The relevance of the mesosomal internal structures to the phylogeny of Augochlorini bees (Hymenoptera: Halictinae)

The use of internal skeletal structures is valuable to phylogenetic reconstruction within Hymenoptera; however, these structures were not further investigated for Augochlorini. Previous phylogenetic studies of Augochlorini based only on external morphology were poorly resolved. The objectives of this work are to explore the comparative morphology of internal structures of the mesosoma and to evaluate their potential as information sources for the phylogenetic relationships within the tribe. The internal structures of the Pseudaugochlora graminea (Fabricius, 1804) mesosoma are described in detail and compared with 16 other genera. We propose 24 new character statements for the Augochlorini phylogeny based on internal structures of mesosoma. Prosternum, propleuron and meso/metafurca provided a great number of informative characters. On the other hand, the mesophragma, metanotum and propodeum were less variable. The monophyly of Augochlorini and of all genus groups was corroborated in a parsimony analysis of internal and external morphological characters. Characters derived from internal structures provided the first‐known morphological synapomorphies for the clades: Megaloptidia group + others, Neocorynura group + others and Augochlora group + Megalopta group. These characters helped to elucidate the evolution of the group when analysed together with external morphological characters.     

Two morphological groups derived fromClonostachys cylindrospora and their relationship totrans-4-hydroxy-(l)-proline productivity

Thetrans-4-hydroxy-(l)-proline productivity and morphological characteristics of strains isolated from two different conidium-producing structures inClonostachys cylindrospora were compared.trans-4-Hydroxy-(l)-proline was found to be produced only by strains originating from conidia on penicillate conidiophores, not by strains originating from conidia on verticillate conidiophores. Strains from each conidium-producing structure were also segregated by morphological properties; i.e., the amount of aerial hypha produced on modified Weitzman's agar, production of water-soluble yellow pigment in potato-dextrose agar, the primarily formed conidium-producing structures, and sclerotium formation. These phenomena indicate that morphological characteristics and metabolite productivity are correlated and destined at the stage of conidial production inC. cylindrospora.     

Redescription of Macurdablastus and redefinition of Eublastoidea as a clade of Blastoidea (Echinodermata)

Eublastoids are a large clade of blastoids; stemmed blastozoan echinoderms diagnosed by their conservative body plan (three basals, four deltoid plates and five radial plates), lancet plate supporting the ambulacra, and hydrospire respiratory structures. Although Eublastoidea was a highly successful clade in the middle and late Palaeozoic it is absent from early echinoderm radiations seen in the Cambrian and Ordovician record. Here we provide a re‐evaluation of Macurdablastus uniplicatus Broadhead from the Ordovician, using detailed morphological assessment based on advanced synchrotron tomography and phylogenetic analysis. Macurdablastus uniplicatus falls outside Eublastoidea because of the morphological differences in lancet plate and respiratory structures. The oldest recorded eublastoid is thus middle Silurian in age. The re‐evaluation of the morphology of Macurdablastus provides a basis for revising blastoid phylogeny and classification.     

Exploring the evolution of humus collecting leaves in drynarioid ferns (Polypodiaceae, Polypodiidae) based on phylogenetic evidence

Most species of the paleotropic fern genera Aglaomorpha and Drynaria, together constituting a monophyletic clade (drynarioid ferns), possess humus-collecting structures as an adaptation to their epiphytic life form. Humus-collectors are either present as a specialized foliar structure (external leaf dimorphism) or as a specialized leaf part (internal dimorphism). Apart from these basic patterns there are several forms of reduction and an internal fertile – sterile dimorphism in Aglaomorpha. We present a phylogeny of drynarioid ferns based on morphological and molecular (cpDNA) markers. The genus Aglaomorpha was found to be monophyletic, whereas Drynaria is likely to be a paraphyletic assemblage including a grade of Himalayan to Southern Chinese taxa basal to Aglaomorpha. The evolution of humus-collectors is reconstructed by plotting their character state changes onto the obtained phylogeny. Despite the complex morphological pattern across species, evolution of drynarioid humus-collecting structures can be reconstructed postulating a simple sequence of character state changes based on only a few elementary processes.     

Molecular phylogeny of major lineages of Trichadenotecnum and a review of diagnostic morphological characters (Psocoptera: Psocidae)

Abstract. Phylogenetic relationships among species groups of Trichadenotecnum were inferred based on morphology and the partial sequences of five gene regions (mitochondrial 12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, cytochrome oxidase I, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 and nuclear 18S rDNA). All analyses supported the monophyly of Trichadenotecnum and all previously proposed species groups, except that T. circularoides was excluded from the spiniserrulum group. To examine the phylogenetic usefulness of morphological data, the morphological characters used in the construction of an earlier taxonomic system for Trichadenotecnum were mapped parsimoniously on the molecular tree. As a result: (1) commonly used forewing marking features (sparsely or extensively spotted) are considered to be very homoplastic and less informative of higher‐level phylogenetic relationships; (2) a broadly expanded epiproct lobe is considered to be independently evolved at least two or three times, and a detailed morphological re‐examination allows recognition of these convergent structures; (3) the short ventral valve of gonapophyses independently evolved at least three or four times, although this character was used initially to diagnose the spiniserrulum group.     

Triatoma brasiliensis species complex: characterization of the external female genitalia

The Triatoma brasiliensis complex is composed of six species (Triatoma bahiensis, T. juazerensis, T. lenti, T. melanica, T. petrocchiae, and T. sherlocki) and two subspecies (T. brasiliensis brasiliensis and T. b. macromelasoma). Phylogenetic studies have shown that it is a monophyletic group, but the morphological relationships among the members can be better understood. We applied a tool of high resolution based on morphology to identify details that characterize the female genitals for each member of this group. The external genital structures of five to fifteen females of each taxon were analyzed. Insects had their abdomen transversely cut to separate the last abdominal segments, and representative illustrations obtained via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are shown. Observations were performed in the dorsal and the ventral views. The morphological characterization of female external genitalia allowed a differentiation of each species/subspecies. The subspecies T. b. brasiliensis and T. b. macromelasoma were the most similar. On the other hand, dorsal view of structures evidenced some unique characteristics for T. petrocchiae and T. sherlocki. Regarding these structures for T. petrocchiae, the differentiation was in accordance with molecular studies, since this species exhibits the highest genetic distances in relation to other species of T. brasiliensis complex.     

Morphological and Physiological Aspects of Evolution in Common Buckwheat

Comparative morphological and physiological studies of the ancestral forms (Fagopyrum homotropicumO. and F. esculentumssp. ancestraleO.) and the various morphogenotypes of common buckwheat (F. esculentumMoench.) were carried out in glasshouse experiments in a soil culture. A considerable reduction of plant morphogenesis, a restriction of the growth of the vegetative organs, and the ecological and agricultural specialization (accompanied by the change in the primary adaptive life strategy from competitive (c) to ruderal (r) or to combined c/rtype) occurred in the evolution of common buckwheat. The reduction of morphogenesis was accompanied by changes in some of the morphological and anatomical structures and their functions, primarily, the source–sink relationships among plant organs. Compensatory mechanisms were developed, and the nutritional compounds became reutilized as an additional source for fruit formation and ripening.     

Phylogeny and biogeography of the scaleless scale worm Pisione (Sigalionidae,Annelida)

Pisione is a scaleless group of small scale worms inhabiting sandy bottoms in shallow marine waters. This group was once considered rare, but now 45 described species can be characterized, among others, by their paired, segmental copulatory organs (one to multiple external pairs), which display a complexity of various accessory structures. The evolutionary significance of these unique organs was suggested in the late 1960s, but has been heavily debated since the late 1990s and remains controversial. In the present paper, we study the internal relationships within Pisione, employing combined phylogenetic analyses of both molecular and morphological data from 16 terminals of Pisione, as well as two terminals of Pisionidens, and eight additional scale worms as outgroups. Our taxon sampling covers all geographical areas where the genus has been reported, as well as most of their morphological and copulatory variability, including representatives of the “africana,” “remota,” “crassa,” and “papuensis” groups, established previously by Yamanishi. We hereby provide a first insight into the relationships of the genus, testing previously proposed hypotheses on the evolutionary significance of male copulatory structures within Pisione, while attempting to understand patterns of distribution. The phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods consistently recovered two large clades spanning the East Atlantic (including the Mediterranean) and the Indo‐Pacific–West Atlantic, respectively. Character optimization on our trees revealed a high degree of homoplasy in both non‐reproductive and sexual characters of Pisione, with buccal acicula found to be the sole apomorphy among the morphological features assessed herein, with none defining the biogeographical subclades within. Overall, our comparative analyses highlight the high degree of morphological variation in this widely distributed genus, rejecting previous assertions of an increasing number and complexity of copulatory structures across the genus.     

Study of the Morphological and Functional State of Higher Plant Tissues by Optical Coherence Microscopy and Optical Coherence Tomography

Comparative analysis of two optical methods—optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence microscopy (OCM)—was made for vital visualization of plant tissues in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill), spiderwort (Tradescantia pallida (Rose) D. Hunt), orach (Atriplex sp.), and leaves and seeds of medium starwort (Stellaria media L.). The obtained OCT- and OCM-images allowed the morphological and functional state of plant tissues to be assessed in vivo. A higher spatial resolution of the OCM method, as compared to OCT method, allowed plant morphological structures to be identified with greater confidence. The morphological and functional state of tissues can be monitored with a time resolution of 1–4 s in intact plants, without removing them from the habitat.__________Translated from Fiziologiya Rastenii, Vol. 52, No. 4, 2005, pp. 628–634.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Kutis, Sapozhnikova, Kuranov, Kamenskii.     

A surface active protein involved in aerial hyphae formation in the filamentous fungus Schizophillum commune restores the capacity of a bald mutant of the filamentous bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor to erect aerial structures

The filamentous bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor undergoes a complex process of morphological differentiation involving the formation of a dense lawn of aerial hyphae that grow away from the colony surface into the air to form an aerial mycelium. Bald mutants of S. coelicolor, which are blocked in aerial mycelium formation, regain the capacity to erect aerial structures when exposed to a small hydrophobic protein called SapB, whose synthesis is temporally and spatially correlated with morphological differentiation. We now report that SapB is a surfactant that is capable of reducing the surface tension of water from 72 mJ m^?2 to 30 mJ m^?2 at a concentration of 50 μg ml^?1. We also report that SapB, like the surface-active peptide streptofactin produced by the species S. tendae, was capable of restoring the capacity of bald mutants of S. tendae to erect aerial structures. Strikingly, a member (SC3) of the hydrophobin family of fungal proteins involved in the erection of aerial hyphae in the filamentous fungus Schizophyllum commune was also capable of restoring the capacity of S. coelicolor and S. tendae bald mutants to erect aerial structures. SC3 is unrelated in structure to SapB and streptofactin but, like the streptomycetes proteins, the fungal protein is a surface active agent. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that aerial structures produced in response to both the bacterial or the fungal proteins were undifferentiated vegetative hyphae that had grown away from the colony surface but had not commenced the process of spore formation. We conclude that the production of SapB and streptofactin at the start of morphological differentiation contributes to the erection of aerial hyphae by decreasing the surface tension at the colony surface but that subsequent morphogenesis requires additional developmentally regulated events under the control of bald genes.     

紫耳箭竹克隆形态可塑性对典型冠层结构及光环境的响应

在重庆金佛山国家自然保护内,选择了3种典型群落类型(落叶阔叶林、常绿落叶阔叶混交林和常绿阔叶林),使用Hemiview数字植物冠层分析系统量化群落冠层结构和光环境特征,并对林下紫耳箭竹(Fargesia decurvata)的形态可塑性特征进行调查,分析冠层结构和光环境特征改变下紫耳箭竹形态可塑性的差异,并探讨它们之间的相互关系。结果表明:(1)随着落叶阔叶林"常绿落叶阔叶混交林"常绿阔叶林演替的进行,群落的冠层开度降低,叶面积指数增加,平均叶倾角变小,趋于水平化,冠层对光的截获能力提高,林下光照的强度降低(P0.05)。(2)随着光照强度的降低,紫耳箭竹分株矮小化,叶片变窄,生物量积累降低,但通过增大比茎长、叶面积率和比叶面积提高对光的利用效率,并增大分枝角度和比隔长有效适应弱光环境。(3)在光照条件差的常绿阔叶林下,紫耳箭竹降低对地下茎的投资,将较多的生物量用于秆的增高增长和叶片的生长;而在光照条件好的落叶阔叶林环境下,紫耳箭竹降低对枝、叶生物量的分配,则加大对地下茎的投资,可认为是克隆植物对水分资源所表现的一种觅食行为。研究表明,紫耳箭竹种群随着冠层结构的改变发生了明显的可塑性变化,这些可塑性变化是种群对冠层结构和光环境差异的适应性反应的结果,有利于增强种群对异质生境中光资源的获取和利用;群落内部可以通过调控冠层结构的改变协调和控制小径竹种群的发展。     

Quantifying the distribution and morphological variation of the beetles Homocopris achamas and Uroxys coarctatus in Andean ecosystems of Colombia

Insects that inhabit high-altitude ecosystems are an ecologically specialized group whose distribution is restricted by the presence of biogeographical barriers. These biogeographical constraints are thought to mould the shape of some insect structures because of environmental pressures that may produce better adaptations in extreme environments. We evaluated the potential distribution of Homocopris achamas and Uroxys coarctatus in two life regions (the Andean region and the Páramo region) found in the Andes of Colombia, and we determined if there were differences in their morphology along an elevational gradient. To determine the potential distribution of the species, we obtained geographical data through the systematic search of databases and entomological collections that we modelled under the maximum entropy model. We then evaluated the morphological variations by measuring geometric structures such as the clypeus (MC), the eye (ME) and the area of the anterior tibia (TA). We found that both species along the entire gradient exhibited the following characteristics: H. achamas was dominant in the Páramo region and showed two population nuclei separated by a wide biogeographic barrier, while U. coarctatus was more dominant in the Andean region and was distributed only in the northern Andes. Both were always linked to ecosystems with open vegetation that was both natural or intervened. H. achamas did not show changes in the shape of the structures while U. coarctatus showed differences in MC and ME. We suggested that livestock activity could act as an engine for breaking down biogeographical barriers allowing the distribution of a species to expand, and with this distributional expansion changes in the morphological structures of some species linked to their phenotypic plasticity could be promoted.     

拟核结合蛋白调控链霉菌形态分化和次级代谢的作用和机制

链霉菌具有独特而复杂的形态分化周期,涉及到染色体复制、浓缩和分离等多个步骤,并伴随着菌丝的分隔和片段化。拟核结合蛋白作为染色体高级结构的重要组成成分,在调控链霉菌的形态分化中发挥了重要作用,调控许多与DNA相关的过程,包括基因表达、DNA保护、重组/修复和拟核的形成与维持等。此外,拟核结合蛋白作为细菌重要的全局性调控因子,也广泛参与了链霉菌次级代谢的调控。本文总结了链霉菌拟核结合蛋白的结构和功能,特别是调控形态分化和次级代谢的最新研究成果。     

Morphological and Molecular Identification of the New Species,Trichodina pseudoheterodentata sp. n. (Ciliophora,Mobilida, Trichodinidae) from the Channel Catfish,Ictalurus punctatus,in Chongqing China

It is difficult to differentiate similar trichodinids solely based on morphological examination, thus other identification methods, such as molecular identification, are necessary for identification. One mobilid ciliate named Trichodina pseudoheterodentata sp. n. was isolated from the gills of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, in Chongqing, China. In the present study, its SSU rDNA was sequenced for the first time. Based on the results from both morphological identification and SSU rDNA sequencing, the new species was identified and compared with similar species. The morphological analysis revealed that T. pseudoheterodentata is a large Trichodina species (cell diameter 73.0–82.5 μm) and possesses robust denticles with broad blades and well‐developed blade connections. Characterization of its primary and secondary SSU rDNA structures indicated that T. pseudoheterodentata was distinctly different from congeneric species in H12, H15, E10_1, and V4 regions. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the genetic distances among the new species and similar species reached interspecific levels, furthermore, the phylogenetic study also validated the identification of T. pseudoheterodentata and its placement in the genus Trichodina.     

A new cryptic species of Aphaenops (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae) from a French Pyrenean cave: Congruence between morphometrical and geographical data confirm species isolation

A new species of cave-dwelling beetle from the pyrenean massif, Aphaenops (Cerbaphaenops) jauzioni n. sp. (Coleoptera: Carabidae), is described. Geometric morphometric analyses based on five morphological structures and comparisons with two populations of the closely related species Aphaenops (Cerbaphaenops) cerberus Dieck 1869 support the uniqueness of the new species. The specific status of the new taxon is also confirmed by the male genitalia structures. A putative scenario of population isolation is proposed.     

Comparative studies in the morphology of Crenias weddelliana and Maferria indica with reference to Sphaerothylax abyssinica (Podostemaceae: Podostemoideae)

The scope of morphological plasticity of vegetative structures among Podostemoideae (Podostemaceae) is documented for Crenias weddelliana, a neotropical species, Maferria indica, a palaeotropical species, and Sphaerothylax abyssinica, from Kenya, and compared with related taxa. The study highlights intrinsic characters of the widely enigmatic plant body of many species of the subfamily Podostemoideae. These include dorsiventrality of shoots occurring irrespective of gravity, incurvate distichy and one‐sided spirodistichy correlated with shoot dorsiventrality, asymmetric leaves, and several types of positioning of the two prophylls and inflorescence structures. The homogeneity of hairs of the ‘Zeylanidium olivaceum type’ established on the subulate leaves of some Indian species is of taxonomic value. The latter also applies to the stipella (not stipule) on the asymmetric compound leaf in New World species. The morphological data represent a framework of features consistent for the subfamily. © 2002 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 138 , 63–84.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Decapentaplegic</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">dpp</Emphasis>) regulates the growth of a morphological novelty,beetle horns

Studies focusing on the development of morphological novelties suggest that patterning genes underlying traditional appendage development (i.e. mouthparts, legs, and wings) also play important roles in patterning novel morphological structures. In this study, we examine whether the expression and function of a member of the TGF-β signaling pathway, decapentaplegic (dpp), promotes development of a morphologically novel structure: beetle horns. Beetle horns are complex secondary sexual structures that develop in the head and/or prothorax, lack obvious homology to other insect outgrowths, and vary remarkably between species and sexes. We studied dpp expression through in situ hybridization, performed functional analyses with RNA interference, and gathered allometric measurements to determine the role of dpp during both pronotal and head horn development in both sexes of two morphologically dissimilar species in the Onthophagus genus, Onthophagus binodis and Onthophagus sagittarius. Our findings show that in addition to affecting growth and patterning of traditional appendages, dpp regulates beetle horn growth and remodeling.     

Arbuscular mycorrhizas on Athyrium yokoscense and A. niponicum grown at a lead-contaminated site

To investigate the occurrence of arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM) and their morphological types, four Athyrium yokoscense and five A. niponicum individuals were collected at a lead-contaminated site. Three of the A. yokoscense and four of the A. niponicum formed AM structures. However, the percentage of AM formation within both species differed significantly among individuals. Morphological types of most AM structures were the Paris-type, except for one A. yokoscense that formed both Paris-type and Arum-type-like structures in different parts of the same root section. These results demonstrate that the two Athyrium species form AM associations in lead-contaminated soil.