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Publications
Publications (230)
Hybridization and introgression have played important roles in the history of various species, including lineage diversification and the evolution of adaptive traits. Hybridization can accelerate the development of reproductive isolation between diverging species, and thus valuable insight into the evolution of reproductive barrier formation may be...
Historical exploitation, and a combination of current anthropogenic impacts, such as climate change and habitat degradation, impact the population dynamics of marine mammalian megafauna. Right whales (Eubalaena spp.) are large cetaceans recovering from hunting, whose reproductive and population growth rate appear to be impacted by climate change. W...
The present phylogeographic pattern of red deer in Eurasia is not only a result of the contraction of their distribution range into glacial refugia and postglacial expansion, but probably also an effect of replacement of some red deer s.l. mtDNA lineages by others during the last 50 000 years. To better recognize this process, we analysed 501 seque...
The discovery of antibiotics more than 80 years ago has led to considerable
improvements in human and animal health. Although antibiotic resistance in
environmental bacteria is ancient, resistance in human pathogens is thought to be a
modern phenomenon that is driven by the clinical use of antibiotics1. Here we show
that particular lineages of meth...
The Sicilian wolf represented the only population of wolves living on a Mediterranean island until the first half of the twentieth century (1930s-1960s) 1–7 . Previous studies hypothesised that they remained isolated from mainland wolves from the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 8,9 , until human persecutions led them to extinction 1–7 .
There...
Aim
The aim of the study was to assess the effect of changes in population size and migration on variation in functional immunity genes in the previously bottlenecked population of the grey wolf, Canis lupus.
Location
Eastern/Central Europe: Poland, Czechia, Slovakia.
Methods
We genotyped 7 immunity genes: three MHC-DLA genes (dog leukocyte antig...
The gray wolf Canis lupus range in central Europe is dynamically expanding, reconnecting previously isolated populations. Thus, a recent paper has proposed to merge the current Baltic and Central European (CE) wolf management units, which are no longer isolated by distance. However, recent genetic findings indicate that these two populations are no...
PurposeRestored role of the grey wolf in ecological networks of newly recolonized areas can be studied via surveys of parasite communities of this predator. As helminths circulating in multi-host systems, the tapeworms directly reflect wolves’ diet, while some species are also important from the One Health perspective. The Czech experienced centuri...
Aim: The Expansion-Contraction model has been used to explain the responses of species to climatic changes. During periods of unfavourable climatic conditions, species retreat to refugia from where they may later expand. This paper focuses on the palaeoecology of red deer over the past 54 ka across Europe and the Urals, to reveal patterns of change...
Rapid anthropogenic environmental change is expected to impact a host of ecological parameters in Southern Ocean ecosystems. Of critical concern are the consequences of these changes on the range of species that show fidelity to migratory destinations , as philopatry is hypothesized to help or hinder adaptation to climate change depending on the ci...
Lyme borreliosis (LB), caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) complex, is one of the most common vector-borne zoonotic diseases in Europe. Knowledge about the enzootic circulation of Borrelia pathogens between ticks and their vertebrate hosts is epidemiologically important and enables assessment of the health risk for t...
Hedgehogs, as medium-sized plantigrade insectivores with low basal metabolic rates and related defensive anti-predator strategies, are quite sensitive to temperature and ecosystem productivity. Their ranges therefore changed dramatically due to Pleistocene climate oscillations, resulting in allopatric speciation and the subsequent formation of seco...
Hedgehogs are among the most abundant species to be found within wildlife shelters and after successful rehabilitation they are frequently translocated. The effects and potential impact of these translocations on gene flow within wild populations are largely unknown. In this study, different wild hedgehog populations were compared with artificially...
Roosts provide bats with place for daytime sheltering, protection from weather and predators, mating, and social interaction. Movements between multiple roosts are often necessary, either due to limited roost life, changes in roost conditions or demands at different times of the year. Information transfer is an important contributor to day‐roosting...
As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-...
Animals are faced with a range of ecological constraints that shape their behavioural decisions. Habitat features that affect resource abundance will also have an impact, especially as regards spatial distribution, which will in turn affect associations between the animals. Here we utilised a network approach, using spatial and genetic data, to des...
Analyses of museum specimens can help illuminate temporal changes in wildlife genetics and distributions, and the objective of our study was to evaluate the suitability of skin samples from the past century for genomic analyses. We examined two European species with extensive genomic resources and existing data: the wild boar (Sus scrofa) and the w...
is a cave-dwelling bat species with a wide distribution in the western Palearctic spanning southern and central Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. We investigated the social structure and its effects on the genetic makeup of this species, using 10 nuclear microsatellite markers and a partial fragment of the mitochond...
Conventional monitoring tools are seldom effective for studying the ecology of rare and elusive mammals. In the present study, we use automated ultrasound detectors to provide information about seasonal activity of the greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus), the largest and one of least known European bats. We selected localities within Central...
Cesky Fousek is considered to be one of the oldest pointing dog breeds in Europe and has been appreciated for its versatile working skills. Because it faced extinction in the past, the Cesky Fousek was restored from German Wirehaired and Shorthaired Pointers. Additionally, the breed was recently used in the USA with the initial intent of improvemen...
The impact of Pleistocene climatic oscillations on tropical biomes is associated with changes in the extent of forest cover. Fruit bats have played a role in woodland dynamics via pollination and seed dispersal. We hypothesized that phylogeographic patterns of Rousettus on continental Africa and adjacent islands should show a signature of pluvial‐d...
Anthropogenic hybridization is widely perceived as a threat to the conservation of biodiversity. Nevertheless, to date, relevant policy and management interventions are unresolved and highly convoluted. While this is due to the inherent complexity of the issue, we hereby hypothesize that a lack of agreement concerning management goals and approache...
Background
Genomic methods can provide extraordinary tools to explore the genetic background of wild species and domestic breeds, optimize breeding practices, monitor and limit the spread of recessive diseases, and discourage illegal crossings. In this study we analysed a panel of 170k Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with a combination of multivari...
Endogenous retrovirus (ERV) sequences provide a rich source of information about the long-term interactions between retroviruses and their hosts. However, most ERVs are derived from a subset of retrovirus groups, while ERVs derived from certain other groups remain extremely rare. In particular, only a single ERV sequence has been identified that sh...
Population fragmentation represents a leitmotif of conservation biology, but the impact of population reconnection is less well studied. The recent recolonization of large carnivores in Europe is a good model for studying this phenomenon. We aim to show novel data regarding distribution and population genetic structure of the grey wolf in Central E...
Understanding the ecological, behavioral and evolutionary response of organisms to changing environments is of primary importance in a human-altered world. It is crucial to elucidate how human activities alter gene flow and what are the consequences for the genetic structure of a species. We studied two lineages of the Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus...
The survival of isolated small populations is threatened by both demographic and genetic factors. Large carnivores declined for centuries in most of Europe due to habitat changes, overhunting of their natural prey and direct persecution. However, the current rewilding trends are driving many carnivore populations to expand again, possibly reverting...
Distribution of the concatenated multifragment mtDNA haplotypes in wolves sampled all over the world.
Country acronyms: IB = Iberian Peninsula; IT = Italy; HR = Croatia; SL = Slovenia; GR = Greece; BG = Bulgaria; PL = Poland; ES = Estonia; LA = Latvia; FI = Finland; UK = Ukraine; SW = Sweden; IR = Iran; OM = Oman; SA = Saudi Arabia; IS = Israel; IN...
ABC demographic scenarios and locations of the selected wolf populations.
(PDF)
Delta K values [29] obtained in Structure analyses of dog and wolf samples assuming K values from 1 to 15.
(PDF)
(A) NJ and (B) consensus ML mtDNA phylogenetic trees.
Details of clade A are highlighted in the top -left figures.
(PDF)
Phylogenetic tree of concatenated multi-fragment (control-region, ATP6, COIII and ND4) dog and wolf mtDNA haplotypes generated using a Bayesian procedure implemented in MrBayes [41].
A homologous concatenated sequence of Canis latrans (DQ480509) is used as an outgroup. Every node shows its posterior probability. Clade A, that includes the Italian w...
Model checking.
Pre-evaluation of scenario-prior combinations; direct and logistic regression comparison methods of the estimated posterior probabilities among scenarios and fit of the selected best scenarios (Sc2 and Sc4) with the observed data. PCA I and II plotted using 10.000 data points.
(PDF)
List of the wolf and dog samples analyzed in this study indicating: The country of origin, taxon, gender, mtDNA haplotypes at ATP6, COIII, ND4, CR and the concatenated multifragment sequences (MF).
The individual Bayesian clustering assignments were computed using Structure with K = 3, assuming that genotypes could have ancestry in a dog cluster (q...
Haplotype composition.
Detailed composition of the concatenated multifragment haplotypes.
(PDF)
Results of Bayesian clustering analyses of dog and wolf samples obtained by Structure assuming K values from 1 to 15.
Dog and wolf population samples are shown in the same sequence as in Fig 2: dogs (1), Italian wolves (2), Iberian wolves (3), Dinaric wolves (4), Balkanic wolves (5), Carpathian wolves (6), Baltic wolves (7).
(PDF)
Prior (red) and posterior (green) density distributions of posterior probability for the selected ABC parameters from scenarios 2 and 4.
(PDF)
Description of the genotyped autosomal (CFA) microsatellites (STR).
(PDF)
List of mtDNA sequences downloaded from the GenBank.
For every sample is shown: the accession number, country of origin of the sequenced sample (if available), taxon, dog breed (if available), and clade of memberships (BEAST analysis), and haplotypes at different genic regions.
(PDF)
DIYABC prior distributions for demographic parameters and mutation rates.
(PDF)
Model checking results for the best fitting scenario (SC2) based on 1,000 simulated datasets.
(PDF)
(A) Description of laboratory methods with details on primers and PCR profiles for all the genotyped markers and (B) Details on MrBayes and BEAST models.
(PDF)
S1 Appendix, S1-7 tables, S1-7 Figures
Although hedgehogs are well-known examples of postglacial recolonisation, the specific processes that shape their population structures have not been examined by detailed sampling and fast-evolving genetic markers in combination with model based clustering methods. This study aims to analyse the impacts of isolation within glacial refugia and of po...
Table of all used samples
Given are: country of origin, haplotype code, colour code in Geneland analysis, sucess of microsatellite gonotyping, used code for individual, coordinates and collectors.
The descriptive statistics of microsatellite genetic diversity in three populations of Erinaceus roumanicus, which were recognised by the Bayesian analysis using Structure
Number of alleles (Na), allelic richness ( AR), expected heterozygosity ( HE), observed heterozygosity ( HO), inbreeding coefficient ( FIS) are given for each population.
Table of microsatellite loci and control region primers
Table of microsatellite loci (Locus), their accession numbers (GenBank accession no.), annealing temperatures (Annealing temp.), fluorescent labels and repeat motifs. For control region, primers and annealing temperature are given.
Sizes of microsatellite alleles
Genotypes of 260 individuals
Background
Jackals are medium-sized canids from the wolf-like clade, exhibiting a unique combination of ancestral morphotypes, broad trophic niches, and close phylogenetic relationships with the wolf and dog. Thus, they represent a potential host of several pathogens with diverse transmission routes. Recently, populations of the Eurasian golden jac...
Significance
Retroviruses copy their RNA genome into complementary DNA, which is then inserted into the host chromosomal DNA as an obligatory part of their life cycle. Such integrated viral sequences, called proviruses, are passed to the infected cell progeny on cellular division. If germline cells are targeted, the proviruses become vertically inh...
Grey wolf (Canis lupus) has recovered its population in Kysce and Orava region in the Western Carpathians, Slovakia, in 1 980’s, but the species has not been locally studied in detail, although it is a subject of legal hunting in the region. Field mapping of tracks and scat, howling records, extensive camera trapping and genetic monitoring was used...
Cold tolerant species often exhibit specific responses to Pleistocene climate oscillations, including range expansions during glacial periods and altitudinal shifts between glacial and interglacial periods. Small terrestrial mammals are ideal candidates to study these processes due to their limited dispersal abilities, short generation time and rap...
The Czechoslovakian Wolfdog is a unique dog breed that originated from hybridization between German Shepherds and wild Carpathian wolves in the 1950s as a military experiment. This breed was used for guarding the Czechoslovakian borders during the cold war and is currently kept by civilian breeders all round the world. The aim of our study was to c...
Parameters of analysis in STRUCTURE for K1-K5.
(XLSX)
Genotypes and population size (N) after 25 generations of mating simulated using program BOTTLESIM.
(XLS)
Keywords: Chiroptera; cryptic taxa; glacial refugium; mtDNA; species diversity.
The Mediterranean Basin is typified by a high degree of species rarity and endemicity that reflects its position, geomorphology, and history. Although the composition and cryptic variation of the bat faunas from the Iberian and Balkan Peninsulas are relatively well stu...
The Mediterranean Basin is typified by a high degree of species rarity and endemicity that reflects its position, geomorphology, and history. Although the composition and cryptic variation of the bat faunas from the Iberian and Balkan Peninsulas are relatively well studied, data from the Apennine Peninsula are still incomplete. This is a significan...
Less than 200 wild individuals of the critically endangered Western Derby eland (Taurotragus derbianus derbianus) live in the Niokolo Koba National Park (NKNP) in Senegal. A semi-captive breeding programme was established in 2000 with six founding individuals (one male, five females) transferred from the NKNP. In 2013, the population consisted of 9...
Providing descriptive data on parasite diversity and load in sister species is a first step in addressing the role of host-parasite coevolution in the speciation process. In this study we compare the parasite faunas of the closely related hedgehog species Erinaceus europaeus and E. roumanicus from the Czech Republic where both occur in limited symp...
