TWO NEW GENERA OF BRAZILIAN BAMBOOS RELATED TO GUADUA (POACEAE: BAMBUSOIDEAE: BAMBUSEAE)

Of all the genera of woody bamboos described from America, only three have pseudospikelets—Atractantha, Elytrostachys, and Guadua. The former two have pseudospikelets with an elongated rachilla internode that precedes the floret, making it pedicellate; they also share a type of leaf anatomy that separates them from the latter. The two new genera herein described, Criciuma and Eremocaulon, show most similarity to species of Guadua, both in spikelet morphology and in leaf anatomy. The study of these new taxa has helped to clarify the limits of New World genera with pseudospikelets and strengthened the case for maintaining Guadua as a genus distinct from its Old World counterpart, Bambusa. We are now able to discern a New World line of bamboos that includes Criciuma, Eremocaulon, and Guadua, separate from an Old World line that includes Bambusa, Dendrocalamus, and several other genera.     

Vicariance patterns in the Mediterranean Sea: east–west cleavage and low dispersal in the endemic seagrass Posidonia oceanica

Aim The seagrass, Posidonia oceanica is a clonal angiosperm endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Previous studies have suggested that clonal growth is far greater than sexual recruitment and thus leads to low clonal diversity within meadows. However, recently developed microsatellite markers indicate that there are many different genotypes, and therefore many distinct clones present. The low resolution of markers used in the past limited our ability to estimate clonality and assess the individual level. New high‐resolution dinucleotide microsatellites now allow genetically distinct individuals to be identified, enabling more reliable estimation of population genetic parameters across the Mediterranean Basin. We investigated the biogeography and dispersal of P. oceanica at various spatial scales in order to assess the influence of different evolutionary factors shaping the distribution of genetic diversity in this species. Location The Mediterranean. Methods We used seven hypervariable microsatellite markers, in addition to the five previously existing markers, to describe the spatial distribution of genetic variability in 34 meadows spread throughout the Mediterranean, on the basis of an average of 35.6 (± 6.3) ramets sampled. Results At the scale of the Mediterranean Sea as a whole, a strong east–west cleavage was detected (amova) . These results are in line with those obtained using previous markers. The new results showed the presence of a putative secondary contact zone at the Siculo‐Tunisian Strait, which exhibited high allelic richness and shared alleles absent from the eastern and western basins. F statistics (pairwise θ ranges between 0.09 and 0.71) revealed high genetic structure between meadows, both at a small scale (about 2 to 200 km) and at a medium scale within the eastern and western basins, independent of geographical distance. At the intrameadow scale, significant spatial autocorrelation in six out of 15 locations revealed that dispersal can be restricted to the scale of a few metres. Main conclusions A stochastic pattern of effective migration due to low population size, turnover and seed survival is the most likely explanation for this pattern of highly restricted gene flow, despite the importance of an a priori seed dispersal potential. The east–west cleavage probably represents the outline of vicariance caused by the last Pleistocene ice age and maintained to this day by low gene flow. These results emphasize the diversity of evolutionary processes shaping the genetic structure at different spatial scales.     

The change of behaviour of two strains of Leishmania after cultivation in a defined medium

Attempts have been made to characterize two strains of Leishmania that became infective to golden hamsters only after they had been maintained for several years in a chemically defined culture medium. Observations were made on the growth rates of promastigotes in vitro, course of infection in hamsters, morphology of amastigotes, and electrophoretic mobility patterns of eight isoenzymes. Information was obtained about the buoyant densities of n-DNA and k-DNA, and one strain was tested against monoclonal antibodies. The identity of both strains remains obscure.     

Experimental infections of simians with human malaria: attempts to infect Callithrix penicillata with Plasmodium falciparum

After reviewing the use of non-human primates of the Old and New Worlds for human malaria research, we concluded that another experimental animal which is easily available to use and possible to rear indoors is needed. Thus, we studied the susceptibility of the marmoset Callithrix penicillata to Plasmodium falciparum erythrocytic infections. The marmosets received various P. falciparum human isolates, directly from a patient and from continuous cultures. The Palo Alto strain, which has been adapted to the night monkey Aotus trivirgatus and further maintained in the squirrel monkey Saimiri sciureus was also used. In a total of 20 marmosets we performed 31 inoculations, with 10(5) to 10(9) parasites, intraperitoneally, intracardiacly or intravenously. Blood samples from each animal were examined daily up to day 90 post-inoculation. None of the intact marmosets developed patent infections. Four out of 19 C. penicillata, previously splenectomized, showed circulating parasites for up to five days after intravenous inoculation with the Palo Alto strain, becoming negative thereafter. Neither the addition to the simian diet of p-aminobenzoic acid, essential for the parasite metabolism, nor drug-immunosuppression, improved the marmoset susceptibility to P. falciparum.     

C-banding polymorphism and the analysis of nucleolar activity in Dasypyrum villosum (L.) Candargy,its added chromosomes to hexaploid wheat and the amphiploid Triticum dicoccum — D. villosum

Summary C-banding patterns and nucleolar activity were analyzed in Dasypyrum villosum, its added chromosomes to hexaploid wheat and the hexaploid amphiploid Triticum dicoccum-D. villosum. Two different populations of the allogamous species D. villosum (2n= 14, VV) from Greece and Italy were analyzed showing a similar polymorphism for C-banding pattern. Six of the seven addition lines were identified by their characteristic C-banding pattern. No polymorphism between both members of each added alien chromosome was found. Furthermore, nucleolar activity and competition were studied by using silver staining procedure. In D. villosum only one chromosome pair, A, was found to be responsible for organizing nucleoli. The results obtained in the amphiploid and in the addition lines demonstrate that nucleolar activity is restricted to SAT-chromosomes 1B and 6B of wheat, while those of D. villosum remain inactive.     

Differential binding of mannose-specific lectins to the carbohydrate chains of fibrinogen domains D and E

The interaction of fibrinogen with the mannose-specific lectins concanavalin A (ConA), its acetyl derivative (Ac-ConA) and Lens culinaris agglutinin (LcH) was studied. Both ConA and LcH interact specifically with individual fibrinogen B beta and gamma chains and with denatured fragments D and E. However, analysis of the binding data shows that four moles of Ac-ConA are bound per mole of fibrinogen with two sets of binding sites (Kd1 = 2.4 microM and Kd2 = 16.6 microM; n1 = n2 = 2) while only two moles of LcH are bound per mole of fibrinogen (Kd = 2.6 microM). Ultracentrifugation studies are also in agreement with the presence in the fibrinogen molecule of two and four binding sites for LcH and Ac-ConA, respectively. No aggregates of fibrinogen formed through LcH or Ac-ConA linkages are observed. The use of a crosslinking reagent and ultracentrifugal analysis of the lectin-fibrinogen fragments D1 and E complexes indicated that ConA, as well as Ac-ConA, interact with both fragments D and E while LcH interacts only with fragment D. Furthermore, the binding of ConA to both D and E domains in the intact fibrinogen molecule is clearly demonstrated by using a bifunctional reagent. The bivalent character of ConA tetramers may be misinterpreted as a lack of accessibility of the lectin to two of the four carbohydrate chains of fibrinogen. The differential binding of LcH and ConA to the carbohydrate chains of fibrinogen can be related to a different exposure of the oligosaccharide in D and E fragments and domains and to the different requirements of both lectins for their binding to glycoproteins.     

Copepods of the Juréia ecological reserve,state of São Paulo,Brazil. II. The genera Hesperocyclops,Muscocyclops, and Bryocyclops (Cyclopoida,Cyclopidae)

Cyclopid copepods collected mainly in aquatic microcosms and semiterrestrial habitats in the Juréia Ecological Reserve are studied. Hesperocyclops herbsti and Bryocyclops campaneri are described as new species and their taxonomical relationships discussed. Females of Muscocyclops operculatus (Chappuis) are redescribed and the males described for the first time. An emended diagnosis for Muscocyclops is proposed.     

A novel group of very long chain polyenoic fatty acids in dipolyunsaturated phosphatidylcholines from vertebrate retina

Dipolyunsaturated phosphatidylcholines from bovine retina contain a whole series of unusual fatty acids. Methyl esters from these acids are very strongly retained on polar and nonpolar gas-liquid chromatography stationary phases. On thin layers of silica-AgNO3, they separate as tetra-, penta-, and hexaenoic fatty acid methyl esters. After hydrogenation, the three polyunsaturated fractions give the same series of saturated methyl esters, having 20 (or 22)-36 carbon atoms. High pressure liquid chromatography, as well as gas-liquid chromatography, indicates that the new components of the three fractions are even-carbon homologs of well known polyenoic fatty acids of the n-6 and n-3 families, since they behave as series of 20-36-carbon tetraenoic (n-6), pentaenoic (n-3 and n-6), and hexaenoic (n-3) fatty acids. Their occurrence in phospholipid molecules also having docosahexaenoate (22:6) explains the separation of major dipolyunsaturated phosphatidylcholines from retina into dodecaenoic, undecaenoic, and decaenoic fractions after argentation thin layer chromatography. Using high pressure liquid chromatography, the latter are resolved into individual species having 10-12 double bonds and 42-58 carbon atoms. The unusual PCs are thus endowed not only with the highest degree of unsaturation, but with the longest hydrocarbon chains yet reported for vertebrate glycerophospholipids. It is shown that phosphatidylcholines containing the novel fatty acids are highly concentrated in photoreceptor membranes and that they occur in the retina of vertebrates so distant in evolution as fish, birds, and various mammals.