Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics: 3rd Edition

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Evolutionary Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 742

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Interests: evolutionary genetics; conservation genetics; population genetics; molecular taxonomy; phylogenetics; phylogeography
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Guest Editor
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Interests: marine biology; zoology; genetics; conservation biology; phylogeny; population genetics; phylogeography; biodiversity; phylogenetic analysis; molecular biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

During the last two years of the global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the entire world was able to witness how evolution and genetics dynamics can affect human health. Accordingly, more than ever before, we know that the role of scientific research in all fields is of pivotal importance for increasing our knowledge of every kind of organism and biological phenomenon, from viruses to mammals and to plants. In this context, evolutionary genetics provides a basis for shedding light on the evolutionary mechanisms involving organisms. Indeed, DNA sequences, which characterize every biological entity, are the first traits involved in variation and evolution.

In addition, DNA variation is a subject representing the shoulders of giants on which the bases of conservation genetics have been placed. This specific field of research is derived from population and evolutionary genetics and focuses on the study of threats to every species.

For these reasons, this Special Issue aims to combine the contributions of research groups working around the world in the field of phylodynamics, evolutionary genetics, population genetics, DNA barcoding, conservation genetics, and molecular epidemiology in order to compile a group of papers that highlight the importance of the study of genetic variability in organisms for the safeguarding of species and humans.

Given that the first and second edition of this Special Issue were a great success, we now invite you to publish in the third edition (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/Evolutionary_Conservation, https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/95762Z5225).

Dr. Daria Sanna
Dr. Ilenia Azzena
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • evolutionary genetics
  • population genetics
  • conservation genetics
  • phylogeography
  • phylogenetics
  • phylodynamics
  • molecular taxonomy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 10733 KiB  
Article
Phylogeographic Analysis for Understanding Origin, Speciation, and Biogeographic Expansion of Invasive Asian Hornet, Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)
by Xuhua Xia
Life 2024, 14(10), 1293; https://doi.org/10.3390/life14101293 - 12 Oct 2024
Viewed by 505
Abstract
The Asian hornet, Vespa velutina, is an invasive species that has not only expanded its range in Asia but has also invaded European countries, and it incurs significant costs on local apiculture. This phylogeographic study aims to trace the evolutionary trajectory of [...] Read more.
The Asian hornet, Vespa velutina, is an invasive species that has not only expanded its range in Asia but has also invaded European countries, and it incurs significant costs on local apiculture. This phylogeographic study aims to trace the evolutionary trajectory of V. velutina and its close relatives; it aims to identify features that characterize an invasive species. The last successful invasion of Vespa velutina into France occurred in late May, 2002, and into South Korea in early October, 2002, which were estimated by fitting a logistic equation to the number of observations over time. The instantaneous rate of increase is 1.3667 for V. velutina in France and 0.2812 in South Korea, which are consistent with the interpretation of little competition in France and strong competition from local hornet species in South Korea. The invasive potential of two sister lineages can be compared by their distribution area when proper statistical adjustments are made to account for differences in sample size. V. velutina has a greater invasive potential than its sister lineage. The ancestor of V. velutina split into two lineages, one found in Indonesia/Malaysia and the other colonizing the Asian continent. The second lineage split into a sedentary clade inhabiting Pakistan and India and an invasive lineage colonizing much of Southeast Asia. This latter lineage gave rise to the subspecies V. v. nigrithorax, which invaded France, South Korea, and Japan. My software PGT version 1.5, which generates geophylogenies and computes geographic areas for individual taxa, is useful for understanding biogeography in general and invasive species in particular. I discussed the conceptual formulation of an index of invasiveness for a comparison between sister lineages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics: 3rd Edition)
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