A single macrolichen constitutes hundreds of unrecognized species

A single macrolichen constitutes hundreds of unrecognized species.

The number of Fungi is estimated at between 1.5 and 3 million. Lichenized species are thought to make up a comparatively small portion of this figure, with unrecognized species richness hidden among little-studied, tropical microlichens. Recent findings, however, suggest that some macrolichens contain a large number of unrecognized taxa, increasing known species richness by an order of magnitud...

Panmixia and dispersal from the Mediterranean Basin to Macaronesian Islands of a macrolichen species

The Mediterranean region, comprising the Mediterranean Basin and the Macaronesian Islands, represents a center of diversification for many organisms. The genetic structure and connectivity of mainland and island microbial populations has been poorly explored, in particular in the case of symbiotic fungi. Here we investigated genetic diversity and spatial structure of the obligate outcrossing li...

What Constitutes a Contract?

A single generation of domestication heritably alters the expression of hundreds of genes

The genetic underpinnings associated with the earliest stages of plant and animal domestication have remained elusive. Because a genome-wide response to selection can take many generations, the earliest detectable changes associated with domestication may first manifest as heritable changes to global patterns of gene expression. Here, to test this hypothesis, we measured differential gene expre...

Mimicking Collective Firing Patterns of Hundreds of Connected Neurons using a Single-Neuron Experiment

The experimental study of neural networks requires simultaneous measurements of a massive number of neurons, while monitoring properties of the connectivity, synaptic strengths and delays. Current technological barriers make such a mission unachievable. In addition, as a result of the enormous number of required measurements, the estimated network parameters would differ from the original ones....