Identifying Mozambique's most critical areas for plant conservation: An evaluation of protected areas and Important Plant Areas

Successful protected area networks must represent biodiversity across taxonomic groups. However, too often plant species are overlooked in conservation planning, and the resulting protected areas may, as a result, fail to encompass the most important sites for plant diversity. The Mozambique Tropical Important Plant Areas project sought to promote the conservation of Mozambique's flora through the identification of Important Plant Areas (IPAs). Here, we use the Weighted Endemism including Global Endangerment (WEGE) index to identify the richest areas for rare and endemic plants in Mozambique and subsequently evaluate how well represented these hotspots are within the current protected area and IPA networks. We also examine the congruence between IPA and protected areas to identify opportunities for strengthening the conservation of plants in Mozambique. We found that high WEGE scores, representing areas rich in endemic/near-endemic and threatened species, predict the presence of IPAs in Mozambique, but do not predict the presence of protected areas. We also find that there is limited overlap between IPAs and protected areas in Mozambique. We demonstrate how IPAs could be an important tool for ensuring priority sites for plant diversity are included within protected area network expansions, particularly following the adoption of the “30 by 30” target agreed within the post-2020 Convention on Biological Diversity framework, with great potential for this method to be replicated elsewhere in the global tropics.     

Diversity and evolution of leaflet anatomical characters in the Pterocarpus clade (Fabaceae: Papilionoideae)

Journal of Plant Research - The Pterocarpus clade includes 23 genera previously attributed to different Fabaceae tribes. The recent rearrangements of many genera in the clade do not recognize...     

Casearia Essential Oil: An Updated Review on the Chemistry and Pharmacological Activities

Casearia species are found in the America, Africa, Asia, and Australia and present pharmacological activities, besides their traditional uses. Here, we reviewed the chemical composition, content, pharmacological activities, and toxicity of the essential oils (EOs) from Casearia species. The EO physical parameters and leaf botanical characteristics were also described. The bioactivities of the EOs from the leaves and their components include cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antifungal, and antiviral activities. The main components associated with these activities are the α-zingiberene, (E)-caryophyllene, germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene, spathulenol, α-humulene, β-acoradiene, and δ-cadinene. Data on the toxicity of these EOs are scarce in the literature. Casearia sylvestris Sw. is the most studied species, presenting more significant pharmacological potential. The chemical variability of EOs components was also investigated for this species. Caseria EOs have relevant pharmacological potential and must be further investigated and exploited.     

BLOEM: A spatially explicit model of bioenergy and carbon capture and storage,applied to Brazil

Bioenergy could play a major role in decarbonizing energy systems in the context of the Paris Agreement. Large-scale bioenergy deployment could be related to sustainability issues and requires major infrastructure investments. It, therefore, needs to be studied carefully. The Bioenergy and Land Optimization Spatially Explicit Model (BLOEM) presented here allows for assessing different bioenergy pathways while encompassing various dimensions that influence their optimal deployment. In this study, BLOEM was applied to the Brazilian context by coupling it with the Brazilian Land Use and Energy Systems (BLUES) model. This allowed investigating the most cost-effective ways of attending future bioenergy supply projections and studying the role of recovered degraded pasture lands in improving land availability in a sustainable and competitive manner. The results show optimizing for limiting deforestation and minimizing logistics costs results in different outcomes. It also indicates that recovering degraded pasture lands is attractive from both logistics and climate perspectives. The systemic approach of BLOEM provides spatial results, highlighting the trade-offs between crop allocation, land use and the logistics dynamics between production, conversion, and demand, providing valuable insights for regional and national climate policy design. This makes it a useful tool for mapping sustainable bioenergy value chain pathways.     

Parasitism, developmental plasticity and bilateral asymmetry of wing feathers in alpine swift, Apus melba, nestlings

The hypothesis that developmental instability is a cost of developmental plasticity is explored using the alpine swift ( Apus melba ) as a model organism. In a previous study, experimentally parasitized nestlings showed a reduced wing growth rate in the first half of the rearing period when parasites were abundant (i.e. peak infestation) and an accelerated growth rate (i.e. compensatory growth) in the second half when parasites decreased in number. This suggests that alpine swifts are able to adjust growth rate in relation to variation in parasite loads. Because developmental plasticity may entail fitness costs, the energy required to sustain compensatory growth may be invested at the expense of developmental stability, potentially resulting in larger deviations from symmetry in paired, bilateral traits (i.e. fluctuating asymmetry, FA). This hypothesis predicts higher FA in parasitized than deparasitized nestlings because of compensatory growth, and hence individuals sustaining the highest level of compensatory growth rate should exhibit the highest FA levels. Another non-mutually exclusive hypothesis argues that parasites directly cause FA by diverting energy required by host for maintenance and growth, and predicts that individuals suffering the most from parasitism during peak infestation should exhibit the highest FA levels. The present study shows that wing feathers of experimentally parasitized nestlings were more asymmetrical than those of experimentally deparasitized ones 50 days after hatching. Furthermore, in parasitized individuals FA was negatively correlated with wing growth rate during the period of peak infestation but not during the period of compensatory growth. These findings suggest that developmental homeostasis is more sensitive to parasites than to compensatory growth.     

Geographic variation in sexual dimorphism in the barn owl Tyto alba: a role for direct selection or genetic correlation?

Geographic variation in sexually selected traits is commonly attributed to geographic variation in the net benefit accrued from bearing such traits. Although natural and sexual selection are potentially important in shaping geographic variation, genetic constraints may also play a role. Although a genetic correlation between two traits may itself be the outcome of natural or sexual selection, it may indirectly reinforce the establishment and maintenance of cline variation with respect to one particular trait when across the cline different values of other traits are selected. Using the barn owl Tyto alba, a species in which the plumage of females is more reddish‐brown and more marked with black spots than that of males, I report results that are consistent with the hypothesis that both direct selection and genetic constraints may help establish and maintain cline variation in sexual dichromatism. In this species, inter‐individual variation in plumage coloration and spottiness has a genetic basis, and these traits are not sensitive to the environment. Data, based on the measurement of skin specimens, is consistent with the hypothesis that the stronger European cline variation in male spottiness than in female spottiness depends on the combined effects of (1) the similar cline variation in male and female plumage coloration and (2) the more intense phenotypic correlation between plumage coloration and spottiness in males (darker birds are more heavily spotted in the two sexes, but especially males) which is a general feature among the globally distributed barn owls. In northern Europe, male and female T. a. guttata are reddish‐brown and heavily spotted, and in southern Europe male and female T. a. alba are white, but only females display many spots. Here, I discuss the relative importance of direct selection, genetic correlation and the post‐ice age invasion of Europe by T. alba, in generating sex‐specific cline variation in plumage spottiness and non‐sex‐specific cline variation in plumage coloration.     

Do NOE distances contain enough information to assess the relative populations of multi-conformer structures?

Summary The feasibility of determining the relative populations of multi-conformer structures from NOE-derived distances alone is assessed. Without cross-validation of the NOE restraints, any population ratio can be refined to a similar quality of the fit. Complete cross-validation provides a less biased measure of fit and allows the estimation of the correct population ratio when used in conjunction with very tight distance restraints. With the qualitative distance restraints most commonly used in NMR structure determination, cross-validation is unsuccessful in providing the correct answer. Other experimental sources are therefore needed to determine relative populations of multi-conformer structures.To whom correspondence should be addressed.     

Ligand binding to heparan sulfate proteoglycans induces their aggregation and distribution along actin cytoskeleton.

Cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) participate in molecular events that regulate cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. The present study demonstrates that soluble heparin-binding proteins or cross-linking antibodies induce the aggregation of cell surface HSPGs and their distribution along underlying actin filaments. Immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy and immunogold and electron microscopy indicate that, in the absence of ligands, HSPGs are irregularly distributed on the fibroblast cell surface, without any apparent codistribution with the actin cytoskeleton. In the presence of ligand (lipoprotein lipase) or antibodies against heparan sulfate, HSPGs aggregate and colocalize with the actin cytoskeleton. Triton X-100 extraction and immunoelectron microscopy have demonstrated that in this condition HSPGs were clustered and associated with the actin filaments. Crosslinking experiments that use biotinylated lipoprotein lipase have revealed three major proteoglycans as binding sites at the fibroblast cell surface. These cross-linked proteoglycans appeared in the Triton X-100 insoluble fraction. Platinum/carbon replicas of the fibroblast surface incubated either with lipoprotein lipase or antiheparan sulfate showed large aggregates of HSPGs regularly distributed along cytoplasmic fibers. Quantification of the spacing between HSPGs by confocal microscopy confirmed that the nonrandom distribution of HSPG aggregates along the actin cytoskeleton was induced by ligand binding. When cells were incubated either with lipoprotein lipase or antibodies against heparan sulfate, the distance between immunofluorescence spots was uniform. In contrast, the spacing between HSPGs on fixed cells not incubated with ligand was more variable. This highly organized spatial relationship between actin and proteoglycans suggests that cortical actin filaments could organize the molecular machinery involved in signal transduction and molecular movements on the cell surface that are triggered by heparin-binding proteins.     

Hydrogen Peroxide Induces a Long-Lasting Inhibition of the Ca2+-Dependent Glutamate Release in Cerebrocortical Synaptosomes Without Interfering with Cytosolic Ca2+

Abstract: We studied the action of H₂O₂ on the exocytosis of glutamate by cerebrocortical synaptosomes. The treatment of synaptosomes with H₂O₂ (50–150 µ M ) for a few minutes results in a long-lasting depression of the Ca²⁺-dependent exocytosis of glutamate, induced by KCl or by the K⁺-channel inhibitor 4-aminopyridine. The energy state of synaptosomes, as judged by the level of phosphocreatine and the ATP/ADP ratio, was not affected by H₂O₂, although a transient decrease was observed after the treatment. H₂O₂ did not promote peroxidation, as judged by the formation of malondialdehyde. In indo-1-loaded synaptosomes, the treatment with H₂O₂ did not modify significantly the KCl-induced increase of [Ca²⁺]_i. H₂O₂ inhibited exocytosis also when the latter was induced by increasing [Ca²⁺]_i with the Ca²⁺ ionophore ionomycin. The effects of H₂O₂ were unchanged in the presence of superoxide dismutase and the presence of the Fe³⁺ chelator deferoxamine. These results appear to indicate that H₂O₂, apparently without damaging the synaptosomes, induces a long-lasting inhibition of the exocytosis of glutamate by acting directly on the exocytotic process.