Publications

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List of all publications (chronological) 

Breeding and mating system evolution

43. Li Y, Mamonova E, Köhler N, van Kleunen M & Stift M (2023) Breakdown of self-incompatibility due to genetic interaction between a specific S-allele and an unlinked modifier. Nature Communications 14: 3420.

42. Petren H, Thosteman H, Stift M, Torang P, Agren J, Friberg M (2023) Differences in mating system and predicted parental conflict affect postzygotic reproductive isolation in a flowering plant. Evolution 77: 1019-1030.

40. Steinecke C, Gorman CE, Stift M & Dorken ME (2022). Outcrossing rates in an experimentally admixed population of self-compatible and self-incompatible Arabidopsis lyrata. Heredity 128: 56-62.

39. Gorman CE, Li Y, Dorken ME, Stift M (2021). No evidence for incipient speciation by selfing in North American Arabidopsis lyrata. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 34: 1397-1405.

35. Gorman CE, Bond L, van Kleunen M, Dorken ME, Stift M (2020) Limited phenological and pollinator-mediated isolation among selfing and outcrossing Arabidopsis lyrata populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287: 20202323

34. Gorman CE, Steinecke C, van Kleunen M, Dorken ME, Stift M (2020) A shift towards the annual habit in selfing Arabidopsis lyrata. Biology Letters 16: 20200402.

31. Li Y, van Kleunen M, Stift M (2019) Sibling competition does not magnify inbreeding depression in North American Arabidopsis lyrata. Heredity 123: 723-732

24. Carleial S, van Kleunen M & Stift M (2017) Relatively weak inbreeding depression in selfing but also in outcrossing populations of North American Arabidopsis lyrata. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 30:1994-2004.

• Chapter in PhD thesis of Samuel Carleial. The paper presents findings that suggest that relatively low inbreeding depression explains why evolution of selfing could evolve in North American A. lyrata. In Europe, where selfing has not evolved, inbreeding depression was previously reported to be much higher. 

22. Carleial S, van Kleunen M, Stift M (2017) Small reductions in corolla size and pollen: ovule ratio, but no changes in flower shape in selfing populations of the North American Arabidopsis lyrata. Oecologia 183: 401-413.

• • Chapter in PhD thesis of Samuel Carleial. The paper shows that the evolution of selfing has not led to consistent changes towards the selfing syndrome in terms of flower size. There were some reductions in P:O ratios, but no shape changes (despite a very very thorough morphometric analysis)

21. Mable BK, Hagmann J, Kim S-T, Adam A, Kilbride E, Weigel D, Stift M (2017). What causes mating system shifts in plants? Arabidopsis lyrata as a case study. Heredity 118: 52–63.

• This paper is the result of a longstanding collaboration with the lab of Barbara Mable (University of Glasgow, Scotland) and the lab of Detlef Weigel (Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany). It deals with the intraspecific loss of self-incompatibility (SI) in North American Arabidopsis lyrata, that has led to some populations with only self-compatible (SC) plant with high selfing rates. Combining multiple approaches for genotyping, we found that outcrossing populations on average harbour 5 to 9 SRK alleles, much less compared to (previous) estimates for European populations. Selfing populations were more or less fixed for either S1 or for S19. Our screens of wild plants and SI x SC crosses within the S1 background revealed that SC plants were always S1S1, but that S1S1 plants were not always SC. We concluded that the loss of SI in S1 homozygotes is caused by an unidentified recessive factor that, despite its functional linkage to S1, is physically unlinked to the S-locus. 

18. Joschinski J, van Kleunen M, Stift M (2015) Costs associated with the evolution of selfing in North American populations of Arabidopsis lyrata? Evolutionary Ecology 29: 749-764. [link]

• This paper is the result of Jens Joschinski's Master thesis at the University of Konstanz. Main finding is that plants from selfing populations of Arabidopsis lyrata have reduced germination rates compared to outcrossing populations, but are equally susceptible to the generalist herbivore Mamestra brassicae.

17. Tedder A, Carleial S, Gołębiewska M, Kappel C, Shimizu KK, Stift M (2015) Evolution of the selfing syndrome in Arabis alpina (Brassicaceae). PLoS ONE 10(6): e0126618. [link]

• This paper is the result of a collaboration with the lab of Kentaro Shimizu. When growing Arabis alpina in a common garden environment, we noticed that flower size was highly variable. We investigated in more detail, and found that plants from self-incompatible populations had much larger flowers than those from selfing populations, and that a suite of other floral traits differed between outcrossing (self-incompatible) and selfing populations (among others pollen:ovule ratio).

15. Stift M, Hunter BD, Shaw B; Adam A, Hoebe PN, Mable BK (2013) Inbreeding depression in self-incompatible North-American Arabidopsis lyrata: disentangling genomic and S-locus-specific genetic load. Heredity 110: 19-28. [link] 

• This paper is the result of the projects of two excellent summer students (Brian Hunter and Benjamin Shaw) in the group of Barbara Mable. Combining a growth experiment with molecular typing of the S-locus, we managed to reveal significant inbreeding depression for two out of four S-alleles.

14. Haudry A, Zha HG, Stift M & Mable BK(2012) Disentangling the effects of breakdown of self-incompatibility and transition to selfing in North-American Arabidopsis lyrata. Molecular Ecology 21: 1130–1142. [link]

12. Hoebe PN*, Stift M*, Holub EB & Mable BK (2011) The effect of mating system on growth of Arabidopsis lyrata in response to inoculation with the biotrophic parasite Albugo candida. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 24: 391-401. [link]

 * These authors contributed equally to the analysis and writing of this study

10. Foxe JP*, Stift M*,Tedder A, Haudry A, Wright SI & Mable BK (2010) Reconstructing origins of loss of self-incompatibility and selfing in North American Arabidopsis lyrata: a population genetic context. Evolution 64: 3495-3510. [link]

* These authors contributed equally to this study

8. Hoebe PN, Stift M, Tedder A & Mable BK (2009) Multiple losses of self-incompatibility in North-American Arabidopsis lyrata?: Phylogeographic context and population genetic consequences. Molecular Ecology 18: 4924-4939. [link]

Rare species and conservation

38. Höckendorff S, Peintinger M, Fiedler F, Stift M & van Kleunen M (2021) Declines in occurrence of plants characteristic for a nutrient-poor meadow habitat are partly explained by their responses to nutrient addition and competition. Ecology and Evolution 11: 4058-4070.

27. Carleial S, Maurel N, van Kleunen M, Stift M (2018) Oviposition by the Mountain Alcon Blue butterfly increases with host plant flower number and host ant abundance. Basic and Applied Ecology 28, 87-96.

Genetics of polyploids

30. Stift M, Kolar F, Meirmans PGM (2019) STRUCTURE is more robust than other clustering methods in simulated mixed-ploidy populations. Heredity 123: 429-441. Note: OPEN ACCESS!

25. Kamiri M, Stift M, Costantino G, Dambier D, Kabbage T, Ollitrault P, Froelicher Y (2018) Preferential homologous chromosome pairing in a tetraploid intergeneric somatic hybrid (Citrus reticulata + Poncirus trifoliata) revealed by molecular marker inheritance. Frontiers in Plant Science 9. 

16. Dufresne F, Stift M, Vergilino R, Mable BK (2014) Recent progress and challenges in population genetics of polyploid organisms: an overview of current state-of-the-art molecular and statistical tools. Molecular Ecology 23: 40-69. [link] 

• The initial exchange of ideas that ultimately led to this invited review, was initiated during the 2009 ESEB conference in Turin. There, together with Barbara Mable, I organised the symposium "polyploidy at the population level" with France Dufresne as one of the invited speakers.

13. Kamiri M, Stift M, Srairi I, Costantino G, El Moussadik A, Hmyene A, Bakry F, Ollitrault P & Froelicher (2011) Evidence for non-disomic inheritance in a Citrus interspecific tetraploid somatic between C. reticulata and C. lemon hybrid using SSR markers and cytogenetic analysis. Plant Cell Reports 30: 1415-1425. [link]

11. Stift M, Bregman R, Oostermeijer JGB & van Tienderen PH (2010) Other tetraploid species and conspecific diploids as sources of genetic variation for an autotetraploid. American Journal of Botany 97: 1858-1866. [link]

9. Stift M, Reeve R & van Tienderen PH (2010) Inheritance in tetraploid yeast revisited: segregation patterns and statistical power under different inheritance models. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 23: 1570-1578. [link]

6. Stift M, Berenos C, Kuperus P & van Tienderen PH (2008) Segregation models for disomic, tetrasomic and intermediate inheritance in tetraploids: a general procedure applied to Rorippa (Yellow Cress) microsatellite data. Genetics 179: 2113-2123.  [link]

5. Stift M, Luttikhuizen PC, Visser EJW & van Tienderen PH (2008) Different flooding responses in Rorippa amphibia and R. sylvestris, and their modes of expression in F1 hybrids. New Phytologist 180: 229-239. [link]

4. Luttikhuizen PC, Stift M, Kuperus P & van Tienderen PH (2007) Genetic diversity in diploid vs. tetraploid Rorippa amphibia (Brassicaceae). Molecular Ecology 16: 3544-3553. [link]

Ecology and evolution of invasive species

41. Eckert S, Herden J, Stift M, Durka W, van Kleunen M, Joshi J (2022) Traces of genetic but not epigenetic adaptation in the invasive goldenrod Solidago canadensis despite the absence of population structure. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10.

37. Eckert S, Herden J, Stift M, Joshi J, van Kleunen M (2021) Manipulation of cytosine methylation does not remove latitudinal clines in two invasive goldenrod species in Central Europe. Molecular Ecology 30: 222-236.

36. Cheng J, Li J, Zhang Z, Lu H, Chen G, Yao B, Dong Y, Ma L,  Yuan X, Xu J, Zhang Y, Dai W, Yang X, Xue L, Zhang Y, Zhang C, Mauricio R, Peng G, Hu S, Valverde BE, Song X, Li Y, Stift M, Qiang S (2020) Autopolyploidy‐driven range expansion of a temperate‐originated plant to pan‐tropic under global change. Ecological Monographs: e01445

32. Oduor AMO, van Kleunen M, Stift M (2020) Allelopathic effects of native and invasive Brassica nigra do not support the novel-weapons hypothesis. American Journal of Botany 107: 1106-1113. Note: OPEN ACCESS!

29. Herden J, Eckert S, Stift M, Joshi J, van Kleunen M (2019) No evidence for local adaptation and an epigenetic underpinning in native and non-native ruderal plant species in Germany. Ecology and Evolution 9: 9412-9426

26. Li Y, Stift M, van Kleunen M. (2018) Admixture increases performance of an invasive plant beyond first generation heterosis. Journal of Ecology 106: 1595-1606

23. Oduor AMO, van Kleunen M, Stift M (2017). In the presence of specialist root and shoot herbivory, invasive-range Brassica nigra populations have stronger competitive effects than native-range populations. Journal of Ecology 105:1679–1686.

20. Oduor AMO, Stift M, van Kleunen M (2015). The interaction between root herbivory and competitive ability of native and invasive-range populations of Brassica nigra. PLoS ONE 10: e014187.

19. van Kleunen M, Röckle M, Stift M (2015) Admixture between native and invasive populations may increase invasiveness of Mimulus guttatus. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282: 20151487. 

• This paper uses crosses within and between ranges to simulate a scenario of secondary contact between native and invasive populations of Yellow Monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus). This allowed us to test whether admixture may enhance performance of invasive populations. Indeed, invasive M. guttatus benefited from intercontinental crossing by producing more biomass and flowers (heterosis). In the meantime, we have generated the second generation, and a paper testing whether the effects of heterosis are still detectable beyond the first generation is under way.