Individual genotypes from environmental DNA: Fingerprinting snow tracks of three large carnivore species.

Continued advancements in environmental DNA (eDNA) research have made it possible to access intraspecific variation from eDNA samples, opening new opportunities to expand non-invasive genetic studies of wildlife populations. However, the use of eDNA samples for individual genotyping, as typically performed in non-invasive genetics, still remains elusive. We present successful individual genotyping of eDNA obtained from snow tracks of three large carnivores: brown bear (Ursus arctos), European lynx (Lynx lynx) and wolf (Canis lupus).

Chromosomal conservatism vs chromosomal megaevolution: enigma of karyotypic evolution in Lepidoptera.

In the evolution of many organisms, periods of slow genome reorganization (= chromosomal conservatism) are interrupted by bursts of numerous chromosomal changes (= chromosomal megaevolution). Using comparative analysis of chromosome-level genome assemblies, we investigated these processes in blue butterflies (Lycaenidae). We demonstrate that the phase of chromosome number conservatism is characterized by the stability of most autosomes and dynamic evolution of the sex chromosome Z, resulting in multiple variants of NeoZ chromosomes due to autosome-sex chromosome fusions.

Whole-Genome Analysis Reveals the Dynamic Evolution of Holocentric Chromosomes in Satyrine Butterflies.

Butterfly chromosomes are holocentric, i.e., lacking a localized centromere.

Genomic introgression from a distant congener in the Levant fritillary butterfly, Melitaea acentria.

Introgressive hybridization is more common in nature than previously thought, and its role and creative power in evolution is hotly discussed but not completely understood. Introgression occurs more frequently in sympatry between recently diverged taxa, or when the speciation process has not yet been completed. However, there are relatively few documented cases of hybridization that erodes reproductive barriers between distantly related species.

Chromosomal and DNA barcode analysis of the Staudinger, 1881 species complex (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae).

The species of the Staudinger, 1881 complex are distributed in Central Asia. Here we show that this complex is a monophyletic group including the species, , Sheljuzhko, 1929 and Fruhstorfer, 1917. The haploid chromosome number n=29 is found in and and is, most likely, a symplesiomorphy of the complex.

Chromosomal and mitochondrial diversity in complex (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae): eleven deeply diverged DNA barcode groups in one non-monophyletic species?

It is generally accepted that cases of species' polyphyly in trees arising as a result of deep intraspecific divergence are negligible, and the detected cases reflect misidentifications or/and methodological errors. Here we studied the problem of species' non-monophyly through chromosomal and molecular analysis of butterfly taxa close to (Esper, 1779) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). We found absence or low interspecific chromosome number variation and presence of intraspecific variation, therefore we conclude that in this group, chromosome numbers have relatively low value as taxonomic markers.

Mitochondrial chromosome as a marker of animal migratory routes: DNA barcoding revealed Asian (non-African) origin of a tropical migrant butterfly in south Israel.

The blue pansy Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) is widely distributed along the tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Australia. It is also known as a migrant species in the Levant. Here we record in south Israel and provide a DNA-barcode-based evidence for its Asian (non-African) origin.

DNA barcoding reveals twelve lineages with properties of phylogenetic and biological species within Melitaea didyma sensu lato (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae).

The complex of butterfly taxa close to Melitaea didyma includes the traditionally recognized species Melitaea didyma, Melitaea didymoides and Melitaea sutschana, the taxa that were recognized as species only relatively recently (Melitaea latonigena, Melitaea interrupta, Melitaea chitralensis and Melitaea mixta) as well as numerous described subspecies and forms with unclear taxonomic status. Here analysis of mitochondrial DNA barcodes is used to demonstrate that this complex is monophyletic group consisting of at least 12 major haplogroups strongly differentiated with respect to the gene COI. Six of these haplogroups are shown to correspond to six of the above-mentioned species (Melitaea didymoides, Melitaea sutschana, Melitaea latonigena, Melitaea interrupta, Melitaea chitralensis and Melitaea mixta).