In the aquatic environment, microplastic particles (MP) can accumulate in microbial communities that cover submerged substrata, i.e. in periphyton. Despite periphyton being the essential food source for grazers in the benthic zones, MP transfer from periph ...
Background: Reproductive isolation can result from adaptive processes (e.g., ecological speciation and mutation-order speciation) or stochastic processes such as "system drift" model. Ecological speciation predicts barriers to gene flow between populations ...
Connectivity between the hyporheic zone and the flow is essential for the development of benthos and the reproductive success of spawning fish. The infiltration of fine sediment leads to clogging of the riverbed, reducing porosity and vertical water exchan ...
Aedes aegypti is an important disease vector and a major target of reproductive control efforts. We manipulated the opportunity for sexual selection in populations of Ae. aegypti by controlling the number of males competing for a single female. Populations ...
Reproductive output and cognitive performance decline in parallel during aging, but it is unknown whether this reflects a shared genetic architecture or merely the declining force of natural selection acting independently on both traits. We used experiment ...
Explanations for the evolution of delayed maturity usually invoke trade-offs mediated by growth, but processes of reproductive maturation continue long after growth has ceased. Here, we tested whether sexual selection shapes the rate of posteclosion matura ...
Background: Microsporidia are spore-forming obligate intracellular parasites that include both emerging pathogens and economically important disease agents. However, little is known about the genetic diversity of microsporidia. Here, we investigated patter ...
Understanding how new phenotypes evolve is challenging because intermediate stages in transitions from ancestral to derived phenotypes often remain elusive. Here we describe and evaluate a new mechanism facilitating the transition from sexual reproduction ...
Invasive species are nowadays considered as one of the most important threat to biodiversity. By displacing native species, modifying ecosystem functioning and causing substantial losses to agricultural production, they represent a menace to natural and ma ...
