1. Whereas many studies have revealed mechanisms driving plant invasions between continents, research on intracontinental range expanders is scarce. Therefore, we studied genetic, chemical and ecological traits of a range-expanding Brassicaceae, assuming that high genetic diversity should maintain chemical variation, which potentially benefits the invasion success. Moreover, we expected that within-individual defence diversity plays an essential role in biotic interactions.2. We compared Bunias orientalis L. plants from 16 populations of native, invasive or exotic non-invasive origin. The genetic structure was investigated by analysing the plastid DNA and amplified fragment length polymorphisms. For characterisation of the leaf chemistry, metabolic fingerprinting and profiling of glucosinolates as defence compounds were performed. The plant defence potential was tested using the generalist herbivore Mamestra brassicae.3. We found two major genetic lineages, which were mirrored in distinct chemical fingerprints of the plants. Genetic differentiation patterns point to a multiple introduction history of B. orientalis underlying the range expansion. Moreover, the genetic distance between individuals was correlated with the distance in chemical features. Genetic diversity tended to be reduced in potential leading edge (exotic) populations and was positively associated with quantitative metabolic diversity.Concentrations of indole glucosinolates were elevated in non-native populations, and high glucosinolate diversity was associated with low herbivore survival. Synthesis.This study suggests that the invasion success of this species may be facilitated by high chemical variation within populations. Moreover, high defence diversity within individuals of a population might be the main factor reducing herbivory and can be more important than the total concentration of defences. The combination of genetic and chemical analyses combined with bioassays revealed to be a powerful tool to study the differentiation between native and non-native populations and should be applied more often to explore intraspecific divergence. K E Y W O R D SAFLP, Brassicaceae, Bunias orientalis, chemical diversity, genetic diversity, glucosinolates, herbivore performance, invasion ecology, metabolomics | 715Journal of Ecology TEWES ET al.
Aim Tropical mountains around the world harbour an extraordinarily rich pool of plant species and are hotspots of biodiversity. Climatically, they can be zoned into montane climates at mid‐altitudes and tropical alpine climates above the tree line. Around half of the tropical alpine species belong to plant lineages with a temperate ancestry, although these regions are often geographically distant. We test the hypothesis that these temperate lineages are pre‐adapted to the tropical alpine climate. Location New World, with a focus on tropical alpine Andes. Time period Miocene to present. Major taxa studied Flowering plants. Methods We build multidimensional environmental models representing the full space of New World climates. We quantify the environmental similarity between the tropical alpine ecosystem and those of potential source areas, while correcting for regional differences by kernel density smoothers. Based on spatial observations of the genus Hypericum (St John's Wort), we quantify niche overlap and test for niche conservatism following intercontinental dispersal using density‐weighted nonparametric tests. A dated species tree, biogeographical estimation, multi‐optima Ornstein–Uhlenbeck models and model selection approaches are used to test for niche shifts during establishment in the tropical alpine Andes. Results The tropical alpine ecosystem is isolated by its climate from adjacent regions and is climatically similar to temperate lowland biomes of both hemispheres. Niche conservatism is evident in the study group, except in the tropical alpine lineage that is characterized by niche expansion and shifts in temperature optima. Main conclusions Our results reject the pre‐adaptation hypothesis and instead suggest pronounced niche evolution during colonization of tropical alpine ecosystems. Establishment involved substantial niche shifts, mainly in temperature‐related variables, and resulted in a tremendous proliferation of species in the newly invaded tropical alpine ecosystem.
Turkish Warty cabbage, Bunias orientalis L. (Brassicaceae) is a perennial herb known for its 250 years of invasion history into Europe and worldwide temperate regions. Putative centers of origin were debated to be located in Turkey, the Caucasus or Eastern Europe. Based on the genetic variation from the nuclear and plastid genomes, we identified two major gene pools in the Caucasian-Irano-Turanian region and close to the Northern Caucasus, respectively. These gene pools are old and started to diverge and expand approximately 930 kya in the Caucasus. Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation cycles favoured later expansion of a European gene pool 230 kya, which was effectively separated from the Caucasian-Irano-Turanian gene pool. Although the European gene pool is genetically less diverse, it has largely served as source for colonization of Western and Northern Europe in modern times with rare observations of genetic contributions from the Caucasian-Irano-Turanian gene pool such as in North-East America. This study largely utilized herbarium material to take advantage of a biodiversity treasure trove providing biological material and also giving access to detailed collection information.
Yeasts are unicellular fungi that harbour a large biodiversity of thousands of species, of which particularly ascomycetous yeasts are instrumental to human food and beverage production. There is already a large body of evidence showing that insects play an important role for yeast ecology, for their dispersal to new habitats and for breeding and overwintering opportunities. Here, we sought to investigate a potential role of the terrestrial snails Cepaea hortensis and C. nemoralis, which in Europe are often found in association with human settlements and gardens, in yeast ecology. Surprisingly, even in a relatively limited culture-dependent sampling size of over 150 isolates, we found a variety of yeast genera, including species frequently isolated from grape must such as Hanseniaspora, Metschnikowia, Meyerozyma and Pichia in snail excrements. We typed the isolates using standard ITS-PCR-sequencing, sequenced the genomes of three non-conventional yeasts H. uvarum, Meyerozyma guilliermondii and P. kudriavzevii and characterized the fermentation performance of these three strains in grape must highlighting their potential to contribute to novel beverage fermentations. Aggravatingly, however, we also retrieved several human fungal pathogen isolates from snail excrements belonging to the Candida clade, namely Ca. glabrata and Ca. lusitaniae. Overall, our results indicate that diverse yeasts can utilise snails as taxis for dispersal. This courier service may be largely non-selective and thus depend on the diet available to the snails.
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