Joaquin Muñoz

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

Habitat anthropization is a powerful stressor affecting the health and fitness of organisms, ultimately impacting their population dynamics. In vertebrates, stressful living conditions are usually associated with elevated glucocorticoids-based responses (GCs) as well as shorter telomeres, which are in turn associated with decreased overall body con...

Understanding the genotype–phenotype map and how variation at different levels of biological organization is associated are central topics in modern biology. Fast developments in sequencing technologies and other molecular omic tools enable researchers to obtain detailed information on variation at DNA level and on intermediate endophenotypes, such...

Understanding the genotype - phenotype map and how variation at different levels of biological organization are associated are central topics in modern biology. Fast developments in sequencing technologies and other molecular omic tools enable researchers to obtain detailed information on variation at DNA level and on intermediate endophenotypes, s...

After the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), populations of animal and plant species began to recolonise northern available habitats departing from Pleistocene refuges. Red deer (Cervus elaphus), the most widespread species of wild ungulate in the Palearctic, has been used as a model to address questions related to cryptic refuges in Europe, population st...

Inbreeding depression is often intensified under environmental stress (i.e. inbreeding‐stress interaction). While the fitness consequences of this phenomenon are well‐described, underlying mechanisms such as an increased expression of deleterious alleles under stress, or a lower capacity for adaptive responses to stress with inbreeding, have rarely...

Strong sexual dimorphism is commonly observed across species and, e.g., trade-offs between reproduction and maintenance are thought to explain this dimorphism. Here we test how the metabolic and functional phenotypic responses to varying types of environmental stress differ in male and female Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae), and ho...

Runs of homozygosity (ROH), uninterrupted stretches of homozygous genotypes resulting from parents transmitting identical haplotypes to their offspring, have emerged as informative genome-wide estimates of autozygosity (inbreeding). We used genomic profiles based on 698 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) from nine breeds of domestic cattle (Bos...

The keystone aquatic herbivore Daphnia has been studied for more than 150 years in the context of evolution, ecology and ecotoxicology. Although it is rapidly becoming an emergent model for environmental and population genomics, there have been limited genome-wide level studies in natural populations. We report a unique resource of novel Single Nuc...

FIGURE S1: Manhattan plot and plots of frequency of SNP in a ROH in the range 500Kb - 15Mb. Chromosomes 2, 3, 7, 14 and 16 are shown. FIGURE S2: Manhattan plot and plots of frequency of SNP in a ROH in the range > 15Mb. Chromosomes 6, 9 and 20 are shown. TABLE S1: Summary table showing the genes identified in the screened regions, their function an...

Todos sabemos que Doñana es desde hace décadas un laboratorio a cielo abierto ideal para estudiar los procesos naturales y los sistemas ecológicos. Lo que quizás muy pocos conozcan es que una de las investigaciones más apasionantes que acoge tiene como protagonistas a mosquitos, aves silvestres y parásitos sanguíneos. Nos referimos a la malaria avi...

Understanding wildlife disease ecology is becoming an urgent need due to the continuous emergence and spread of several wildlife zoonotic diseases. West Nile Virus (WNV) is the most widespread arthropod-borne virus in the world, and in recent decades there has been an increase both in geographic range, and in the frequency of symptomatic infections...

Background: The low prevalence of blood parasites in some bird species may be related to the habitats they frequent, the inexistence of the right host-parasite assemblage or the immunological capacity of the host. Here, we assess the parasite load of breeding populations of Eleonora's falcon (Falco eleonorae), a medium-sized long-distance migratory...

Background The invasive Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus has dramatically expanded its distribution range, being catalogued as one of the world’s 100 worst invasive alien species. As vectors of pathogens, Ae. albopictus may create novel epidemiological scenarios in the invaded areas. Methods Here, the frequency of encounters of Ae. albopictus...

Cysts of the brine shrimp Artemia franciscana are harvested from the Great Salt Lake (GSL) and San Francisco Bay saltworks (SFB) in the U.S.A, and marketed worldwide to provide live food for aquaculture. This species has become invasive across several countries. We investigated (1) if the introduced populations in the Mediterranean region could hav...

Recent studies highlighted the potential role of cryptic glacial refugia for temperate taxa in Europe beyond the Mediterranean peninsulas. To further investigate phylogeographic features of the European pine marten (Martes martes) in previously identified cryptic refugia located in Central-Western Europe, we analyzed the hyper-variable diagnostic f...

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) hosts the most polymorphic genes ever described in vertebrates. The MHC triggers the adaptive branch of the immune response, and its extraordinary variability is considered an evolutionary consequence of pathogen pressure. The last few years have witnessed the characterization of the MHC multigene family i...

Since Darwin's time, waterbirds have been considered an important vector for the dispersal of continental aquatic invertebrates. Bird movements have facilitated the worldwide invasion of the American brine shrimp Artemia franciscana, transporting cysts (diapausing eggs), and favouring rapid range expansions from introduction sites. Here we address...

The heterogeneity in parasite transmission rates can have important consequences for the evolution of virulence of parasites. The study of interaction between avian malaria parasites-mosquitoes-birds is an excellent model to identify these evolutionary mechanisms. Although mosquitoes are crucial elements in the transmission of avian malaria parasit...

Haemosporidians, a group of vector-borne parasites that include Plasmodium, infect vertebrates including birds. Although mosquitoes are crucial elements in the transmission of avian malaria parasites, little is known of their ecology as vectors. We examined the presence of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus lineages in five mosquito species belonging to t...

Earlier migration in males than in females is the commonest pattern in migrating passerines and is positively related to size dimorphism and dichromatism. The early arrival of males is a costly trait that may confer reproductive advantages in terms of better territories and/or mates. Given the physiological cost of migration, early migrants are tho...

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which harbours the most polymorphic vertebrate genes, plays a critical role in the host–pathogen coevolutionary arms race. However, the extent to which MHC diversity determines disease susceptibility and long-term persistence of populations is currently under debate, as recent studies have demonstrated th...

Mosquito feeding behaviour determines the degree of vector-host contact and may have a serious impact on the risk of West Nile virus (WNV) epidemics. Feeding behaviour also interacts with other biotic and abiotic factors that affect virus amplification and transmission. We identified the origin of blood meals in five mosquito species from three dif...

An extended area of northern Italy has experienced several West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks and the emergence of Usutu virus (USUV) during previous years. Our aim was to study some of the factors that could explain disease patterns in the Trentino region, where circulation was detected in human sera and sentinel chickens, but no human or equine case...

Surveillance, research and control of mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus require efficient methods for sampling mosquitoes. We compared the efficacy of BG-Sentinel and CDC-CO2 traps in terms of the abundances of host-seeking and blood-fed female mosquitoes, and the origin of mosquito bloodmeals. Our results indicate that BGS traps that...

The feeding patterns of haematophagous arthropods are of major importance in the amplification and transmission of infectious disease agents to vertebrate hosts, including humans. The establishment of new vector populations in nonnative range might alter transmission networks. The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Skuse) represents an example...

Somebody still says that West Nile virus is not representing a significant threat and burden for public health in Europe. The incidence and number of human deaths compared to other infectious diseases is in fact much lower, although the cost for its prevention and control (which include also the screening on blood donors and organ transplantation)...

[This corrects the article on p. e7092 in vol. 4.].

Background: Understanding the evolutionary origin and the phylogeographic patterns of asexual taxa can shed light on the origin and maintenance of sexual reproduction. We assessed the geographic origin, genetic diversity, and phylogeographic history of obligate parthenogen diploid Artemia parthenogenetica populations, a widespread halophilic crust...

The genus Artemia comprises passively dispersed anostracan species with a distribution all around the world, except in Antarctica. We used both published and personal data to assess and update existing knowledge on the diversity and distribution of Artemia, in particular compiling also genetic and geographic information. Our results indicate there...

Inland wetlands are worldwide distributed and have been heavily impacted in recent decades by human activities such as commerce, recreation, and food sources. The direct consequences of these activities on aquatic systems are changes in hydrology and salinity alterations, and the introduction of exotic species. Recent large-scale ecological and gen...

Emerging infectious diseases represent a challenge for global economies and public health. About one fourth of the last pandemics have been originated by the spread of vector-borne pathogens. In this sense, the advent of modern molecular techniques has enhanced our capabilities to understand vector-host interactions and disease ecology. However, ho...

The meridional serotine bat Eptesicus isabellinus is found in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. We analyzed the genetic structure of E. isabellinus at two different geographic scales to reveal the historical and ecological patterns that have shaped its populations. The role of the Straits of Gibraltar as an isolating barrier between African a...

The brine shrimp Artemia is a complex genus containing sexual species and parthenogenetic lineages. Artemia franciscana is native to America and its cysts (diapausing eggs) are used worldwide as a food source in aquaculture. As a consequence, this anostracan has become an invasive species in many hypersaline aquatic ecosystems of other continents....

Here we study genetic differentiation and changes over time in genetic variability in the rare pine marten Martes martes. Samples from three isolated geographic regions: Jutland and Sealand (Denmark) and southern Scania (southernmost Sweden), were genotyped by sequencing the hypervariable domain of the mitochondria control region. Both recent and m...

We describe 12 new polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci and multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction conditions from the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta. Levels of polymorphism were assessed in 50 individuals from the nesting population of the Cape Verde Islands. Number of alleles ranged from 3 to 13 (average of 7.33) and the values of obs...

There has been a recent appreciation of the ecological impacts of zooplanktonic species invasions. The North American brine shrimp Artemia franciscana is one such alien invader in hyper-saline water ecosystems at a global scale. It has been shown to outcompete native Artemia species, leading to their local extinction. We used partial sequences of t...

We describe the application of a simple, low-cost, and effective method of DNA extraction (hot sodium hydroxide and Tris, HotSHOT) to the diapausing propagules of continental aquatic invertebrates for its use in PCR amplification. We illustrate the use of the technique in cladocerans, rotifers, anostracans, notostracans, and copepod diapausing eggs...

A spatio-temporal study of genetic variation in the Danish pine marten (Martes martes) populations from the Jutland peninsula and from the island of Sealand was performed using 11 microsatellite markers. Samples obtained from 1892 to 2003 were subdivided into historical (prior to 1970) and recent (from 1970) groups. As compared with the historical...

The region around the Strait of Gibraltar is considered to be one of the most relevant ‘hot spots’ of biodiversity in the Mediterranean Basin due to its historical, biogeographical, and ecological features. Prominent among these is its role as a land bridge for the migration and differentiation of species during the Pleistocene, as a consequence of...

Recent papers mention ideas on the topics of biodiversity conservation strategies and priorities (Redford et al. 2003; Lamoreux et al. 2006; Rodrı´guez et al. 2006), the current status of biodiversity (Loreau et al. 2006), the obligations of conservation biologists regarding management policies (Chapron 2006; Schwartz 2006), and the main threats to...

The Andalusian hemipode (Turnix sylvatica sylvatica) (Order: Turniciformes, Family: Turnicidae), formerly distributed in several Mediterranean countries, is a critically endangered bird, if not already extinct. Subspecies of the T. sylvatica complex, in turn composed by nine subspecies are widely distributed in Africa and southern Asia. The last fr...

Long-eared bats of the genus Plecotus are widespread and common over most of the western Palaearctic. Based on recent molecular evidence, they proved to represent a complex of several cryptic species, with three new species being described from Europe in 2002. Evolutionary relationships among the different lineages are still fragmentary because of...

We use two mitochondrial DNA fragments with different substitution rates (cytochrome b gene and the control region) to address the following phylogeographic questions about western Palaearctic populations of the barbastelle bat (Barbastella barbastella): 1) Do the Iberian populations of barbastelles show any genetic discontinuity associated with it...