Currently, the monophyletic lineage of anther smuts on Caryophyllaceae includes 22 species classified in the genus Microbotryum. They are model organisms studied in many disciplines of fungal biology. A molecular phylogenetic approach was used to resolve species boundaries within the caryophyllaceous anther smuts, as species delimitation based solely on phenotypic characters was problematic. Se...

Critical determinants of the optimum level of virulence in pathogens include the presence of competitors (i.e., multiple infections), their relatedness, and the effect of competitors on pathogen growth and disease development. Empirical data regarding the existence of competitive interactions and their impact on virulence remain very limited compared to theoretical studies. Here, we followed an...

Silene ciliata Pourr. (Caryophyllaceae) is a species with a highly disjunct distribution which inhabits the alpine mountains of the Mediterranean Basin. We investigated the phylogeny and phylogeography of the species to (a) clarify the long-suggested division of S. ciliata into two subspecies, (b) evaluate its phylogenetic origin and (c) assess whether the species' diversification patterns were...

The taxonomy of the closely related Silene capraria, S. neglecta and S. nocturna in Italy is investigated, by means of morphometric and karyological analyses. The chromosome numbers of S. capraria and S. neglecta (both diploid with 2n = 24) are here reported for the first time. On the basis of the morphological results, we propose the species rank for S. neglecta, and to consider S. capraria as...

Alpine plants often appear to have long life-spans as an adaptation to harsh and unpredictable environmental conditions, yet many lack reliable indicators of age that would make it possible to determine their true longevity. Their extended life-spans also pose problems for measuring lifetime reproductive success, a key component of breeding system evolution in species such as the gynodioecious ...

Tests of selective neutrality based on comparative and population genetic data target different time scales of selection. Investigating both time scales on the same genes has rarely been done and yet can provide insights into histories of selection. In pathogens, such a comparison can elucidate whether the same genes experience recurrent positive selection across specialization events onto nove...

Resistance to systemic diseases is often difficult to measure quantitatively because individuals can be scored only as either diseased or healthy. A technique is described for cloning individuals of Silene vulgaris plants using the tissue culture of seedling meristems. Inoculation of such clonally replicated genotypes within two families shows that segregation of resistance to anther-smut disea...

BACKGROUND Plant recruitment depends among other factors on environmental conditions and their variation at different spatial scales. Characterizing dispersal in contrasting environments may thus be necessary to understand natural intraspecific variation in the processes underlying recruitment. Silene ciliata and Armeria caespitosa are two representative species of cryophilic pastures above the...

The degree of sexual dimorphism in a trait may be determined directly by disruptive selection, as well as by correlations with other traits under selection. We grew seeds from nine populations of the dioecious plant Silene latifolia in a common-garden experiment to determine whether phenotypic variation and correlations existed for floral, leaf and resource allocation traits, and whether this v...

Cushion plants are important components of alpine and Arctic plant communities around the world. They fulfill important roles as facilitators, nurse plants and foundation species across trophic levels for vascular plants, arthropods and soil microorganisms, the importance of these functions increasing with the relative severity of the environment. Here we report results from one of the few expe...