Yoshiko Shimono

Kyoto University | Kyodai · Graduate School of Agriculture / Faculty of Agriculture

Understanding genomic characteristics, such as genetic diversity and genome size, is important because they relate to species and ecotype performance. Imperata cylindrica has two ecotypes, the common type (C‐type) and the early‐flowering type (E‐type), which differ in their ecological characteristics and distribution ranges in Japan. This study aim...

Invasive alien plants cause severe global problems; therefore, determining the factors that lead to the success or failure of invasion is a critical question in the field of invasion ecology. In this study, we aimed to determine the factors underlying differences in the distribution range of alien plants in Japan by investigating why Lolium multifl...

Coldwater‐adapted freshwater fishes, especially their populations along warm‐range margins, are most vulnerable to the climate oscillations associated with global warming. Stocking is a major strategy for avoiding the extinction of these species. However, while stocking can reverse the decline of isolated populations, it may also result in a loss o...

The great majority of studies on foundation species focused on a single dominant plant in a community, while more than one such species can often coexist and compete for space and limited resources. Morphologically different coexisting foundation species can create diverse niches occupied by different subsets of beneficiary species. To test this hy...

Lemna aequinoctialis Welw. is a widely spread species that has diverse physiological and molecular properties. Flower characteristics are important factors in deducing taxonomical status; however, owing to the rarity of flowering observations in Lemna, studying them has been a prolonged challenge. In this study, physiological and morphological anal...

Estimating the role of specific processes in the spread of alien species necessitates the determination of introduction pathways and source populations of invaded areas. Alien grasses in the genus Lolium that have extensively invaded Japan provide a unique opportunity to estimate the expansion process through direct comparison between source and na...

Lemna aequinoctialis Welw. is a widely spread species that has diverse physiological and molecular properties. In this study, physiological and morphological analyses were conducted by inducing flowering, and molecular analysis was done based on two chloroplast DNA loci ( atpF − atpH intergeneric spacer, matK ) of L . aequinoctialis sensu lato from...

Aim River system rearrangements such as stream capture play a crucial role in determining range expansion and gene flow of stream organisms between different watersheds. However, it is challenging to clarify the role of stream capture in dynamic landscapes where frequent connections and disconnections occur in stream networks. We hypothesized that...

The international grain trade is a major pathway for the introduction of alien plants because grain commodities can be contaminated with various weed seeds. To evaluate how alien weed seeds derived from imported grain commodities affect the local flora in international trading ports, we conducted a floristic survey at each of the 10 grain landing p...

Hybridization is a major source of phenotypic variation and a driving force for evolution. Although novel hybrid traits can often disrupt adaptive relationships between the parental phenotypes and their environments, how new hybrid traits disrupt local adaptation remains unclear. Here, we report how a new phenotype of hybrids between two Imperata c...

Although revegetation activities are often accompanied by extensive release of translocated or cultivated individuals into natural communities, their potential effects on native populations are relatively unclear. Understanding the original genetic structures in natural habitats and how the patterns have been maintained in populations at revegetati...

The evolution of herbicide resistance in weeds is an example of parallel evolution, through which genes encoding herbicide target proteins are repeatedly represented as evolutionary targets. The number of herbicide target‐site genes differs among species, and little is known regarding the effects of duplicate gene copies on the evolution of herbici...

The evolution of herbicide resistance in weeds is an example of parallel evolution, through which genes encoding herbicide target proteins are repeatedly represented as evolutionary loci. The number of herbicide target-site genes differs among species, and little is known regarding the effects of duplicate gene copies on the evolution of herbicide...

The international grain trade is a major pathway for the introduction of alien plants because grain commodities can be contaminated with various weed seeds. To evaluate how alien weed seeds derived from imported grain commodities affect local vegetation in international trading ports, we conducted a vegetation survey on a set of grain landing ports...

Reproductive isolation plays an important role in population differentiation and speciation, thus enhancing biodiversity in wild plants. Hybridisation sometimes involves rapid reproductive isolation between parents and their hybrids through the novel traits of hybrids derived from a new combination of genomes. Here, we report how a hybrids' new phe...

Premise: Divergent selection due to environmental heterogeneity can lead to local adaptation. However, the ecological and evolutionary processes of local adaptation that occurs across multiple regions are often unknown. Our previous studies reported on the ecotypic divergence within a local area of variation of Potentilla matsumurae, an alpine her...

Understanding the characteristics of alien species is a prerequisite for any biological study or anti‐invasion management strategy. Lolium rigidum (Poaceae) is an alien species that has become naturalized on the sandy coasts of Japan; however, it exhibits extensive morphological variation, leading to speculation that several taxa of Lolium have bec...

Sagittaria trifolia is a noxious paddy weed in East Asia. This weed propagates both sexually and asexually. Information on the role of sexual reproduction in the spread of herbicide‐resistant gene(s) and control of S. trifolia is important. Therefore, effects of oxygen, light, and temperature on the germination; germination percentages of fresh and...

In Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, glyphosate‐resistant Lolium multiflorum is a serious problem on the levees of rice paddies and in wheat fields. The mechanism of resistance of this biotype was analyzed. Based on LD50, the resistant population was 2.8–5.0 times more resistant to glyphosate than the susceptible population. The 5‐enolpyruvyl‐shikimate‐3...

Invasive alien plants have caused negative ecological and economic impacts and numerous studies have focused on determining which traits make these plants successful invaders. Although it is commonly believed that only a small proportion of introduced species can become invasive, it is unknown why many alien species fail to establish. In order to i...

Severe infestations of Alopecurus aequalis (shortawn foxtail), a noxious weed in wheat and barley cropping systems in Japan, can occur even after application of thifensulfuron-methyl, a sulfonylurea (SU) herbicide. In the present study, nine accessions of A. aequalis growing in a single wheat field were tested for sensitivity to thifensulfuron-meth...

Although an increasing number of investigations have been made into the evolution of alien species once introduced, few studies have identified the invasion routes of these introduced species. Because multiple introductions are common in invasive species, failing to take into account the introduced lineages can be misleading when studying evolution...

Imperata cylindrica (cogongrass) is one of the most invasive grass weeds found worldwide. In Japan, this grass grows as three climate types: cool temperate (CT), common (CM) and subtropical (ST). An early flowering (E) type has been also reported. Among them, the CM type is large and most invasive. Recent global warming may cause the extension of d...

Nucleotide sequence variations were investigated with respect to the geographical distribution patterns of Miscanthus sinensis populations that were sampled from 26 Japanese national parks and three populations of the Ryukyu Islands. Twelve homozygous sequences in the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region were detected. The popul...

Compared with natural seed dispersal, human-mediated seed dispersal could spread herbicide resistance genes on a much larger scale. Herbicide-resistant weed seeds have been reported as contaminants in commercial grain. We investigated the contamination of seeds of Lolium species with target-site mutations conferring resistance to acetolactate synth...

Many phylogeographic studies of various tree species have been conducted to elucidate the locations of refugia and the colonization patterns during the Pleistocene. However, only a few large-scale phylogeographic studies have been conducted on herbaceous plants, especially scarce on herbs that are adapted to disturbance. Artemisia indica is a fast-...

Miscanthus sinensis Andersson is a dominant perennial grass in East Asia, where it is a pioneer species in disturbed habitats. To obtain basic information about the genetic structure of this pioneer species, we investigated chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variation in M. sinensis within and among native populations across Japan. We detected nine haplotypes...

The rapid range expansion of naturalized Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) in farmland is a serious problem in Fukuroi city in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Glyphosate has been used to control Italian ryegrass in the levees of rice paddy fields and wheat fields for ∼20 years, but this weed in Fukuroi city is poorly controlled by glyphosate....

Miscanthus ×giganteus, a triploid hybrid between tetraploid M. sacchariflorus and diploid M. sinensis, has considerable potential as a bioenergy crop. Currently only one genotype is widely cultivated, increasing its vulnerability to diseases during production. Finding new hybrids is important to broaden genetic resources of M. ×giganteus. Three put...

As herbicide-resistant weeds have spread in the agricultural fields of grain-exporting countries, their seeds could be introduced into other countries as contaminants in imported grain. The spread of resistance genes through seed and pollen can cause significant economic loss. In order to assess the extent of the problem, we investigated the contam...

Identifying ecological factors associated with local differentiation of populations is important for understanding microevolutionary processes. Alpine environments offer a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of habitat-specific selective forces and gene flow limitations among populations at a microscale on local adaptation because the het...

International trade is a major route by which non-indigenous organisms are introduced into new habitats. Various kinds of weed seeds have been introduced through grain trade. The objectives of this study were to understand the factors that affect the initial assemblage of plant species introduced by the international grain trade and to extract thei...

We examined the seed-germination responses of 27 alpine species with reference to habitat type (fellfield and snowbed), temperature (five regimes), and light requirement. About 70% of species showed >40% germination at warm temperatures without cold stratification. However, a moist-chilling treatment markedly improved the germination percentages in...

Potentilla matsumurae has a wide distribution from wind-blown fellfields to snowbeds in alpine regions of Japan. The environmental factors influencing seedling establishment differ between the fellfield and snowbed habitats; plants growing in each habitat may therefore have different germination strategies. Using a reciprocal sowing experiment, pat...

cDNA of buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) was isolated from immature seeds harvested 14 days after pollination. Two genes, designated FA02 and FA18, were found to encode legumin-like proteins and were expressed during seed development. The deduced amino acid sequence of FA02 was identical to the N-terminal amino acid domain of BW24KD, which w...

Persistent herbicide application to weed species across vast areas promotes the rapid evolution of herbicide resistance among them. Ryegrass (Lolium spp) is one of the most reported herbicide-resistant weeds. Because ryegrass species is major weed of wheat field of wheat-exporting countries, their seeds are introduced into Japan as contaminants in...