstrução filogeográfica, bem como o número de migrantes sugerem que as populações se dispersaram em direção ao Norte-Sul em períodos glaciais do Pleistoceno. Além disso, a alta diversidade e a diferenciação das populações do extremo Sul de SP indicam indícios de uma possível zona de refúgio neste local. / Brazil covers a wide range of species of the orchid family, where the Cattleya genus stands out due to a recognized horticultural importance and highly related species difficult taxonomic delimitation. Previously, Cattleya loddigesii and C. harrisoniana were recognized as distinct species due to morphological, phenological and geographical distribution discontinuity. However, these criteria are not sufficient to determine clearly the identification of these species, as there are populations with intermediate morphological and phenological characteristics considered introgressed. In order to clarify the relationship between C. loddigesii and C. harrisoniana, the ratio of introgressed populations, the population structure and the phylogeographic patterns involved, phylogeographic analyses based on chloroplast DNA sequences (cpDNA) and ribosomal nuclear DNA (ITS), were used. Overall, we sampled 130 individuals of the two species distributed into 17 populations. Results support the distinction between plants, where the tree of divergence time estimate for ITS separated the two species more clearly into distinct clades, corroborating the high structure found by AMOVA (ΦCT = 0.597), haplotype distribution and Bayesian analyses. Nevertheless, the results for cpDNA did not demonstrated that distinction clearly. The results obtained by the Migrate software also support the species distinction and suggest that the introgressed populations are more closely related to C. loddigesii. Furthermore, the data suggest that the population structure found follows the isolation by distance model, as also suggested in the nested clades - NCPA and Bayesian analyses. Furthermore, the population structure results for both regions, plus possible inconsistencies between the cpDNA and ITS results, may indicate that there is a greater number of hybrid individuals and introgression, requiring new studies to corroborate this evidence. One of the possible reasons for the broad sharing of haplotypes, especially for cpDNA, may have been due to connectivity maintained through introgressed populations. Furthermore, the allogamous reproduction, the dispersal by bees and dispersal of seeds by wind over long distances may also have contributed to the connection between them. The results of phylogeographic reconstruction, as well as the number of migrants suggest that the population is dispersed towards North-South in glacial periods of the Pleistocene. In addition, the high diversity and differentiation of populations of the Southern tip of SP indicate evidence of a possible refuge zone at this area.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Plant Pathology / Bikram S. Gill / The wild relatives of crop plants are sources of useful genes, but such genes when transferred to agricultural crops are often associated with deleterious traits. Because most of the recombination and the disease resistance genes are localized towards the ends of wheat chromosomes, cryptic terminal alien segments, carrying rust resistance genes, were transferred from Aegilops geniculata (UgMg) and Ae. triuncialis (UtCt) into common wheat without the usual linkage drag. The alien segment with the leaf rust and stripe rust resistance genes Lr57 and Yr40 in translocation T5DL•5DS-5MgS(0.95) was found to be less than 3.3 cM in genetic length and spans less than four overlapping BAC/PAC clones of the syntenic rice chromosome arm 12L. The alien segment with leaf rust resistance gene Lr58, transferred from Ae. triuncialis, was found to be less than 5% of the chromosome arm 2BL of wheat in T2BS•2BL-2tL(0.95), further suggesting that it is feasible to transfer small alien segments with disease resistance genes. Resistance genes Lr57, Yr40 and Lr58 were transferred to Kansas hard red winter wheat cultivars by backcrossing and marker assisted selection. Tillering, a key component of grain yield, and seed color which influences seed dormancy and pre-harvest sprouting in wheat, are agronomically important domestication traits in wheat. A tiller inhibition mutant with monoculm phenotype was isolated and the mutated gene (tin3) was mapped on the distal region of chromosome arm 3AmL of T. monococcum. As a first step towards isolating candidate gene(s), the tin3 and the seed color gene (R-A1) of chromosome 3A were mapped in relation to physically mapped ESTs and STS markers developed based on synteny with rice. Physically mapped wheat ESTs provided a useful framework to identify closely related rice sequences and to establish the most likely syntenous region in rice for the wheat tin3 and R-A1 region. Comparative genomic analysis of the tin3 and R-A1 genomic regions with the corresponding region in rice localized the tin3 gene to a 324 kb region spanned by two overlapping BACs and the R-A1 gene was mapped to a single BAC of the colinear rice chromosome arm 1L.

Genus Diphasiastrum Holub is one of the most complicated and biosystematically very little investigated groups within Lycopodiaceae family. There are 6 species recognized in Central European region. Three of them (D. alpinum, D. complanatum, D. tristachyum) are considered basic - parental taxa, and their hybridization probably gave origin to the three adjacent species - intermediates (D. issleri, D. zeilleri, D. oellgaardii). These supposedly hybridogenous taxa often co-ocur with at least one parental species. All the taxa often meet in secondary habitats where they tend to form hybrid swarms (e.g. on ski slopes which represent an ideal biocorridor for meeting the species from alpine zone with the species from lower altitudes). In such places reciprocal crossings between all of the taxa occur, often accompanied by introgression. The degree of hybridization, including the possible introgression, was studied using absolute genome size analyses combined with classical and geometric multivariate morphometrics. Genome size was estimated for 570 plants from 83 localities, mostly from the Czech Republic. Despite the fact that each parental taxa had a specific range of absolute genome sizes, adjacent species formed more or less disconnected continuum. Multivariate statistical methods (PCA, RDA, Loess, PLS)...

No description available.

Tomato is an important food crop and a model for fleshy fruit development. The process of fruit ripening involves changes in chemical composition and in particular the accumulation of sugars, organic, amino acids and carotenes. The research described in this thesis aimed to identify key regulatory aspects associated with the accumulation of the major acids in tomato fruit by analysis of introgression lines resulting from a cross between a cultivated variety, Solanum lycopersicum, and a wild progenitor species, Solanum pennellii. Line 2-5 showed increases in citrate, malate, aspartate and glutamate in fruit grown under greenhouse conditions. The genetic differences between line 2-5, its overlapping lines, sub-introgression lines and the recurrent parent were used to link the metabolite phenotypes to smaller chromosomal regions. This analysis suggested multiple epistatic loci control fruit metabolite accumulation. Investigation of the biochemical differences between line 2-5 and the recurrent parent revealed that organic and amino acid accumulation did not dependent upon increased TCA cycle capacity. Regulation at the metabolic level was identified for citrate accumulation with changes in cytosolic aconitase in line 2-5. As these metabolites accumulate in the vacuole, tonoplast transport was investigated. Correlation of ATPase-dependent malate influx with altered malate content suggested malate tonoplast transport plays a role in malate accumulation and highlights the importance of vacuolar storage and transport in the regulation of organic and amino acid accumulation.

When new populations are first identified in a region there are multiple potential sources: introduction of a non-native species, extra-range expansion of a nearby population, or demographic growth of a previously unnoticed species. Red foxes were absent or rare in the mid-eastern portion United States until the late 1800s. Their origins potentially include natural population increase/expansion, translocations from Europe, and, eventually, 20th century fur farming. In this study I attempt to identify the relative impact of native expansion versus human mediated introductions of both colonial era European foxes and early 20th century fur-farm foxes on the establishment of red foxes in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. I subsequently address the potential impacts of hybridization and nuclear introgression between previously separate sister taxa. Through analysis of mitochondrial DNA, I identified indigenous haplotypes, two European haplotypes, and fur-farm haplotypes; another set of haplotypes were potentially indigenous or native. In addition, I found European Y-chromosome haplotypes. Most European and fur-farm haplotypes were found near the densely human-populated coastal plain and Hudson River lowlands; most red foxes of the Appalachians and Piedmont had native eastern haplotypes. However, nuclear data does not support this division showing low genetic structure despite the broad geographic scale of our study area, attributable both to range expansion and admixture. Admixture has not had the same impact on the nuclear genome as it has in mitochondrial haplotypes leading to mito-nuclear discordance across the region. I also found evidence for differential patterns of expansion related to habitat. Specifically, the Appalachian Mountains acted as a corridor for gene flow from the northern native source into the southern Mid-Atlantic region