The mechanics of speciation with gene flow are still unclear. Disparity among genes in population differentiation (F(ST)) between diverging species is often interpreted as evidence for semipermeable species boundaries, with selection preventing "key" genes from introgressing despite ongoing gene flow. However, F(ST) can remain high before it reaches equilibrium between the lineage sorting of sp...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Controversy is ongoing regarding the importance of pollinator-mediated selection as a source of observed patterns of floral diversity. Although increasing evidence exists of pollinator-mediated selection acting on female reproductive success, there is still limited understanding of pollinator-mediated selection on floral traits via male reproductive success. Here we quantif...

Cryptic plant viruses are seed-borne dsRNA-viruses, which co-exist life-long with the host plant, without inducing any apparent symptoms. Since growth conditions and the hostvirus combination (cultivar, strain, isolate, thermotherapy, etc.) are known to influence virus multiplication, we wanted to find out what effect long-term tissue culturing has on the survival of carnation cryptic virus (Ca...

The angiosperm genus Silene exhibits some of the most extreme and rapid divergence ever identified in mitochondrial genome architecture and nucleotide substitution rates. These patterns have been considered mitochondrial specific based on the absence of correlated changes in the small number of available nuclear and plastid gene sequences. To better assess the relationship between mitochondrial...

BACKGROUND Genome size evolution is a complex process influenced by polyploidization, satellite DNA accumulation, and expansion of retroelements. How this process could be affected by different reproductive strategies is still poorly understood. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We analyzed differences in the number and distribution of major repetitive DNA elements in two closely related species...

Based on morphological and molecular evidence, two new species of Silene are recognized described here, S. penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. thyrsiantha Mirtadz. The newly discovered distributed in the central southeastern parts Iran, growing rocky habitats. Relationships among these their close relatives demonstrated using nrDNA ITS cpDNA rps16 phylogenies. ghahremaninej...