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Data from: An ecological approach to measuring the evolutionary consequences of gene flow from crops to wild or weedy relatives
Campbell, Lesley G.; Lee, David; Shukla, Kruti; Waite, Thomas A.; Bartsch, Detlef; Ellstrand, Norman C. — 2018-06-21 Premise of the study: Agricultural practices routinely create opportunities for crops to hybridize with wild relatives, leading to crop gene introgression into wild genomes. Conservationists typically worry this introgression could lead to genetic homogenization of wild populations, over and above the central concern of transgene escape. Alternatively, viewing introgression as analogous to species invasion, we suggest that increased genetic diversity may likewise be an undesirable outcome. Methods: Here, we compare the sensitivity of conventional population genetic metrics with species diversity indices as indicators of the impact of gene flow on genetic diversity. We illustrate this novel approach using multilocus genotype data (12 allozyme loci) from 10 wild (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima) and eight putative crop–wild hybrid beet populations (B. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris × B. vulgaris subsp. maritima) scattered throughout Europe. Results: Conventional population genetic metrics mostly failed to detect shifts in genetic composition of putative hybrid populations. By contrast, species diversity indices unambiguously revealed increased genetic diversity in putative hybrid populations. Discussion: We encourage other workers to explore the utility of our more sensitive approach for risk assessment prior to the release of transgenic crops, with a view toward widespread adoption of our method in studies aimed at detecting allelic invasion.
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The Power of Stories: Examining the Impact of Storytelling on Learners
Borealis
Giesbrecht, Naomi; Shukla, Kruti; Leung, Larry; Min, Jason — 2023-08-15 Indigenous story-telling is vital for the transmission of oral histories from generation to generation. In a local First Nation, storytelling comes in the form of creation stories and individual stories. A Land-based Healing Cultural Support Worker and community partner has been working closely with a UVIC Environmental Sciences student on the translation, preservation, and revitalization of her individual story, “My Search for My Way of Being” for many years, detailing both positive and negative human experiences and the treasure box of teachings that have come from her life. This project created a thematic analysis and framework for the story to be used as a tool for the community partner to teach to a broad range of audiences and environments. This project used a Two-Eyed Seeing approach to analyze a recorded sample of the community partner’s teachings, including translations of key words in her language. Four main themes were synthesized and organized into a table with relevant info for teaching and discussion questions: 1) Family and Ancestral Connections, 2) Language, 3) Intergenerational Trauma, and 4) Spirituality.
University of Guelph Dataverse Logo
Effects of the Epichloë fungal endophyte symbiosis with Schedonorus pratensis on host grass invasiveness
Borealis
Shukla, Kruti; Newman, Jonathan A.; Yurkonis, Kathryn A.; Newman, Jonathan A. — 2015-06-23 We investigated the effect of grass-endophyte symbiosis on host grass invasiveness in Schedonorus pratesis (meadow fescue)-Epichloë uncinatum (se ven forage cultivars) and S. arundinaceus (tall fescue)-E. coenophialum (two cultivars) that were developed with high or low endophyte infection rate. Seeds were broadcast seeded into 2 x 2-m plots in a tilled, old-field grassland community in a completely randomised block experimental design. Schedonorus abundance, endophyte infection rate, and the co-occurring vegetation were sampled 3, 4, 5, and 6 yr after establishment, and the aboveground invertebrate community was sampled in S. pratensis plots 3 and 4 yr after establishment.
University of Guelph Dataverse Logo
Effects of nutrient addition on endophyte-associated grass invasion in a long-term, old-field community experiment
Borealis
Hager, Heather A.; Roloson, Jennifer; Shukla, Kruti; Yurkonis, Kathryn; Newman, Jonathan A. — 2021-05-11 Strictly vertically transmitted (hereditary) Epichloë spp. fungal endophytes are symbionts with cool-season pooid host grasses. Such endophytes may increase host invasiveness in the non-native, introduced ranges. However, the costs and benefits for the host can vary with the abiotic and biotic growing conditions, and the endophyte may become locally or temporally extinct when costs outweigh benefits. Our long-term field experiment involved seven Schedonorus pratensis (meadow fescue) cultivars hosting Epichloë uncinata endophyte, which represent host-grass populations with different genetic background and Epichloë infection levels. In the first six years, the host grasses persisted but did not become invasive in an old-field plant community, regardless of their endophyte infection frequency. We hypothesized that increasing nutrient availability would decrease endophyte costs and thus increase the host’s success and abundance. We fertilized half of the plots for four additional years and re-examined S. pratensis invasiveness. We predicted that increased nutrient availability would increase S. pratensis abundance and E. uncinata frequency and concentration, as well as decrease plant community diversity, relative to unfertilized plots. Fertilization increased endophyte concentrations in three host populations with low endophyte infection frequency. However, E. uncinata did not enable S. pratensis populations to achieve high abundance or to reduce plant community diversity, with or without fertilization.

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(Author: Shukla, Kruti)

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