Biology subjects

Huttunen, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Huttunen, S..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

DEADMON: A protocol for long-term monitoring of deadwood-associated species

Dead wood has a vital role in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem processes in boreal forests. A large proportion of deadwood-dependent species are threatened by habitat loss and degradation resulting from intensive forest management practices. In Finland, approximately 25% of all forest-dwelling species, around 5,000 species, are dependent on deadwood, of which 596 are red-listed. Currently, there is no large-scale, long-term monitoring programme for saproxylic species in Finland, and the tools required to implement such monitoring remain underdeveloped. Here, we develop, test and report a DNA-based monitoring method for dead wood associated organisms including fungi, lichens, bryophytes, and insects. Three study sites were selected for the research, one from each boreal vegetation zone. From each study site, 16 study logs were selected and permanently marked for long-term monitoring. Our results show that the method is applicable to all studied species groups. However, especially fungi and lichens show considerable difference between species detected morphologically and those detected using DNA-based methods. We conclude that two partly contrasting strategies emerge for implementing long-term monitoring of deadwood -associated boreal species. The first strategy emphasizes as comprehensive geographical sampling of habitat types and tree species as possible. The second approach focuses on long-term monitoring of individual deadwood units across their full decomposition trajectory. We recommend that solutions for unifying the currently fragmented monitoring research on deadwood-associated organisms would be sought together with potential coordinating institutions.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Genetic Fingerprinting of Herbarium Hop Specimens Reveals Genetic Diversity and Relationships with Modern Finnish Hops

We sampled 351 hop herbarium specimens for genetic analyses of their identities through definition of unique set of samples by extraction of duplicates and comparative analyses with modern hop samples from Finland and worldwide. We also analyzed genetic diversity and assessed genetic clustering and structure within and between herbarium hops specimens and modern hop germplasm. A set of 26 previously published hop microsatellites (SSRs) proven in diversity analyses have been used for genetic evaluations of herbarium hop DNA extracted from pressed and dried specimens of which the oldest was dated back to the year of 1841. A genetic fingerprint was generated for all samples and unique ones has been generated in pairwise comparisons of pairs of samples and eliminations of duplicates. For unique set of samples, a genetic distance matrix was created for clustering analyses as well allele frequencies matrix for model-based clustering analyses. Herbarium hop samples representing historical DNA showed no clear differentiation (clustering or sub-clustering) when analyzed with presently grown modern hops. Weak tendency of hops to cluster according to the geographical origin has been noticed. We detected 39 groups of hop herbarium duplicates representing 94 specimens, where redundancy showed to be low when compared to modern Finnish hops (redundancy >70%). Analyzing herbarium hops through DNA extraction will add another link in investigating the origin and spread of Finnish hops from ancient times. Finnish hops has been described as a millennia old and native to Finland.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Chromosome fusions shape an ancient UV sex chromosome system

Non-recombining sex chromosomes, like the mammalian Y, often lose genes and accumulate transposable elements, a process termed degeneration1,2. The correlation between suppressed recombination and degeneration is clear in animal XY systems1,2, but the absence of recombination is confounded with other asymmetries between the X and Y. In contrast, UV sex chromosomes, like those found in bryophytes, experience symmetrical population genetic conditions3,4. Here we test for degeneration in the bryophyte UV sex chromosome system through genomic comparisons with new female and male chromosome-scale reference genomes of the moss Ceratodon purpureus. We show that the moss sex chromosomes evolved over 300 million years ago and expanded via two chromosomal fusions. Although the sex chromosomes show signs of weaker purifying selection than autosomes, we find suppressed recombination alone is insufficient to drive gene loss on sex-specific chromosomes. Instead, the U and V sex chromosomes harbor thousands of broadly-expressed genes, including numerous key regulators of sexual development across land plants.

evolutionary biology↗