Molecular methods are widely used for species identification of mammals. In particular, the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence has proven helpful for this purpose. Microarray technology can now open up new perspectives for biodiversity monitoring. With microarrays, many thousands of genetically based characteristics can be tested on one microscopic glass slide called a 'chip'. A 'Mammalia-Chip', for example, could include redundant diagnostic markers to unambiguously identify all European mammal species. Of broader use, and therefore economically more relevant, could be a 'Biodiversity-Chip', containing diagnostic features to distinguish key species in the taxa of bacteria, lichen, molluscs, insects, fungi, mammals, etc. An important prerequisite for any mixed-phyla chip is a standardization of methods. One of the most promising genes as a universal marker for all eukaryotes is cytochrome oxidase I. We show that cytochrome oxidase I is adequate for the discrimination of different species of voles and shrews with cluster analysis. Based on these results we present a diagnostic microarray-chip using cytochrome oxidase I sequences for the identification of three species of Sorex (Soricidae, Insectivora) and four species of Microtus (Arvicolinae, Rodentia). We conclude that cytochrome oxidase I can be used as an alternative marker to cytochrome b in a mixed-phyla chip, or both genes can be used in combination to enhance redundance and thus robustness of a specific chip including small mammals.

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We present 14 microsatellite loci that were isolated from little spotted kiwi (LSK, Apteryx owenii). All loci cross-amplify in all kiwi species currently recognized except for one locus in a single species. Little spotted kiwi exhibited lower variation at these loci (mean number of alleles, H E ) than other kiwi species, despite the markers having been developed for polymorphism in LSK and a far greater number of LSK genotyped than kiwi of other species. Reliable cross-species amplification and polymorphism make these markers promising new tools for the management of New Zealand's threatened kiwi.

The plant Euphorbia cyparissias is commonly infected by rust fungi of the species complex Uromyces pisi. When infected, E. cyparissias is unable to flower, but instead is induced by the fungus to form pseudoflowers. Pseudoflowers are rosettes of yellow leaves upon which the fungus presents its gametes in a sweet-smelling fungal nectar. We hypothesized that the fungi, as they are heterothallic, are dependent on insect visitation to cross-fertilize their mating types. We confirmed that insects are required with an insect exclusion experiment. We further hypothesized that pseudoflowers of U. pisi interact with uninfected true host flowers through insects during their period of co-"flowering" in early spring. We conducted artificial array experiments in the field to test whether the two species share insects and whether they influenced each other's insect visitation. Insects moved between true flowers and pseudoflowers, but true flowers received more visits over all. Pseudoflowers and true flowers did not influence each other's visitation rates in mixtures. However, shorter visits were observed on pseudoflowers in mixtures than monocultures, suggesting that true flowers might be competitors for pseudoflowers. Further experiments are needed to determine whether the similarity of pseudoflowers to true flowers is adaptive.

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