Estimate of parameters changing of the Lymantria dispar artificial population in different environmental conditions using the quasispecies model

This paper gives an interpretation of the quasispecies concept for an experiment of growing the Lymantria dispar artificial population.The changes estimate in the population parameters for a significant change in environmental conditions at the stage of hatching caterpillars from the eggs was given.Three numerical and two random parameters were used for quantitative analysis.They characterize the development of individuals of the population at this stage.The parameter changes significance was verified with using statistical tests.The results obtained do not contradict the quasispecies model.The use of fuzzy sets describes the transition from one quasispecies to another at a significant change in environmental conditions.

The effect analysis of the diapause duration on the hatching parameters of the artificial semi-annual population of Lymantria dispar caterpillars

The paper investigates the existence of a relationship between the diapause duration and the temperature threshold of hatching,the variances in temperature and hatching time of the artificial six-month population of Lymantria dispar caterpillars.A half-year population gives two generations a year under artificial conditions.A comparative analysis of these parameters with similar parameters of the hybrid population of L.dispar,as well as studies by other authors,has been carried out.The Eigen quasispecies model was used for the mathematical formalization of the evolution process.The results of this work can be used to study the evolution of L.dispar.

Mathematical formalization of the process of crossing individuals of different populations within the framework of the quasispecies model

This paper presents a mathematically formalized description of the process of crossing individuals of different populations as a break of the first kind of functional dependencies of the population state vector components.In this case,the validity of the quasispecies model as a model of population development was assumed.The practical interpretation of a mathematically formalized description is considered on the example of an artificial population of Lymantria dispar.The results of the work can be used to assess the development parameters of both natural and artificial populations.

Population transcriptomics reveals a potentially positive role of expression diversity in adaptation

While it is widely accepted that genetic diversity determines the potential of adaptation,the role that gene expression variation plays in adaptation remains poorly known.Here we show that gene expression diversity could have played a positive role in the adaptation of Miscanthus lutarioriparius.RNA-seq was conducted for 80 individuals of the species,with half planted in the energy crop domestication site and the other half planted in the control site near native habitats.A leaf reference transcriptome consisting of 18,503 high-quality transcripts was obtained using a pipeline developed for de novo assembling with population RNA-seq data.The population structure and genetic diversity of M.lutarioriparius were estimated based on 30,609 genic single nucleotide polymorphisms.Population expression（Ep） and expression diversity（Ed）were defined to measure the average level and the magnitude of variation of a gene expression in the population,respectively.It was found that expression diversity increased while genetic Resediversity decreased after the species was transplanted from the native habitats to the harsh domestication site,especially for genes involved in abiotic stress resistance,histone methylation,and biomass synthesis under water limitation.The increased expression diversity could have enriched phenotypic variation directly subject to selections in the new environment.

Geographic variability in the alarm calls of the European ground squirrel

Geographic variability in vocalizations has been documented in many mammalian species. We examined to what extent it applies to the alarm calls of the European ground squirrel Spermophilus citellus. We recorded the calls of 82 adult individuals from 5 natural colonies in the Czech Republic and 24 adult individuals from an artificial seminatural colony located in a Czech zoo. The founders of this colony originated from 4 different natural colonies in the Czech Republic. Our results showed that there are hardly any differences in the acoustic structure of the alarm calls between male and female European ground squirrels. Discriminant function analysis showed the highest degree of discriminability for the most isolated sites (54-74% of individuals classified correctly), whereas the lowest degree of discriminability was found for 2 interconnected colonies (38-40% individuals classified correctly). Individuals from the artificial seminatural colony were often classified correctly to this colony (58% classified correctly);however, the precision of the classification was comparatively relatively low, that is, many individuals from other colonies were incorrectly classified into this seminatural colony. This likely corresponds to the different origins of its founders. These findings indicate that there is a rather substantial geographic variability in the alarm calls of the European ground squirrel, and our study highlights its possible impact on conservation measures such as establishing artificial colonies or reintroductions.