The evolution of glandularity as a defense against herbivores in the tarweed clade.

Premise: Glandular trichomes are implicated in direct and indirect defense of plants. However, the degree to which glandular and non-glandular trichomes have evolved as a consequence of herbivory remains unclear, because their heritability, their association with herbivore resistance, their trade-offs with one another, and their association with other functions are rarely quantified.

Methods: We conducted a phylogenetic comparison of trichomes and herbivore resistance against the generalist caterpillar, Heliothis virescens, among tarweed species (Asteraceae: Madiinae) and a genetic correlation study comparing those same traits among maternal half-sibs of three tarweed species.

Task-oriented exercise effects on walking and corticospinal excitability in multiple sclerosis: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts walking function and results in other debilitating symptoms. This study compares the effects of 'task-oriented exercise' against 'generalized resistance and aerobic exercise' and a 'stretching control' on walking and CNS function in people with MS (PwMS). We hypothesize that task-oriented exercise will enhance walking speed and related neural changes to a greater extent than other exercise approaches.

Evolutionary genomics of oceanic island radiations.

A recurring feature of oceanic archipelagos is the presence of adaptive radiations that generate endemic, species-rich clades that can offer outstanding insight into the links between ecology and evolution. Recent developments in evolutionary genomics have contributed towards solving long-standing questions at this interface. Using a comprehensive literature search, we identify studies spanning 19 oceanic archipelagos and 110 putative adaptive radiations, but find that most of these radiations have not yet been investigated from an evolutionary genomics perspective.

Edaphic specialization onto bare, rocky outcrops as a factor in the evolution of desert angiosperms.

Understanding the processes that enable organisms to shift into more arid environments as they emerge is critical for gauging resilience to climate change, yet these forces remain poorly known. In a comprehensive clade-based study, we investigate recent shifts into North American deserts in the rock daisies (tribe Perityleae), a diverse tribe of desert sunflowers (Compositae). We sample rock daisies across two separate contact zones between tropical deciduous forest and desert biomes in western North America and infer a time-calibrated phylogeny based on target capture sequence data.

Directionally biased habitat shifts and biogeographically informative cytonuclear discordance in the Hawaiian silversword alliance (Compositae).

Premise: Expanded phylogenetic analyses of the Hawaiian silversword alliance (Argyroxiphium, Dubautia, Wilkesia; Compositae) were undertaken to assess evolutionary and biogeographic informativeness of cytonuclear discordance and any biases in evolutionary directionality of ecological transitions within this prominent example of adaptive radiation.

Methods: Samples spanning the geographic and ecological distributions of all recognized taxa were included in phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) and cpDNA sequences. Bayesian model testing approaches were used to model ecological evolution and the evolution of nuclear chromosomal arrangements while accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty.

Revisiting the hyperdominance of Neotropical tree species under a taxonomic, functional and evolutionary perspective.

Recent studies have leveraged large datasets from plot-inventory networks to report a phenomenon of hyperdominance in Amazonian tree communities, concluding that few species are common and many are rare. However, taxonomic hypotheses may not be consistent across these large plot networks, potentially masking cryptic diversity and threatened rare taxa. In the current study, we have reviewed one of the most abundant putatively hyperdominant taxa, Protium heptaphyllum (Aubl.

Natural selection maintains species despite frequent hybridization in the desert shrub .

Natural selection is an important driver of genetic and phenotypic differentiation between species. For species in which potential gene flow is high but realized gene flow is low, adaptation via natural selection may be a particularly important force maintaining species. For a recent radiation of New World desert shrubs (: Asteraceae), we use fine-scale geographic sampling and population genomics to determine patterns of gene flow across two hybrid zones formed between two independent pairs of species with parapatric distributions.

Facets of phylodiversity: evolutionary diversification, divergence and survival as conservation targets.

Biodiversity is often described as having multiple facets, including species richness, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity. In this paper, we argue that phylogenetic diversity itself has three distinct facets-lineage diversification, character divergence and survival time-that can be quantified using distinct branch length metrics on an evolutionary tree. Each dimension is related to different processes of macroevolution, has different spatial patterns and is tied to distinct goals for conserving biodiversity and protecting its future resilience and evolutionary potential.

Punctuated plastome reduction and host-parasite horizontal gene transfer in the holoparasitic plant genus .

Foundational studies of chloroplast genome (plastome) evolution in parasitic plants have focused on broad trends across large clades, particularly among the Orobanchaceae, a species-rich and ecologically diverse family of root parasites. However, the extent to which such patterns and processes of plastome evolution, such as stepwise gene loss following the complete loss of photosynthesis (shift to holoparasitism), are detectable at shallow evolutionary time scale is largely unknown. We used genome skimming to assemble eight chloroplast genomes representing complete taxonomic sampling of sect.

Retracing the Hawaiian silversword radiation despite phylogenetic, biogeographic, and paleogeographic uncertainty.

The Hawaiian silversword alliance (Asteraceae) is an iconic adaptive radiation. However, like many island plant lineages, no fossils have been assigned to the clade. As a result, the clade's age and diversification rate are not known precisely, making it difficult to test biogeographic hypotheses about the radiation.

Prospective study of the feasibility of point-of-care testing strategy for carbapenem-resistant organism detection.

Background/aims:  In an investigator-initiated, prospective study, we evaluated the feasibility of a five-gene sequence point-of-care (POC) testing strategy (Xpert CARBA-R Assay, Cepheid Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA), compared to reference laboratory PCR (48 - 72 hours turnaround time, two gene sequences), in patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and in a hospital outbreak investigation.

Methods:  After informed consent, patients undergoing ERCP (September 2015 - April 2016, n = 191) at Mayo Clinic and potential hospital contacts (n = 9) of an index carbapenem-resistant organism (CRO)-positive inpatient were included.

Spatial phylogenetics of the native California flora.

Background: California is a world floristic biodiversity hotspot where the terms neo- and paleo-endemism were first applied. Using spatial phylogenetics, it is now possible to evaluate biodiversity from an evolutionary standpoint, including discovering significant areas of neo- and paleo-endemism, by combining spatial information from museum collections and DNA-based phylogenies. Here we used a distributional dataset of 1.

Species richness and endemism in the native flora of California.

Premise Of The Study: California's vascular flora is the most diverse and threatened in temperate North America. Previous studies of spatial patterns of Californian plant diversity have been limited by traditional metrics, non-uniform geographic units, and distributional data derived from floristic descriptions for only a subset of species.

Methods: We revisited patterns of sampling intensity, species richness, and relative endemism in California based on equal-area spatial units, the full vascular flora, and specimen-based distributional data.

Molecular and morphological evidence for recognition of two species within (Amsinckiinae, Boraginaceae).

Recent taxonomic treatments of the genus have included only one lower taxon, A. Gray. However, a larger-fruited variety of from Arizona and Sonora was described by I.

Cryptic host-specific diversity among western hemisphere broomrapes (Orobanche s.l., Orobanchaceae).

Background And Aims: The broomrapes, Orobanche sensu lato (Orobanchaceae), are common root parasites found across Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. All species native to the western hemisphere, recognized as Orobanche sections Gymnocaulis and Nothaphyllon, form a clade that has a centre of diversity in western North America, but also includes four disjunct species in central and southern South America. The wide ecological distribution coupled with moderate taxonomic diversity make this clade a valuable model system for studying the role, if any, of host-switching in driving the diversification of plant parasites.

Pleistocene radiation of the serpentine-adapted genus Hesperolinon and other divergence times in Linaceae (Malpighiales).

Premise Of The Study: Hesperolinon (western flax; Linaceae) is endemic to the western United States, where it is notable for its high and geographically concentrated species diversity on serpentine-derived soils and for its use as a model system in disease ecology. We used a phylogenetic framework to test a long-standing hypothesis that Hesperolinon is a neoendemic radiation.

Methods: Five plastid and two ribosomal nuclear DNA gene regions were sampled from 105 populations of Hesperolinon, including all 13 recently recognized species across their known ranges.

Genetic and ecotypic differentiation in a Californian plant polyploid complex (Grindelia, Asteraceae).

Studies of ecotypic differentiation in the California Floristic Province have contributed greatly to plant evolutionary biology since the pioneering work of Clausen, Keck, and Hiesey. The extent of gene flow and genetic differentiation across interfertile ecotypes that span major habitats in the California Floristic Province is understudied, however, and is important for understanding the prospects for local adaptation to evolve or persist in the face of potential gene flow across populations in different ecological settings. We used microsatellite data to examine local differentiation in one of these lineages, the Pacific Coast polyploid complex of the plant genus Grindelia (Asteraceae).

Non-congruent colonizations and diversification in a coevolving pollination mutualism on oceanic islands.

A challenge for coevolutionary theory is how different types of interaction influence the diversification of coevolving clades. Reciprocal specialization is characteristic of certain coevolving, mutualistic interactions, but whether this specialization seen in ecological time constrains changes in patterns of interaction over evolutionary time remains unclear. Here, we examine the co-radiation of Glochidion trees (Phyllanthaceae: Phyllanthus s.

Floral paedomorphy leads to secondary specialization in pollination of Madagascar Dalechampia (Euphorbiaceae).

The traditional evolutionary interpretation of Von Baer's "laws" of embryology is that retention of early developmental forms into adulthood (paedomorphosis) leads to the evolution of simpler or more generalized morphology and ecology. Here we show that paedomorphosis can also be involved in an increase in ecological specialization, in this case of plant-pollinator relationships. A paedomorphic transition from generalized pollination (by several functional types of pollinators) to specialized pollination (by one or a few species in one functional type) occurred in a clade of endemic Madagascar vines (Dalechampia spp.

Long-distance dispersal: a framework for hypothesis testing.

Tests of hypotheses about the biogeographical consequences of long-distance dispersal have long eluded biologists, largely because of the rarity and presumed unpredictability of such events. Here, we examine data for terrestrial (including littoral) organisms in the Pacific to show that knowledge of dispersal by wind, birds and oceanic drift or rafting, coupled with information about the natural environment and biology of the organisms, can be used to generate broad biogeographic predictions. We then examine the predictions in the context of the origin, frequency of arrival and location of establishment of dispersed organisms, as well as subsequent patterns of endemism and diversification on remote islands.

Phylogenetic perspectives on diversification, biogeography, and floral evolution of Collinsia and Tonella (Plantaginaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Collinsia was the subject of classic biosystematic studies by Garber and colleagues and is increasingly investigated to address major evolutionary questions. Lack of phylogenetic data from more than one gene region and one taxonomic exemplar has left relationships, diversity, and phytogeography of Collinsia in question and has limited understanding of its diversification.

Methods: Phylogenetic analyses representing 179 populations of Collinsia and closely related Tonella were conducted based on DNA sequences of nuclear ribosomal transcribed spacers, the single-copy nuclear gene CYCLOIDEA-1, and part of the chloroplast matK/trnK intron region to reexamine systematic hypotheses and extend understanding of the importance of floral characters, chromosome evolution, interfertility, crossability, hybridization, edaphic factors, and ecogeographic barriers to diversification in the group.