Lipids from the floral glands of Krameria

Gland extracts from the flowers of seven South American species of Krameria have been shown to contain free 3-acetoxy fatty acids of the same type as previously found in species from North America.     

Phylogeny of Agavaceae based on ITS rDNA sequence variation

Several systems of classification have been proposed for the family Agavaceae. A distinctive bimodal karyotype and similarities of fruits and seeds strongly support close relationships among Yucca, Hesperaloë, Beschorneria, Furcraea, Agave, Manfreda, Polianthes, Prochnyanthes, and perhaps Hosta. However, Dasylirion, Beaucamea, Nolina, Calibanus, Dracaena, and Sansevieria differ in so many cytological and morphological features that many have concluded they should be excluded from Agavaceae and separated into two families, Nolinaceae and Dracaenaceae. Chloroplast DNA restriction site data support these separations and indicate that Nolinaceae and Dracaenaceae are very close to Convallariaceae (Maianthemum, Convallaria, Aspidistra, Liriope, etc.). In this paper we report the results of an ITS rDNA sequencing study of 40 taxa in Agavaceae sensu lato and related groups in the order Asparagales. Sequence alignments were optimized using the Consistency Index, Retention Index, and Rescaled Consistency Index to find the alignment that exhibited the least amount of homoplasy. The results of our study are congruent with the conclusions drawn from cytological, immunological, cpDNA, and rbcL studies, which support a narrow interpretation of Agavaceae and a close relationship among Convallariaceae, Dracaenaceae, and Nolinaceae. In addition, the ITS sequence data provide evidence for some interesting relationships within these families.     

The influence of caffeine on the mitomycin C-induced chromosome aberration frequency in normal human and xeroderma pigmentosum cells

The clastogenic effect of mitomycin C (MC) was determined in two normal fibroblast cell lines and two xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) cell lines, a variant and a group A excision-deficient line. The group A xeroderma cell line was substantially more sensitive to MC than either the XP variant or the normal human cells. On caffeine post-treatment potentiation of the MC-induced aberration frequency occurred in all the cell lines. The XP varian cell line exhibited a distinctly higher sensitivity to caffeine than the classical XP or the normal human cell lines.     

Abiotic influences on dissolved oxygen in a riverine environment

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is an important parameter in riverine health. Periphyton and/or macrophytes are frequently the drivers behind the fluctuation of DO levels in aquatic environments; however, the effects of abiotic and biotic factors on biomass and in turn on DO may be variable from river to river. The objective of this paper is to understand which factors govern DO levels in terms of daily minimum DO (DO_min) and daily DO variation (ΔDO) in a major wastewater-impacted river using statistical data analysis and modeling. Both climatic conditions (reflected in water temperature) and hydrometric conditions (flow) were major factors influencing DO_min and ΔDO. The effect of flow on DO_min and ΔDO was discontinuous, depending on the flow magnitude. Nutrient loading from wastewater effluent was not identified to have a significant impact on a daily basis; however, their role over large time scales is unclear. In the data-driven modeling approaches, the non-linear approach using multiple-layer perceptron neural network, which has very flexible architecture, was superior to the linear approach used (multiple linear regression). Although nutrients are likely related to the DO_min and ΔDO, flow and temperature were sufficient to obtain robust prediction in the data-driven modeling. This approach is useful to model and understand complicated processes when their governing mechanisms are not well presented in conceptual- or physically based models.     

PATTERNS AND PROCESSES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HIGH ANDEAN FLORA

Previous work has suggested that the floras of the separate regions of the high Andes are the products of disparate geographical, ecological, and geological factors. Among the important factors that differ among the regions are distances from source areas of propagules, climates, and differential effects of Pleistocene glaciations. To ascertain the relative importances of these factors in shaping the modern floras, and to test hypotheses about the causes of observed generic diversity patterns, models of abundances of species per genus were tested against data from three samples representing the major vegetation zones of the high Andes (páramo, puna, and austral alpine). While originally proposed for intraspecific phenomena, abundance models (broken stick, log normal, geometric series, and log series) appear to be applicable to supraspecific taxa and were used to assess alternative hypotheses. Potential sources of genera now present in the sample areas were compared, and coefficients of similarity were computed between these samples and between each of them and two North American high-elevation floras. Propagule types in the three Andean samples were also scored to see if methods of fruit dispersal differed. Results showed that all areas fit the geometric series model if abundance plots of ranked genera were compared, but these results were heavily influenced by the large number of genera represented by only one species. Both the puna and austral alpine samples fit the log series models, indicating that the habitats of these areas are relatively uniform and that arrival of propagules was random over time. The lack of a fit of the Colombian data to the log series or log normal models is due primarily to a large number of species-rich genera relative to other areas. These findings support the hypothesis that there has been a pronounced level of autochthonous speciation in the Colombian Andes relative to other areas. Coefficients of similarity at the generic level show that a given flora is most similar to that of the nearest sample area within the same continent. However, the floristic similarity between Tierra del Fuego and the high mountains of Colorado is as high as that between the Tierra del Fuego sample and the neighboring Argentina sample, indicating that similarities in climate can be as important as distance in determining the composition of some Andean floras.     

A rapid in vitro system for screening the effect of experimental compounds on nonadhering cell lines

A simple in vitro method was developed to assess the toxic effect of experimental compounds, with two nonadhering cell lines, a parasitic protozoan,Leishmania mexicana (promastigote), and human lymphocyte CEM T₄ cells. The technique developed involves growth of cells in a 96-well microwell plate and monitoring of turbidity. This technique requires the use of a chemically defined medium, nonadhering cells, and a microwell spectrophotometer. The method is rapid, simple, and can, in principle, be easily applied to determine the effect of test agents on any nonadhering cell line or microorganism.