Molecular Ecology

Recent genomic studies have suggested that ancient introgression may facilitate rapid diversification. The cave-dwelling group (TCG) of Triplophysa sensu lato, cave fishes endemic to the karst regions of southwestern China, exhibits high diversity and rapid evolution, representing a compelling potential example of rapid speciation during the evolution of karst landscapes. Here, we investigated th…

Salinity gradients and fluctuations can create a natural ecological filter, with few species tolerating salinity above 50 practical salinity units (PSUs). We investigated how an inverse salinity gradient affected marine community diversity and composition in Shark Bay, a remote hypersaline coastal embayment in Western Australia. We used 16S(fish), 18S and 16S(Bacteria) eDNA metabarcoding assays t…

Microbiota have emerged as fundamental regulators of host physiology, shaping both ecological interactions and evolutionary trajectories. Yet, the determinants of microbiota diversity and structure in wild populations-particularly the respective roles of host genetics and environmental context-are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigated these influences in the freshwater snail Bul…

Genotype-environment association (GEA) is widely used for identifying genetic variation linked to environmental pressures. Their proliferation over the past decade offers a critical opportunity to synthesize how adaptive variation is identified and distributed across broad taxonomic groups. Here, we reviewed 194 GEA studies from the Kingdom Animalia to summarize the analytical methods employed an…

Migration represents one of the most energetically demanding phases in the life cycle of long-distance migratory birds. Pre-migratory fattening is a critical preparatory stage characterized by hyperphagia, rapid fat accumulation, organ remodelling, and immune modulation. Although the gut microbiome has been recognized as a key contributor to these physiological adaptations, the role of the gut vi…

Biogeographic barriers are typically considered prominent geographic features that block or severely restrict dispersal and gene flow. However, mating barriers can also emerge within continuous suitable habitats, driven by ecological or behavioural constraints. Migratory insects show an extraordinary capacity to traverse vast geographic ranges, as well as notable landscape features like mountains…

Animal colouration is a key trait in organismal biology, being involved in natural and sexual selection, competition, and communication. Amphibians use their highly diverse colouration in many ecological interactions, but the molecular bases of their colour variation are less well understood than in other vertebrate systems. While the genetic, structural, and cellular bases of pigmentation are in…

Bacterial community dynamics underlie ecosystem functioning in river networks, yet how different bacterial lifestyles respond to bottom-up biotic drivers under confluence-induced hydraulics remains unclear. Here, we quantified spatial heterogeneity in free-living (FL), particle-associated (PA) and sedimentary (S) bacterial assemblages, coupled with phytoplankton and extracellular enzyme profiles,…

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a water-efficient photosynthetic strategy involving a coordinated suite of complex traits including metabolic, anatomical and regulatory aspects that shift across the diel cycle. While CAM has evolved repeatedly in land plants, the evolutionary routes enabling this convergence remain elusive. Whereas the same core CAM (de)carboxylation genes are consistently …

Biodiversity patterns such as the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) are central to ecology. Compared to macroorganisms, microbial diversity patterns and their underlying mechanisms, particularly in freshwater systems, are understudied despite their importance to ecosystem functioning. Here, we conducted a large-scale investigation of sediment bacterial communities in China's lakes across a lat…

The Mascarene archipelago (Mauritius, Reunion and Rodrigues), characterised by first human arrival being recent, offers a unique setting to study species colonisation on a recent timescale, and contribution of past human interventions. Here we use a combination of modern and ancient DNA data as a case study to investigate the colonisation history of a species of concern in relation to conservatio…

In ants, division of labour is often associated with caste-specific adaptations. In this study, we examined the morphology of the venom apparatus (venom reservoir volume and sting length) and the composition and activity of the venom across castes (soldier, submajor and media/minor) of the army ant Eciton hamatum to investigate how caste differentiation influences venom traits. Morphometric analy…

Early developmental processes significantly influence growth and maturation patterns, aquaculture traits that are critical for physiological adaptation and productivity. The vestigial-like family member 3 gene (vgll3) plays a key role in growth and maturation across diverse taxa, including mammals and teleost fishes. A single-nucleotide polymorphism in vgll3 (SNP_vgll3) shows evidence o…

Despite the popularity of environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis for non-invasive, cost-effective monitoring of aquatic biodiversity, its application for population abundance estimation is in its infancy. One of the uncertainties in eDNA-based abundance estimation surrounds the process of eDNA production: large individuals may produce less eDNA per unit body mass than smaller conspecifics, and there m…

Knowledge of viral infection in marine mammals, a group severely threatened by human activity, is largely limited to the pathology and epidemiology of few endemic viruses. The recent emergence in marine mammals of high-consequence viruses, such as H5N1 avian influenza and rabies, underscores the importance of understanding the ecology of viral transmission in these species. Metatranscriptomic app…

Turbidity is increasing in freshwaters globally due to human activities and is known to affect visually-mediated behaviours in fish. As anthropogenic impacts continue to degrade aquatic environments, it is critical to determine how sensory systems are affected and what this might mean for population persistence. We investigated visual morphology and opsin gene expression in an African cichlid fis…

The Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a globally important pollinator. Its health in natural and managed populations is compromised by numerous factors, including pesticides. Neonicotinoid pesticides are widely used even though they can cause a variety of detrimental effects. Exposure can disrupt the complex life history regulation of worker honey bees and induce precocious foraging and prema…

The Eastern Gulf Coastal Plain (EGCP) is a small region within the North American Coastal Plain (NACP), a recognised biodiversity hotspot. The EGCP has been described as 'one of the most important hotspots of speciation and endemism' in the United States, yet remains an anomaly relative to other regions with high biodiversity and endemism. In contrast to most biodiversity hotspots, the EGCP is ho…

The Mexican grey wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is an endangered and genetically distinct subspecies of grey wolf adapted to the warm climates of the southwestern United States and Mexico. Following centuries of eradication efforts, Mexican grey wolves were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1976, prompting an international ex situ breeding program to preserve their genetic legacy. Seven r…

Plankton play a key role in biogeochemical cycles in aquatic environments, and their abundance and composition vary spatially and seasonally. We characterised the seasonal dynamics and environmental preferences of freshwater bacteria and microeukaryotes from four pelagic sites in the oligotrophic Lake Baikal and examined the spatio-seasonal niche of closely related taxa. Based on spatio-seasonal …