Predicting community and species responses to disturbance is complicated by incomplete knowledge about species traits. A phylogenetic framework should partially solve this problem, as trait similarity is generally correlated with species relatedness, closely related species should have similar sensitivities to disturbance. Disturbance should thus result in community assemblages of closely relat...

Objective(s) In addition to several molecular methods and in particular 16S rDNA analysis, the application of a more discriminatory genetic marker, i.e., 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer gene sequence has had a great impact on identification and classification of mycobacteria. In the current study we aimed to apply this sequencing power to conclusive identification of some Iranian clinical ...

Anthropogenic activities frequently result in both rapidly changing environments and translocation of species from their native ranges (i.e., biological invasions). Empirical studies suggest that many factors associated with these changes can lead to complex genetic patterns, particularly among invasive populations. However, genetic complexities and factors responsible for them remain uncharact...

The phylogenetic position of the order Spenisciformes in Aves remains unclear despite several independent analyses based on morphological and molecular data. To address this issue, we determined the complete mtDNA sequence of rockhopper penguins. The mitochondrial genome, excluding the region from the D-loop to 12SrRNA, was also sequenced for petrel, albatross, frigatebird, loon and grebe, whic...

BACKGROUND The species status of two closely related Chinese oaks, Quercus liaotungensis and Q. mongolica, has been called into question. The objective of this study was to investigate the species status and to estimate the degree of introgression between the two taxa using different approaches. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using SSR (simple sequence repeat) and AFLP (amplified fragment len...

Reproductive strategies of closely related species distributed along successional gradients should differ as a consequence of the trade-off between competition and colonization abilities. We compared male reproductive strategies of Quercus robur and Q. petraea, two partly interfertile European oak species with different successional status. In the studied even-aged stand, trees of the late-succ...

The aim of this work was to get deeper insight into genetic factors involved in the adaptive divergence of closely related species, specifically two representatives of Baikal coregonids--Baikal whitefish (Coregonus baicalensis Dybowski) and Baikal omul (Coregonus migratorius Georgi)--that diverged from a common ancestor as recently as 10-20 thousand years ago. Using the Serial Analysis of Gene ...

Microarrays are commonly applied to study the transcriptome of specific species. However, many available microarrays are restricted to model organisms, and the design of custom microarrays for other species is often not feasible. Hence, transcriptomics approaches of non-model organisms as well as comparative transcriptomics studies among two or more species often make use of cost-intensive RNAs...