| Summary: | An organisms' ability to adapt to environmental stress and tolerate novel habitats remains one of the most intriguing phenomena in evolutionary biology. This study examined the lead-related microevolutionary responses of the cosmopolitan earthworm species Lumbricus rubellus inhabiting contrasting metalliferous soils: circumneutra Cwmystwyth Cottage (CC) and Draethen Hollow (DH), acidic Cwmystwyth Stream (CS), East (E) and MWest (W) and unpolluted reference sites, Pontcanna (P) and Dinas Powys (DP). Techniques used ranged from mitochondrial (COII) and nuclear (AFLP) genotyping markers, cellular fractionation, synchrotron-based whole-worm X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS: EXAFS and XANES), biochemical fingerprinting of individual cells by high energy Fourier-Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) microspectroscopy, and a variety of molecular-genetic tools including Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) sequencing of Pb-exposed worms (www.earthworms.org) and specific target gene sequencing.
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