Rethinking the evolution of extant sub‐Saharan African suids (Suidae,Artiodactyla)

Gongora, J., Cuddahee, R. E., do Nascimento, F. F., Palgrave, C. J., Lowden, S., Ho, S. Y. W., Simond, D., Damayanti, C. S., White, D. J., Tay, W. T., Randi, E., Klingel, H., Rodrigues‐Zarate, C. J., Allen, K., Moran, C. & Larson, G. (2011). Rethinking the evolution of extant sub‐Saharan African suids (Suidae, Artiodactyla). —Zoologica Scripta, 40, 327–335. Although African suids have been of scientific interest for over two centuries, their origin, evolution, phylogeography and phylogenetic relationships remain contentious. There has been a long‐running debate concerning the evolution of pigs and hogs (Suidae), particularly regarding the phylogenetic relationships among extant Eurasian and African species of the subfamily Suinae. To investigate these issues, we analysed the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences of extant genera of Suidae from Eurasia and Africa. Molecular phylogenetic analyses revealed that all extant sub‐Saharan African genera form a monophyletic clade separate from Eurasian suid genera, contradicting previous attempts to resolve the Suidae phylogeny. Two major sub‐Saharan African clades were identified, with Hylochoerus and Phacochoerus grouping together as a sister clade to Potamochoerus. In addition, we find that the ancestors of extant African suids may have evolved separately from the ancestors of modern day Sus and Porcula in Eurasia before they colonised Africa. Our results provide a revision of the intergeneric relationships within the family Suidae.     

Rainforest conversion to smallholder cash crops leads to varying declines of beetles (Coleoptera) on Sumatra

Southeast Asian arthropod biodiversity is in rapid decline, but the variability of responses within taxa has received little attention. Using canopy fogging, we collected ~50,000 beetles (Coleoptera) in (1) lowland rainforest, (2) jungle rubber (rubber agroforest), and smallholder monoculture plantations of (3) rubber and (4) oil palm in Sumatra, across two landscapes and seasons. On average, beetle abundance was more than 50%, and biomass over 75%, lower in rubber and oil palm plantations than in rainforest and jungle rubber. This pattern was influenced by landscape and season. Abundance and biomass declines were similar in Chrysomelidae, Elateridae, and Staphylinidae, but differed in Curculionidae, which were most abundant in oil palm due to the introduced oil palm pollinator Elaeidobius kamerunicus. Across beetle families, species richness in monocultures was reduced by at least 70% compared to rainforest, with beetle richness in jungle rubber being similar to rainforest. Community composition in oil palm plantations differed markedly from the other land-use systems for Chrysomelidae and Curculionidae, but less for Elateridae and Staphylinidae. Turnover contributed more to overall beta diversity than nestedness for all families and land-use systems. Likely undersampling of the beetle community in rainforest suggests that declines of beetle density and diversity are much more severe than reported here, especially for beetle families with many concealed species, such as Staphylinidae. This study provides first evidence that negative responses of beetles to tropical land-use change vary among families, and is the first report of its kind from heavily understudied Sumatra.     

Turbidimetric analysis of growth kinetics of bacteria in the laboratory environment using smartphone

For different microbiological and pathological studies, it is often required to monitor the growth of bacteria in a cultured medium in the laboratory environment. UV‐VIS spectrophotometer is commonly used to estimate the growth of bacterial cell population by measuring the absorbance at 600 nm over a period of time. Colony‐forming unit (CFU) is another approach, which has been routinely performed to estimate the live bacterial cells on semisolid agar plates. Herein, we demonstrate an alternative yet highly reliable sensing platform on a smartphone using which growth kinetics of different bacteria can be reliably monitored. The performance of the proposed smartphone sensor has been compared with the data obtained from OD600 and CFU analysis. A good correlation of bacterial growth rates enumerated based on the proposed smartphone sensor, bench‐top spectrophotometer and CFU analysis have been observed under the experimental conditions.