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Barbosa-Silva RG, Andrino CO, Azevedo L, Lucresia L, Lovo J, Hiura AL, Viana PL, Giannini TC, Zappi DC. A wide range of South American inselberg floras reveal cohesive biome patterns. Front Plant Sci 2022; 13:928577. [PMID: 36247592 PMCID: PMC9559578 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.928577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Inselbergs are azonal formations found scattered in different biomes globally. The first floristic list focusing on an inselberg in the Brazilian Amazon is presented here. We aimed to investigate floristic and phylogenetic connections among Neotropical inselbergs and analyze whether environmental variables act as a filter of plant lineages. We used a database compiled from 50 sites spanning three main Neotropical biomes (Amazon, 11 sites, Atlantic Forest, 14 sites, and Caatinga, 25 sites) comprising 2270 Angiosperm species. Our data highlight the vastly different inselberg flora found in each biome. The inselberg floras of the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga show closer phylogenetic ties than those seen in the other biome pairs. The phylogenetic lineages found in all three biomes are also strongly divergent, even within plant families. The dissimilarity between biomes suggests that distinct biogeographical histories might have unfolded even under comparable environmental filtering. Our data suggest that the inselberg flora is more related to the biome where it is located than to other factors, even when the microclimatic conditions in the outcrops differ strongly from those of the surrounding matrix. Relative to the other biomes, the flora of the Caatinga inselbergs has the highest level of species turnover. There is a possibility that plants colonized these rather distant inselbergs even when they were found under very different climatic conditions than those in the Amazonian and Atlantic Forest biomes. It is worth noting that none of the studied inselbergs found in the Caatinga biome is protected. In view of the uniqueness and drought-resilient lineages present in each group of inselbergs, along with their vulnerability to destruction or disturbance and their strong connection with water availability, we stress the need to protect this ecosystem not only to conserve plants potentially useful for ecological restoration but also to preserve the balance of this ecosystem and its connections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Gomes Barbosa-Silva
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Instituto Tecnológico Vale Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Belém, Brazil
- Coordenação Botânica, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil
| | - Caroline O. Andrino
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Instituto Tecnológico Vale Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Belém, Brazil
| | - Luísa Azevedo
- Departamento de Genética, Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Luísa Lucresia
- Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Botânica, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Juliana Lovo
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Instituto Tecnológico Vale Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Belém, Brazil
- Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia/Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, e Monitoramento Ambiental, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil
| | - Alice L. Hiura
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Instituto Tecnológico Vale Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Belém, Brazil
| | - Pedro L. Viana
- Coordenação Botânica, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil
| | - Tereza C. Giannini
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Instituto Tecnológico Vale Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Belém, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Instituto de Ciência Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém, Brazil
| | - Daniela Cristina Zappi
- Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, Instituto Tecnológico Vale Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Belém, Brazil
- Coordenação Botânica, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil
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Abstract
DNA methylation contributes to gene and transcriptional regulation in eukaryotes, and therefore has been hypothesized to facilitate the evolution of plastic traits such as sociality in insects. However, DNA methylation is sparsely studied in insects. Therefore, we documented patterns of DNA methylation across a wide diversity of insects. We predicted that underlying enzymatic machinery is concordant with patterns of DNA methylation. Finally, given the suggestion that DNA methylation facilitated social evolution in Hymenoptera, we tested the hypothesis that the DNA methylation system will be associated with presence/absence of sociality among other insect orders. We found DNA methylation to be widespread, detected in all orders examined except Diptera (flies). Whole genome bisulfite sequencing showed that orders differed in levels of DNA methylation. Hymenopteran (ants, bees, wasps and sawflies) had some of the lowest levels, including several potential losses. Blattodea (cockroaches and termites) show all possible patterns, including a potential loss of DNA methylation in a eusocial species whereas solitary species had the highest levels. Species with DNA methylation do not always possess the typical enzymatic machinery. We identified a gene duplication event in the maintenance DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) that is shared by some Hymenoptera, and paralogs have experienced divergent, nonneutral evolution. This diversity and nonneutral evolution of underlying machinery suggests alternative DNA methylation pathways may exist. Phylogenetically corrected comparisons revealed no evidence that supports evolutionary association between sociality and DNA methylation. Future functional studies will be required to advance our understanding of DNA methylation in insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J. Bewick
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Kevin J. Vogel
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Allen J. Moore
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
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