Fulani ecotype chickens (FEC) and Yoruba ecotype chickens (YEC) are the two major types of indigenous chickens in Nigeria. They subsist under traditional Animal husbandry and are thus liable to indiscriminate mating and consequently to loss of genetic diversity. Fulani ecotype chickens (FEC) and Yoruba ecotype chickens (YEC) were investigated to determine genetic variation at transferrin locus ...

Theory suggests that speciation is possible without physical isolation of populations (hereafter, nonallopatric speciation), but recent nonallopatric models need the support of irrefutable empirical examples. We collected snails (Littorina saxatilis) from three areas on the NW coast of Spain to investigate the population genetic structure of two ecotypes. Earlier studies suggest that these ecot...

Understanding the evolutionary history of contemporary animal groups is essential for conservation and management of endangered species like caribou (Rangifer tarandus). In central Canada, the ranges of two caribou subspecies (barren-ground/woodland caribou) and two woodland caribou ecotypes (boreal/eastern migratory) overlap. Our objectives were to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the e...

The CYP74B2 gene in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) ecotype Columbia (Col) contains a 10-nucleotide deletion in its first exon that causes it to code for a truncated protein not containing the P450 signature typical of other CYP74B subfamily members. Compared to CYP74B2 transcripts in the Landsberg erecta (Ler) ecotype that code for full-length hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) protein, CYP74B2 tran...

Recent research has shown the potential for nonallopatric speciation, but we lack an adequate understanding of the mechanisms of prezygotic barriers and how these evolve in the presence of gene flow. The marine snail Littorina saxatilis has distinct ecotypes in different shore microhabitats. Ecotypes hybridize in contact zones, but gene flow is impeded by assortative mating. Earlier studies hav...

The physiological and biochemical responses of three ecotypes of Artemisia absinthium L. from Iran were evaluated under salinity conditions. Salinity treatments were made by NaCl with EC of 0, 5, 10 and 15 dS/m.   Physiological and biochemical attributes were measured 30 days after the salt treatments imposed. Highest reduction in the shoot and root fresh weights was observed in the ecotypes of...

The broadly defined species of bacterial systematics frequently contain unnamed and unrecognized populations (ecotypes) differing in physiology, genome content, and ecology. Without formal recognition of such ecotypes, it is difficult for microbial ecologists to detect replacement of one ecotype by another in the face of global warming. The ecotype simulation algorithm has proved capable of sup...

We report the discovery and spread of a dwarf ecotype of Spartina alterniflora in San Francisco Bay. Relative to typical S. alterniflora, this dwarf ecotype has one-fifth the tiller height (∼21 cm), tenfold the tiller density (∼4000 tillers/m(2)), and is restricted to growth in the upper intertidal zone. Chromosome counts of the dwarfs are identical to typical smooth cordgrass (2n = 62), and sm...

Andropogon gerardii seed obtained from Kansas and Illinois was grown in a controlled environment in their own and each other's soils, with and without arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Each ecotype grew comparatively better in its own soil indicating adaptation to its soil of origin. Overall, A. gerardii benefited more from AMF in low-nutrient Kansas soil than Illinois soil. The two ecotypes,...