The memory of water: Archaeobotanical evidence of wetland plants from Modena (Emilia-Romagna,northern Italy) and palaeoecological remarks

Modena, founded by the Romans (183 BC), has always been conditioned by water in all its urban history. In the city, numerous archaeobotanical investigations have been carried out in order to reconstruct the natural landscape and human–environment interactions over time. During these investigations, four archaeological sites (two Roman and two medieval) have revealed deposits with a marked character of palaeobiocoenosis, largely resulting from the natural environment surrounding the sites, due to natural “seed rain”. These deposits are characterized by widespread evidence of plants related to water, constituting a valuable archive to investigate habitats which currently have become very rare and threatened, if they have not completely disappeared. The present paper aims to reveal the peculiarities of the Roman/medieval archaeocarpological floristic lists (through a comparison with the flora over the last two centuries in the area of Modena) and highlight the possible causes explaining the presence or the demise of several taxa, considering also the palaeoecological reconstruction of the environment in which they have been found.     

Hidden areas of endemism: Small units in the South-eastern Neotropics

This study aimed to establish if the Lower Río de la Plata Basin (LRPB) wetlands can be considered a biogeographic unit. The species of this area were compiled and segregated according to the habitat, selecting only 87 endemic taxa restricted to the LRPB and linked to wetlands. Distributional data of species obtained from the literature, web databases, biological collections, and field trips were georeferenced. The areas of endemism were established as those areas where the distribution of two or more taxa overlaps in groups of rivers’ sections with geographic continuity and were tested with a cluster analysis. This congruence is due to ecological, geomorphological, and historical factors. Four areas of endemism were found: a broad area that comprises the whole study area (Riverine district), which is divided into three nested smaller areas (Paraguay–Paraná Flooding Valleys, Uruguay Basin, and Paraná Delta subdistricts). Then, we analysed 170 taxa distributions to evaluate the relationship between the study area and the neighbouring biogeographic units. According to the results, the study area belongs to the Paraná biogeographic province. Some areas of endemism are hidden inside broader areas and are hardly detected with the currently used biogeographic grid-methods. We propose to combine the information about ecological requirements of each taxon with its georeferenced records to estimate their areas of distribution as a primary step for searching areas of endemism in intracontinental studies.     

Redefinition of the hypotrichous ciliate Uncinata,with descriptions of the morphology and phylogeny of three urostylids (Protista,Ciliophora)

We investigated the morphology, morphogenesis and small subunit rRNA gene-based phylogeny of three marine urostylids, Uncinata gigantea Bullington, 1940 Bullington, W. E. (1940). Some ciliates from Tortugas. Papers from the Tortugas Laboratory, 32, 179–221. [Google Scholar], Holosticha heterofoissneri Hu & Song, 2001 Hu, X., & Song, W. (2001). Morphology and morphogenesis of Holosticha heterofoissneri n. sp. from the Yellow Sea, China (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida). Hydrobiologia, 448, 171–179. doi:10.1023/A:1017553406031.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], and Holosticha cf. heterofoissneri. The dorsal morphogenesis of Uncinata gigantea shows de novo formation of two groups of anlagen near the marginal rows. Holosticha cf. heterofoissneri demonstrates fragmentation of the first dorsal kinety anlage as in Holosticha heterofoissneri. Our population of H. heterofoissneri corresponds well with previously described populations in terms of its general morphology and ciliary pattern. Uncinata gigantea can be recognized by its large and highly contractile body, yellowish to brownish cell colour, two types of cortical granules, and 20–30 transversely oriented and densely arranged cirri in the left marginal row, which often overlie the buccal vertex. Based on the new data, especially infraciliature, the genus Uncinata is here redefined. Both the morphology and phylogenetic analyses suggest that the genus Uncinata should be classified within the family Urostylidae. In addition, both morphological and morphogenetic data suggest that Holosticha bradburyae Gong et al., 2001 Gong, J., Song, W., Hu, X., Ma, H., & Zhu, M. (2001). Morphology and infraciliature of Holosticha bradburyae n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) from the Yellow Sea, China. Hydrobiologia, 464, 63–69. doi:10.1023/A:1013901621439.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] should be transferred to Uncinata as U. bradburyae (Gong et al., 2001 Gong, J., Song, W., Hu, X., Ma, H., & Zhu, M. (2001). Morphology and infraciliature of Holosticha bradburyae n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) from the Yellow Sea, China. Hydrobiologia, 464, 63–69. doi:10.1023/A:1013901621439.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) comb. nov., due to its possession of a characteristically prominent beak-like, leftwards curved projection and the developmental mode of the dorsal kineties. This assignment is supported by the phylogenetic analyses, which placed Uncinata gigantea in a clade with U. bradburyae (Gong et al., 2001 Gong, J., Song, W., Hu, X., Ma, H., & Zhu, M. (2001). Morphology and infraciliature of Holosticha bradburyae n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) from the Yellow Sea, China. Hydrobiologia, 464, 63–69. doi:10.1023/A:1013901621439.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) comb. nov., and revealed only 1.13% (19 bp) difference in their SSU-rDNA gene sequence.     

Variation Characteristics of Chlorpyrifos in Nonsterile Wetland Plant Hydroponic System

Six wetland plants were investigated for their effect on the degradation characteristics of chlorpyrifos in nonsterile hydroponic system at constant temperature of 28°C. The results showed that the removal rates of chlorpyrifos in the water of plant systems were 1.26–5.56% higher than that in the control without plants. Scirpus validus and Typha angustifolia were better than other hygrophytes in elimination of chlorpyrifos. The removal rates of the two systems were up to 88%. Plants of acaulescent group had an advantage over caulescent group in removing chlorpyrifos. Phytoaccumulation of chlorpyrifos was observed, and the order of chlorpyrifos concentration in different plant tissues was root > stem > leaf. It was also found that chlorpyrifos and its metabolite TCP decreased rapidly at the initial step of the experiment.     

The Auchenorrhyncha fauna of peat bogs in the Austrian part of the Bohemian Forest (Insecta,Hemiptera)

The first overview on the Auchenorrhyncha fauna of peat bogs of the Austrian Bohemian Forest is presented. Seven oligotrophic peat bog sites were studied in 2011 by suction sampler (“G-Vac”) and 93 Auchenorrhyncha species (with 7465 adult specimens) were recorded. Eleven species (about 18 % of the individuals) are tyrphobiontic or tyrphophilous. The relative species abundance plot is not very steep; the six most abundant species represent 50 % of the individuals. The most common species is Conomelus anceps (17 % of the individuals). Compared to the whole Austrian Auchenorrhyncha fauna, the fauna of peat bogs comprises distinctly more univoltine species and more species hibernating in nymphal stage. Densities of adult Auchenorrhyncha in peat bogs are low in spring (about 10–60 individuals per m²) and high in July, with up to 180 (±50) individuals per m². Disturbed peat bogs have higher species numbers and higher Auchenorrhyncha densities in total, but lower numbers and densities in peat bog specialists.     

Human genetic databanks in Australia: indications of inconsistency and confusion

This paper reports on a survey of human biotechnology organizations in Australia. The study provides insights into the nature, use and practices involved with human genetic databanking in the country. The survey was conducted at a time when databanks were becoming increasingly important to an expanding genomics industry, and while the nature and extent of industry regulation was being debated. The data revealed a surprising level of confusion and inconsistency in the interpretation of terminology and in ethical practice, even among those organizations subject to the relevant government ethics guidelines. It is argued that despite the extensive level of public consultation, recommendations for reform and actual reform in the intervening years, human genetic databanking remains an under-regulated sector of the human biotechnology industry in Australia, and at least as far as the private sector is concerned, will remain so in the foreseeable future.     

Draft Genome Sequence of Amphibacillus jilinensis Y1T,a Facultatively Anaerobic,Alkaliphilic and Halotolerant Bacterium

The genus Amphibacillus was established in 1990, and seven additional species were described in the past two decades. Amphibacillus jilinensis Y1^T is a facultatively anaerobic and alkaliphilic bacterium isolated from a soda lake in China. Here we describe the structural and genetic features of the draft genome about the type strain Y1^T (3,831,075 bp, with a G+C content of 37.27%). This is the first genome report of the Amphibacillus genus.     

THE LAKE ST. LUCIA SYSTEM—A RESEARCH ASSESSMENT

SUMMARY

This paper assesses the research undertaken at Lake St. Lucia over the past 25 years based on over 300 documents from that period. Trends related to both time and subject matter are evident, and these are considered in relation to the gaps in our current knowledge concerning the system.

A feature evident throughout the period under consideration is that the major portion of documented material available relates to reports and contributions to workshops (77%) with only 23% from scientific publications. Contributions by these two sources to the subject group being considered for St. Lucia are markedly different with research publications dominating the biological field and reports dominating in physical aspects, catchment characteristics, man's activities, management, dredging and hydrological modelling. However, some 55% of all unpublished data related to reviews or assessments of the state of research on St. Lucia.

The importance of the scientific publications group as an indicator of the state of research into the system is considered in the light of an apparent decline in the number of completed projects being published. It is also considered in the light of the recent establishment of a co-ordinated Lake St. Lucia Research Programme, which may provide the impetus for a more concentrated and directed research effort on the Lake System.     

Use of environmental DNA to detect Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida Putnam, 1863) in large Laurentian Great Lakes embayments

A single-species environmental DNA (eDNA) method was developed to sample for a small, benthic rare species, Eastern Sand Darter (Ammocrypta pellucida Putnam, 1863) in two large Lake Ontario embayments. Summer water sampling allowed for: (a) surveys of habitats (Wellers Bay) where traditional fish sampling gear could not be used; and, (b) a comparison between eDNA and seining-based detection probabilities at known occupied habitats (West Lake). In 2018, replicate (n = 3) 1 L water samples were collected from 90 Wellers Bay sites and 71 West Lake sites. A site-occupancy model, a hierarchical logistic regression model, was fitted to determine site occupancy, sample occupancy (presence of Eastern Sand Darter DNA in a water sample) and probability of detection (p) based on replicate quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results for each water sample. Eastern Sand Darter was detected at 10 West Lake sites, but not from Wellers Bay. Mean site occupancy was 0.31 (0.12–0.70; 95% CLs), mean sample occupancy was 0.28 (0.09–0.58; 95% CLs), and mean detection probability in a subsample (i.e., successful qPCR amplification) given it was present was 0.40 (0.25–0.55; 95% CLs). While the eDNA method successfully detected Eastern Sand Darter from known occupied areas in West Lake, it was not more effective for assessing local site occupancy than traditional sampling methods, such as the seine.     

Bioturbation in matgrounds at Lake Bogoria in the Kenya Rift Valley: implications for interpreting the heterogeneous early Cambrian seafloor

Modern burrowing organisms feed on microbial organic matter in matgrounds near hot springs on the margins of Lake Bogoria, a saline alkaline lake in the Kenya Rift Valley. The burrowers produce a low-diversity trace assemblage similar to those produced by undermat miners during the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition. Despite obvious differences in body plans and phylogenetic affinities, these modern animals feed on microbes in similar ways to those inferred for primitive bilaterians. With increasing distance from hot-spring vents, outflow channels and adjacent matgrounds, the diversity and depth of the traces increase and mixgrounds become dominant. This modern extreme environment gives clues for interpreting the heterogeneous early Cambrian seafloor, with: (1) the restriction of ‘pre-agronomic revolution’ matground substrates; and (2) expansion of adjacent ‘post-agronomic revolution’ mixground areas.