Cultivation and use of isatis tinctoria L. (Brassicaceae) in Southern Italy

Isatis tinctoria L. (Brassicaceae), commonly known as wood, is a biennial species with erect stem, hastate leaves, and yellow flowers clustered in racemes. Fruits are pendulous siliques. This species, probably indigenous of southeastern Asia, was used for the extraction of a dyeing agent called “indigo.” Wood was introduced in ancient times in Italy and the first records of its cultivation date back to the Roman period. For many centuries, wood cultivation remained stable, but grew dramatically in the eighteenth century. In that century, the Societá Economiche established by Bourbons encouraged the cultivation of it in Southern Italy. Near Caserta, in Campania region (Italy), a factory for the extraction of dyeing agents was established and the dye was used in textile production in San Leucio (Caserta). The cultivation of I. tinctoria is abandoned today, although this species grows spontaneously as a weed in Italy. The authors discuss the history of wood and some ancient extractive and dyeing methods.     

Capuchin monkey tool use: Overview and implications

Nutcracking capuchins are mentioned in reports dating as far back as the sixteenth century, 1 , 2 as well as in Brazilian folklore. 3 However, it was barely a decade ago that primatologists “discovered” the spontaneous use of stones to crack nuts in a semi‐free ranging group of tufted capuchin monkeys. Since then, we have found several more capuchin populations in savanna‐like environments which employ this form of tool use. 5 - 7 The evidence so far only weakly supports genetically based behavioral differences between populations and does not suggest that dietary pressures in poor environments are proximate determinants of the likelihood of tool use. Instead, tool use within these capuchin populations seems to be a behavioral tradition that is socially learned and is primarily associated with more terrestrial habits. However, differences in the diversity of “tool kits” between populations remain to be understood.     

Differences in invasiveness between two cryptic species of the coconut beetle <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brontispa longissima</Emphasis> in Timor-Leste

Brontispa longissima (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a serious pest of coconut palm, and the species contains two cryptic species: the “Asian clade” is distributed over a wide area, including Asia and the Pacific region, whereas the “Pacific clade” is distributed in a limited area. Recent invasions and outbreaks have only been reported for the Asian clade, suggesting that invasive ability may differ between the clades. To reveal differences in invasiveness, we investigated the damage potential on coconut palm and range expansion of the two clades in Timor-Leste, where both clades are present. Distribution of the clades and of severely damaged trees indicated that range expansion and outbreaks have occurred for the Asian clade but not for the Pacific clade. The Asian clade attacked trees taller than 10 m, whereas the Pacific clade seldom attacked these trees. The preference for the taller trees, which are more abundant, can facilitate range expansion and outbreaks of the Asian clade. The beetle has spread through areas where coconut palms are continuously available, but have not expanded their distribution where coconut palms are separated by large gaps. This indicates that areas free of coconut palm could serve as buffer zones to prevent spread of this beetle.     

AN ACOUSTIC LINK BETWEEN BLUE WHALES IN THE EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC AND THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC1

Blue whale calls in the eastern North Pacific Ocean consist of a two-part call often termed the A-B call. This call has been described for regions offshore of Oregon, Washington, and California, USA and the Sea of Cortez, Mexico (reviewed in Rivers 1997). Data collected from moored hydrophones in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) indicate that the A-B pattern is common in this region as well. There is consistency in this call type throughout the eastern North Pacific and throughout the year. This acoustic evidence indicates continuity between blue whales in the ETP and those found west of North America. The acoustic data suggest that the population of blue whales generally referred to as the “Californi/Mexico” stock might better be termed the “northeast Pacific” stock of blue whales.     

The biogeography of New Zealand’s terrestrial vertebrates

Abstract

New Zealand’s peculiar biota has fueled more than a century of biogeographic interest. During this time a number of workers have offered classifications synthesising biotic and geographical relationships. More recently, Fleming (1963, 1979) has recognised that these systems have much in common and tried to reconcile them into a more general scheme. He distinguished seven elements emphasising relationships with Australia and the southern ocean with less important “Holarctic” and tropical “Malayo-Pacific” components and a “New Zealand Element” in the Pacific. The remainder are “Endemic” with no close relatives to indicate their “place of origin” and “Cosmopolitan” for those “embarrassing organisms” too widely distributed to be included elsewhere. Only the ratites, tuatara, and frog were considered old enough to have used terrestrial links, the remainder having crossed over water from the terminals of dispersal pathways recognised in the classification. The colonisation of New Zealand by Australian birds in historic times were regarded as examples of this mechanism in action (Falla 1953; Fleming 1962). This view of biogeographic relationship necessarily plays down the wider perspectives used by such workers as Hutton (1872, 1904) and Croizat (1958).     

网隔栽培法对生姜姜瘟病防治及产量的影响

姜瘟病是由青枯雷尔氏菌(Ralstoniasolanacearum)引起的一种细菌性病害,被称为生姜种植产业的“癌症”.本试验设计了一种“网隔栽培法”,并探索其对土传姜瘟病发病率和生姜产量的影响.结果表明,经过连续3年的田间验证,相比传统栽培法,“网隔栽培法”种植可显著降低姜瘟病的发病率,平均减少了6.08个百分点,平均防治效果达到了48.33%;同时,生姜产量平均增加了13.21%.这种“短行播种、纵横开沟、深沟隔病”的“网隔栽培法”为姜瘟病的绿色防控提供了新方案,也为其他蔬菜、中药材等植物的土传病害防治提供了新的借鉴思路.     

Experimental Identification of “Songlan” (Isatis indigotica) and Woad (I.tinctoria) Introduced into China

“Song Lan” is a source of Chinese drugs such as “Daqingye”, “Banlangen” or “Qingdai”. We have discovered that the two species, “Song Lan” (Isatis indigotica Fort.) and woad (I. tinctoria L.), were mistakenly described in the literature due to their morphological polymorphism. In order to clarify the two species, cytology examination, pollen analysis, electrophoretic analysis of isoenzymes and soluble protein were performed. The results show that previous non-trichiferous type of woad is a “Song Lan”. As in woad, “Song Lan” is also morphologically of great variability. The base of canline leaves in this species may be sagittate or auriculate. We have not found the non-trichiferous type of woad in our country. It is reported for the first time that the chromosome number for “Song Lan” is 2n=14. The content of the indole glucoside in fresh leaves of “Song Lan” is about five timeshigher than in woad. For medicine cultivation of “Song Lan” is favorable.     

AUXIN RELATIONSHIPS IN THE ALASKA PEA (PISUM SATIVUM)

Scott , Tom K., and Winslow R. Briggs . (Stanford U., Stanford, Calif.) Auxin relationships in the Alaska pea (Pisum sativum). Amer. Jour. Bot. 47(6) : 492–499. Illus. 1960.—The distribution of “free” auxin in the 9-day-old ‘Alaska’ pea epicotyl was determined by short-term ether extraction and by the standard agar diffusion technique. The apical bud appeared to be the only source of “free” auxin. In the upper (growing) internode “free” auxin as determined by diffusion was found to decrease significantly from apex to base, while “free” auxin as determined by extraction remained constant. Below this region, both diffusible and extractable auxin remain constant through one internode and then both decrease simultaneously to the base of the plant. In the growing region, a fraction of diffusible auxin must move from the transport system but remain readily extractable. Upon removal of the apical auxin source all “free” auxin will ultimately be found in the transport system from which it gradually disappears basally.     

Genetic structure of the beaked whale genus Berardius in the North Pacific,with genetic evidence for a new species

There are two recognized species in the genus Berardius, Baird's and Arnoux's beaked whales. In Japan, whalers have traditionally recognized two forms of Baird's beaked whales, the common “slate‐gray” form and a smaller, rare “black” form. Previous comparison of mtDNA control region sequences from three black specimens to gray specimens around Japan indicated that the two forms comprise different stocks and potentially different species. We have expanded sampling to include control region haplotypes of 178 Baird's beaked whales from across their range in the North Pacific. We identified five additional specimens of the black form from the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea, for a total of eight “black” specimens. The divergence between mtDNA haplotypes of the black and gray forms of Baird's beaked whale was greater than their divergence from the congeneric Arnoux's beaked whale found in the Southern Ocean, and similar to that observed among other congeneric beaked whale species. Taken together, genetic evidence from specimens in Japan and across the North Pacific, combined with evidence of smaller adult body size, indicate presence of an unnamed species of Berardius in the North Pacific.     

Grundfutterqualität in Sachsen: Ergebnisse der mykotoxikologischen Untersuchungen an Silomais der Jahre 1997–2003

Maize for silage purposes is investigated on Zeralenone (ZEA) and Deoxynivalenol (DON) in Saxony since 1997. About 45 samples from various regions of Saxony are analyzed every year. The occurrence of DON and ZEA was proved for 20 to 90% of all samples. Most of the samples showed both of these toxins. The quantity of the detected toxins was generally very low, even in so called “Fusarium years” only 20% of samples exceeded the lowest border of orientation values for critical dietary concentrations in cattle feed. We observed a higher contamination with DON in samples from the region “Erzgebirge” and clear higher contents of ZEA in the region “Sächsisches Heideland”. Correlation between toxin content and other parameters like cultivation, pre-fruit etc. were not observed, probably because of masking these effects by variety and location.     

Corallite wall and septal microstructure in scleractinian reef corals: Comparison of molecular clades within the family Faviidae

Recent molecular phylogenies conflict with traditional scleractinian classification at ranks ranging from suborder to genus, challenging morphologists to discover new characters that better agree with molecular data. Such characters are essential for including fossils in analyses and tracing evolutionary patterns through geologic time. We examine the skeletal morphology of 36 species belonging to the traditional families Faviidae, Merulinidae, Pectiniidae, and Trachyphylliidae (3 Atlantic, 14 Indo‐Pacific, 2 cosmopolitan genera) at the macromorphological, micromorphological, and microstructural levels. Molecular analyses indicate that the families are not monophyletic groups, but consist of six family‐level clades, four of which are examined [clade XV = Diploastrea heliopora; clade XVI = Montastraea cavernosa; clade XVII (“Pacific faviids”) = Pacific faviids (part) + merulinids (part) + pectiniids (part) + M. annularis complex; clade XXI (“Atlantic faviids”) = Atlantic faviids (part) + Atlantic mussids]. Comparisons among molecular clades indicate that micromorphological and microstructural characters (singly and in combination) are clade diagnostic, but with two exceptions, macromorphologic characters are not. The septal teeth of “Atlantic faviids” are paddle‐shaped (strong secondary calcification axes) or blocky, whereas the septal teeth of “Pacific faviids” are spine‐shaped or multidirectional. Corallite walls in “Atlantic faviids” are usually septothecal, with occasional trabeculothecal elements; whereas corallite walls in “Pacific faviids” are usually trabeculothecal or parathecal or they contain abortive septa. Exceptions include subclades of “Pacific faviids” consisting of a) Caulastraea and Oulophyllia (strong secondary axes) and b) Cyphastrea (septothecal walls). Diploastrea has a diagnostic synapticulothecal wall and thick triangular teeth; Montastraea cavernosa is also distinct, possessing both “Pacific faviid” (abortive septa) and “Atlantic faviid” (paddle‐shaped teeth) attributes. The development of secondary axes is similar in traditional Atlantic faviids and mussids, supporting molecular results placing them in the same clade. Subclades of “Pacific faviids” reveal differences in wall structure and the arrangement and distinctiveness of centers of rapid accretion. J. Morphol. 272:66–88, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Re-evaluating the Silk Road's Qinghai Route using dendrochronology

The opening of the Silk Road vigorously promoted economic and cultural exchanges between Central Asia, Europe, northern India and China. The easternmost section of the ancient trade route was established during the Qin-Han period (221 BC to 220 AD). Previous research has shown that there were three routes: the first is known as the “Hexi Route”, the second is known as the “Juyan Route” or “Prairie Route”, and the third is known as the “Qinghai Route”. The Qinghai Route has long been viewed as merely an auxiliary line of the Hexi Route which was used when the main Hexi Route was blocked by warfare. Others believe that the Qinghai Route was used during the 5th to 6th century when it was controlled by Tuyuhun Kingdom. Yet, by the 7th to 8th century, after the Tibetan occupation of the region, it was no longer a main trade route. Dendrochronology, the study of tree-rings, is a precise dating method that can be accurate to the year. In this study, wood remains excavated from tombs along the ancient Qinghai Route were studied by the means of dendrochronology in order to determine the date and better understand when Qinghai Route was used. In the tombs a lot of commercial goods such as silk products, pottery, lacquer carpentry were found. The date of the tombs determined by dendrochronology when viewed together with other archaeological data, showed that from the early Tang Dynasty to the High Tang Dynasty (early 7th century to late 8th century), the Qinghai Route was one of the routes of communication between the West and China. This disproves the hypothesis that this route was only used during the 5th to 6th century.     

A sort of revolution: Systematics and physical anthropology in the 20th century

During the first four decades of the 20th century, a system of ideas about the evolution and systematics of humans and other primates coalesced around the work of George Gaylord Simpson and W. E. Le Gros Clark. Buttressed by the “new physical anthropology” of the 1950s, that system provided an authoritative model—a disciplinary matrix or paradigm—for the practice of that aspect of biological anthropology. The Simpson-Le Gros Clark synthesis began to unravel in the 1960s and collapsed in the 1970s under the onslaught of cladistic systematics. The cladistic “revolution” resembles a paradigm shift of the sort proposed by Thomas Kuhn because it was driven, not by new biological discoveries or theories, but by a change in aesthetics.     

Molecular evolution of Zika virus as it crossed the Pacific to the Americas

Zika virus was previously considered to cause only a benign infection in humans. Studies of recent outbreaks of Zika virus in the Pacific, South America, Mexico and the Caribbean have associated the virus with severe neuropathology. Viral evolution may be one factor contributing to an apparent change in Zika disease as it spread from Southeast Asia across the Pacific to the Americas. To address this possibility, we have employed computational tools to compare the phylogeny, geography, immunology and RNA structure of Zika virus isolates from Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas. In doing so, we compare and contrast methods and results for tree search and rooting of Zika virus phylogenies. In some phylogenetic analyses we find support for the hypothesis that there is a deep common ancestor between African and Asian clades (the “Asia/Africa” hypothesis). In other phylogenetic analyses, we find that Asian lineages are descendent from African lineages (the “out of Africa” hypothesis). In addition, we identify and evaluate key mutations in viral envelope protein coding and untranslated terminal RNA regions. We find stepwise mutations that have altered both immunological motif sets and regulatory sequence elements. Both of these sets of changes distinguish viruses found in Africa from those in the emergent Asia–Pacific–Americas lineage. These findings support the working hypothesis that mutations acquired by Zika virus in the Pacific and Americas contribute to changes in pathology. These results can inform experiments required to elucidate the role of viral genetic evolution in changes in neuropathology, including microcephaly and other neurological and skeletomuscular issues in infants, and Guillain‐Barré syndrome in adults.     

THE BIOGEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN OF ARCTIC ENDEMIC SEAWEEDS: A THERMOGEOGRAPHIC VIEW1

The Arctic is geologically and biogeographically young, and the origin of its seaweed flora has been widely debated. The Arctic littoral biogeographic region dates from the latest Tertiary and Pleistocene. Following the opening of Bering Strait, about 3.5 mya, the “Great Trans‐Arctic Biotic Interchange” populated the Arctic with a fauna strongly dominated by species of North Pacific origin. The Thermogeographic Model (TM) demonstrates why climate and geography continued to support this pattern in the Pleistocene. Thus, Arctic and Atlantic subarctic species of seaweeds are likely to be evolutionarily “based” in the North Pacific, subarctic species are likely to be widespread in the warmer Arctic, and species of Atlantic Boreal or warmer origin are unlikely in the Arctic and Subarctic. Although Arctic seaweeds have been thought to have a greater affinity with the North Atlantic, we have reanalyzed the Arctic endemic algal flora, using the Thermogeographic Model and evolutionary trees based on molecular data, to demonstrate otherwise. There are 35 congeneric species of the six, abundant Arctic Rhodophyta that we treat in this paper; 32 of these species (91%) occur in the North Pacific, two species (6%) occur in the Boreal or warmer Atlantic Ocean, and a single species is panoceanic, but restricted to the Subarctic. Laminaria solidungula J. Agardh, a kelp Arctic “endemic” species, has 18 sister species. While only eleven (61%) occur in the North Pacific, this rapidly dispersing and evolving genus is a terminal member of a diverse family and order (Laminariales) widely accepted to have evolved in the North Pacific. Thus, both the physical/time‐based TM and the dominant biogeographic pattern of relatives of Arctic macrophytes suggest strong compliance with the evidence of zoology, geology, and paleoclimatology that the Arctic marine flora is largely of Pacific origin.     

Enumeration of Bacteria in Sea Water

The choice of methods to be used for the enumeration of bacteria in sea water must depend on the objectives of the investigators. Comparisons of data based on different methods may be invalid. An operational definition is given for a colony-generating unit (CGU) which, under some conditions, may be a single viable bacterium. Such units can conveniently be enumerated by a modification of the “minimum probable number” method currently employed in aquatic bacteriology. Counts of “viable bacteria” (CGU) in surface sea water samples from the region of the North Pacific Gyre (28° N, 155°W) were estimated to range from 10,000 to 200,000 per litre.     

New World depopulation and the case of disease

The decline of the indigenous population of the Americas after the European conquest is examined. In particular, the impact of epidemic diseases is evaluated, and a methodology is offered that blends ethno-historical accounts with medical information and data on analogous outbreaks. The method is illustrated using smallpox data for the Andean region at the end of the sixteenth century.     

Domestication of cultivatedleucaena (leguminosae) in Mexico: The sixteenth century documents

The distribution, and the morphological and genetic variation of the cultivated taxa of the genus Leucaena (especiallyL. esculenta, guaje rojo and guaje Colorado, andL. leucocephala, guaje verde and guaje bianco, are discussed in terms of their long history as arboreal food resources. In order to understand the domestication process it is essential to understand the changes in management, diffusion and importance of this natural resource throughout the prehistoric, prehispanic, colonial, modern and contemporary periods of Mexican history. In this article the principal documents of the contact period (Florentine Codex, writings of Francisco Hernández and sixteenth century Relaciones Geográficas) are analyzed to examine the effect of culture change on the domestication process. The persistence of Prehispanic uses and management of Leucaena as a source of food is documented. Today’s patterns appear to be both a product of neglect of the plant by the conquerors, and the cultural resilience of the native people.     

Evaluation and application of methods for biological assessment of streams: summary of papers

The false mussel Mytilopsis adamsi, originally described from the Pacific coast of Panama, is reported for the first time as an introduced species in the Urías estuary and an adjacent shrimp farm, on the Pacific coasts of Mexico. In the 19th century, this species was transported from the Pacific coast of Panama, reaching the Indo-Pacific Ocean, but it had not been previously reported in other coasts of the American Pacific. Its recent and irregular presence in this small estuary near shore the Mazatlán harbor and an adjacent shrimp farm suggests that the species was introduced into the area but it cannot still be considered as a harmful invader. The presence of the species in the shrimp farm may indicate that it was introduced along with shrimp stocks from Central America, although its passive transportation to the estuary via ballast water or attached to hulls is not discounted.     

SYMBIODINIUM (DINOPHYTA) DIVERSITY AND STABILITY IN AQUARIUM CORALS1

Indo‐Pacific reef corals growing for years in closed‐system aquaria provide an alternate means to investigate host–symbiont specificity and stability. The diversity of dinoflagellate endosymbionts (Symbiodinium spp.) from coral communities in private and public aquaria was investigated using molecular‐genetic analyses. Of the 29 symbiont types (i.e., species) identified, 90% belonged to the most prevalent group of Symbiodinium harbored by Indo‐Pacific reef corals, Clade C, while the rest belonged to Clade D. Sixty‐five percent of all types were known from field surveys conducted throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans. Because specific coral–dinoflagellate partnerships appear to have defined geographic distributions, correspondence of the same symbionts in aquarium and field‐collected specimens identifies regions where particular colonies must have been collected in the wild. Symbiodinium spp. in clade D, believed to be “stress‐tolerant” and/or “opportunistic,” occurred in a limited number of individual colonies. The absence of a prevalent, or “weedy,” symbiont suggests that conditions under which aquarium corals are grown do not favor competitive replacements of their native symbiont populations. The finding of typical and diverse assemblages of Symbiodinium spp. among aquarium corals living many years under variable chemical/physical conditions, artificial and natural light, while undergoing fragmentation periodically, indicates that individual colonies maintain stable, long‐term symbiotic associations.