Morphometric analysis and taxonomic revision of the Vriesea paraibica complex (Bromeliaceae)

The species related to Vriesea paraibica (Bromeliaceae, Tillandsioideae) have controversial taxonomic limits. For several decades, this group has been identified in herbarium collections as V. × morreniana, an artificial hybrid that does not grow in natural habitats. The aim of this study was to assess the morphological variation in the V. paraibica complex through morphometric analyses of natural populations. Two sets of analyses were performed: the first involved six natural populations (G1) and the second was carried out on taxa that emerged from the first analysis, but using material from herbarium collections (G2). Univariate ANOVA was used, as well as discriminant analysis of 16 morphometric variables in G1 and 18 in G2. The results of the analyses of the two groups were similar and led to the selection of diagnostic traits of four species. Lengths of the lower and median floral bracts were significant for the separation of red and yellow floral bracts. Vriesea paraibica and V. interrogatoria have red bracts; these two species are differentiated by the widths of the lower and median portions of the inflorescence and by scape length. These structures are larger in the former and smaller in the latter. Of the species with yellow floral bracts, V. eltoniana is distinguished by longer leaf blades and scapes and V. flava is characterized by its shorter sepal lengths. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 159 , 163–181.     

THE EXTRAORDINARY TRILOBITE FENESTRASPIS (DALMANITIDAE, SYNPHORIINAE) FROM THE LOWER DEVONIAN OF BOLIVIA

Abstract:  The hitherto poorly known, monotypic trilobite genus Fenestraspis from the Lower Devonian of Bolivia is revised and its original assignment to the Synphoriinae supported. The thoracic morphology of the genus remains very poorly known. Fenestraspis is morphologically unusual because of the development of extensive fenestrae in the pleural region of the pygidium and apparently of the thorax; the presence of upwardly directed spines on the cephalon, thorax and pygidium; and the exceptionally large and highly elevated eyes with the palpebral rim projecting outwards above the visual surface. The function of the fenestrae remains uncertain. If they formed openings in the body of the trilobite in life they may have allowed circulation of oxygenated water to the limb exites so that respiration could have been maintained while the trilobite was enrolled. If they were covered with a flexible membrane, they may have been secondary respiratory structures or had a sensory function. The Synphoriinae is regarded as a subfamily of the Dalmanitidae rather than as an independent family of the Dalmanitoidea as proposed by some authors. The type species of the poorly known monotypic genus Dalmanitoides from the Lower Devonian of Argentina is illustrated photographically for the first time and compared with Fenestraspis .     

Microsatellite loci for the stingless bee Melipona rufiventris (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Eight microsatellite primers were developed from ISSR (intersimple sequence repeats) markers for the stingless bee Melipona rufiventris. These primers were tested in 20 M. rufiventris workers, representing a single population from Minas Gerais state. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 5 (mean = 2.63) and the observed and expected heterozygosity values ranged from 0.00 to 0.44 (mean = 0.20) and from 0.05 to 0.68 (mean = 0.31), respectively. Several loci were also polymorphic in M. quadrifasciata, M. bicolor, M. mandacaia and Partamona helleri and should prove useful in population studies of other stingless bees.     

天童米槠-木荷群落主要树种的结构及空间格局

种群的结构和空间格局是植物群落的重要特征.以浙江天童米槠（Castanopsis carlesii）-木荷（Schima superba）群落为对象,应用永久样方法和每木调查法调查了群落种类组成和结构,并对10个主要常绿阔叶树种的种群结构和空间格局进行了分析,种群结构分析包括胸径级结构和垂直层次结构,空间格局分析包括各种不同垂直层次个体的空间分布格局和空间关联,并考虑了空间关联的尺度依赖.所选10个种总体RBA值达到81.9﹪,包含了群落的全部5个优势种,SDI指数除黑山山矾（Symplocos heishanensis）为正值外,其余9种皆为负值,各个种在垂直空间上占据了不同的位置.不同种之间以及同种不同层次之间表现出复杂多样的分布格局,体现出多级复合分布特征,但多数种整体上表现为集群分布或基本分布成分为个体群.空间关联在不同种之间、同种不同层次之间以及不同空间尺度上发生了分化,随尺度的增加,正关联增加而负关联减少.各个物种通过占据不同的水平和垂直空间,并采取不同的生活史对策,在群落中得以共存,从而导致了群落高的生物多样性的形成和维持.     

用RACE技术扩增并克隆牛BMP4基因3'端序列

RACE技术是一项扩增基因末端序列的新技术。该研究从牛BMP4基因出发,以牛软骨的RNA为模板,按照不同物种BMP4基因的相似性设计特异引物,运用PCR和RACE技术扩增并获得了特异片段,该片段经PCR、酶切和测序验证,证实所克隆序列为牛BMP4的3′端序列,包含有1170bp组成的开放读码框(ORF),编码389个氨基酸,3′非编码区121bp个核苷酸和poly(A)15。同源性分析结果表明,牛BMP4 cDNA最大开放读码框所推测的氨基酸序列与已知人、小鼠、大鼠、狗、羊和鸡等真核生物BMP4氨基酸序列进行比较,分别有94.5%、93.1%、91.9%、87.4%、94.2%、79%的同源性。这为克隆其他物种的BMP4基因提供了依据,同时牛骨形态发生蛋白的测序为我们更好的理解牛的生骨机理提供帮助。     

Effects of light on cyanide‐resistant respiration and alternative oxidase function in Arabidopsis seedlings

Mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX), the unique respiratory terminal oxidase in plants, catalyzes the energy wasteful cyanide (CN)‐resistant respiration and plays a role in optimizing photosynthesis. Although it has been demonstrated that leaf AOX is upregulated after illumination, the in vivo mechanism of AOX upregulation by light and its physiological significance are still unknown. In this report, red light and blue light‐induced AOX (especially AOX1a) expressions were characterized. Phytochromes, phototropins and cryptochromes, all these photoreceptors mediate the light‐response of AOX1a gene. When aox1a mutant seedlings were grown under a high‐light (HL) condition, photobleaching was more evident in the mutant than the wild‐type plants. More reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and inefficient dissipation of chloroplast reducing‐equivalents in aox1a mutant may account for its worse adaptation to HL stress. When etiolated seedlings were exposed to illumination for 4 h, chlorophyll accumulation was largely delayed in aox1a plants. We first suggest that more reduction of the photosynthetic electron transport chain and more accumulation of reducing‐equivalents in the mutant during de‐etiolation might be the main reasons.     

Genetic uniformity characterizes the invasive spread of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), a clonal aquatic plant

Aquatic plant invasions are often associated with long‐distance dispersal of vegetative propagules and prolific clonal reproduction. These reproductive features combined with genetic bottlenecks have the potential to severely limit genetic diversity in invasive populations. To investigate this question we conducted a global scale population genetic survey using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers of the world’s most successful aquatic plant invader –Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth). We sampled 1140 ramets from 54 populations from the native (South America) and introduced range (Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Central America and the Caribbean). Although we detected 49 clones, introduced populations exhibited very low genetic diversity and little differentiation compared with those from the native range, and ～80% of introduced populations were composed of a single clone. A widespread clone (‘W’) detected in two Peruvian populations accounted for 70.9% of the individuals sampled and dominated in 74.5% of the introduced populations. However, samples from Bangladesh and Indonesia were composed of different genotypes, implicating multiple introductions to the introduced range. Nine of 47 introduced populations contained clonal diversity suggesting that sexual recruitment occurs in some invasive sites where environmental conditions favour seedling establishment. The global patterns of genetic diversity in E. crassipes likely result from severe genetic bottlenecks during colonization and prolific clonal propagation. The prevalence of the ‘W’ genotype throughout the invasive range may be explained by stochastic sampling, or possibly because of pre‐adaptation of the ‘W’ genotype to tolerate low temperatures.     

Forest refugia revisited: nSSRs and cpDNA sequences support historical isolation in a wide‐spread African tree with high colonization capacity,Milicia excelsa (Moraceae)

The impact of the Pleistocene climate oscillations on the structure of biodiversity in tropical regions remains poorly understood. In this study, the forest refuge theory is examined at the molecular level in Milicia excelsa, a dioecious tree with a continuous range throughout tropical Africa. Eight nuclear microsatellites (nSSRs) and two sequences and one microsatellite from chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) showed a deep divide between samples from Benin and those from Lower Guinea. This suggests that these populations were isolated in separate geographical regions, probably for several glacial cycles of the Pleistocene, and that the nuclear gene pools were not homogenized despite M. excelsa’s wind‐pollination syndrome. The divide could also be related to seed dispersal patterns, which should be largely determined by the migration behaviour of M. excelsa’s main seed disperser, the frugivorous bat Eidolon helvum. Within Lower Guinea, a north–south divide, observed with both marker types despite weak genetic structure (nSSRs: F_ST = 0.035, cpDNA: G_ST = 0.506), suggested the existence of separate Pleistocene refugia in Cameroon and the Gabon/Congo region. We inferred a pollen‐to‐seed dispersal distance ratio of c. 1.8, consistent with wide‐ranging gene dispersal by both wind and bats. Simulations in an Approximate Bayesian Computation framework suggested low nSSR and cpDNA mutation rates, but imprecise estimates of other demographic parameters, probably due to a substantial gene flow between the Lower Guinean gene pools. The decline of genetic diversity detected in some Gabonese populations could be a consequence of the relatively recent establishment of a closed canopy forest, which could negatively affect M. excelsa’s reproductive system.     

Biological Control of Sheep Parasites using Duddingtonia flagrans: Trials on Commercial Farms in Sweden

   

Trials were conducted on 3 commercial sheep farms in Sweden to assess the effect of administering spores of the nematode trapping fungus, Duddingtonia flagrans, together with supplementary feed to lactating ewes for the first 6 weeks from turn-out on pastures in spring. Also control groups of ewes, receiving only feed supplement, were established on all 3 farms. Groups were monitored by intensive parasitological investigation. The ewes and their lambs were moved in late June to saved pastures for summer grazing, the lambs receiving an anthelmintic treatment at this time. After approximately 6 weeks on summer pasture the lambs were weaned, treated a second time with anthelmintic, and returned to their original lambing pastures for finishing. Decisions as to when lambs were to be marketed were entirely at the discretion of the farmer co-operators. No difference in lamb performance was found between the two treatments on all three farms. This was attributed to the high levels of nutrition initially of the ewes limiting their post-partum rise in nematode faecal egg counts in spring, which in turn resulted in low levels of nematode infection on pastures throughout the autumn period. Additionally, pastures were of good quality for the lambs during the finishing period, so they grew at optimal rates as far as the farmers were concerned.     

Role of nurse plants in Araucaria Forest expansion over grassland in south Brazil

Abstract Araucaria Forest expansion over grassland takes place under wet climate conditions and low disturbance and it is hypothesized that isolated trees established on grassland facilitate the establishment of forest woody species beneath their canopies. Forest with Araucaria angustifolia is a particular type of Brazilian Atlantic Forest and the main forest type on the highland plateau in south Brazil, often forming mosaics with natural Campos grassland. The objectives of this paper were to evaluate the role of isolated shrubs and trees as colonization sites for seedlings of Araucaria Forest woody species on grassland, to determine which species function as preferential nurse plants in the process and the importance of vertebrate diaspore dispersal on the structure of seedling communities beneath nurse plants. The study was conducted in São Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul State, where we sampled isolated shrubs and trees in natural grassland near Araucaria Forest edges. Seedlings were counted and identified, and seedling diaspore dispersal syndromes, size and colour were registered. We detected 11 woody species with a potential role in nucleating grassland colonization by forest species. Beneath the canopies of nurse plants more forest species seedlings were found compared with open field grassland and the seedlings had diaspores mostly dispersed by vertebrates. Also, more seedlings were found under the canopy of A. angustifolia than beneath other nurse plant species. We conclude that A. angustifolia trees established on grassland act as nurse plants, by attracting disperser birds that promote colonization of the site by other forest species seedlings, and that under low level of grassland disturbance, conservation of frugivorous vertebrate assemblages may increase forest expansion over natural grassland and also facilitate the regeneration of degraded forest areas.