The long-term evolutionary impacts of whole-genome duplication (WGD) are strongly influenced by the ensuing rediploidization process. Following autopolyploidization, rediploidization involves a transition from tetraploid to diploid meiotic pairing, allowing duplicated genes (ohnologs) to diverge genetically and functionally. Our understanding of autopolyploid rediploidization has been informed ...

Accelerating climate change is causing severe habitat fragmentation in the Arctic, threatening the persistence of many cold-adapted species. The Scandinavian arctic fox (V. lagopus) is highly fragmented, with a once continuous, circumpolar distribution, it struggled to recover from a demographic bottleneck in the late 19th century. The future persistence of the entire Scandinavian population is ...

Global changes are thought to affect most Arctic species, yet some populations are more at risk. Today, the Barents Sea ecoregion is suffering the strongest sea ice retreat ever measured; and these changes are suspected to modify food access and thus diet of several species. Biochemical diet tracers enable investigation of diet in species such as polar bears (Ursus maritimus). We examined ...

Gerald Anthony Lincoln died after a short illness on 15 July 2020 at the age of 75 years. Gerald was Emeritus Professor of Biological Timing at Edinburgh University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was an outstanding scientist and naturalist who was a seminal figure in developing our understanding of the neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying seasonal rhythmicity. This review considers ...

Because growth of new hairs entails energetic costs, individual condition and access to food should determine the timing of molt. Previous studies on the timing of molt in ungulates have mostly focused on the influence of age class and reproductive status, but the effects of body condition and environmental phenology have not been evaluated. Our goal was to assess how intrinsic traits and environmental ...

Background: Differentiation of long and short shoots is an important developmental trait in several species of the Rosaceae family. However, the physiological mechanisms controlling this differentiation are largely unknown. We have studied the role of gibberellin (GA) in regulation of shoot differentiation in strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) cv. Korona. In strawberry, differentiation of ...

High-latitude environments are warming, leading to changes in biological diversity patterns of taxa. <i>Oomycota</i> are a group of fungal-like organisms that comprise a major clade of eukaryotic life and are parasites of fish, agricultural crops, and algae. The diversity, functionality, and distribution of these organisms are essentially unknown in the Arctic marine environment. Thus, it was our ...

Seasonal changes in environmental conditions drive phenology, i.e., the annual timing of biological events ranging from the individual to the ecosystem. Phenological patterns and successional abundance cycles have been particularly well studied in temperate freshwater systems, showing strong and predictable synchrony with seasonal changes. However, seasonal successional changes in the abundance ...

Brucellosis is a widespread zoonotic disease with serious consequences on human and animal health. <i>Brucella</i> infections were reported in many terrestrial wild animals, from subtropical and temperate regions to arctic regions. In many areas, the epidemiology of brucellosis in wildlife is closely associated with the occurrence of the disease in livestock. Some wild species may contribute to the ...