POSTERS

Comparing morphological variability and molecular divergence: a preliminary study in Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768) from the Tuscan Archipelago (Italy)

A. Bellati¹, D. Pellitteri-Rosa¹, R. Sacchi¹, A. Galimberti², M. Casiraghi², A. Nistri³, M. Fasola¹, P. Galeotti¹

The genus Podarcis (Wagler, 1830) has evolved and diversified in the Mediterranean Basin, where it represents the predominant reptile group. In recent years, analysis of DNA sequences has significantly revised the traditional systematic of Podarcis species based on morphological characters. In particular, sometimes subspecies may deserve species status, while in other cases their phenotypic divergences are thought to be due to local adaptation, so that they should be better regarded as eco-phenotypes.
The Common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768), is widespread in southern, western and central Europe, where it has spread in a wide variety of habitats. The high morphological variability of this species have given rise in the past to a complex taxonomic framework, allowing the proliferation of many morphological subspecies. In particular, seven subspecies exclusive of the Tuscan Archipelago were recognized, mainly due to the chromatic polymorphism of the insular populations. Here, we used molecular markers, that are less influenced by local adaptation than morphological characters, to investigate the genetic variability of P. muralis populations. DNA sequences were obtained from museum specimens representing all morphological subspecies indicated for the Tuscan Archipelago. Our results do not completely agree with the morphological subspecific division in P. muralis: in fact, several morphological subspecies show minimal or no difference in mtDNA haplotypes.
Nevertheless, a strong genetic structure was found in our dataset, that may be useful in clarifying the biogeography of the Archipelago, providing new highlights about the genetic variation and the phylogeny of this species too.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze,Università di Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy.
3 Museo Zoologico de La Specola, Università di Firenze, Firenze, Italy.

POSTERS

Transcriptomics assessment of evolutionary conserved response to toxicants across different species

M. Bellone, F. Mignone, F. Rapallo, S.R. Stürzenbaum, S. Swain, S. Rudzok, M. Bauer, A. Viarengo, F. Dondero ¹

Ecotoxicology focuses on the investigation of toxic effects of pollutants across all levels of biological organisations, from molecules to ecosystems. Such an approach allows the collection of great amount of data that can be used not only for applied research, but also to increase our knowledge about biodiversity and the evolutionary dynamics that lie behind it.
Here we present a comparative study based on transcriptomics data aimed to identify evolutionary conserved molecular responses to wide-spread pollutants, the heavy metal Nickel and the organophosphate pesticide Chlorpyrifos, in three different models: human helpG2 cultured cells, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. To this end, we investigated the frequencies of orthologs between the three species whose expression was altered by pollutants and their putative biological functions.
Datasets from previous microarrays experiments were analysed with TDHand, a web-based tool for gene expression data analysis and storage that we are developing using a customized version of the Linear Models for Microarray Analysis (LIMMA) software. Orthologs were identified using the InParanoid database and their frequencies in the lists of diferentially expressed genes were calculated with a new tool, able to perform a bootstrapped statistical test, that we created and embedded in TDHand.
In most treatments we found a significant number of orthologs amongst the differentially expressed genes of each species; their Gene Ontology terms were analysed to identify those genes that have retained. or changed their function during the course of evolution.
Our approach proved to be useful for two reasons: first, it helps to compare microarray data from different species and experiments, thus constituting a good framework for comparative transcriptomics. Second, it allows to integrate the evolutionary approach into the field of ecotoxicology, in order to enable for a better understanding of toxicant responses across different model species.

1 Università del Piemonte Orientale, Italy.

POSTERS

How the temporal sampling scheme affects genetic inferences on population demography: a simulation study

A. Benazzo, G. Bertorelle ¹

One of the main goals in population genetics is to understand if and how past demographic events shaped the current genetic variation pattern of a species. Both modern and ancient DNA data can be used to address this question, but obtaining ancient samples and genetically type them is often difficult and expensive. It is therefore important to identify the conditions under which a population genetics study can clearly benefit from ancient DNA data.
We focused on recent demographic events, especially those related to human activities and occurred in the last 100-200 years ago. The identification of the genetic impact possibly due to these events is relevant not only in evolutionary studies but also in conservation biology and management.
Through extensive coalescent simulations, we compared 11 different sampling schemes analyzing the simulated data with different estimators commonly used to reconstruct past demographic events from DNA variation data.
Sampling schemes differed by the relative weight given to modern and ancient DNA typing, and by the number of time points in the past when samples are assumed to be available. Preliminary results show that both the bias and the variance of simple population size estimators based on summary statistics are different under diferent sampling schemes. Similarly, the demographic dynamic reconstructed using more sophisticated approaches, such as the Bayesian skyline plot or the approximate Bayesian computation, are affected by the temporal distribution of the samples.
Our results underline the importance of typing ancient samples and, when possible, selecting them according to their age and to the question addressed.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.

POSTERS

Occurrence of hybridization between Ulmus minor and Ulmus pumila in northern Italy

B. Bertolasi¹, L. Zago¹, I. Vanetti², G. Binelli², F. Sebastiani³, G.G. Vendramin³, F. Gorian¹

Ulmus minor is a species of constitutive importance in European woods that has undergone a progressive and severe demographic reduction after the introduction of Dutch Elm Disease (DED), a fungal (Ophiostoma spp.) disease vectored by elm bark beetle. Growth habitus of younger individuals, born after the introduction of pest, is totally altered from tree to a big sucker bush. Another threat to the conservation of the species integrity has been the introduction of Ulmus pumila, an exotic species introduced in the late nineteenth century from Siberia and quickly naturalized. U. pumila is resistant or tolerant to DED, thus replacing in many sites the original U. minor populations.
Besides, cases of hybridization have been allegedly reported on a morphological basis. In this work, a genetic study of two mixed population, characterised by the presence of both species and of putative hybrids was performed by the use of nuclear SSRs. As for genetic variability, heterozygosity was found high for both species, while moderate but significant inbreeding, departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium were found at all loci for the minor trees.
A cluster of minor trees was also identified by Bayesian analysis and showed spatial structure as revealed by ACS. A second goal of this study is to assess the occurrence and the magnitude of natural hybridization between the two species. To this purpose we will test the occurrence of asymmetrical introgression by paternity analysis of young seedlings obtained from U. minor mother trees. In doing this, we will be facilitated by the isolation of the population chosen, a riparian wood surrounded by open fields in a range of many km., where only scattered Ulmus trees are reported. Identification of hybrid trees, if confirmed, will pave the way for the identification and isolation of genes involved in the resistance to DED.

1 Centro per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale, Peri (VR), Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Scienze Molecolari, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Varese, Italy.
3 Istituto Genetica Vegetale CNR, Firenze, Italy.

POSTERS

The missing link in human evolution: an old but evergreen mith

E. Carnieri ¹

In the last three decades paleoanthropologists have been change opinion about human evolution process, which is more complex and not linear as researchers thought in the past. As matter of fact every time a human fossil had been discovered it was described as the more important and oldest missing link. At the beginning of the ‘90s of the last century a lot of new species were found and described and a different approach in the studies caused a deep change in the way human evolution was considered: humans evolved like the other species. However, it is not changed the way in which a new fossil is presented and described on newspapers.
The most recent discoveries are discussed from this point of view to understand the reason why the missing link concept still survives.

1 Presidente sez. ANISN di Livorno, Livorno, Italy.

POSTERS

Human evolution, Charles Darwin, the origin of human mind and religious beliefs: high schools student point of view

E. Carnieri¹, M. Balestri²

The authors present the results of a didactical experience made with three classes at Liceo Classico of Livorno (Italy). We discuss together with the students about the concept of natural selection, the relationship between humans and apes, human evolution models and the origin of human mind. The students present a good knowledge about the natural history of Homo sapiens, but some of them think that some aspects (mind and soul) of humans are created by God.

1 Presidente sez. ANISN di Livorno, Livorno, Italy.
2 Membro del direttivo sez. ANISN di Livorno, Livorno, Italy.

POSTERS

Teaching palaeoanthropology at the natural history museum of the Mediterranean (2002-2010): eight years of changing in human evolution didactical experiences

E. Carnieri¹, M. Bisconti²

The Room of Mankind of the Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean contains display cabinets, diorama, interactive tools, reconstructions and specimens dealing with the origin and the natural history of Homo sapiens.
Since 2002 didactical labs on human evolution have been organized and proposed to the students visiting the museum. The anthropological labs have been attended mainly by students of Primary schools.
We analysed the problems found in teaching human evolution at the museum during eight years of activities and we discuss how and the reason why we changed some modules and didactical labs.

1 Presidente sez. ANISN di Livorno, Livorno, Italy.
2 Museo di Storia Naturale del Mediterraneo di Livorno, Livorno, Italy.

POSTERS

Analysis of the TPS gene and anhydrobiosis in Tardigrades

M. Cesari, T. Altiero, L. Rebecchi ¹

Habitats that unpredictably desiccate and rehydrate can be considered extreme and require specific adaptations to stressors. Tardigrades can withstand desiccation by entering anhydrobiosis, often requiring accumulation of trehalose, a non-reducing disaccharide.
Trehalose allows anhydrobiosis by acting as a water replacement molecule and vitrifying agent. It has been demonstrated that trehalose accumulation is different in various tardigrade species. Therefore, the analysis of a gene involved in its metabolic pathway, such as the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (tps) gene, could be very useful to elucidate the evolutionary relationships among tardigrade taxa.
The presence of the gene and potential differences in its sequence were investigated because many tardigrade species do not have the ability to enter anhydrobiosis. Sequences of the tps gene were determined by amplification using degenerate primers based on conserved protein sequence and cloning on three different anhydrobiotic species. Once a tps sequence was obtained from one species (Paramacrobiotus gr. richtersi), specific primers were designed and used to amplify it in many species, which were chosen for their diferent phylogenetic positions and habitats (freshwater and terrestrial), while their anhydrobiotic responses were tested by analysing their survival after experimental desiccation.
The gene was amplified in all desiccation tolerant species and in one out of three limnic and desiccation intolerant species: its presence in the latter species is not surprising, since trehalose may also be used as an energy source. Moreover, the tps gene was also found in Milnesium tardigradium, a species where no trehalose was detected in desiccated animals. The tps gene was very conserved in all analysed tardigrade species, while it is very variable compared to other eukaryotes.
Therefore tps DNA sequence is not a good phylogenetic marker inside the phylum, but its aminoacidic sequences gave interesting insights on the relationships of the phylum within Panarthropoda.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy.

POSTERS

The genome and the evolution of the hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium Acinetobacter venetianus VE-C3

M. Fondi¹, G. Emiliani², E. Rizzi³, G. Corti³, M.C. Papaleo¹, E. Perrin¹, I. Maida¹, F. Baldi⁴, G. De Bellis³, R. Fani¹

Some strains of the genus Acinetobacter were demonstrated to be able to degrade alkanes of various chain lengths and were shown to possess genomic distinctness from the other strains belonging to the genus. Accordingly, these strains were designated as members of the species Acinetobacter venetianus. In particular, one of them, isolated from a bacterial oil-degrading consortium from the Venice lagoon (Italy), namely A. venetianus VE-C3, was shown to be able to grow on C10, C14 and C20. Moreover fragmentation of diesel fuel at the cell wall was observed, thus suggesting strong bioemulsifying activity by A. venetianus VE-C3.
These physiological properties led us to choose this strain as a good candidate for the determination of the complete genome sequence in order to gain more insights i) on the molecular mechanisms responsible for the degradation of n-alkanes, ii) on the genetic features of a representative of the species A. venetianus and iii) on the evolutionary pathway leading to the diversification of the representatives of this genus.
Preliminary analysis of genome assembly allowed us to identify putative orthologous and xenologous regions of A. venetianus VE-C3 compared to the available Acinetobacter species genomes. In particular, this analysis pointed out a strong genomic distinctness from the strains belonging to other species of this genus. Moreover, gene prediction resulted in the identification of about 3600 putative genes. The predicted genes were clustered in COG categories allowing the identification of putative niche-adaptation specific gene sets that have probably played a key role in the evolution of this microorganism.
In addition to its interest for comparative evolutionary genomics with closely related bacteria this affords an opportunity for analysis and manipulation of genes and gene products, and paves the way for a future analysis of metabolic transformations in the environment.

1 Laboratory of Microbial and Molecular Evolution, Dept, of Evolutionary Biology, University of Florence, I-50125 Florence, Italy.
2 Tree and Timber Institute, National Research Council, San Michele all’Adige, Trento, Italy.
3 Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ITB-CNR), Segrate (MI), Italy. 4 Department of Environmental Sciences, Cà Foscari University, Venice, Italy.

POSTERS

Biodiversity at school: educational objective and reference framework

A. Gambini¹

The importance of biodiversity as a concept to understand life and the relationships that living things establish with the external world makes it one of the main overarching topics in the teaching of Biology. It is important to conceive bio diversity as a reference framework to understand life at any level of complexity. Specific literature on sciences education barely deals with this topic as such. Our Biology education research group at the University of Milano-Bicocca devised three educational experiences to teach and learn the concept of biodiversity at three different levels of complexity: cells, organisms and ecosystems. The first one is an experience based on microscope observation of microorganisms taken from different water environments. This experience, by exploiting learning tools made by ourselves, highlights the variety of organisms in the microscopic world, generally little known in school practices.
The second experience proposes the study of some Mediterranean Sea invertebrates bred in a sea aquarium in our Department, carried on through an active methodology that comes from the latest suggestions of educational literature.
The third experience involves the study of a water place (a fontanile in the Po plain) characterized by some differentiated areas within it. Collecting data and documentation materials are usually shared in group by students and lead to a collaborative product.
The experiences are carried on with students that will be primary school teachers, although they could be proposed to children and teenagers in the same format introduced here.
The aim of this proposal is to increase - through observation, work sharing, and group discussions - the knowledge of natural environments and its biodiversity taking responsibility for the loss of this diversity, and becoming aware of the importance of its conservation.

1 Dipartimento di Scienze Umane per la Formazione, Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca, Milano, Italy.

POSTERS

Testing for a southern route of early human dispersal from Africa

S. Ghirotto¹, L. Penso-Dolfin¹, V. Colonna², G. Barbujani¹

Although paleontological and genetic data strongly suggest that anatomically modern humans originated in Africa and dispersed from there some 60,000 years ago, there is still disagreement on the details of the dispersal process, and on the possibility of admixture with preexisting human forms. Based on analyses of skull shapes, Lahr and Foley (1994) proposed that some Southern Asian and Melanesian populations originated from an earlier (100,000 years ago) expansion of modern humans through the horn of Africa, rather than through the Near East.
So far, the likelihood of such a Southern route of expansion has only been tested against genetic data in a controversial study of mtDNA (Macalulay et al. 2005). In this study we analyzed genetic variation at 243,855 SNPs in 5 populations of Southern Asia and Melanesia (Dalit, Irula, Iban) and of Eastern Asia (Chinese, Japanese). We compared the genetic distances between individuals and populations with the expectations of two dispersal models, respectively including one (through Palestine) or two (through Palestine and the Horn of Africa) processes of expansion from Africa. We supported the results of this analysis by explicit spatial simulations based on a serial coalescent algorithm, in which we evaluated by Approximate Bayesian Computations the posterior probability of either model, at the same time estimating some relevant demographic and evolutionary parameters.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
2 CNR-IGB, Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, Naples, Italy.

POSTERS

Nucleotide diversity analysis in Mesoamerican wild and domesticated Phaseolus vulgaris L.

D. Goretti¹, E. Bitocchi¹, E. Bellucci¹, M. Rossi¹, L. Nanni¹, G. Attene², R. Papa¹

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. ) is a diploid (2n = 2x = 22), annual species that is predominantly self-pollinating and is the most important grain legume for direct human consumption. For P. vulgaris, many aspects of its molecular and phenotypic diversity, migration dynamics and population structure are well known. To date, in contrast, little information is available on the level and extent of its nucleotide diversity. The common bean was domesticated independently in Mesoamerica and in the Andes, and the largest diversity of its wild and domesticated forms is found in Mesoamerica, where a single domestication event is believed to have occurred. The main aims of the present study were to develop SNP markers and to identify genes and genomic regions that are related to the adaptive processes during domestication of P. vulgaris. We developed 48 primer combinations to amplify and sequence in particular the orthologous counterparts of genes previously studied in wild and domesticated soybean.
A sample of 47 genotypes was developed to represent the wild and domesticated Mesoamerican populations (39), including 8 additional genotypes from the Andean and phaseolin I gene pools, P. coccineus and P. dumosus.
Here, we present and discuss the results from the sequencing of 48 gene fragments (including loci previously identified as potentially under selection during the domestication process in Mesoamerica).

1 Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali e delle Produzioni Vegetali (SAPROV), Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Scienze Agronomiche e Genetica Vegetale Agraria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Italy.

POSTERS

Evolutionary relationships and origins of the critically endangered endemic Salmo carpio

P. Gratton, A. Gandolfi ¹

Through the last decades, genetic studies are increasingly unveiling the genetic structure of the brown trout (Salmo trutta) complex, resulting from the combined forces of geography, history, and natural selection. Genetic and ecological data have also demonstrated how alteration of habitats and unsustainable fishing practices (implying introduction, translocation, and restocking) disrupted most of this biodiversity legacy.
The Garda Lake endemic form S. carpio (carpione del Garda) is one of the most important pieces of biodiversity among Italian freshwater fish. Though its population has dramatically declined within the last 50 years, still very little is known about its genetic composition and evolutionary relationships with other trout strains in the Mediterranean basin. Early studies revealed that S. carpio harbors multiple mtDNA lineages and hypothesized its hybrid origin from marble trout (Salmo marmoratus) and another rather undefined parental form. These data also questioned the recognition of S. carpio as a separate lineage within the Salmo trutta complex. Moreover, no extensive data allowed to assess its reproductive isolation and possible introgression from allochtonous gene pools.
We analyzed a large sample of S. carpio and other supposedly autochtonous Italian trouts with nuclear micro satellites and mtDNA sequence markers in order to obtain a broad genetic characterization of this form. Our results show that S. carpio forms a very well defined gene pool and that it has no evidence of any introgression from allochtonous strains.
Preliminary data from a set of nuclear coding and intronic regions (10 amplicons) are revealing that SNPs polymorphism within the S. carpio population recurrently encompasses and exceeds variation among marble trout from three distant watersheds (Adda, Adige and Isonzo), thus suggesting that hybridization among differentiated evolutionary lineages may have played a role in the origin of this taxon after the formation of the Garda Lake ca. 15,000 years BP.

1 Centro Ricerca e Innovazione - Research and Innovation Center, Fondazione E. Mach, San Michele all’Adige, Italy.

POSTERS

Comparison between two paradigms about aging

Poster presented at the Moscow workshop "From Homo sapiens to Homo sapiens liberatus", MSU, May 25-26, 2010

G. Libertini¹

According to the current prevailing interpretations, the age-related fitness decline shown by many species in natural conditions, commonly defined as "aging", is an effect of:
1) the age-related decline of natural selection (mutation accumulation hypothesis);
2) a balance between possible advantages at a younger age and the disadvantages of fitness decline (antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis);
3) limited "resources" - not better defined - which are used preferentially for reproduction and not for soma maintenance (disposable soma hypothesis).
This interpretation ("first paradigm") is challenged by a different paradigm ("second paradigm") that explains aging as an adaptive phenomenon and, in shorts, maintains:
1) Age-related decline of natural selection cannot explain age-related fitness decline;
2) There is no evidence for antagonistic pleiotropic genes or for limited "resources" causing age-related fitness decline;
3) The first paradigm predicts a direct relation between environmental mortality and the proportion of deaths caused by aging. The second paradigm predicts the opposite. Observational data falsify the prediction of the first paradigm and confirm that of the second.
4) The limitations in cell turnover determined by telomere-telomerase system are a plausible mechanism underlying senescence. This is hardly explainable by the first paradigm. On the contrary, this is compatible with the second paradigm and, in fact, the adaptive hypothesis predicts and requires the existence of specific mechanisms causing the fitness decline.
5) For the first paradigm aging is only a common term for many age-related different diseases: aging as a distinct entity does not exist and, in principle, cannot be mastered. On the contrary, for the second paradigm, all manifestations of aging have common mechanisms: aging is a distinct entity and, in principle, can be mastered.
The coexistence of the two paradigms or the formulation of intermediate hypotheses appears impossible. Therefore, a choice based on scientific data is indispensable.

1 Independent Researcher, Naples, Italy.

Poster presented

POSTERS

Are C. elegans and D. melanogaster
valid animal models for studies on aging?

Poster presented at the Moscow workshop "From Homo sapiens to Homo sapiens liberatus", MSU, May 25-26, 2010

G. Libertini¹

C. elegans and D. melanogaster are common animal models for studies on aging, but there are strong arguments against the validity of these models for this type of studies:
I) Many bird and mammal species - our species included - show an increment of mortality with increasing chronological age in natural conditions. This phenomenon ("A" phenomenon) is well documented and, being existent in the wild, is influenced by natural selection. On the contrary, animals as C. elegans and D. melanogaster show in natural conditions a constant mortality rate but, in artificial protected conditions, they display an age-related mortality increment starting from ages not existing in the wild. In fact, in natural conditions: 1) the longevity of C. elegans is reduced up to 10 fold compared with standard laboratory culture conditions and few individuals of this species remain fertile in the wild after 10 days; 2) D. melanogaster has a reported adult life span in the wild of 10-12 days. Therefore, the mortality increment for these two species ("B" phenomenon), being a laboratory artefact, cannot be influenced by selection. "A" and "B" phenomena are radically different in their possible evolutionary determinants and so the results of experiments on "B" phenomenon are not automatically applicable to "A" phenomenon.
II) C. elegans and D. melanogaster (and in general the adult insects) are composed by cells with no turnover, while birds and mammals have cells and tissues with turnover. If, as it seems likely, the slowdown and later the stopping of cell turnover, and the correlated cell senescence, are pivotal elements in the age-related fitness decline of birds and mammals, it is rather doubtful to use experiments on animals with no cell turnover to explain the fitness decline in animals with cell turnover.
III) Animals as C. elegans and D. melanogaster have life cycles thoroughly different from those of bird and mammal species. Studies on aging that use these animal models implicitly assume that their adult stages are equivalent to the postnatal stages of birds and mammals for the extension of their results to these species. But this assumption is not proved and seems quite doubtful.
The appropriateness of C. elegans and D. melanogaster as animal models for aging is a problem that cannot be neglected in aging studies. Unfortunately, in renowned texts and very influential journals, the issue is not considered and it is frequent that experiments modifying – in laboratory conditions and at ages non-existent in the wild - the modifications of C. elegans and D. melanogaster life tables are presented as meaningful advances in the understanding of human aging!

1 Independent researcher, Naples, Italy.

Poster presented

POSTERS

Evolutionary definition of "normality"

G. Libertini¹

The statistical concept of “normal range” (alias “reference values” or, shortly, “normality”) is trivial and needs no particular explanation. But, applying this concept to a biological community that lives to a great extent in modified ecological conditions, the dysfunctions (diseases) deriving from conditions to which the species is not adapted become statistical normality.
It is therefore essential, in the study of biological phenomena, to use the concept of normality referred exclusively to the ecological niche (habitat, dietary habits, lifestyle, etc.) to which a species is adapted and to consider abnormal any different condition and the consequential diseases.
This evolutionary definition of normality is not at all a simple semantic curiosity but a fundamental concept that must be the basis of a really scientific Medicine. For our species, many diseases that are regarded as consequence of the interaction between genes predisposing to a disease and environmental factors, if we consider their almost complete absence in populations living in primitive conditions, much closer to the ecological niche to which our species is adapted, turn out to be, in fact, the consequence of alterations of the normal (ancestral) ecological niche. It follows that many common diseases (hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, type 1-diabetes, autoimmune diseases - type 2-diabetes included -, eye refractive defects, hearing loss, chronic respiratory diseases, dental caries, pyorrhoea, crowded teeth, constipation, haemorrhoids, anal rhagades, colon diverticulosis, appendicitis, nephrolithiasis, cholelithiasis, osteoporosis, back pain, allergies, mental and psychiatric disorders, practically all types of cancer, etc.) could be prevented almost completely by precautionary measures that correct as much as possible the alterations of our ecological niche, obviously in ways and manners compatible with the modern organization.
Actually, a rational health-care policy should be based first of all on the evolutionary concept of normality and only in the second place on the present medical practice that appears clearly more and more inadequate to contrast the exponential spreading of most of the diseases as direct consequence of the increasing alteration of our ecological niche.
This implies a drastic redefinition both of sanitary and social framework: the main problem is that, for health operators, to cure is much more profitable - in terms of earnings, social advance and scientific success - than to prevent using evolutionary concepts. But, the future will compel to alternatives that are less self-interested and ineffective and more rational and fruitful.

1 Independent Researcher, Naples, Italy.

Poster presented: Part I - Part II - In the format of oral presentation

POSTERS

Adaptive evolution of male accessory gland proteins involved in post-mating reproductive mechanisms of the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae

E. Mancini¹, F. Tammaro¹, F. Baldini², A. Serrao², D. Rogers³, P. George⁴, I. Sharakhov⁴, F. Catteruccia¹, A. Della Torre¹

Genes encoding proteins involved in reproduction often evolve rapidly in many taxa - due to positive selection triggered by intersexual interaction - and can contribute to the establishment of barriers to fertilization that might lead to speciation. For instance, the divergence of accessory gland proteins - transferred along with sperm to the female reproductive tract during copulation - has been shown to be partly responsible for species-specific usage of gametes in some Drosophila species.
Similarly to Drosophila, males of Anopheles gambiae transfer their accessory glands (MAGs) products to females during mating as a solid mass, the ‘mating plug’, that induces a series of physiological responses in females, such as enhanced ovulation, oviposition, and refractoriness to further mating. Several A. gambiae MAG-specific genes have been recently identified, but the analysis of their functional roles in post-mating mechanisms is still in progress.
In order to complement these ongoing functional analyses with evolutionary data, we aimed to assess divergence and detect adaptive evolution at a molecular level in a set of genes specifically expressed in A. gambiae MAGs.
We analysed two structural proteins of the mating plug (Plugin and a transglutaminase) and a cluster of three MAG-specific paralog genes - that may represent important modulators of female behaviour - in 6 species of the A. gambiae complex collected in sub-saharan Africa.
Our results show a high conservation of the structural components of the mating plug in all species and the existence of species-specific products of MAG paralog genes with differential expression patterns that might be indicative of unique species-specific regulations and/or functions of these proteins. The integration of evolutionary and functional analyses might help clarifying some crucial aspects of A. gambiae reproductive biology, and thus hopefully, providing new targets for the development of novel malaria vector control strategies.

1 ‘Sapienza’ Università di Roma, Dip. di Scienze di Sanità Pubblica, Rome, Italy.
2 Universita’ di Perugia, Dip. di Medicina Sperimentale e Scienze biochimiche, Perugia, Italy.
3 Imperial College, London, UK.
4 Dept. of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA.

POSTERS

Exogenous, non pathogenic, bacteria enhance the Drosophila melanogaster lifespan: when holobiont is more evolvable than individual organism

M. Mandrioli¹

All the insects up to date studied are inhabited by a large microbial community resident in gut and other organs (such as gonads and salivary glands). For several years, the interactions between insects and their gut microbiota have been related to the bacterial contribution to the metabolism of their host only. Actually, these interactions represent only a limited fraction of occurring exchanges between bacteria and the insects they inhabit and new scenarios have been opened.
For example, recent studies revealed that the gut microbiota provides resistance against natural pathogens and parasites and interacts with the host immune system. Experiments of bacterial supplementation in the food indicated that the presence of bacteria during the first two days of the adult life enhances the Drosophila lifespan, despite unchanged food intake. Interestingly, the continuous presence of bacteria in the food and the later supplementation reduce the Drosophila lifespan. The analysis of the lifespan of the third instar larva indicates that bacteria did not affect their longevity.
As a whole, these results indicate that longevity may be due to the interactions between the gut microbiota and the host and not only to the host genome. Therefore, variation in the gut microbiota may afect fly longevity and fitness, according to the hologenome theory suggesting that the genetic wealth of diverse microbial symbionts can play important roles both in adaptation and in evolution of animals.
During periods of rapid changes in the environment, the diverse microbial symbiont community can aid the holobiont in surviving, multiplying and buying the time necessary for the host genome to evolve. The distinguishing feature of the hologenome theory is that it considers all of the diverse microbiota associated with the animal as part of the evolving holobiont making each insect a sort of ‘superorganism’ as proposed by Wilson and Sober.

1 Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Dept. Biology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.

POSTERS

Expression and role of the transcription factor POU IV in the differentiation of neurons originating from placodal areas in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis (Tunicata, Chordata)

R. Manenti¹, S. Candiani², M. Pestarino², A. Pasini³, R. Pennati¹, F. De Bernardi¹, R. De Santis¹, R. Corti¹, G. Zega¹

Placodes are specialized territories of vertebrate embryos from which sensory organs and their associated ganglia differentiate. Ascidians are considered the closest living relatives of vertebrates. In embryos of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, two regions sharing homologies with the hypophyseal/olfactory and otic/ lateral line placodes have been described.
Transcription factors of the POU IV family are widely expressed in placode derivatives and involved in the differentiation of sensory neurons of zebrafish, chick and mouse. Two alternative transcripts of POU IV with different functions in neuron specification and outgrowth have been described. In C. intestinalis embryos, all sensory neurons express Ci-POU IV gene.
The aim of this work was to study how Ci-POU IV drives differentiation of sensory neurons in ascidians. We discovered two alternative transcripts sharing fundamental homologies with those of mouse POU IV gene and analyzed their different expression patterns. By means of a bioinformatic approach, we looked for Ci-POU IV possible target genes containing in the surroundings of their ATG the specific consensus sequence. We selected 8 regions corresponding to 6 genes, whose activity is going to be evaluated.
Among the predicted target genes, we found Ci-Pans (neural gene marker) and Ci-TPH (serotonin rate-limiting synthesis enzyme, Tryptophane Hydroxylase). Moreover, we designed Morpholino oligos to perform gene knock-down experiments for the diferent isoforms of Ci-POU IV. Preliminary results revealed that the expression of Ci-Pans, Ci- TPH and Ci-vGlut (a glutamate transporter) are differently regulated by the two transcripts.
Sensory neurons both originating from the hypophyseal/olfactory and the otic/lateral placodal domain were affected. These results indicated that the POU IV isoforms were already involved in placode derivatives specification and terminal differentiation in ascidians as in vertebrates suggesting that the genetic cascade of sensory organs specification was conserved in their last common ancestor.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy.
3 Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille Luminy (IBDML), CNRS/Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.

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Charles Darwin’s girlfriend

P- Martellini¹

Very few people know that Emma Wedgwood wasn’t the only great love in Darwin’s life.
Fanny Owen of Woodhouse, the sister of his school friend William Owen, was Darwin’s first love. Fanny was a pretty free spirit, unusual in Jane Austen times. She was great at riding and shooting and Charles admired her a lot for this reason. She called him “Postillion” and he called her “Housemaid”; the couple very often went riding together across the country and rolled together on strawberries fields.
Charles said about her: “Fanny as all the world knows is the prettiest, plumpest, most charming personage that Shropshire possesses, and Birmingham too” and called her “la belle Fanny”.
These were the years in which Darwin studied at Cambridge’s Christ’s College; a very good period for him. He later wrote “ Upon the whole, the three years I spent at Cambridge were the most joyful of my happy life” In that period Charles developed a beetles mania and, with his second cousin William Darwin Fox, looked for rare species of beetles in the countryside around Cambridge.
He also founded a dining club, named “Glutton Club”. They met once a week to eat meat of animals, “unknown to human palate”; also during his voyage Charles loved to taste uncommon animals. Fanny reproved Charles, complaining that he preferred beetles to her!
Then he was given the opportunity to travel around the world. Fanny wrote him: “I shall not forget you!” Only four months later, when Charles arrived in Brasil, his sister sent him a letter to inform him that Fanny had married Robert Myddelton Biddulph; he was obviously completely shocked! Would Darwin’s life be different if he had married “la Belle Fanny” instead of the religious Emma?
This is what we will try to discover, also examining the content of the several letters they exchanged and arrived to us.

1 Istituto Superiore” Carlo Dell’Acqua”, Legnano (MI), Italy.

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Are there trade-offs between thermal tolerance and life-history performances in the marine polychaete Ophryotrocha labronica (Polychaeta, Dorvilleidae)?

G. Massamba-N’Siala¹, P. Calosi², D.T. Bilton², J.I. Spicer², D. Prevedelli¹, R. Simonini¹

In order to gain insights into the link between organismal fitness and physiological functions, the phenotypic plasticity of life-history traits and thermal tolerances to heat and cold have been simultaneously investigated in laboratory individuals of the gonochoric polychaete Ophryotrocha labronica, acclimated for two months to one of seven temperatures (10°C, 15°C, 20°C, 25°C, 30°C, 35°C and 40°C). Life-history and thermal tolerance responses showed different temperature-dependent patterns: generally non-monotonic for life-history and monotonic for thermal tolerances.
Acclimation to increasing and decreasing temperature positively affected tolerance to heat and cold. Correlation analysis showed that life-history traits co-vary or trade-off differently respect to tolerance to cold or heat. Individuals able to better tolerate colder temperature showed higher survival capacities, whilst no link was found between survivorship and variation in heat thermal tolerance. Body size was positively related with heat tolerance.
Fecundity was among the traits that did not correlate neither to heat nor to cold tolerance, but all the other reproductive performances did: increase cold tolerance was associated with diminished reproductive investment during the entire lifespan, which was yet concentrated in few reproductive events in cold-tolerant individuals. Our study show for the first time in a marine organism that a number of life-history traits co-varies and trades-of with measures of physiological performance, thus indicating the possibility that these traits are underlain by shared and antagonistic temperature-dependent biochemical and physiological pathways.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
2 Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, U.K.

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Genetic structure in lagoon samples of A. boyeri: effects of habitat discontinuity and low dispersal ability

V. Milana, L. Sola, E. Angiulli, A.R. Rossi ¹

Species inhabiting fragmented environments characterized by limited dispersal capabilities, are particularly exposed to the effects of genetic drift, and thus often show high levels of genetic divergence and local adaptation. These characteristics make them particularly suitable to investigate the evolutionary mechanisms of differentiation and, ultimately, microevolution. Atherina boyeri is a typical species of these environments, as it is one of the most common inhabitants of brackish waters of Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic, with introduced populations in several lakes. This study aimed to assess the genetic differentiation of A. boyeri lagoon populations, to infer the possible geographic origin of introduced populations, and to compare the genetic variability of native and introduced ones.
To achieve these goals ten microsatellite loci were examined in 428 specimens from three Italian lakes and 11 lagoons along the Italian and Albanian coasts. The results obtained indicate a strong population structure with geographic base. The population clustering, and the reduced gene flow detected among lagoons, is attributable to the low dispersal capabilities of the species. This implies that the populations are substantially self-replenished on a local scale, thus favouring their isolation and the effect of genetic drift.
In this picture, genetic results here reported suggest that lagoon big-scale sand smelts do not constitute a single panmittic unit. As far as lake samples, all show a reduction of genetic variability, probably attributable to founder events, and their origin could be reconnected to Tyrrhenian lagoons. Data obtained, besides the useful contribution for the comprehension of the evolutionary mechanism of genetic differentiation, provide pivotal indications for the correct management and conservation of lagoon environments.

1 Department of Biology and Biotechnology, ‘Sapienza’, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

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Mitochondrial inheritance and germline determination in a bivalve species with doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI)

L. Milani, F. Ghiselli, G. Maurizii, M. Passamonti ¹

Metazoan mitochondria are inherited maternally, but a noteworthy exception is Doubly Uniparental Inheritance (DUI). In DUI males, during zygote segmentation, sperm mitochondria (M) aggregate and end up in the primordial germ cells, thereafter being transmitted through sperm, while they degrade in females, which transmit egg mitochondria only (F). The molecular dynamics of this segregation are unknown, but they are thought to be similar to those selecting mitochondria to enter the germline of all metazoans (i.e. the “mitochondrial bottleneck”).
Moreover, a role of M mitochondria in germline determination has been proposed for DUI. Using in vivo staining, we confirmed the M displacement pattern in Venerupis philippinarum, a well-known DUI species. We also evidenced a role of microtubules in the movement of M mitochondria in male embryos: actually, a microtubule bunch is formed next to the cleavage furrow, where sperm mitochondria are localized. Moreover, we searched by TEM for a cytoplasm cloud-like material called nuage, which is transferred to germ cells only and includes specific proteins (i.e. Vasa-like proteins), miRNAs and other post-transcriptional regulatory elements. The nuage is normally located in the chromatoid body (Cb) in spermatocytes, and in the Balbiani body (Bb) or mitochondrial cloud in developing oocytes.
There are evidences that some of the Bb-associated mitochondria are taken up by primordial germ cells, suggesting a selection for a specific sub-population of mitochondria to be transmitted to offspring. We identified both Cb and Bb by TEM analyses on V. philippinarum gonads, but, surprisingly, two Bb were found. Further analyses are planned to verify whether this unusual characteristic is related to DUI or not. All that considered, DUI is an useful model system to study mitochondrial inheritance, because of the unique chance to analyze separately two distinct mitochondrial lineages, understanding where they localize and which ones enter the germline.

1 Dipartimento BES, Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

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Altitude adaptation in Cardamine

L. Ometto, L. Bresadola, M. Li, C. Varotto ¹

As sessile organisms, plants are forced to cope with circadian and seasonal changes in both the type and levels of environmental stress. In response, plants have developed a series of physiological adaptations that involve the up-regulation of hundreds of genes. The activation mechanism and the identity of some of these genes are quite known in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana. However, little is known about the importance of stress responsive genes (SRG) in the adaptation to high altitude, where, for example, temperature drops are a common source of stress. To this purpose, we studied the molecular evolution of SRG in two Arabidopsis relatives adapted to disjoint altitudinal ranges: Cardamine resedifolia, which typically grows above 1800 m of altitude, and C. impatiens, normally found below 1200 m. First we sequenced and identified about 3,000 sets of ortholog genes, including many SRG. Then, based on each gene sequence evolution pattern (i.e. d_N/d_S ratio) we assessed the rate of molecular evolution and the eventual action of positive selection. Genes involved in stress response show signature of adaptive evolution in both Cardamine species.
For instance, the rate of molecular evolution is significantly faster for SRG (and for cold responsive genes alone) than for the other genes. However, the rate of molecular evolution for SRG does not differ between C. impatiens and C. resedifolia, suggesting that only some genes or their expression are important in conferring high altitude adaptation to C. resedifolia. When analyzed singularly, few genes show signatures of positive selection or differential species-specific evolution. This hints to pervasive adaptive evolution of SRG or/and of ancient episodes of adaptive evolution in the two Cardamine species.

1 IASMA Research and Innovation Centre, Environment and Natural Resources Area, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all’Adige (TN), Italy.

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Drosophila melanogaster as model species for studying host defense in invertebrates

F. Paparazzo¹

Drosophila melanogaster is a model species for studying host defense in invertebrates. The fungus Beauveria bassiana (Cordycipitaceae) is a generalist enthomopatogen and variability in resistance to infection has been reported both within and between D. melanogaster populations. Host and parasite populations from Africa, Asia and Europe will be used to investigate variability in resistance to infection and host parasite interactions. Variability in resistance genes expression profile will be assessed and selection at candidate genes will be studied at a population level.
The results of a side experiment addressing the latitudinal effect on host parasite interactions are reported. A tropical (Drosophila ananassae) and a temperate (Drosophila pseudoobscura) species are infected with temperate and tropical B. bassiana strains and mortality rates are recorded.

1 Section of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Biology 2, Ludwig Maximillians University, Munich, Germany.

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Evolution as a unifying concept in natural science

A. Pederzoli¹, R. Guidetti¹, C. Fioroni², P. Fregni², L. Pini³, S. Sinceri¹, P. Veronesi¹

In teaching natural science, a real integration among the different disciplinary subjects rarely exists. Teachers are not accustomed to planning their lessons with a multidisciplinary approach. In particular at high school level, teachers with different educational training (biologists, geologists, chemists) can teach the same subject-matter with different point of view, privileging or disregarding some aspects. Evolution is a unifying concept in natural science as it explains the basic mechanisms to understand the Natural Word and it is particularly suitable for a multidisciplinary educational approach.
We settled an experimental project of alternative didactic in the form of scientific integrated laboratory to students of the School of Specialization for the Secondary Teaching (SSIS) of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The teaching activities were implemented by a Project Based Learning strategy. According this method the teacher presents a problem (find a valid method for a multidisciplinary approach to evolution) and the students, working in group (cooperative learning strategy), have to find the subject-matters for the solution (problem solving). The teacher has to be a mentor rather than a source of solutions. The project can be schematized in four phases.
1. elaboration of conceptual maps (software C-map tool) in small groups. Members of each group had different scientific degree to create a heterogeneous team.
2. presentation, comparison and discussion of each map in plenary session to realize a sharing map on evolution in which the relationship between biological and geological basic concepts were emphasized. Conceptual maps are fundamental planning instruments for their explicit description of the concepts.
3. transformation of the sharing map in a didactic project indicating the actions for a realistic teaching proposal.
4. realization by each group of a poster on a specific theme based on the biological and geological concepts of the sharing map.
In this experimental project the students of SSIS played both the role of teachers (steps 1, 2, 3) and of students(step 4) and the resulting products were original and of good quality.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia.
2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra.
3 Scuola di Specializzazione per l’Insegnamento Secondario - Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy.

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Influence of the cellular endoparasite Midichloria mitocondrii on the mitochondrial genetic diversity in Ixodes ricinus tick

D. Porretta¹, V. Mastrantonio¹, S. Epis², C. Bandi², D. Sassera², D. Pistone², L. Kramer³, L. Rinaldi⁴, C. Genchi², S. Urbanelli¹

Occurrence of intracellular bacteria is widespread in arthropods and other invertebrates. These symbionts can play an important role in shaping mtDNA evolution. As mtDNA is a marker of choice for reconstructing historical patterns of population demography, biogeography and speciation, the indirect selection on this molecule from linkage disequilibrium with maternally inherited symbionts could have an impact on all these issues. Ixodes ricinus (Acari, Ixodidae) is a mayor vector of human and animal diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, ehrlichiosis and babesiosis.
Recently, it has been found to harbour an intracellular alpha-proteobacterium, namely Midichloria mitochondrii. The bacterium is localized both in the cytoplasm and intermembrane space of the mitochondria of ovarian cells. It is the only prokaryote known to exist within the mitochondria of any animal or multicellular organism and is the most prevalent and widely spread symbiont ever associated with Ixodes ricinus complex ticks. In order to investigate whether Midichloria could have played a role in shaping mtDNA evolution of I. ricinus, here we investigated mitochondrial DNA diversity and the infection pattern of Midichloria in tick populations across the geographic range of the species.

1 Department of Environmental Biology University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy.
2 Department of Veterinary Pathology Hygiene and Public Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
3 Department of Veterinary Anatomic Pathology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
4 Department of Pathology and Animal Health, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.

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Modelling Bluefin Tuna Mediterranean sea colonization through ABC

G. Riccioni¹

The aim of this study is to analyse different models describing demographic scenarios of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna in the Mediterranean Sea using an ABC approach to model the complex dynamics of this pelagic fish. Indeed, in spite of recent progress due to genetic surveys and intensive electronic tagging experiments, its spatial dynamics are still partially unknown. These complex dynamics are difficult to explore with classical population genetics tools (likelihood-based or Bayesian methods) because of the lack of flexibility required to describe these scenarios. Moreover in a recent study (Riccioni et al. 2010 ) we could not ascertain thoroughly the presence of signals of bottleneck in the Mediterranean sea as the results are not fully coherent and each subpopulation shows its own demographic history.
In reason of these difficulties we propose to determine if these results describe the real ecological and demographic history of ABFT using ABC to test different scenarios taking into account the colonization of the Mediterranean sea (~ 12000 ya) (Alvarado Bremer et al. 2005).
Indeed Pleistocene glaciations may have limited inter-oceanic gene flow and reproduction of Atlantic bluefin tuna. Oceanographic studies suggest that temperatures in the Mediterranean during the LGM most likely prevented bluefin tuna reproduction (sea surface temperature lower than 24°C). Therefore we can hypothesize a more recent re-colonization of the Mediterranean sea by ABFT during the Holocene. The small scale structuring detected in the Mediterranean sea suggest a possible split into several partially independent subpopulations in this basin.
This kind of complex scenario can be compared to alternative ones with ABC enabling the identification of the model that better reproduces the current genetic diversity.

1 Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.

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Mitochondrial DNA variability of the black-striped pipefish Syngnathus abaster in the Mediterranean sea

D. Sanna¹, F. Biagi¹, B. Alaya Hajer⁵, A. Romero³, J. De Juan³, J.-P. Quignard⁴, P. Franzoi², P. Torricelli², M. Carcupino¹, P. Francalacci¹

Syngnathids are abundant and widespread in marine and brackish seagrass habitats, but their weak swimming ability restricts the potential for dispersal. Only a few papers have dealt with the population genetics of syngnathids. The aim of this study was to provide data on mitochondrial DNA variation of Syngnathus abaster, in the Mediterranean sea. We analysed both control (HVS-II) and coding regions (12S, 16S and Cytochrome b). Overall, 136 specimens were sampled from 12 sites distributed along coasts of Italy (Sardinia, Latium and Venetian lagoon), France (Corsica, Montpellier lagoon and Marseille lagoon), Spain (Mar Menor lagoon) and North Africa (Tunisis lagoon). Sequences obtained from all the mitochondrial regions investigated were pooled to obtain a unique dataset. Results evidenced the occurrence of three main groups correspondent to three areas of the Mediterranean basin different for environmental and ecological parameters (western Mediterranean, eastern Mediterranean and Adriatic sea). Even if a low level of genetic divergence among populations characterised each cluster, there is no occurrence of haplotype sharing among the sites. This finding suggests that genetic settlement has undergone an independent development at each geographic location. The results obtained agree with the genetic differentiation that commonly occur within populations from western and eastern Mediterranean, due to the present and historical ecological and geological barriers which separate the two basins. On the other hand, such results may account for an unidirectional colonization of the Mediterranean basin according to the linear stepping stone model.

1 Dipartimento di Zoologia e Genetica Evoluzionistica, Università di Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università Cà Foscari, Venezia, Italy.
3 Departamento de Biotecnología. Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain.
4 Laboratoire d’Ichthyologie, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
5 Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université Tunis El Manar, Tunisis, Tunisia.

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Education and research activities in biodiversity and evolution at WWF environmental education center “Villa Paolina” of Asti

F. Scalfari¹, E. Caprio², G. Baldizzone³

The Environmental Education Center “Villa Paolina” is placed in the north of the city of Asti, at the beginning of the NATURE2000 site IT1 170002 “Valmanera”; it is surrounded by a 10 ha park, with dry meadows, bushes, a portion of Valmanera stream and some forests.
In the center are developed many kinds of activities: education addressed to schools, workshop co-operation, design and development of external projects, permanent courses and training for adults, several scientific research in self managed protected areas, such as action plans, monitoring of birds, insects and vegetation. The center has become a leading WWF environmental education center at national scale and is one of the information point of an ecoregional project of WWF-Italy, in particular the so called “biocorridoio appenninico” a part of Appenine that starts from Appennino Tosco-Emiliano National Park to Maritime Alps.
These activities are developed using the most updated techniques and will be based on: methods of study and identification of principal Taxa, techniques of sampling, preparation and conservation of samples, methodology of floristic and faunistic censuses, statistical analysis, Geographic Information Systems analysis and data base management, application of results of data analysis.
One of the most ambitious projects we’re carrying on is to create a School of Biodiversity with the collaboration of the Universities and Departments of Biology and Life Sciences of Piedmont. Biodiversity School activities are developed as follows: professionals courses for stakeholders and technicians; interregional coordination center for the study of Biodiversity, in collaborations with similar centers working in other regions and countries; permanent field station for field studies activities; master on biodiversity and evolution and summer school, started in 2005, in Biodiversity, Evolution, Environment with the intent to orienteer high school students to university studies in natural science, biology and environmental science.

1 Polo Universitario di Asti, Asti, Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell’Uomo, Università degli Studi di Torino, Torino, Italy.
3 Centro di Educazione Ambientale WWF “Villa Paolina”, Asti, Italy.

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Alternative reproductive strategies and fitness in hermaphrodites

D. Schleicherova, M.C. Lorenzi, G. Sella ¹

The outcrossing hermaphrodite, Ophryotrocha diadema, is a small microscopic polychaete worm (2-3 mm long) with external fertilization. Paired hermaphrodites reproduce by pseudocopulation, a behaviour interpreted as egg trading. Since sperm are immotile, during pseudocopulation individuals stay in close physical contact. However, in a laboratory strain of O. diadema exist also individuals (functional males) that mate only in the male role fertilizing partner’s eggs.
Despite they exhibit an hermaphroditic phenotype (i.e. they have mature oocytes), they never spawn them. Therefore, functional males act only as males and allocate no resources at all to the female function. Thus, in the first experiment, we verified if there is a significant difference in the number of sperm produced by functional males and by hermaphrodites. Our results document that there is no significant difference in the number of sperm.
In the second experiment we investigated if there is a significant difference in the ability of fertilization (paternity) between functional males and hermaphrodites. To this aim we set up 2 experimental groups (1. functional male with yy-dominant phenotype and 2 hermaphrodites with ww-recessive phenotype/ bowl; 2. hermaphrodite with yy-dominant phenotype and 2 hermaphrodites with ww-recessive phenotype/ bowl). Paternity was assigned through colour-phenotype of offspring. Our results show that there is a high significant difference in the ability of fertilization between functional males and hermaphrodites due probably to more efficient competition of functional males with hermaphrodites.
Thus, our results also document an important aspect of behavioural interactions of functional males in the hermaphroditic O. diadema population.

1 Department of Animal and Human Biology, University of Turin, Italy

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Adaptation and diversity along an altitudinal gradient in Ethiopian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces revealed by molecular analysis

T. Tanto Hadado^1,2, D. Rau^1,3, E. Bitocchi¹, R. Papa¹

To determine the level and pattern of genetic variation in barley (Hordeum vulgare L. ) landraces from North Shewa zone, in the central highlands of Ethiopia, the genetic variability at seven nuclear microsatellite loci was examined. Analysis was carried out on a total of 106 landrace populations sampled in two growing seasons (Meher and Belg, the long and short rainy season, respectively), across three districts (Ankober, Mojanawadera and Tarmaber), and, within each district, all along an altitudinal gradient (from 1798 to 3324 m a.s.l). Genetic variation has been ascribed to differences between altitudinal classes (F_ST = 0.10) more than between seasons or among districts (F_ST = 0.02).
The most relevant outcome of the experiment is that altitude level largely overrides geographical distance as main cause of divergence among individual plants. Moreover, results also suggest that the patterns of clinal variation among districts and seasons are inconsistent with a simple model drift and dispersal (seed exchange). They suggested instead a role for historical patterns of colonization, or, alternatively, present-day selective forces acting on some of the SSR analysed.

1 Sezione di Agronomia e Genetica Agraria, Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali e delle Produzioni Vegetali (SAPROV), Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
2 Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, Addis Abab, Ethiopia.
3 Dipartimento di Scienze Agronomiche e Genetica Vegetale Agraria, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Sassari, Italy.

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Biogeographic history of the species complex Basileuterus culicivorus (Aves, Parulidae) in the neotropics

S. Torres Vilaça, F. Rodrigues Santos ¹

The taxonomic status of Basileuterus culicivorus complex has been under debate for a long time. There are uncertainties about the relationships among recognized species (B. culicivorus and B. hypoleucus), and whether B. culicivorus can be considered as a single species. Although there are several genetics studies within the Parulidae family, only a few sampled Neotropical resident species.
In order to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among these species and their biogeographic history we used a broad geographic sampling from Mexico to Argentina of B. culicivorus and B. hypoleucus using a mitochondrial gene (Cytochrome b), a nuclear intron (intron 5 of β-fibrinogen) and five microsatellites, a total of 150 samples were typed.
Phylogenetic reconstructions identified highly structured groups according to their spatial distribution. The basal position of northern clades suggest a origin on the North of B. culicivorus distribution.
The known subspecies of B. culicivorus formed monophyletic groups, except two ones from Brazil and Paraguay. Basileuterus hypoleucus sequences did not form a monophyletic clade, being more related to B. culicivorus from Brazil and Paraguay. The divergence time analysis indicated that the deep separation of the basal lineages of B. culicivorus occurred in Late Pliocene. Contrasting with the other geographically structured populations from Central and South America, the clade of birds from Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina showed a remarkably high population growth starting in the mid-Pleistocene, according to the most plausible evolutionary scenario expected for parulid birds of a range expansion directed southwards.

1 Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.