Here - CIBIO
Transcrição
Here - CIBIO
1 ORGANISATION CIBIO (Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto, Portugal) and InBio Associate Laboratory Campus Agrário de Vairão R. Padre Armando Quintas 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal Phone: (00351) 252660411 Fax: (00351) 252661780 e-mail: [email protected] web page: http://cibio.up.pt TiBE2011’s Organizing Committee Conservation Genetics and Wildlife Management research group (ConGen) Paulo Célio Alves Raquel Vasconcelos Ricardo Lopes TiBE’s Permanent Organizing Committee Population Genetics, hybridisation and speciation group (PopGen) Catarina Pinho José Melo Ferreira Nuno Ferrand Rui Faria TiBE2011’ staff Registration (CIBIO) Logistics (ACAV) Joana Nogueira Joana Vilela Fátima Jorge Fernando Seixas Bernardino Silva Filipa Magalhães Teresa Sousa Accounting (ICETA) João Andrade TiBE’s web and design Daniel Cunha 2 ABOUT TiBE 2011: New Challenges in Conservation Genetics TiBE, Trends in Biodiversity and Evolution, is an annual meeting organised by CIBIO, Research Centre in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources/InBio, Associate laboratory. These meetings aim to bring together senior researchers, post-graduate and graduate students in Biological Sciences, and promote a relaxing but insightful discussion about cutting edge topics on Biodiversity and Evolution. Each year a specific subject will be chosen, and recognised senior scientists will be invited to report their views, opinions and novel results. Young researchers and post-graduate students will also be invited to participate and present their recent and innovative work. TiBE 2011 is devoted to "New Challenges in Conservation Genetics", a discipline which has received considerable attention in recent years by evolutionary biologists, and has voraciously incorporated many technologies to speed up and increase the accuracy of conservation decision-making. It takes place at December 5 - 6th in Campus Agrário de Vairão, University of Porto, and is hosted by ConGen-Conservation Genetics and Wildlife Management research group, at CIBIO. The scientific program includes four invited plenary lectures from prominent researchers, 16 oral communications (to be selected from participants) and two poster sessions covering the most up-to-date findings in this field of evolutionary biology. We hope that the University Porto-Campus of Vairão, located in a beautiful rural area in Vila do Conde (20 km north of Porto), will provide an excellent atmosphere for such scientific forum in one of the most interesting and stimulating areas of Biology. E-mail : [email protected] Web page: http://www.cibio-tibe.org 3 SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMME 5th DECEMBER 8.00 - 9.00 Bus transfer passing from Estalagem Brasão, Villa C Hotel and metro station to Campus Agrário de Vairão 9.00 Registration 9.30 Opening session SESSION 1. Population Genetics and Conservation 9.40 Plenary lecture - "Spatially explicit Approximate Bayesian Computation: lessons from owls and humans" Jérôme Goudet (Department of Ecology and Evolution, Faculté de Biologie et de Médecine, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland) 10.30 Coffee break 11.00 T1.1 Species delimitation based on population genetic parameters Catarina Pinho 11.20 T1.2 Application of the unified species concept reveals distinct lineages for disjunct endemics threatened with extinction in the Brassica repanda (Brassicaceae) complex Margherita Lega 11.40 T1.3 Cryptic speciation in the field vole: a multilocus approach confirms highly divergent lineages in Europe Joana Paupério 12.00 T1.4 The curious case of Bradypus variegatus (common sloth) microsatellites Sofia Silva 12.20 Lunch 14.30 Plenary lecture - "Very spatial indeed: some consequences of space (and time) on population genetics inference" Lounès Chikhi (CNRS, UMR 5174, Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France & Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal) 15.20 T1.5 The role of central and marginal populations in genetic connectivity of Iberian pines Iva Kovačić 4 15.40 T1.6 Evolutionary conservation biology of the Mediterranean red coral Jean-Baptiste Ledoux 16.00 Coffee break 16.30 T1.7 Environmentally-driven population structure of the bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea Giulia Riccioni 16.50 T1.8 Estimating the historical divergence of Iberian wolf populations Pedro Silva 17.10 T1.9 Spatial and temporal patterns of population structure of humpback whales in west coast of Africa Inês Carvalho 17.30 Poster session 1 18.30 Free buffet 21.00 - 21.30 6th Bus transfer from Campus Agrário de Vairão to metro station, Estalagem Brasão, and Villa C Hotel DECEMBER 8.30 - 9.30 Bus transfer passing from Estalagem Brasão, Villa C Hotel and metro station to Campus Agrário de Vairão 9.40 Plenary lecture - "The interaction between genetic, environmental and epigenetic variation: effects of inbreeding" Philippine Vergeer (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands) 10.20 T1.10 Signature of a pre-human population collapse in the critically endangered Reunion Island endemic forest bird Coracina newtoni Jordi Salmona 11.00 Coffee break 11.20 T1.11 Phylogeography and conservation of a long-range disperser: the example of Necora puber Joana do Nascimento 11.40 T1.12 Tracking invasion histories in the sea using multilocus data and ABC methods Marta Pascual 5 12.00 T1.13 The impact of the social structure on patterns of genetic diversity: a simulation approach Bárbara Parreira 12.20 Lunch SESSION 2. From Conservation Genetics to Conservation Genomics 14.30 Plenary lecture - "Targeted population genomics in non-model species" Jeffrey M. Good (Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, USA) 15.20 T2.1 Towards "on-the-spot" analysis: Population proteomics of European hake Elena G. González 15.40 T2.2 Population structure as revealed by SNPs in the Iberian honey bee (Apis mellifera iberiensis) Julio César Chávez-Galarza 16.00 Coffee break 16.30 T2.3 Conservation genetics on Islands, a case study of the Canarian Egyptian vulture Rosa Agudo 16.50 T2.4 The genetic basis of Drosophila lifespan differences Jorge Vieira 17.10 T2.5 Conservation genetics of the Eurasian shads Stephen Sabatino 17.30 Poster session 2 18.30 Closing session 19.00 - 19.30 Bus transfer from Campus Agrário de Vairão to metro station, Estalagem Brasão, and Villa C Hotel 6 PLENARY LECTURE PL1.1 Spatially explicit Approximate Bayesian Computation: lessons from owls and humans Jérôme Goudet1 Département d’Ecologie et Évolution, Faculté de Biologie et de Médecine, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland 1 Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) is increasingly used to infer the past demography of a species. One aspect that has been mostly overlooked is the spatial aspect of the demographic history of many if not most species living in temperate regions, and many studies using ABC only consider populations splitting and merging without accounting for the geography. I will illustrate using two examples (the colonization of Europe by the barn owl and that of the world by modern humans) how space can be accounted for in an ABC framework, the difficulties that this generates and the insights that can be gained. [email protected] 7 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS T1.1 Species delimitation based on population genetic parameters 1 Jody Hey , Catarina Pinho 1 2 Department of Genetics, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, United States of America 2 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal Delimiting species boundaries is crucial in conservation biology, yet challenging due to the fuzzy nature of species limits. This task must rely on evolutionary independence, a property that is expected to be higher between species than between populations within species. We performed a review of 97 studies using the isolation-with-migration (IM) model to investigate divergence between pairs of closely related taxa (species and populations). We retrieved two measures that are related to time since divergence and gene exchange, both important aspects to consider when assessing evolutionary independence. Both measures showed broadly overlapping distributions between pairs of species and pairs of populations, arguing for the absence of a qualitative difference between intraspecific and interspecific divergence. The two measures were further examined for their ability to distinguish species from population differences; our results highlight that, when used together, they could in principle be used to develop an objective criterion for species diagnosis. [email protected] 8 T1.2 Application of the unified species concept reveals distinct lineages for disjunct endemics threatened with extinction in the Brassica repanda (Brassicaceae) complex 1 1 2 2 1 Margherita Lega , Simone Fior , Filippo Prosser , Alessio Bertolli , Mingai Li , Claudio Varotto 1 1 Dipartimento Biodiversità e Ecologia Molecolare, Centro Ricerca e Innovazione, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Michele all'Adige, Italy 2 Museo Civico di Rovereto, Rovereto, Italy Species delimitation is an important issue in setting conservation priorities, especially for narrow endemics threatened with extinction. Brassica repanda is a highly polymorphic species complex with main centers of diversity in Spain and the Pyrenees, and an eastern disjunction formed by the endemic subspecies glabrescens and baldensis. Here, we utilize the general lineage concept of species to test for distinctiveness of these endemics. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses based on AFLP data were conducted to examine compliance with different species criteria. The results show that the eastern endemics have acquired the properties of monophyly, diagnosability and genotypic clustering, and should, therefore, be considered as genetically distinct evolutionary lineages from one another and the remainder of the complex. Comparative population genetics analyses between the newly identified lineages show the lack of marked genetic structuring within both taxon, and low levels of expected heterozygosity. Conclusions on the threat status and on recommended conservation actions are drawn. [email protected] 9 T1.3 Cryptic speciation in the field vole: a multilocus approach confirms highly divergent lineages in Europe Joana Paupério 1, 2 3 1 4 1, 2 , Jeremy Herman , José Melo-Ferreira , Maarit Jaarola , Paulo Célio Alves Jeremy Byron Searle , 5 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 3 Department of Natural Sciences, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom 4 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden 5 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States of America Recent studies of mitochondrial and sex-linked nuclear DNA clearly demonstrated the existence of northern and southern lineages of the field vole, sufficiently divergent that they may represent two cryptic species. In addition, within the southern lineage, two mtDNA clades were identified in the Iberian Peninsula, presenting one of them a restricted distribution in Portugal. Here we extend these findings by expanding the sampling, mainly in the Iberian Peninsula, and through a multilocus approach (7 loci maternally, paternally and bi-parentally inherited sequenced). Our results show that the mtDNA lineage identified in Portugal is indeed a distinct third lineage. In fact, lineage delimitation analysis, clearly substantiate three separate evolutionary units: Northern, Southern and Portuguese. Species tree inference places the divergence of these lineages to the last glaciation, being the Portuguese the oldest. The high levels of differentiation found make this a remarkable system for the study and understanding of cryptic speciation processes. [email protected] 10 T1.4 The curious case of Bradypus variegatus (common sloth) microsatellites Sofia Silva1, 2, Nadia de Moraes-Barros1, Nuno Ferrand2, João Morgante1 Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 1 2 Common-sloth is a Neotropical mammal, occurring in several menaced biomes. Noteworthy is the Atlantic forest (AF) populations isolation, due to the species forest-dependency and the poor connectivity of this biome with other forests. Within AF, previous mitochondrial DNA analyses described three common-sloth management units (MUs), all with low genetic diversity. To further characterize these units, several attempts were made to obtain highly polymorphic molecular markers, by constructing traditional enriched microsatellite libraries, but only four loci could be described. Conversely, recurring to the new high throughput sequencing techniques, 52 new microsatellites are now available. Interestingly, this new battery gives an ambiguous AF population structure, since the low genetic diversity scenario is maintained across almost all AF. Especially the São Paulo's MU seems to be severely genetically depauperated. These results reinforce the hypothesis of a long-lasting loss of genetic diversity in the common-sloth AF populations. The definition of hierarchical MUs is also proposed. [email protected] 11 PLENARY LECTURE PL1.2 Very spatial indeed: some consequences of space (and time) on population genetics inference Lounès Chikhi1, 2 UMR 5174 – Unité Mixte de Recherche, EDB – Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ENFA – L'Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique, Toulouse, France 2 Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal 1 Population geneticists tell us that molecular data contain information on the recent evolutionary history of populations and that they can reconstruct that history. How much can really be inferred from genetic data is however not that easy to determine. We know that it is possible to use genetic data to detect departures from mutation-drift equilibrium and interpret them in terms of deviations from neutrality or stationarity. However, much of this work assumes simple non-structured population models (e.g. Wright-Fisher model), and there is increasing evidence that population structure and spatial phenomena can generate neutral patterns that are significantly different from those expected in non-structured populations, leading to spurious signatures of population size changes or selection. The interpretation of genetic data from endangered species is thus particularly complex because of significant changes in population size through habitat loss and in gene flow patterns (i.e. structure) because of habitat fragmentation. [email protected] 12 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS T1.5 The role of central and marginal populations in genetic connectivity of Iberian pines Iva Kovačić 1,2, Santiago González-Martínez2, Juan José Robledo-Arnuncio2, José Manuel García del Barrio2, Ricardo Alía2 Departamento de Ciencias Agroforestales, Universidad de Valladolid, Palencia, Spain CIFOR - INIA – Centro de Investigación Forestal - Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Madrid, Spain 1 2 Understanding how changes in habitat affect connectivity and the consequences on populations led to increasing interest in connectivity measures. We examine the influence of connectivity, fragmentation and the predicted habitat loss in pines correlating it with the genetic structure of the populations. Native populations of six Iberian species were sampled over Spanish distribution range and characterised for four common chloroplast microsatellite loci. Genetic diversity and differentiation was calculated. We wrote a script in R to examine the factors affecting gene flow between populations. The input variables (environmental, anthropogenic, and historical) were assigned different resistances values and weights. Least-cost paths between populations were calculated and correlated to genetic parameters to find the best-fit scenario. For Pinus nigra, connectivity between populations was analysed to determine populations of highest importance in maintaining the gene flow and the influence of marginal populations. We finally examine several scenarios of population’s loss on overall connectivity. [email protected] 13 T1.6 Evolutionary conservation biology of the Mediterranean red coral Jean-Baptiste Ledoux1, Didier Aurelle2, Cristina Linares1, Jean-Pierre Féral2, Joaquim Garrabou1 Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Barcelona, Spain 2 Centre d’Océanologie de Marseille, DIMAR – Diversité, évolution et écologie fonctionnelle marine, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche 6540, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France 1 The Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum, is a long-lived species with slow population dynamics submitted to a strong harvesting pressure and recently impacted by mass mortality events linked to climate change. Focusing on the shallow populations (0-50 m) and combining population genetics (microsatellites) and experimental ecology (reciprocal transplant and common garden experiments), we: 1) assess the level and repartition of the genetic diversity, 2) complement our knowledge regarding the ecology of the species and 3) analyze the adaptive processes to local environment. These populations are globally characterized by a high neutral genetic diversity that follows a pattern of isolation by distance. Our results suggest a mainly closed functioning of populations with breeding units highly restricted in space. We also demonstrate that divergent selection acts upon population differentiation leading to local adaptation. These results and data on its population dynamics call for the reinforcement of local and international conservation policies. [email protected] 14 T1.7 Environmentally-driven Mediterranean Sea population structure of the bluefin tuna in the Giulia Riccioni 1, Marco Stagioni 1, Giorgia Ferrara 2, Guido Barbujani 3, Fausto Tinti 1,2 GenSEA – Marine Biology & Fisheries Laboratory, Section of Marine Genetics & Zoology, Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica Sperimentale, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy 2 GenMAP – Molecular Genetics for Environmental & Fishery Resources Laboratory, Interdepartmental Centre for Research in Environmental Sciences, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy 3 Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy 1 Atlantic Bluefin Tuna show a complex demography in the Mediterranean Sea despite it is a little basin in comparison to the long transatlantic migrations they perform. The weak population genetic structure detected through common summary statistics is difficult to infer using more sophisticated tools. An improved version of the Bayesian clustering program STRUCTURE, was used to analyse ABFT samples from the Mediterranean sea. To corroborate clustering results multivariate methods were applied to extract information from genetic markers without the use of the strong assumptions made by classical Bayesian clustering methods. Genetic and multivariate analyses detected the presence of a south to north genetic structuring through the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover correlation analyses suggested that environmental factors could have a role in shaping the identified genetic differentiation. This study confirms and defines ABFT structure in the Mediterranean Sea and highlight the influence of the environmental features on the genetic diversity of populations. [email protected] 15 T1.8 Estimating the historical divergence of Iberian wolf populations 1, 2 Pedro Silva , Raquel Godinho 1 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal The unique morphological traits of Iberian wolves led to their classification as a distinct subspecies (Canis lupus signatus Cabrera, 1907), but the validity of this claim has not been fully investigated. Several studies suggest high levels of differentiation between Iberian wolves and other European populations. Isolation of these populations may have started in the last centuries due to the extermination of wolves in Central Europe or may be a much older legacy from the Ice Ages. We attempted to evaluate the likelihood of these two hypotheses using genetic data on nuclear loci and Bayesian-based coalescent demography models. Results suggest an ancient date for the cessation of significant gene flow between Iberian and Central European populations, strengthening the hypothesis of a long-term isolation of wolves in Iberia. The resulting insights regarding isolation times and population sizes help clarifying the evolutionary history of the largest population of this threatened carnivore in Western Europe. [email protected] 16 T1.9 Spatial and temporal patterns of population structure of humpback whales in west coast of Africa Inês Carvalho1, 2, 3, Jacqueline Loo2, 3, 4 , Tim Collins3, 5, Cristina Pomilla2, 3, Jaco Barendse6, Peter B. Best 6, Matt Leslie2, 3, Howard C. Rosenbaum2, 3 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas e Bioengenharia, Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e Ambiente, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal 2 Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States of America 3 Ocean Giants Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, United States of America 4 Department of Biology, New York University, New York, United States of America 5 Oman Whale and Dolphin Research Group 6 Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, c/o South African Museum, Cape Town, South Africa 1 In the eastern South Atlantic Ocean (breeding stock B), humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are distributed from Gulf of Guinea to western South Africa. Recent data suggest that this stock is possibly sub-structure, with two sub-stocks. In this work an evaluation of spatial and temporal population structure in humpback whales on the west coast of Africa using maternally and bi-parentally inherited markers were conducted. It was amplified, sexed, genotyped and sequenced a total of 2018 samples from this stock. The results revealed significant genetic divisions at spatial (between regions) and temporal (between seasons) scale between the two sub-stocks, even with high gene flow and current interchange between them. This work indicate that there is some spatial and temporal population substructure in humpback whales in this stock and support previous data that the whales sighted in Gabon region have at least two feeding migratory destinations. [email protected] 17 PLENARY LECTURE PL1.3 The interaction between genetic, environmental and epigenetic variation: effects of inbreeding Philippine Vergeer 1 1 Molecular Ecology Department, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands Habitat fragmentation results in smaller populations with decreased genetic variation and increased risk of inbreeding. Inbreeding depression, the reduced performance as a result of inbreeding, is known to be environmentally dependent with inbred individuals responding differently to environmental change than outbred individuals. We hypothesize that epigenetic mechanisms, which can be triggered by the environment and inherited across generations, are involved in this process. We compared epigenetic variation of outbred and inbred offspring of a perennial plant and found inbreeding to affect DNA methylation. Even more interestingly, negative effects of inbreeding were largely nullified after reconfiguring DNA methylation of inbred and outbred offspring by treating the plants with a demethylation agent. These results for the first time give experimental evidence for a link between epigenetic variation and inbreeding depression. [email protected] 18 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS T1.10 Signature of a pre-human population collapse in the critically endangered Reunion Island endemic forest bird Coracina newtoni Jordi Salmona1-3, Marc Salamolard1, Thebaud4, Lounès Chikhi3, 4 2, Damien Fouillot1, Thomas Ghestemme1, Christophe 1 SEOR – Société d’Etude Ornithologique de la Réunion, St André, Ile de La Réunion, France National de la Réunion, St Denis, Ile de La Réunion, France 3 Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal 4 Laboratoire Evolution & Diversité Biologique, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche 5174, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France 2 Parc This study focuses on the critically endangered species Reunion cuckoo-shrike Coracina newtoni, a rare endemic forest bird surviving in a restricted 12 km2 upland forest area. The total known population consists of 22 pairs and 26 solitary males. The objective was to characterize the genetic structure and the demographic history of the population. Using seventeen polymorphic microsatellites, we found a limited level of genetic variability and a weak population structure. Applying Bayesian methods, our results also showed a strong decline in population size, most likely as a consequence of an old climatic or volcanic event, balancing the accepted theory of recent population collapse due to human pressure and predator introduction during the 350 years of human colonization. Indeed, we found that the population underwent a major demographic collapse most likely occurring around 5000 years ago. Our results provide new and controversial insights on Reunion Island CuckooShrike demographic history. [email protected] 19 T1.11 Phylogeography and conservation of a long-range disperser: the example of Necora puber 1 1 1 1 1 Joana do Nascimento , Pascale Garcia , Richard Coz , Thierry Guyot , Gilles Radenac , Benoit Simon-Bouhet 1 1 Institut du Littoral et de l’Environnement, LIENSs – Littoral, Environnement et Sociétés, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de La Rochelle, La Rochelle, France Over-exploitation of marine resources is known to be responsible for a decrease of populations’ stocks, furthermore leading to a genetic diversity tumble and a potential loss of species’ adaptation abilities. Regulating the effects of anthropic pressure on marine species has thus become a significant issue for conservation biologists. Our study focuses on Necora puber, a decapod crustacean highly targeted by both professional fisheries and shellfish gathering. In order to assess the patterns of genetic structure and diversity of Necora puber and to evaluate the effect of human pressure, we analysed a 635 bp fragment of the COI mitochondrial gene for 1032 individuals from 29 European sites with contrasted degrees of anthropogenic pressures. Our results depict an overall low polymorphism, associated with the absence of genetic structure. We also highlighted a clear signature of recent demographic expansion, likely followed by ongoing gene flows enhanced by N. puber’s important larval stage. [email protected] 20 T1.12 Tracking invasion histories in the sea using multilocus data and ABC methods 1 2 1 Marta Pascual , Marc Rius , Víctor Ordóñez , Xavier Turon 3 1 IRBio – Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat, Departament de Genètica, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 2 Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, Davis, United States of America 3 CEAB - CSIC – Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Blanes - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Blanes, Spain The sea contains ecosystems that are amongst the most heavily affected by biological invasions while marine invasion histories are often remarkably complex. Genetic studies can uncover the pathways of the introduction of invasive species and the origin of the colonizers with the use of new analytical tools that allow researchers to extract historical information contained in molecular data. We studied the colonization history of Microcosmus squamiger (Ascidiacea) using microsatellite loci, mitochondrial DNA sequence data and 11 worldwide populations. Discriminant analysis of principal components, clustering methods and approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) methods showed that the most likely source of the introduced populations was a single admixture event that involved populations from two genetically differentiated Australian ancestral populations. The ABC analyses revealed that colonization of the introduced range of M. squamiger consisted of a series of non-independent introductions along the coastlines of Africa, North America and Europe in line with historical taxonomic records. [email protected] 21 T1.13 The impact of the social structure on patterns of genetic diversity: a simulation approach 1,2 1,3 Bárbara Parreira , Lounès Chikhi 1 Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal 3 EDB – Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UPS – Université Paul Sabatier, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France Genetic data are increasingly used to study natural populations and understand their ecology, recent demographic history and behavior. In most population genetics studies it is customary to assume that samples are obtained from populations that are at Hardy-Weinberg (HW) equilibrium. However, populations are rarely isolated; rather they are part of a network of populations. Moreover, many vertebrate species typically exhibit social grouping, with different breeding strategies and complex gene flow patterns. Real data from populations with a known social structure, show significant deviations from HW expectations at the social group level, these deviations observed at the social group level, correspond to heterozygote excesses and are often interpreted to result from "inbreeding avoidance". Here we simulate different types of social structure and we quantify how genetic diversity is distributed within and between social groups. We show that real data patterns can be reproduced by the presence of a social structure and asymmetrical gene flow. [email protected] 22 PLENARY LECTURE PL2 Targeted population genomics in non-model species Jeffrey M. Good 1 1 Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, United States of America Recent technological advances are changing both the scale and scope of genetic questions that can be addressed in natural populations. However, most species still lack basic genetic and genomic tools, presenting a number of challenges for the application of immerging genomic techniques. We have tailored methods of targeted enrichment to conduct large-scale genomic studies in chipmunks (Tamias). Chipmunks are a diverse group of North American rodents that demonstrate strong ecological niche partitioning. For some species, isolated populations show cryptic mitochondrial introgression from co-distributed species. Other species endemic to alpine environments have experienced extensive habitat loss concurrent with climate change. By incorporating both contemporary and historic samples, we are now able to evaluate genomewide patterns of introgression and temporal changes in genetic diversity in declining populations. Our studies illustrate of power of emerging genomic tools for addressing diverse questions in conservation biology that were inconceivable just a few years ago. [email protected] 23 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS T2.1 Towards ‘on-the-spot’ analysis: Population proteomics of European hake Elena G. González M. Bautista 1, 4 2 3 4 4 , Grigorios Krey , Monserrat Espiñeira , Amalia Diez , Antonio Puyet , José 4 1 Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC –Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain 2 National Agricultural Research Foundation, Fisheries Research Institute, Kavala, Greece 3 Área de Biología Molecular e Biotecnología, ANFACO-CECOPESCA – Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Conservas de Pescados Y Mariscos - Centro Técnico Nacional de Conservación de Productos de la Pesca, Vigo, Spain 4 Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain Population proteomics is becoming a powerful tool enabling the study of the population structures and functional adaptations to environment from human settlement to animal natural populations. A proteome scan approach based on 2-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) technology has been applied to generated thousands of protein markers that allow the identification of different hake (Merluccius merluccius) population. Based on quantitative differential analysis of hake populations, several protein markers were selected that reliably assigned individuals to the populations of origin. The results obtained exploring novel tools for traceability hold the promise to further advance our ability to identify the population of origin for individual fish. These new methods have the potential to complement, and in some cases, even supplement more established approaches, as they rapidly respond to the environment where the fish was living just prior to capture, and therefore provide information on geographic origin, etc. [email protected] 24 T2.2 Population structure as revealed by SNPs in the Iberian honey bee (Apis mellifera iberiensis) 1 2 1 3 Julio César Chávez-Galarza , J. Spencer Johnston , João Carlos Azevedo , Irene Muñoz , María del 3 4 5 Pilar de la Rúa , John Clifton Patton , Filipe José Costa , Alice Pinto1 1 CIMO – Centro de Investigação em Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal 2 Department of Entomology, Texas A & M University College Station, Texas, United States of America 3 Área de Biología Animal, Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain 4 Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, United States of America 5 CBMA – Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal The Honey bee, Apis mellifera L., occurs naturally in Africa, Middle East and Europe. The adaptation to a diversity of ecological conditions has led to evolution of over 24 subspecies. The honey bee subspecies that occurs in the Iberian Peninsula is Apis mellifera iberiensis, which is originated by natural hybridization between lineage A (African) and lineage M (western European). The objective of this study was to unravel the population structure of A. m. iberiensis by carrying out a genome wide analysis using SNPs. Over 711 individuals sampled across three transects (one along the Atlantic Coast, one along the Mediterranean coast, and one central) in the Iberian peninsula were genotyped for 1536 SNPs using the golden gate assay of Illumina. The genetic structure was analyzed by a Bayesian clustering method. It was observed a north – south cline in the three transects and the largest difference was exhibited between the Atlantic populations and the other two transects. [email protected] 25 T2.3 Conservation genetics on Islands, a case study of the Canarian Egyptian vulture Rosa Agudo1, Ciro Rico1, José Antonio Donázar1 Departamento de Biología de la Conservación EBD - CSIC – Estación Biológica de Doñana Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Sevilla, Spain 1 Insular populations are especially vulnerable to loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding depression that may compromise their long-term persistence. Here we present a particular case of an insular, reduced and threatened population that is subjected to genetic erosion; the Canarian Egyptian vulture. Our results show that this population presents impoverished levels of genetic diversity, both at neutral and functional loci (genes of the Major Histocompatibility Complex; MHC), in relation to its continental counterparts, and we find that drift has been the dominant evolutionary force. Furthermore, we observe a positive and significant relationship between genetic variability at neutral and MHC loci and individual fitness, measured as age of recruitment and breeding success. Our findings demonstrate that the genetic depauperation in small populations has a negative impact on individual fitness, thus increasing the populations’ extinction risk. [email protected] 26 T2.4 The genetic basis of Drosophila lifespan differences Micael Reis1, Ana R. Araújo1, Bruno Aguiar1, Helder Rocha1, Cristina P. Vieira1, Jorge Vieira1 1 IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Celular e Molecular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Amino acid polymorphism at the Drosophila melanogaster Methuselah (Mth) G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) has been previously associated with lifespan differences, but the causative mutations have not been identified. Here we show that, in Drosophila, there are important differences regarding the number of mth-like genes when comparing different species and that there is abundant evidence for positive selection at the amino acid level. We further show that mth-like genes that encode proteins that share less than 50% amino acid identities with the D. melanogaster Mth protein present naturally occurring amino acid polymorphism that is associated with lifespan differences. For two mth-like genes, the causative amino acid polymorphisms have been identified. Flies from some genotypic classes live up to 69% more than flies from other genotypic classes. [email protected] 27 T2.5 Conservation genetics of the Eurasian shads Stephen Sabatino 1, 2, Rui Faria 1, Paulo Alexandrino 1,3 CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, New York, United States of America 3 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 1 We will describe our work on the conservation genetics of Eurasian shads, which are herringlike fish found in rivers, lakes, and marine waters from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and in the UK and North Africa. Eurasian shads exhibit significant genetic, life history and morphological diversity throughout their range, which appears to be spatially structured and may be the result of local adaptation. Microsatellite, mtDNA and nDNA sequence loci suitable to categorize individuals into species groups have been developed and screened in more than 50 populations. Through the study of neutral and adaptive genetic diversity we are working to understand the evolutionary and population dynamics of shads that have enabled them to persist and diversify over the millennia. By understanding how shads have been successful in adapting to different environmental conditions in the past we hope to develop conservation strategies that will help them cope with current threats. [email protected] 28 POSTER COMMUNICATIONS P1 Pattern of burrow sharing, sociality and female-biased dispersal in the common wombat: insight from a non-invasive genetic study 1, 3 2 Cécile Vanpé , Jennifer Seddon , Anne Goldizen 1 1 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 2 Faculty of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 3 Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal In mammals, in which 50% of the species are burrowers, the influence of the use and sharing of burrows on sociality and dispersal is still not clear. This study aimed to use a non-invasive genetic approach in a Tasmanian population of common wombats (Vombatus ursinus) to (i) describe the population’s social network based on the patterns of burrow-sharing and (ii) investigate the role of kinship in burrow-sharing and the occurrence of female-biased dispersal. Our results showed that common wombats exhibit a unique form of cryptic sociality based on burrow-sharing and that males play a central role within the social network. In addition, kinship is an important determinant of burrow-sharing. Relatedness between females sharing burrows was significantly lower than between females not sharing burrows, but it was not the case in males, which suggests the occurrence of male philopatry and female dispersal in our Tasmanian population. [email protected] 29 P1 Taxonomic identity of snipe breeding in the Azores Tiago Rodrigues , Serguei V. Drovetski , David Gonçalves 1, 2 1 1, 2 1 CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal The Wilson’s (Gallinago delicata) and the common snipe (G. gallinago) winter together in the Azores. However, only the latter are assumed to breed there. We tested the taxonomic identity of Azorean breeding snipe using sequences of one mitochondrial (ND2) and three nuclear (MUSKI3, BPA1 and CPZ) loci from 106 individuals collected in the Nearctic, Palearctic and in the Azores, including 5 Azorean hatchlings. Among loci, the hatchlings and the Wilson’s snipe shared the commonest ND2 haplotype only. For the nuclear loci they had high pairwise FST values (P<0.001). With the exception of the CPZ (P=0.05±0.01), these values did not differ from 0 between the common and the local Azorean hatchlings. Despite these results, the few sampled hatchlings, and their origin from a single island hardly constitutes a solid rejection of the possibility that the Wilson's snipe can breed or hybridize with the common snipe in the Azores. [email protected] 30 P1 Raccoon invasive genetics: How many introduction events and founders in Spain? 1 2 3 4 Fernando Alda , María José Ruiz-López , Francisco José García , Matthew E. Gompper , Lori S. 2 1 Eggert , Jesús T. García , 1 IREC – Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, CSIC - UCLM - JCCLM – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha – Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain 2 Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia (MO), United States of America 3 BIOTA, Madrid, Spain 4 Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia (MO), United States of America The common raccoon (Procyon lotor) is an American endemism that has established non-native populations worldwide. In Spain, growing evidence of the introduction of raccoons has been reported across the country in the last decade. We used mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA data to investigate the genetics of invasive raccoons in Central Spain and to infer: the number of introduction events, the number of founders and the genetic variability of the introduced populations compared to a native population. At least two introduction events from different source populations have occurred in Central Spain, and currently constitute two genetically differentiated subpopulations. In both cases the number of effective founders from a native population was estimated as 2-4 individuals. These newly founded populations have expanded and show evidence of incipient contact, possibly increasing the difficulty of controlling this invasive species. We provide a landmark to longitudinally monitor raccoon expansion and emphasize the urgent need to control the pet trade of alien and potentially invasive species. [email protected] 31 P1 The Speciation History of North American Hares (Lepus spp.): Divergence with Gene Flow? 1 Fernando Seixas , Paulo C. Alves 1, 2 3 3 , Ellen Cheng , L. Scott Mills , José Melo-Ferreira 1, 2, 4 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 3 Wildlife Biology Program, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, United States of America 4 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche5554, Montpellier, France 1 Cataloguing life and understanding the process of species formation has always been a major endeavour of biologists. However, speciation is a continuous process which makes the definition of species a challenging task, particularly for closely related taxa, the level that is the most relevant to study and understand speciation. Hares (Lepus spp.) appear as promising models for such studies because i) the genus diversified from North America as recently as 5-6 Mya forming over 30 species spread all over the world, and ii) numerous instances of interspecific gene flow have been reported. Interestingly, little is known about the evolutionary history of hares from North America. Here, we study three North American species (L. americanus, L. californicus and L. townsendii) which have distinct but partially overlapping distribution ranges. Preliminary results suggest that introgressive hybridization may occur among these species, possibly causing major replacements of mitochondrial lineages and likely affecting other inheritance compartments. This study will contribute to a better understanding of the multitude of patterns that lead to the formation and maintenance of species. [email protected] 32 P1 Recent or historical fragmentation in the Betic midwife toad (Alytes dickhilleni)? Implications for conservation 1, 2 3 4 5 Guilherme Dias , Juan Francisco Beltrán , Maríbel Benítez , Miguel Tejedo , Helena Gonçalves 1 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 2 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 3 Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain 4 Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain 5 Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, EBD - CSIC – Estación Biológica de Doñana - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Sevilla, Spain Alytes dickhilleni is considered vulnerable due to a very fragmented distribution. The assessment of the genetic diversity and micro-evolutionary processes that are currently undergoing within A. dickhilleni populations is important to obtain information about the conservation needs of this species. The mtDNA analysis of 45 individuals distributed across the species entire range revealed little differentiation, high diversity and signs of demographic expansion, pointing to a relatively recent fragmentation after a population expansion. In addition to mtDNA data, a set of 19 microsatellite loci was used. Five population groups were detected with high overall genetic differentiation and diversity. Estimates of contemporary migration rates between population groups are very small and no genetic signature of recent or historical bottlenecks was detected. It is suggested that A. dickhilleni seems to be exposed to population fragmentation for several hundred generations and genetic factors may have little impact on the species long-term persistence. [email protected] 33 P1 Assessment of the origin of the Iberian populations of Podarcis sicula using mitochondrial markers 1 1 Iolanda Rocha , Daniele Salvi , Miguel Carretero 1 1CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal Biological invasions are very problematic and currently are the major cause of biodiversity loss. The multiple consequences can range from ecological level to economic/social aspects. The Italian wall lizard, Podarcis sicula, is one of the reptile species most widely introduced, from the United States to Turkey. In Iberian Peninsula and adjacent islands, there are five populations known to be introduced – Almeria, La Rioja, Cantabria, Menorca and Lisbon. The estimated age of these introductions is variable and known, whereas the geographic origin still unknown, except for Menorca population whose origin probably is Sicily-Sardinia. Tracing the origin of introduced populations is essential to understand the source and the pathway of the species dispersal and hence to set conservation policies aimed at preventing new introductions. Here we assess the origin of all five populations using the cytochrome b gene by putting sequences generated together with those published for the species both in its autochthonous range and in other introduced populations. [email protected] 34 P1 Cryptic diversity and deep mtDNA differentiation in endemic burrowing skinks from the Seychelles: implications for island conservation/management 1, 2 1, 3 Joana Valente , Sara Rocha , D. James Harris 1, 2 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Porto, Portugal Laboratorio de Filogenómica, Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain 3 There is a shortage of knowledge on the intraspecific diversity of two genera of endemic burrowing skinks from the Seychelles, Pamelaescincus and Janetaescincus. To describe their patterns of genetic variation and structure is an essential step in accessing conservation priorities across the archipelago. Tail tips were collected in the field from several populations of Janetascincus and Pamelaescincus, broadly covering their entire distribution. DNA was extracted from these and multilocus (nuclear and mitochondrial) molecular phylogenies are being produced. Preliminary results reveal deep cryptic diversity and differentiation at mtDNA level, correlated with geography in both groups of species, although showing a more complex structure in Janetaescincus. This may correspond to multiple species across the granitic islands of the archipelago and within the same island (e.g. Janetaescincus in Silhouette Island). The unveiling of cryptic diversity within these species shows that there is a need for the clarification of their status, which is very important for the effective conservation of Seychelles biota. [email protected] 35 P1 On the hypothesis of native Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Portugal – a preliminary study João Cipriano1, A Carvalho1, C Fernandes1, MJ Gaspar2, 3, J Pires3, J Bento3, LR Almeida3, JL Louzada3, 4, J Lima-Brito1 1 Instituto de Biotecnologia e Bioengenharia, CGB – Centro de Genómica e Biotecnologia, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal 2 CEF – Centro de Estudos Florestais, ISA – Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal 3 Departamento de Ciências Florestais e Arquitectura Paisagista, Universidade de Trás-osMontes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal 4 CITAB – Centro de Investigação e de Tecnologias Agro-ambientais e Biológicas, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) has an extensive distribution through Eurasia. Portugal could represent its westernmost native distribution with a population confined to some riparian areas in ‘Serra do Gerês’ that includes centuries-old trees. With this work, we aim to study the genetic diversity and relationships among 100 Scots pine individuals, being 70 from the two riparian populations of ‘Serra do Gerês’ and 30 from native populations of foreign countries using the inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. The pool of the ISSR data was utilized for the construction of an UPGMA dendrogram using the simple matching genetic similarity coefficient and SAHN method. Our preliminary results revealed that at least one population from ‘Serra do Gerês’ could be native in Portugal, widening the southwest limit of Scots pine distribution. Additional efforts will be made using other different molecular marker systems to confirm the hypothesis of Scots pine being autochthonous in Portugal. [email protected] 36 P1 Population structure and gene flow in desert environments: an application of molecular tools to isolated populations of crocodiles in the mountains of Mauritania José Cavadas1, Raquel Godinho1, José Carlos Brito1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 1 The Sahara desert has a complex environmental history punctuated by sudden and dramatic “regime shifts” in climate and ecological conditions, which induced large variations in the distribution and diversity of species. Currently, relict populations of Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) persist in the Sahara, restricted to Mauritanian mountains. The present study analysed the genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow among Mauritanian crocodiles using two mitochondrial and 32 microsatellite markers. Results showed that Mauritanian crocodiles exhibit very low values for all genetic diversity indexes and showed a spatially structured pattern of genetic diversity representing a metapopulation of four main population groups, namely Afollé, Gabbou, Assaba and Gorgol. Gene flow was detected between particular populations and no correlation between genetic and geographic distances was found. Spatial analyses further allowed understanding the spatial structure of genetic diversity. This study represents a baseline for the recognition of management units for the conservation of biodiversity in the fragile humid habitats of the Sahara-Sahel regions. [email protected] 37 P1 Phylogeography of Savi’s Warblers (Locustella luscinioides) Júlio M. Neto1, 2 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Department of Biology, Ecology Building, Lund, Sweden 1 Mitochondrial DNA sequences and microsatellites were used to assess the influence of Pleistocene glaciations on the genetic structure and demography of Savi’s Warblers, a longdistance migratory passerine specialized in reed beds. Phylogenetic and coalescent analyses indicated that Savi’s Warblers split from its sister species c.8 million years ago and have two major haplotype groups that diverged in the early/middle Pleistocene. One of these clades originated in the Balkans and is currently widespread, showing strong evidence for population expansion; whereas the other is restricted to Iberia and remained stable. Microsatellites agreed with a major genetic break in the Pyrenees, and both genetic markers showed an isolation-bydistance pattern associated with the population expansion of the eastern clade. Savi’s Warbler is the only migratory bird species for which the Pyrenees constituted a barrier for the expansion of Iberian birds. Despite the long period of independent evolution of western and eastern populations, complete introgression occurred when these groups met after the last glacial period. Interestingly, mitochondrial sequences indicated the existence of refugia within refugia in the Iberian Peninsula during the last glacial period, which is surprising given the large dispersal capability of this species. Although frequent in other animals and plants, this has only been described in one resident bird species. Plumage differences of eastern subspecies seemed to have evolved recently through natural selection, in agreement with the glacial expansion hypothesis. Finally, breeding populations seem to be segregated at the wintering sites, showing strong migratory connectivity. This study supports the great importance of the Iberian Peninsula and its role for the conservation of genetic variation. [email protected] 38 P1 Ancient hybridization between hare species: no evidence for the large X-effect on speciation Liliana Farelo1, 2, Paulo C. Alves1, 2, Pierre Boursot3, Nuno Ferrand1, 2, José Melo-Ferreira1, 3 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 3 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche 5554, Montpellier, France The study of hybrid zones has often disclosed reduced levels of interspecific gene flow and higher differentiation on the X chromosome, suggesting an important role of the X on the establishment of post-zygotic reproductive isolation. In the Iberian Peninsula, variable levels of genetic admixture have been described across inheritance compartments between the extant Lepus granatensis and L. timidus, a species that went extinct from the region by the end of the last glacial period. Here, we surveyed sequence variation at 8 X-linked loci located along the Xchromosome in these species. We found generally high differentiation between the species but not significantly higher than that found for the autosomes estimated using published sequence data. This may result from introgression at one or eventually two genes. These results suggest that forces besides those preventing gene flow are in action in the X-chromosome of these hare species. [email protected] 39 P1 Genetic diversity, structure and conservation of the endangered Cantabrian Capercaillie in a unique Mediterranean habitat 1§ 2§ 3 1 4 Manuel A. González , Fernando Alda , Pedro P. Olea , Vicente Ena , Raquel Godinho , Sergei 4 Drovetski §These authors contributed equally to this work 1 Departamento de Biodiversidad y Gestión Ambiental, Universidad de León, León, Spain IRE – Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, CSIC – UCLM - JCCM – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas - Universidad Castilla-La Mancha - Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Ciudad Real, Spain 3 School of Biology, IE University, Segovia, Spain 4 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Populations residing at the rear-edge of the species’ range are often at a high risk of extinction, due to their isolation, fragmentation, low population size and suboptimal habitat conditions. The endangered Cantabrian Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) inhabits deciduous forests of the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain, at the southwest limit of the species’ range. Recently, nine unknown Cantabrian Capercaillie leks were described in dryer forests of the Mediterranean biogeographic region. In order to genetically characterize the population genetic diversity and structure of the endangered Cantabrian Capercaillie across its whole diversity of habitats, we performed genetic analyses using microsatellites of all known leks in the newly described marginal Mediterranean forests and the adjacent Eurosiberian core range. No significant genetic differentiation between Eurosiberian and Mediterranean forests was detected. This Mediterranean forest is expanding to the south so it may represent a chance for the Cantabrian Capercaillie to recover part of its historical range. [email protected] 40 P1 First evolutionary insights on the Iberian Sooty Copper butterfly Renata Martins1, Sofia G. Seabra1, Octávio S. Paulo1, Eduardo Marabuto1 CBA – Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal 1 The Iberian endemic butterfly species Lycaena bleusei, whose evolutionary history and taxonomic classification have always been controversial, was considered as a subspecies of the widespread Sooty Copper, L. tityrus, but because of its distinct distribution and morphology was, only recently, brought up to species level. In this study we assessed for the first time the phylogenetic relationships between these species, their phylogeographic patterns and population genetic structure, as well as demographic changes and divergence times for each species within Iberia. Our results emphasize the existence of two distinct species, with independent evolutionary histories. A secondary contact zone is described and mixed populations were found. Incongruent molecular histories of two individuals suggest the presence of hybridization events between the two Copper species. The taxonomic and genetic definition of the Iberian Sooty Copper as an independent unit provides evidence for the need of a new approach on this Iberian endemic species regarding also its conservation status. [email protected] 41 P1 First insights into the genetic diversity of the small five-toed jerboa, Allactaga elater Saeed Mohammadi1,Taher Ghadirian2, Mohammad Ali Adibi3, Sandra Afonso4, Rita Campos4 Department of Environmental Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran 2 Mammals Research & Conservation Unit, Plan for the Land Society, Tehran, Iran 3 DoE – Department of Environment, Semnan, Iran 4 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 1 The small five-toed jerboas, Allactaga elater (Lichtenstein 1828), are nocturnal rodents with a widespread distribution across the desert and semi-arid regions of Iran with the exception of the northern slope of the Alborz Mountain forest (Southern coast of Caspian Sea). It is found at altitudes between 490-2000m in deserts of Iran with sparse vegetation. Little is known about the diet and the ecology of A. elater. Also, with the exception of a single study on the taxonomy of rodent species, no information on the genetic variability of this species is available. In order to contribute to the molecular characterization of the five-toed jerboa we sampled 14 individuals from the Damghan, Semnan Province (center of Iran). Two mitochondrial (Cyt b and 12S) and three nuclear genes (VWS, IRBP and LCAT) will be sequenced for a preliminary estimate of genetic diversity and to elucidate about any potential population sub-structuring in this species. [email protected] 42 P1 The puzzling natural recolonization of river Ebro by Twaite shads: tilting at windmills? Graciela Sotelo Faria 1, 2 3 4 , Karl B. Andree , Miguel A. Lopéz , Paulo Alexandrino 5, 6 3 , Enric Gisbert , Rui 1, 5 1 IBE – Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, UPFCSIC – Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, PRBB – Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 2 Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland 3 IRTA-SCR – Institut de Recerca i Tecnologies Agroalimentàries de Sant Carles de la Ràpita, Tarragona, Spain 4 Forestal Catalana S.A., Barcelona, Spain 5 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 6 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal The river Ebro (Mediterranean basin) historically supported one of the most important Twaite shad (Alosa fallax) populations in Spain. However, since the beginning of the 20th century, the pressure posed by human activities (especially weirs) caused a dramatic decline that culminated in the closure of the commercial fishery in 1970 and the presumed extinction of A. fallax from this drainage. Nevertheless, unexpected captures during last years point to a recovery of this population and raise questions concerning the source of the individuals recently captured, which we address here using two mitochondrial genes and six microsatellite loci. The genetic differentiation of the Twaite shads recently captured in Ebro confirms their Mediterranean origin. Moreover, the noticeable diversity and uniqueness of the haplotypes observed in this population suggest either a relic population that remained undetected during several decades, or recolonization from small neighbouring drainages. The presence of typical A. alosa mtDNA haplotypes also suggests historical introgression with this closely related shad species. Both mysteries as well as their conservation implications will be discussed. [email protected] 43 P1 Cryptic patterns of diversification of an endemic South American Woodcreeper species complex (Aves: Dendrocolaptidae): gene and species trees analyzes Tiago Sousa-Neves1, 2, Fernando Sequeira1, Alexandre Aleixo2 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 3 Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil The Xiphorhynchus pardalotus/ocellatus species complex, distributed throughout most of lowland Amazonia and the foothills of the eastern Andes, includes between two to three currently recognized polytypic species whose limits are still uncertain. To understand its historical diversification and address the main unsettled issues of phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy, we sequenced fragments of two mitochondrial genes (Cyt b and ND2) and three nuclear genes (β-Fibint7, CRYAAint1, andCPZint3) for all described species and subspecies of the complex, except X. ocellatus lineatocapilla, whose validity is doubtful. Single locus (mtDNA) and multilocus (mtDNA and nDNA) concatenated and Bayesian species-tree analyzes produced essentially congruent phylogenetic estimates, which supported the recognition of four main divergent evolutionary units, corresponding to previously recognized X. ocellatus, X. chunchotambo, and X. o. beauperthuysii. In contrast, all nuclear genes produced essentially unresolved gene trees Phylogenies were consistent with a historical scenario of intense population subdivision and speciation during the Late Tertiary and/or Early-mid Pleistocene. Pattern and time of diversification overlap broadly with that reported for other Amazonian avian taxa. Molecular data combined with qualitative vocal characters here analyzed are used to discuss the need of a taxonomic revision of this complex. [email protected] 44 P2 European brown hare syndrome (EBHS): insights into the genetic diversity of the candidate α1,2-fucosyltransferase genes Fut2 and Sec1 in hare species (genus Lepus) Ana Lopes1, 2, Joana Abrantes2, 3, José Melo-Ferreira2, 4, Pedro J. Esteves2, 5 1 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 3 INSERM – Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U892, Institut de Biologie, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France 4 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche 5554, Montpellier, France 5 CITS – Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias da Saúde, IPSN – Instituto Politécnico de Saúde do Norte, CESPU – Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, Politécnico e Universitário, Gandra, Portugal 2 CIBIO European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) is a highly contagious disease, fatal in Lepus europaeus and L. timidus. The disease, reported in several European countries and in South America, is caused by the calicivirus European brown hare syndrome virus and might be dependent on histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs). Synthesis of the HBGA H type 2 is catalyzed by α1,2fucosyltransferases, encoded by Fut1, Fut2 and Sec1. We studied the candidate genes Fut2 and Sec1 in five hare species, three EBHS-free and two EBHS-susceptible species. Our results showed a lower diversity for the EBHS-free L. granatensis. This might indicate positive selection towards the fixation of advantageous alleles. We also found evidence of gene conversion between the two genes, as observed for the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). In this multigene family, gene conversion is possibly associated with functional differentiation of ɑ1,2fucosyltransferases. With these results, we hope to better understand the genetic basis of EBHS. [email protected] 45 P2 The fate of S-RNase gene duplications across 120 million years of evolution 1 1 2 Bruno Aguiar , Jorge Vieira , Nuno Fonseca , Cristina P Vieira 1 1 IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 2 CRACS-INESC Porto – Center for Research in Advanced Computing Systems - Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores do Porto, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal In the current model, S-RNase based gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) evolved once before the split of the Asteridae and Rosidae, about 120 million years ago. In this system, when the S-pollen specificity matches that of the S-pistil, the pollen is rejected by the pistil. Based on amino acid motifs and phylogenetic analysis, genes of the S-RNase lineage were identified in the Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae, Rubiaceae, Solanaceae, Plantaginaceae and Rosaceae families, with some species of these families being endangered. Nevertheless, GSI was studied at molecular level only in the latter four families, with different evolutionary patterns being observed between species of the same family, like in Prunus and Malus. Analyses of the Medicago truncatula, Malus domestica and Prunus persica genomes revealed 17, 13 and 2 S-RNase lineage genes, respectively. Preliminary phylogenetic analyses of this gene family support the alternative hypothesis that different S-duplicates could have been recruited for the GSI function. [email protected] 46 P2 Comparative ecophysiological traits of two Podarcis wall lizards from NE Iberia Diana Carneiro 1, 2 1, 3, 4 , Enrique García-Muñoz Miguel A. Carretero 1 2 , Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou , Gustavo A. Llorente , 1 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal. 2 Departament Biologia Animal (Vertebrats), Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 3 CESAM – Centro de Estudos de Ambiente e do Mar, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal 4 Departamento de Biología Animal, Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Spain Being organisms under the influence of climate, investigating lizard’s ecophysiology is crucial to develop mechanistic models to realistically predict their distributions. Preferred body temperature (Tp) and water loss (Wl), two important ecophysiological traits in reptiles, were determined in two sympatric Podarcis species: P. liolepis, widely distributed in NE Iberia but restricted in SE France, and P. muralis, restricted to mountains in Iberia but widespread across the rest of Europe. The Tp was measured in photothermal gradient at 10 time intervals and the Wl rates in sealed chambers during 12 hours. Test for intra- and interspecific interaction in the thermogradient were also conducted. Results suggest that environmental humidity and not temperature, together with the presence of a congeneric saxicolous species, may be the limiting factor to the future distribution of P. liolepis. [email protected] 47 P2 Similar patterns of seasonal activity in a Mediterranean lizard along a 2200-m altitudinal gradient: a question of local adaptation? Francisco Javier Zamora-Camacho1, Senda Reguera1, Gregorio Moreno-Rueda1, Juan Manuel Pleguezuelos1 1Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain Mountains’ temperature varies vertically, which permits to study ectotherms’ adaptive trends in activity patterns along a thermo-climatic gradient. This study was on the wide-distributed lizard Psammodromus algirus. We established six sampling plots regularly in different altitudes (300-2500 m asl) on the southern slope of Sierra Nevada (SE Spain), and performed transects every two weeks, along daytime, throughout activity season. We registered active neonates or adults, and recorded air and body temperature, obtaining that: A) Adult density peak appeared at mid-season, but in the two highest zones it appeared at the beginning of the season. B) Neonates were consistently detected near the end of the season, suggesting a single, synchronous breeding event along the cline. C) Air temperature decreased 9ºC in altitude; lizards’ body temperature decreased only 2ºC. This suggests different thermoregulatory mechanisms permitting similar body temperatures along the gradient. These results suggest altitude local adaptations in P. algirus seasonal activity patterns. [email protected] 48 P2 Assessing natural variation in Drosophila longevity 1 1 1 Helder Rocha , Micael Reis , Cristina P. Vieira , Jorge Vieira 1 1 IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. More than 50 genes have been identified in Drosophila melanogaster that may contribute to the setting of lifespan. Molecular genetic analyses (most of them based in artificially created mutations in the target genes) are not informative about whether the observed genetic variation at these loci contributes to phenotypic variance for lifespan or even if this variation occurs in natural populations, what becomes of limited relevance for our understanding of the evolution of aging in natural populations. The only way to understand the genetic architecture of longevity is to know what loci affect variation in lifespan in nature. Therefore, five different D. americana F2 association crosses have been set up, in order to look for evidence of associations between naturally segregating polymorphisms and lifespan. In this project we use D. americana rather than D. melanogaster in order to also test the generality of the findings reported for the latter species. [email protected] 49 P2 Positive Selection in the ATP8 gene in the evolution of the Mountain Hare (Lepus timidus) revealed by mitogenomic analyses Joana Vilela1, 2, Paulo Célio Alves1, 2, Pierre Boursot3, Miguel Fonseca1, 4, José Melo-Ferreira1 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 3 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche 5554, Montpellier, France 4 Laboratorio de Filogenómica, Departamento de Bioquímica, Genética e Inmunología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Vigo, Vigo, Spain Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) introgression has been frequently detected among hare species and almost all the cases involve the arctic/boreal species Lepus timidus (mountain hare) as the mtDNA donor. L. timidus mtDNA introgression is geographically and taxonomically widespread, potentially affecting over 10 other hare species. As L. timidus is well adapted to cold environments and the mtDNA codes for proteins that are central in the regulation of heat and ATP production, we tested here the hypothesis that L. timidus mtDNA evolved under positive selection. We analyzed the patterns of codon evolution of the 13 mtDNA protein coding genes in 9 hare species, and detected signals of positive selection in one codon of the ATP8 gene in the L. timidus lineage. This result suggests that L. timidus mtDNA evolved under positive selection, eventually for adaptation to cold climates. It also strengthens the hypothesis that mtDNA introgression involving L. timidus might be adaptive. [email protected] 50 P2 On the efficacy of natural selection in the Iberian hare, Lepus granatensis, from transcriptome-level sequencing data 1, 2 José Melo-Ferreira C. Alves 1 2 2 2 , Miguel Carneiro , Nicolas Galtier , Philippe Gayral , Pierre Boursot , Paulo 1, 3 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, CNRS – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR – Unité Mixte de Recherche 5554, Montpellier, France 3 Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 1 The nearly neutral theory of evolution predicts that the efficacy of natural selection is positively correlated with the long term effective population size (Ne), because in small populations there is an increased probability of fixation of deleterious variants or loss of advantageous mutations due to drift. Here, we analyzed transcriptome sequence data from hares and inferred that i) the proportion of adaptive substitutions driven to fixation by positive selection (α) was ~21%, and ii) the proportion of effectively neutral new amino acid changes was ~15%. When interpreted in light of the results in other mammalian taxa our estimates indicate that the efficacy of both positive and negative selection is intermediate in Lepus (mice>hares>humans), fitting the expectations given the inferred Ne of each species [mice (500,000) > hares (100,000) > humans (10,000)]. Our results contribute to the growing list of examples suggesting Ne as a strong predictor of the efficacy of natural selection. [email protected] 51 P2 Is there Apis mellifera ligustica and A. m. carnica introgression in Apis mellifera iberiensis? 1 2 1 3 Julio César Chávez-Galarza , J. Spencer Johnston , João Carlos Azevedo , Irene Muñoz , María del 3 4 5 Pilar de la Rúa , John Clifton Patton , Filipe José Costa , Alice Pinto1 1CIMO – Centro de Investigação em Montanha, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal 2Department of Entomology, Texas A & M University College Station, Texas, United Sates of America 3Área de Biología Animal, Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain 4Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, United Sates of America 5CBMA – Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Universidade do Minho, Braga, Portugal Several studies have grouped the A. mellifera subspecies into five lineages (A, M, C, O and Y). Honey bees occurring in the Iberian Peninsula are considered a particular subspecies, named Apis mellifera iberiensis, originated by natural hybridization among lineages A (African) and M (western European). This study seeks to identify the level of introgression of lineage C honey bees (A. m. ligustica and A.m. carnica) in Iberian honey bees potentially caused by introduction of foreign queens by carrying out a genome wide analysis using SNPs. Over 748 individuals belonging to 23 populations sampled across three Iberian transects were genotyped for 1536 SNPs. Honey bees of lineage C A. m. ligustica and A. m. carnica were used as reference populations. The level of introgression was assessed by using Bayesian clustering methods. Our results indicate that introgression of A. m. ligustica and A.m. carnica is not noticeable in all A. m. iberiensis populations. [email protected] 52 P2 Mating systems: is a snapshot enough? 1, 2 2 Mário Cunha , Anders Berglund , Nuno Monteiro 1 1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 2 Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden The characterization of a species mating system is a way of deepening our knowledge on sexual selection, still a hot topic in evolutionary biology. Almost invariably, the genetic determination of a species mating systems is based on a single sampling episode that cannot illustrate the dynamic nature of reproduction along the extent of the breeding season (BS). In this work, we are trying to detect and quantify fluctuations in the breeding ecology of a pipefish with an extreme form of parental care, male pregnancy. By contrasting results obtained from two very distinct time samples (beginning and end of BS) we have been able to detect strong imbalances in the number of eggs carried by pregnant males. Furthermore, we have begun to determine the genetic mating system of this pipefish, Syngnathus abaster, using 5 polymorphic microsatellites. Kinship analysis indicates the presence of multi-maternity, highlighting a polygamous mating system. Interestingly, we have been able to identify for the first time a putative pipefish mother from within our samples. Upon completion, this study will provide new insights on the dynamic nature of pipefish reproduction. [email protected] 53 P2 The genetic basis of cold tolerance within and between Drosophila species Micael Reis1, Cristina P. Vieira1, Ramiro Morales-Hojas1, Bruno Aguiar1, Hélder Rocha1, Christian Schlötterer2, Jorge Vieira1 1 2 IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Institut für Populationsgenetik; Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, Vienna, Austria In Drosophila, cold tolerance is a major adaptation to climate that seems to have evolved several times independently. Nevertheless, the molecular basis of cold tolerance has been mostly addressed in D. melanogaster, where several candidate genes have been identified. Therefore, we performed an F2 association study and qRT-PCR to see if variation in the most credible candidate genes (Dca and Frost) could explain the variation observed in the distantly related species D. americana. Remarkable differences were observed between these two divergent species regarding cold tolerance. Only Frost seems to explain some of the variation for cold tolerance in D. americana but through abdominal size and significant differences in Frost expression were observed after recovery from chill coma between D. melanogaster and D. americana. These findings suggest that Frost should be responsible for major differences in cold tolerance between Drosophila species. [email protected] 54 P2 How islands’ geological history influenced plants diversification patterns: the example of Micromeria (Lamiaceae) in Tenerife Pamela Puppo1, Manuel Curto1, Harald Meimberg1 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 1 Tenerife is the most geologically complex island of the Canary archipelago. During the late Miocene-Pliocene, successive volcanic activity joined the islands of Anaga, Teno and Roque del Conde. Today, fragments of these palaeo-islands remain as massifs each presenting endemic taxa presumably remnants from an extinct flora. It had been hypothesized that the secondary contact between the palaeo-islands could have given rise to new species that now inhabit the central and younger part of the island. Using the species from genus Micromeria present in Tenerife we investigate this hypothesis by comparing the morphological and phylogenetic relationships between the palaeo-island endemics and the central Tenerife species. Using data from multiple nuclear genes we show that palaeo-endemic species are morphologically and genetically distinct while the central species are similar. Our results confirm the hypothesis that the central species derivate from an old species stock still persisting on the palaeo-islands. [email protected] 55 P2 Geographical and ecological diversification patterns of the Drosophila subgenus: testing for adaptive radiations Ramiro Morales-Hojas1, Jorge Vieira1 1 IBMC – Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. In the present study we test this hypothesis using the Drosophila subgenus, which comprises species that are widely distributed and show a large diversity of ecological niches. We have estimated and dated the phylogeny of 218 species belonging to the major species groups. The obtained phylogenies indicate that the major groups appeared during the Oligocene-Miocene transition, characterized by a trend of climate warming with periods of glaciation. Ancestral reconstruction of geographic ranges and ecological resource use suggest at least two dispersals to the Neotropics from the ancestral Asiatic tropics, and several transitions to specialised ecological resource use (mycophagous and cactophilic). Diversification analyses show no significant support for adaptive radiations as a result of geographic dispersal or ecological resource shift, except for the lineage of the tripunctata and related species groups. This radiation corresponds with the dispersal to the Neotropics of their ancestor. [email protected] 56 P2 The role of habitat choice in ecotype formation in the flat periwinkle Littorina fabalis: preliminary results 1 2 3 Christine Altenrath , Diana Costa , Susana Varela , Rui Faria 4, 5 University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 3 CBA – Centro de Biologia Ambiental, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal 4 CIBIO – Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal 5 IBE – Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, UPFCSIC – Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, PRBB – Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 1 2 The role of habitat choice in ecological speciation has been largely underappreciated. When animals are faced with more than one type of habitat, they may make a decision not entirely based on their innate preferences (genetic information), but also based on information acquired passively (e.g. epigenetic information) or non-passively by directly assessing the environment (non-social information). The information provided by the performance of their conspecifics on each habitat type (social information) can also influence their choice, with implications to animal dispersion across habitats that may lead to ecological speciation as well. Recent studies on Littorina species (marine intertidal gastropods) have highlighted their potential for studying ecological speciation. In particular, L. fabalis, for which three ecotypes were described for the Iberian Peninsula associated with different algae/ seagrass genera, is among the most interesting species for studying the mechanisms involved in ecotype formation. Within a framework of a recent project aiming to understand the contribution to ecological speciation of each of the above mentioned types of information in habitat choice, we conducted a series of laboratory experiments of which we will present preliminary results and discuss their evolutionary significance, highlighting some conservation implications. [email protected] 57 P2 Estimation of biodiversity in ecosystems at São Jacinto Dunes Nature Reserve Sarah Ferreira1, Cristina Amaro da Costa1, Angelina Barbosa2, Marco Magalhães3, Leónia Nunes1 ESAV – Escola Superior Agrária de Viseu, ISPV – Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal RNDSJ – Reserva Natural Dunas de São Jacinto, Aveiro, Portugal 3 Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal 1 2 The native vegetation of the São Jacinto Dunes Natural Reserve consists of dune herbs and small shrubs forming open communities. Changes in biodiversity of these ecosystems have been occurred since the introductions of the Acacia longifolia, at the beginning of the 20th century. At present, approximately 74% of the reserve is invaded by A. longifolia. In order to understand the impact of the A. longifolia in native vegetation a comparison between the aerial photo in 2005 and 2010 was done and then a characterization of the floristic diversity. For this, 30 sampling plots were installed to count and indentify the individual plants using two methods of surveying vegetation, transect and square methods. The biodiversity indexes and principal component analysis were done to characterize the ecosystem. Results showed a considerable increase of the invasion of A. longifolia in the last 5 years and low biodiversity. [email protected] 58 P2 Body-colour variation of the lizard Psammodromus algirus along an altitudinal gradient in Sierra Nevada, Spain Senda Reguera1, Francisco Javier Zamora-Camacho1, Gregorio Moreno-Rueda1, 2, Juan Manuel Pleguezuelos1 1 Departamento 2 de Zoología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain Estación de Zonas Áridas, Almería, Spain Systems under the influence of an altitudinal gradient offer a unique opportunity to study in Evolutionary Ecology. That is, environmental factors gradually vary with altitude and, accordingly, some generalist organisms may be locally adapted, generating a cline for several traits. We analyze several traits of the biology of the lizard Psammodromus algirus along an altitudinal range (from 300 m asl to 2500 m asl) in Sierra Nevada (SE Spain), such as colour pattern, testing for possible altitudinal shifts. We used a spectrophotometer to measure the lizard’s colour traits from the pileus and the throat region and found variation along an altitudinal gradient. Lizards were darker with altitude. Colour patterns in organisms can gradually change along an altitudinal range, under the pressure of natural selection. Darker dorsal skin might favour faster body-temperature gain for adaptation to higher and colder localities. Furthermore, it might protect against solar-radiation damage, which is most severe at the highest elevations. [email protected] 59 SPONSORS 60 PARTICIPATIONS Surname Name Country E-mail AFONSO Sandra Portugal [email protected] AGUDO Rosa Spain [email protected] AGUIAR Bruno Portugal [email protected] ALDA Fernando Spain [email protected] ALEXANDRINO Paulo Portugal [email protected] ALVES Paulo Célio Portugal [email protected] AMORIM Francisco Portugal [email protected] AREAL Helena Portugal [email protected] AZEVEDO Ricardo Portugal [email protected] BATALHA Helena Portugal [email protected] BHUIYAN Mohammad *Portugal [email protected] BORATYNSKI Zbyszek Finland [email protected] BORGES-NOJOSA Diva *Portugal [email protected] BRANCO Madalena Portugal [email protected] BROOM Lara Portugal [email protected] CACERES Aimy Portugal [email protected] CAMPOS Rita Portugal [email protected] CARDIA Pedro Portugal [email protected] CARDOSO Pedro Luís Portugal [email protected] CARNEIRO Diana Portugal [email protected] CARNEIRO Miguel Portugal [email protected] 61 CARRETERO Miguel A. *Portugal [email protected] CARVALHO Carlos Portugal [email protected] CARVALHO Inês Portugal [email protected] CASTILHO Ricardo Portugal [email protected] CAVADAS José Portugal [email protected] CHÁVEZ-GALARZA Julio César *Portugal [email protected] CHEN Shanyuan *Portugal [email protected] CHIKHI Lounès *Portugal [email protected] CIPRIANO João Portugal [email protected] COCHOFEL Jaqueline *Portugal [email protected] COSTA Cristina Portugal [email protected] COSTA Vânia Portugal [email protected] CUNHA Mario Portugal [email protected] CURTO Manuel Portugal [email protected] DAMAS Maria Isabel Portugal [email protected] DIAS Guilherme Portugal [email protected] FARELO Liliana Portugal [email protected] FARIA Rui Portugal [email protected] FERRAND Nuno Portugal [email protected] FERREIRA Ana Mafalda Portugal [email protected] FERREIRA Sarah Portugal [email protected] FERREIRA Clara Portugal [email protected] FERREIRA Alexandre Portugal [email protected] 62 FERREIRA Sonia Portugal [email protected] FREITAS Maria Carolina Portugal [email protected] G. GONZÁLEZ Elena Spain [email protected] GARCÍA Cristina *Portugal [email protected] GODINHO Raquel Portugal [email protected] GONÇALVES David Portugal [email protected] GONÇALVES Helena Portugal [email protected] GORDINHO Luís Portugal [email protected] GOUDET Jérôme Switzerland [email protected] JORGE Maria de Fátima Portugal [email protected] KHALATBARI Leili *Portugal [email protected] KOVAČIĆ Iva Spain [email protected] LEDOUX Jean-Baptiste Spain [email protected] LEGA Margherita Italy [email protected] LEITE João Portugal [email protected] LIMA Joana Portugal [email protected] LIMA Vanessa Portugal [email protected] LOBO Diana Carina Portugal [email protected] LOPES Ana Portugal [email protected] LOPES Ricardo Jorge Portugal [email protected] M. GOOD Jeffrey United States of America [email protected] M. NETO Júlio Portugal [email protected] MACHADO Luís Portugal [email protected] 63 MAIA João Portugal [email protected] MARTELLI Eva Italy [email protected] MARTINS Renata Portugal [email protected] MATOS Ana Portugal [email protected] MAURA Michela Italy [email protected] MEIMBERG Harry Portugal [email protected] MELO-FERREIRA José Portugal [email protected] MIRANDA Ana Júlia Portugal [email protected] MONTEIRO Rita Mafalda Portugal [email protected] MORALES-HOJAS Ramiro *Portugal [email protected] MOUTINHO Ana Filipa Portugal [email protected] MULLINS Jacinta Portugal [email protected] MÚRIAS Tiago Portugal [email protected] NASCIMENTO Joana France [email protected] NETO Sandra Portugal [email protected] NEVES Fabiana Portugal [email protected] NEVES Tiago Portugal [email protected] NOGUEIRA Joana Portugal [email protected] OLIVEIRA Rui Portugal [email protected] OLIVEIRA Sandra Portugal [email protected] PAIS Isa Portugal [email protected] PARREIRA Bárbara Portugal [email protected] PASCUAL Marta Spain [email protected] 64 PASQUALINI Valeria Italy [email protected] PAUPÉRIO Joana Portugal [email protected] PEDROSO Diana Portugal [email protected] PEREIRA Carolina Portugal [email protected] PEREIRA Rute Portugal [email protected] PEREIRA Paulo Jorge Portugal [email protected] PEREIRA Hugo Portugal [email protected] PINHO Catarina Portugal [email protected] PINTO Maria Portugal [email protected] PUCA Sara Italy [email protected] PUPPO Pamela *Portugal [email protected] QUEIROS Beatriz Portugal [email protected] QUEIRÓS João Portugal [email protected] RAMOS Luana Portugal [email protected] RATO Catarina Portugal [email protected] REGUERA Senda Spain [email protected] REIS Micael Portugal [email protected] REIS Sandra Portugal [email protected] REIS Andreia Portugal [email protected] REMUGE Liliana Portugal [email protected] RIBEIRO Raquel Portugal [email protected] RICCIONI Giulia Italy [email protected] RICHARDSON Dale Portugal [email protected] 65 ROCHA Helder Portugal [email protected] ROCHA Iolanda Portugal [email protected] ROCHA Joana Portugal [email protected] ROCHA Ricardo Portugal [email protected] ROCHA Sara Portugal [email protected] RODRIGUES Leandra Sofia Portugal [email protected] SÁ PINTO Alexandra Portugal [email protected] SABATINO Stephen *Portugal [email protected] SALMONA Jordi Portugal [email protected] SALVI Daniele *Portugal [email protected] SANTOS Helena Portugal [email protected] SANTOS Mário Portugal [email protected] SANTOS Xavier *Portugal [email protected] SEIXAS Fernando Portugal [email protected] SEQUEIRA Fernando Portugal [email protected] SERÉN Nina Portugal [email protected] SILVA Pedro Portugal [email protected] SILVA Rodolfo Miguel Portugal [email protected] SILVA Sofia Portugal [email protected] SILVA Pedro Portugal [email protected] SOUSA Fabio Alberto Portugal [email protected] TARROSO Pedro Portugal [email protected] VALENTE Joana Portugal [email protected] 66 VANPÉ Cécile *Portugal [email protected] VASCONCELOS Raquel Portugal [email protected] VELO-ANTÓN Guillermo Portugal [email protected] VERGEER Philippine The Netherlands [email protected] VERÍSSIMO Joana Portugal [email protected] VIEIRA Cristina Portugal [email protected] VIEIRA Jorge Portugal [email protected] VILA POUCA Catarina Portugal [email protected] VILELA Joana Portugal [email protected] YUSEFI Gholam Hosein *Portugal [email protected] ZAMORA Francisco Javier Spain [email protected] *country of residence 67