Herbarium specimens reveal a cryptic invasion of polyploid Centaurea stoebe in Europe.

Numerous plant species are expanding their native ranges due to anthropogenic environmental change. Because cytotypes of polyploid complexes often show similar morphologies, there may be unnoticed range expansions (i.e.

Thin film structural color is widespread in slime molds (Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa).

Brilliant colors in nature arise from the interference of light with periodic nanostructures resulting in structural color. While such biological photonic structures have long attracted interest in insects and plants, they are little known in other groups of organisms. Unexpected in the kingdom of Amoebozoa, which assembles unicellular organisms, structural colors were observed in myxomycetes, an evolutionary group of amoebae forming macroscopic, fungal-like structures.

Contrasting evolutionary origins of two mountain endemics: Saxifraga wahlenbergii (Western Carpathians) and S. styriaca (Eastern Alps).

Background: The Carpathians and the Alps are the largest mountain ranges of the European Alpine System and important centres of endemism. Among the distinctive endemic species of this area is Saxifraga wahlenbergii, a Western Carpathians member of the speciose genus Saxifraga. It was frequently considered a taxonomically isolated Tertiary palaeopolyploid and palaeoendemic, for which the closest relatives could not yet be traced.

Pollen metabarcoding as a tool for tracking long-distance insect migrations.

Insects account for a large portion of Earth's biodiversity and are key players for ecosystems, notably as pollinators. While insect migration is suspected to represent a natural phenomenon of major importance, remarkably little is known about it, except for a few flagship species. The reason for this situation is mainly due to technical limitations in the study of insect movement.

Assessing the potential of RAD-sequencing to resolve phylogenetic relationships within species radiations: The fly genus Chiastocheta (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) as a case study.

Determining phylogenetic relationships among recently diverged species has long been a challenge in evolutionary biology. Cytoplasmic DNA markers, which have been widely used, notably in the context of molecular barcoding, have not always proved successful in resolving such phylogenies. However, with the advent of next-generation-sequencing technologies and associated techniques of reduced genome representation, phylogenies of closely related species have been resolved at a much higher detail in the last couple of years.

Hybridization Capture Using RAD Probes (hyRAD), a New Tool for Performing Genomic Analyses on Collection Specimens.

In the recent years, many protocols aimed at reproducibly sequencing reduced-genome subsets in non-model organisms have been published. Among them, RAD-sequencing is one of the most widely used. It relies on digesting DNA with specific restriction enzymes and performing size selection on the resulting fragments.

Rhizomarasmius epidryas (Physalacriaceae): phylogenetic placement of an arctic-alpine fungus with obligate saprobic affinity to Dryas spp.

As a part of a large-scale biogeographical study we examined the evolutionary relationships and taxonomic position of Marasmius epidryas, one of the most typical circumpolar arctic-alpine fungi, characterized by a specific, saprobic affinity to dead tissues of Dryas spp. A phylogenetic analysis based on nLSU and RPB2 DNA regions unequivocally indicated the phylogenetic placement of this species within the Physalacriaceae. The Bayesian MCMCMC analysis as well as other inference methods tested (ML, NJ) revealed a well supported affinity of M.

Rediscovery of Alnicola cholea (Cortinariaceae): taxonomic revision and description of its mycorrhiza with Polygonum viviparum (Polygonaceae).

Alnicola cholea, a little-known species so far reported only from the two original localities in the French Alps, is redefined here based on revision of herbarium materials and studies of recent field collections. A detailed morphological and anatomical description of fruit bodies of Alnicola cholea, including a discussion on its taxonomic status and distribution data is provided. Due to the unique combination of characters of Alnicola cholea within the genus, a new monospecific section is introduced for this species: Alnicola sect.

The use of AFLP markers in conservation genetics--a case study on Pulsatilla vernalis in the Polish lowlands.

Pulsatilla vernalis is a rare species in the Polish lowlands, strongly threatened by anthropogenic disturbance of its habitats. A grave decrease in its populations has been observed during the past 60-80 years (analogous populations in Eastern Austria and the Czech Republic are almost or completely extinct). An analysis of the genetic diversity of populations in the Polish lowlands was performed to estimate its level and distribution.