The presented thesis deals with the intraspecific variability of flower beetles species complex Potosia cuprea (Fabricius, 1795), which is a complex of taxa at the species and subspecies level. Flower beetles from species complex Potosia cuprea are among the most variable Palaearctic Cetoniinae at all. Taxa included in the complex produces chromatic range varieties which were, and still are, perceived differently by different authors. Taxa included in the analyses come primarily from western Palaearctic region, with the main emphasis on European species and subspecies. The aim of this work is the use of molecular genetics methods to verify the justification of their species or subspecies level. At all, there were obtained sequences for two mitochondrial genes (cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase I) from 14 taxa species complex Potosia cuprea and three related species P. angustata (Germar, 1817), P. fieberi (Kraatz, 1931) and P. marginicollis (Ballion, 1870). Molecular analyzes based on COI dataset and concatenate of CytB and COI revealed the existence of a "European" clade P. cuprea, which includes subspecies: Potosia cuprea bourgini (Ruter, 1967), P. c. brancoi (Barraud, 1992), P. c. cuprea (Fabricius, 1775), P. c. metallica (Herbst, 1790) a P. c. obscura (Mikšić, 1954), to which also fit two...

Evolutionary relationships between Barbus species have been already studied in the past, but most of the studies were based only on mitochondrial DNA, there is no detailed study based on nuclear markers. This is mainly due to the fact that Barbus species are tetraploid. The western part of Greece has been studied insufficiently, and moreover a greater diversity of freshwater ichthyofauna is expected here. Greece is one of the hotspots of biodiversity. Greek river system is characterized by a significant proportion of endemic species of freshwater fishes. In this work evolutionary relationships between Barbus species were studied, with focus on diversity of Greek lineages. The geographical distribution of Barbus species has been also revised. In total, 192 individuals were analyzed, 156 individuals were from 40 Greek localities and another 36 Barbus species were from other areas of distribution of the genus. Dataset was supplemented with avaible published sequences. For the phylogenetic analysis mitochondrial gene cytochrom b, 1st intron of ribosomal protein gene S7 and 2nd intron of gene beta-actin were used. For both nuclear markers paralog-specific primers were used. The analysis of cytochrom b revealed several well-supported lines: 1. species of southwestern Mediterranean (B. meridionalis and B....

Les Hyménoptères sociaux (abeilles, fourmis et guêpes) doivent leur succès écologique à une division dutravail marquée par l’existence de castes. Les reines sont spécialisées dans la reproduction, tandis que les ouvrières sont stériles et prennent en charge la construction du nid et sa défense, la récolte de nourriture et l’élevage des jeunes. Le développement d’un œuf femelle en une reine ou une ouvrière est généralement régi par des facteurs environnementaux, tels que la qualité ou la quantité de la nourriture.En réalisant une étude de génétique des populations chez la fourmi Cataglyphis hispanica, nous avons mis en évidence un mode de reproduction inhabituel appelé hybridogenèse sociale. Cette espèce est caractérisée par la co-existence de deux lignées génétiques au sein des populations. Les reines de chaque lignée s’accouplent systématiquement avec un mâle de l’autre lignée génétique. Ainsi, les reines de la lignée 1 s’accouplent toujours avec un mâle de la lignée 2, et les reines de la lignée 2 s’accouplent avec un mâle de la lignée 1. Les ouvrières sont issues du croisement entre les deux lignées :il s’agit donc d’individus hybrides. A l’inverse, les individus reproducteurs (nouvelles reines et mâles) sont produits exclusivement par reproduction asexuée. La caste femelle (reine ou ouvrière) est donc déterminée génétiquement; les ouvrières portent un génome hybride, alors que les reproducteurs possèdent un génome non-hybride hérité exclusivement de la mère.Les travaux réalisés dans le cadre de cette thèse de doctorat visent à comprendre l’origine et l’évolution de l’hybridogenèse sociale chez les fourmis Cataglyphis par le biais d’approches variées (génétique des populations, phylogéographie et manipulation de colonies en laboratoire). Ils sont articulés selon plusieurs axes complémentaires :la description du phénomène, l’étude de sa distribution géographique et phylogénétique au sein du genre Cataglyphis, et l'étude de ces mécanismes génétiques sous-jacents. / In eusocial Hymenoptera, such as bees, wasp and ants, it is commonly accepted that the diploid female eggs are bipotent and develop either into a queen or a worker depending on environmental factors. While conducting a population genetic study of the ant Cataglyphis hispanica, we discovered an unusual reproductive system called social hybridogenesis. Under this system, queens and workers develop from eggs with different genetic make-up. Two divergent genetic lineages coexist within a population. Queens of each lineage mate with males originating from the other lineage. Workers are produced by sexual reproduction; hence, they are first generation hybrids of the two lineages. By contrast, new queens and males are produced by thelytokous and arrhenotokous parthenogenesis, respectively. By using alternative modes of reproduction, queens appear to maximize their reproductive success by increasing the transmission rate of their genes to the reproductive offspring while benefiting from genetic diversity and heterosis effects in their worker force. Males, however, do not contribute genes to the next generation as they only sire sterile workers. This system is expected to be evolutionary short-lived as lineages may be selected to stop the production of males with null direct fitness. This PhD project aims at understanding the origin and evolution of social hybridogenesis in Cataglyphis. Using several different approaches including population genetics methods based on microsatellite makers, phylogeography and experimental manipulations on lab colonies, I explored tthe characteristics of social hybridogenesis, the genetic mechanisms underlying the system and its distribution within the genus Cataglyphis. My results, together with other recent findings, question the paradigm of environmental caste determination in eusocial Hymenoptera and suggest that genetic influences on caste determination may be more common than previously thought. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

In this study the sexual and geographical variations in the genus Miniopterus were deeply investigated, using multidisciplinary analysis (morphometric cranial, dental, fenetic and shape analysis; molecular analysis of mt gene ND2). Different populations from western Palearctic and adjacent regions were analysed: Miniopterus schreibersii (Morocco, West Europe, Pannonia, Balkans, Crete, Near East, Middle East), Miniopterus natalensis (Yemen, Ethiopia) a Miniopterus inflatus (Ethiopia). Extensove samples of Miniopterus schreibersii were tested and existence of sexual dimorphism in cranial constitution was showed: males had generally bigger and relatively higher, shorter and narrower skulls than females; female mandibles were generally bigger than the male ones, females showed also more robust and larger teeth than males. On the other hand, males had markedly bigger canines and relatively higher P4 (in relation to other premolares). The sexes also deiffered in shape of P4 and upper molars. According to the interpopulation variation found, Miniopterus schreibersii samples from West Europe, Pannonia, Balkans, Crete, Sicily, Georgia, coastal Turkish and Moroccan areas belong most probably to the subspecies M. s. schreibersii (Kuhl, 1817). The samples from Afganistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, and from localities...

The genus Rousettus has distributional pattern unique among fruitbats comprising both Asia and Africa and reaching northern distributional limits of the family in Persia, Arabia and Mediterranean basin. This could be ascribed to the ability of echolocation, consequent cave dwelling, and presumably other site-specific adaptations, which enabled dispersal independent of forest block and surviving in Mediterranean type of climate. Using fastly evolving mitochondrial marker, we aimed to assess genetic variability, its geographic distribution and demography of northern populations of the Egyptian fruitbat (Rousettus aegyptiacus). Mitochondrial network indicates deep genetic divergence between disjunct Mediterranean and eastern African parts of the range. Basal position of Sinaic and Jordanian haplotypes within northern clade indicate important role of these regions in colonization of eastern Mediterranean. Generally, the northern haplogroup is moderately diversified with partial geographic localization of particular haplotypes. Significant isolation by distance pattern suggests relatively pronounced site fidelity of particular colonies, at least in terms of maternal gene flow. Landscape genetics analyses indicate discontinuities in distribution of mitochondrial genetic variability, in some cases correlating with...

This thesis is focused in the representatives of beetle families Hydrophilidae and Hydraenidae of West Indies and adjacent regions. It consists of two parts, the phylogenetic part and the systematic part. The phylogenetic part focuses on the hydrophilid genera Phaenonotum and Crenitulus of Greater Antilles: beetles were sampled in all four main islands (Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica) and analyzed using the combination of molecular and morphological data. The genus Phaenonotum contains four single-island endemics, of which those from Cuba, Jamaica and Hispaniola are wingless and form a clade that diversified ca. 46 million years ago (Ma) and likely colonized the Caribbean via the GAARlandia land bridge. In contrast, the Puerto Rican endemic and the two remaining non-endemic species colonized the Greater Antilles by over- water dispersal during the Oligocene-Miocene. The analysis of the genus Crenitulus revealed that Greater Antillean species belong to two separate clades: the Crenitulus yunque clade endemic for Cuba and Hispaniola, and the Crenitulus suturalis clade containing specimens from Greater Antilles and from northern America. A detailed revision of the Crenitulus yunque clade using morphology and molecular-based species delimitation recognized 11 species locally endemic for...

Population structure, biogeography and phylogenetic relationships of the fruit bat genus Rousettus have been studied in Africa and adjacent regions. The current population patterns of rousettine fruit bats in the Old World are influenced by several environmental attributes, namely the topography, climate and land cover. These variables are mirrored in fruit bat plesiomorphies related to the ecological niche of tropical flying frugivore, as well as apomorphies of rousettines including echolocation ability, roosting in caves and dispersal capacity in open landscapes with discontinuous tree cover. Phylogenetic relationships among species and subspecies of the genus have been indicated and confronted with the existing colonization scenarios. Insular populations (including habitat islands within desert oases) show frequent genetic differentiation from their mainland relatives suggesting successful founder events after traversing stretches of unsuitable habitats. Genetic differentiation evolving in less distant islands suggests involving behavioural mechanisms maintaining cohesion of isolated demes as site fidelity and natal habitat-biased dispersal. In sub-Saharan mainland Africa within the large range reaching from the southern border of Sahara to Cape Peninsula, Rousettus populations share a...

Community ecology is the study of the patterns and processes governing species abundance, distribution, and diversity within and between communities. Likewise, phylogeography is the study of the historic processes controlling genetic diversity across space. Both fields investigate diversity, albeit at different temporal, spatial and taxonomic scales and therefore have varying assumptions. Community ecology typically focuses on contemporary mechanisms whereas phylogeography studies historic ones. However, new research has discovered that both genetic and community diversity can be influenced by contemporary and historic processes in tandem. As such, a growing number of researchers have called for greater integration of phylogeography and ecology to better understand the mechanisms structuring diversity. In this dissertation I attempt to add to this integration by investigating ways that phylogeography and population genetics can enhance studies on community ecology. First, I review traditional studies on freshwater fish community assembly using null model analyses of species co-occurrence, which shows that fish are largely structured by deterministic processes, though the importance of different mechanisms varies across climates, habitats, and spatial scales. Next, I show how phylogeographic data can greatly enhance inferences of community assembly in freshwater fish communities in Costa Rica and Utah respectively. My Costa Rican analyses indicate that historic eustatic sea-level change can be better at predicting community structure within a biogeographic province than contemporary processes. In comparison, my Utah analyses show that historic dispersal between isolated basins in conjunction with contemporary habitat filtering, dispersal limitation, and extinction dynamics both influence community assembly through time. Finally, I adapt a forward-time population genetics stochastic simulation model to work in a metacommunity context and integrate it with Approximate Bayesian Computation to infer the processes that govern observed community composition patterns. Overall, I show that community ecology can be greatly enhanced by including information and methods from different but related fields and encourage future ecologists to further this research to gain a greater understanding of biological diversity.

Aim Morinda citrifolia L., commercially known as noni or the Indian mulberry plant, is morphologically variable and the only widely distributed member of the pantropical genus Morinda sensu stricto (Rubiaceae). This large distribution has been attributed partly to the ability of the seeds of the large-fruited M. citrifolia L. var. citrifolia L. to be transported by oceanic drifting. This form of M. citrifolia var. citrifolia has been predicted to be the progenitor colonizer of the island endemic Morinda species. Using a phylogenetic approach and large sampling of the widespread, large-fruited M. citrifolia var. citrifolia, we assessed the potential area of origin of M. citrifolia and tested the hypothesis that the large-fruited M. citrifolia var. citrifolia is an ancestral colonizer. Location Tropics. Methods We performed Bayesian analyses of 22 species of the tribe Morindeae (including 11 individuals of the three currently recognized varieties of M. citrifolia) based on combined nrETS, nrITS, rps16 and trnT-F sequence data. Geographic origins of the studied taxa were mapped onto the Bayesian majority rule consensus tree. Results Nine sequenced individuals of M. citrifolia from diverse geographic locations formed a highly supported clade, which was sister to the Australo-Micronesian clade that included M. bracteata var. celebica and M. latibracteata. These sister clades are part of the broader Asian, arborescent Morinda clade. We found no support for the current varietal classification of M. citrifolia. Main conclusions Our analyses suggest a Micronesian origin of M. citrifolia. This implies that the large-fruited M. citrifolia var. citrifolia might well have been present in the Pacific before the arrival of the Micronesian and Polynesian ancestors from Southeast Asia. The wide distribution of this form of M. citrifolia var. citrifolia is attributed partly to the trans-oceanic dispersal of its buoyant seeds, self-pollination and its ability to produce flowers and fruits year-round. The hypothesis that the widespread, large-fruited M. citrifolia var. citrifolia is the progenitor colonizer of the island endemic Morinda species is inconsistent with its derived position within the Asian, arborescent Morinda clade and with the fact that the nine sampled individuals of M. citrifolia form a clade.

Despite more than 50 years of research on the genetic basis of speciation, we still know very little about the early stages of this process. A general rule of speciation is the Haldane’s Rule, which states that postzygotic isolation is expressed earlier in the heterogametic sex: sterility and inviability in hybrids is much more likely to occur in the heterogametic sex. However, it is still unknown how long hybrid sterility takes to be established in the heterogametic sex, since most studies have focused on highly divergent species that no longer hybridize in nature. The meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) is a suitable system to shed light on this matter because hybrid male sterility exists between subspecies that show low divergence and are still able to hybridize readily in nature. C. p. parallelus is distributed throughout Northern, Central and Eastern Europe while C. p. erythropus is restricted to the Iberian Peninsula. Both subspecies meet in the Pyrenees, where they form a narrow hybrid zone. Yet, it is unknown 1) how long ago have these subspecies diverged and 2) how have they expanded to form the hybrid zone where these incompatibilities take place. Here, we applied phylogenomic methods to estimate the time of divergence of the subspecies and to study its phylogeographic history. Using the mitogenome and known mitochondrial rates of evolution, we dated the diversification of the subspecies ≈100,000 years ago and found six ancient mitochondrial haplotypes. Implementing coalescent theory to estimate a nuclear species tree, we found evidence of sub-refugia within two or three main refugia and that the hybrid zone originated from a recent post-glacial expansion from one sub-refugia. Haldane’s rule evolved rapidly in C. parallelus, within ≈100,000 years, with demographic processes, such as population expansion. Founder effect reduced genetic diversity in C. parallelus parallelus, with the possibility of fixing incompatible alleles with C. parallelus erythropus resulting in hybrid male sterility.