Two reproductively isolated cytotypes and a swarm of highly inbred, disconnected populations: a glimpse into Salicornia's evolutionary history and challenging taxonomy

in Journal of Evolutionary Biology (in press)

Macaronesia: a source of hidden genetic diversity for post-glacial recolonization of western Europe in the leafy liverwort Radula lindenbergiana

in Journal of Biogeography (2011), 38(4), 631-639

Out of Africa: northwestwards Pleistocene expansions of the heather Erica arborea

in Journal of Biogeography (2011), 38

Geographic and genetic variation of olfactory communication in butterflies: the male sex pheromone of Bicyclus butterfly species

in Abstract book (2010, December 17)

Pheromone variability and evolution in the butterfly genus Bicyclus, and implication in its diversification

Poster (2010, May 05)

The evolution of olfactive communication in generating reproductive isolation among species remains poorly understood (Smadja & Butlin 2009). In Lepidoptera, studies have mainly focused on long-distance ... [more ▼]

The evolution of olfactive communication in generating reproductive isolation among species remains poorly understood (Smadja & Butlin 2009). In Lepidoptera, studies have mainly focused on long-distance pheromones produced by moths. Moth sex pheromones have been shown to display inter-population variation (e.g. Tòth et al. 1992, McElfresh & Millar 2008 and ref. within, Groot et al. 2009) and to be involved in interspecific isolation (e.g. Löfstedt et al. 1991, Groot et al. 2006). In butterflies, the few existing studies on sex pheromones have mainly focused on the identification of the male specific compounds and the demonstration of their behavioural activity in courtship (e.g. Grula et al. 1980, Nieberding et al. 2008, Yildizhan et al. 2009), but have failed so far to highlight a role in reproductive isolation (Friberg et al. 2008). In the species-rich Bicyclus genus Kirby, 1871 (Nymphalidae, Satyrinae) the structures producing the pheromones, i.e. the androconia, are key characters to discriminate among species (Condamin 1973). In B. anynana (Butler, 1879), the male sex pheromone (MSP) has been shown to play a role in mate choice (Costanzo & Monteiro 2007, Nieberding et al. 2008), to be heritable, and particular ratios of the pheromone components are under strong sexual selection (Nieberding et al, unpubl. data). Therefore, we expect that pheromone evolution is responsible for reproductive isolation and diversification in this butterfly group. In this framework, our research project aims at understanding the evolution of MSP at the interspecific level across the Bicyclus genus and specifically at testing their potential role in the speciation process. Potential MSP of several species across the Bicyclus genus have been identified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Observed differences in pheromone composition between species are compared in a phylogenetic framework to the molecular tree of the species (following Oliver et al. 2009). We expect the evolutionary rate of MSP to be unlinked to the molecular tree if MSP are under sexual selection across the genus (i.e. saltational evolution following Symonds & Elgar 2004, Shirangi et al. 2009). Moreover, if MSP generated reproductive isolation between species in a “reinforcement” process, we expect higher differences of MSP composition between sympatric species than between allopatric species and an increase of this pattern for younger species compared to older species (Lukhtanov et al. 2006). [less ▲]

The taxonomy of the leafy liverwort genus Leptoscyphus (Lophocoleaceae) revisited

in Taxon (2010), 59

The ghosts of Gondwana and Laurasia in modern liverwort distributions

in Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society (2010)

Macroecological patterns of genetic structure and diversity in the aquatic moss Platyhypnidium riparioides

in New Phytologist (2010)

Biogeography of the Lost World (Pantepui region, northeastern South America): insights from bryophytes

in Phytotaxa (2010), 9

Rhynchostegiella (Brachytheciaceae): molecular re-circumscription of a convenient taxonomic repository

in Journal of Bryology (2009), 31

The moss genus Rhynchostegiella (Helicodontioideae, Brachytheciaceae) has long served as a convenient repository for small brachythecioid pleurocarps. Its circumscription is revised in the context of a ... [more ▼]

The moss genus Rhynchostegiella (Helicodontioideae, Brachytheciaceae) has long served as a convenient repository for small brachythecioid pleurocarps. Its circumscription is revised in the context of a chloroplast phylogeny of the Helicodontioideae employing trnL-trnF, atpB-rbcL, psbT-psbH, and psbA-trnH sequence data. The analysis resolves with full posterior probabilities a core Rhynchostegiella clade of eight species. Rhynchostegiella pumila and R. duriaei are both resolved outside that clade and accommodated in their own genera, Microeurhynchium gen. nov. and Pseudorhynchostegiella gen. nov., respectively. Rhynchostegiella leptoneura is sister to Aerolindigia capillacea and R. papuensis is closely related to Eurhynchiella zeyheri. One of the reasons why these unrelated species, together with other taxa, were traditionally included within Rhynchostegiella, is that the genus is morphologically poorly defined by only a single synapomorphic change followed by reversals in half of the species. The Madeiran endemic Brachythecium percurrens is resolved as sister to all the other genera of the Helicodontioideae and is transferred into a new monotypic genus, Hedenasiastrum gen. nov. [less ▲]