Convergence and molecular evolution of floral fragrance after independent transitions to self-fertilization.

Studying the independent evolution of similar traits provides valuable insights into the ecological and genetic factors driving phenotypic evolution. The transition from outcrossing to self-fertilization is common in plant evolution and is often associated with a reduction in floral attractive features such as display size, chemical signals, and pollinator rewards. These changes are believed to result from the reallocation of the resources used for building attractive flowers, as the need to attract pollinators decreases.

How broad is the selfing syndrome? Insights from convergent evolution of gene expression across species and tissues in the Capsella genus.

The shift from outcrossing to selfing is one of the main evolutionary transitions in plants. It is accompanied by profound effects on reproductive traits, the so-called selfing syndrome. Because the transition to selfing also implies deep genomic and ecological changes, one also expects to observe a genomic selfing syndrome.

Competitive ability depends on mating system and ploidy level across Capsella species.

Background And Aims: Self-fertilization is often associated with ecological traits corresponding to the ruderal strategy, and selfers are expected to be less competitive than outcrossers, either because of a colonization/competition trade-off or because of the deleterious genetic effects of selfing. Range expansion could reduce further competitive ability while polyploidy could mitigate the effects of selfing. If pollinators are not limited, individual fitness is thus expected to be higher in outcrossers than in selfers and, within selfers, in polyploids than in diploids.

Integrated miRNA and transcriptome profiling to explore the molecular determinism of convergent adaptation to corn in two lepidopteran pests of agriculture.

Background: The degree to which adaptation to same environment is determined by similar molecular mechanisms, is a topic of broad interest in evolutionary biology, as an indicator of evolutionary predictability. We wished to address if adaptation to the same host plant in phytophagous insects involved related gene expression patterns. We compared sRNA-Seq and RNA-Seq data between two pairs of taxa of Ostrinia and Spodoptera frugiperda sharing maize as host-plant.

Flower evolution in the presence of heterospecific gene flow and its contribution to lineage divergence.

The success of species depends on their ability to exploit ecological resources in order to optimize their reproduction. However, species are not usually found within single-species ecosystems but in complex communities. Because of their genetic relatedness, closely related lineages tend to cluster within the same ecosystem, rely on the same resources, and be phenotypically similar.

Shift in ecological strategy helps marginal populations of shepherd's purse () to overcome a high genetic load.

The outcome of species range expansion depends on the interplay of demographic, environmental and genetic factors. Self-fertilizing species usually show a higher invasive ability than outcrossers but selfing and bottlenecks during colonization also lead to an increased genetic load. The relationship between genomic and phenotypic characteristics of expanding populations has, hitherto, rarely been tested experimentally.

Assessing the potential for assisted gene flow using past introduction of Norway spruce in southern Sweden: Local adaptation and genetic basis of quantitative traits in trees.

Norway spruce () is a dominant conifer species of major economic importance in northern Europe. Extensive breeding programs were established to improve phenotypic traits of economic interest. In southern Sweden, seeds used to create progeny tests were collected on about 3,000 trees of outstanding phenotype ('plus' trees) across the region.

Towards the new normal: Transcriptomic convergence and genomic legacy of the two subgenomes of an allopolyploid weed (Capsella bursa-pastoris).

Allopolyploidy has played a major role in plant evolution but its impact on genome diversity and expression patterns remains to be understood. Some studies found important genomic and transcriptomic changes in allopolyploids, whereas others detected a strong parental legacy and more subtle changes. The allotetraploid C.

Two genomes of highly polyphagous lepidopteran pests (Spodoptera frugiperda, Noctuidae) with different host-plant ranges.

Emergence of polyphagous herbivorous insects entails significant adaptation to recognize, detoxify and digest a variety of host-plants. Despite of its biological and practical importance - since insects eat 20% of crops - no exhaustive analysis of gene repertoires required for adaptations in generalist insect herbivores has previously been performed. The noctuid moth Spodoptera frugiperda ranks as one of the world's worst agricultural pests.

Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) host-plant variants: two host strains or two distinct species?

The moth Spodoptera frugiperda is a well-known pest of crops throughout the Americas, which consists of two strains adapted to different host-plants: the first feeds preferentially on corn, cotton and sorghum whereas the second is more associated with rice and several pasture grasses. Though morphologically indistinguishable, they exhibit differences in their mating behavior, pheromone compositions, and show development variability according to the host-plant. Though the latter suggest that both strains are different species, this issue is still highly controversial because hybrids naturally occur in the wild, not to mention the discrepancies among published results concerning mating success between the two strains.