Molecular Plant Breeding 2016, Vol.7, No.9, 1-16
http:// mpb.biopublisher.ca
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meters apart from each other from bottom and top
respectively (Pavlicek et al., 2003). It was proposed
that mutation and genetic diversity was more
frequent in
S. fimicola
strains belonging to SFS as
compared to NFS of EC I (Nevo, 1995, 1998).
Genomic DNA is affected by environmental
changes which are the basis of biodiversity studies;
therefore, the scientific aspect of biodiversity needs
to be explored (Saleem et al., 2001). On the both
slopes pedology, geology (Karcz, 1959; Nevo et al.,
1998) and regional climate (mediterranean) is same
with annual rainfall approximately 600 mm, 1700
mm evapo-transpiration rate and mean temperature
for January and August is 13 and 28°C, respectively
(Atlas of Israel, 1970). Due to differences in
geographic orientations, south facing slope receives
more radiations annually as compare to northern
slope (Kirkby, 1990) and has savannoid vegetations,
while northern slope has dense evergreen and
deciduous trees (Nevo et al., 1999). According to
Pavlicek et al., (2003) the African south facing slope
receives 200-800 % more solar radiations than the
European north facing slope. One
S. fimicola
strain
(SF13) included in current research was obtained
from Miller’s Mycological Lab. UIUC, isolated from
the surroundings of University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, USA. The Urbana-Champaign
city has humid continental climate having four
distinct seasons with hot summers (32.2 °C) and cold
winters (-17.8°C).
Figure 1 Picture of ‘Evolution Canyon I’ Mount Carmel, Israel with assigned stations. The green lush European’ temperate,
cool-mesic north facing slope (NFS) sharply contrast with warm-xeric, tropical, ‘African’ south facing slope (SFS). Adopted from
(Raz
et al
., 2009).
Lamb et al., (2008) worked on the crossing over, gene
conversion and variation in recombination properties of
S. fimicola
wild strains isolated from opposite slope of
EC 1 and reported that recombination frequencies were
higher in south facing slope than that of north facing
slope where conditions are mild. The hypothesis that
mutation rate would be less in natural strains taken
from north facing slope, which has moist and lush
green environment than those from the harsh and
stressful environment of south facing slope was
proposed by Nevo, (1995) which needs to be further
explored. Variations in genome induced as a result of
stress have been found in several other organisms
including
Drosophila melanogaster
,
A. mystacinus
(Nevo et al., 1998), S. fimicola (Rottenberg et al.,
2006) and N. linckia (Dvornyk and Nevo, 2003).
According to Nevo, (1997) 9 out of 14 model
organisms exhibited higher genetic diversity which
belongs to more harsh and heterogenous SFS.
Mutation frequencies, DNA repair, gene conversion,
genetic recombination, SNP, retrotransposons and
genetic diversity was found higher at more stressful
SFS (Nevo, 2001). Three fold higher rates of
heritable mutation in
S. fimicola
, a coprophilous
