Pollinator attraction in Anacamptis papilionacea (Orchidaceae): a food or a sex promise?

The Mediterranean orchid Anacamptis papilionacea , despite showing a typical food-deceptive floral display, has also been reported to frequently attract male pollinators, suggesting a potentiality for sexual attraction. In a survey from a southern Italian population of A. papilionacea and their hybrids with Anacamptis morio , we collected 37 pollinators belonging to five bee species carrying 126 orchid pollinia. The main pollinator of A. papilionacea was Anthophora crinipes male (48.6%), but the number of females was not negligible (22.9%). We also found pollinator sharing between the hybrid and the parental species. Our findings confirm that, contrary to other food-deceptive species, A. papilionacea mainly attracts male insects, but also that, in contrast to sexually deceptive species, this attraction is not specific. We suggest that A. papilionacea adopts a complex mix of food and sexually deceptive pollination and could represent a helpful model for studying the transition between different pollination strategies.     

Ancient introductions of mammals in the Mediterranean Basin and their implications for conservation

• 1 The importance of taxonomy to the determination of conservation priorities and actions is widely accepted. It should be not surprising therefore that the taxonomic treatment of mammal species that have been subject to human actions in antiquity may well influence the contemporary assessment of conservation priorities at various levels.
• 2 As a result of early extinctions caused by humans and protohistoric and historic introductions, we suggest that the Mediterranean Basin and its islands are particularly prone to misdirection of efforts towards biodiversity conservation.
• 3 The two main risks associated with the failure to use an evolutionary and palaeoecological approach to conservation efforts are (i) an underestimation of the conservation importance of distinctive continental taxa vs. the apparent endemicity of island taxa; and (ii) a serious risk for native and endemic island species when anthropochorous mammals, especially ungulates, misguidedly become the focus of conservation actions, particularly inside protected areas.
• 4 Urgent measures, including refinement of mammal taxonomy, the exclusion of known anthropochorous taxa from conservation lists and implementation of protective legislation, are necessary to maintain the uniqueness and richness of the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot.

     

Genetic and morphological variation in a Mediterranean glacial refugium: evidence from Italian pygmy shrews,Sorex minutus (Mammalia: Soricomorpha)

At the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the southern European peninsulas were important refugia for temperate species. Current genetic subdivision of species within these peninsulas may reflect past population subdivision at the LGM, as in ‘refugia within refugia’, and/or at other time periods. In the present study, we assess whether pygmy shrew populations from different regions within Italy are genetically and morphologically distinct. One maternally and two paternally inherited molecular markers (cytochrome b and Y‐chromosome introns, respectively) were analysed using several phylogenetic methods. A geometric morphometric analysis was performed on mandibles to evaluate size and shape variability between populations. Mandible shape was also explored with a functional approach that considered the mandible as a first‐order lever affecting bite force. We found genetically and morphologically distinct European, Italian, and southern Italian groups. Mandible size increased with decreasing latitude and southern Italian pygmy shrews exhibited mandibles with the strongest bite force. It is not clear whether or not the southern Italian and Italian groups of pygmy shrews occupied different refugia within the Italian peninsula at the LGM. It is likely, however, that geographic isolation earlier than the LGM on islands at the site of present‐day Calabria was important in generating the distinctive southern Italian group of pygmy shrews, and also the genetic groups in other small vertebrates that we review here. Calabria is an important hotspot for genetic diversity, and is worthy of conservation attention. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 100 , 774–787.     

TISSUE AND DEVELOPMENTAL SPECIFICITY OF A POLYSIALO-GANGLIOSIDE SPECIES IN THE AMPHIBIAN XENOPUS

Xenopus embryos contain a considerable amount of a polysialo-ganglioside not yet fully characterized; in this paper, we will refer to it as ganglioside X1. Preliminary experiments indicate asialo-GM1 as the core structure of the ganglioside X1 and palmitic and oleic acid as the fatty acids of the ceramide moiety. Further analyses by comparative 2D-TLC with adult fish and chick embryo brains indicate the pentasialilated ganglioside GP1c as the possible structure of X1. In the adult Xenopus, X1 characterizes the ganglioside pattern of the central nervous system while is absent in all the other tested tissues. At least two other more polar (presumably richer in sialic acid) bands are often visible under X1, both in embryos and in brain and spinal cord tissues of adult Xenopus. The persistence of polysialo-gangliosides in the brain and spinal cord of adult amphibians could serve to guarantee a proper functioning of the central nervous system at low body temperature.     

Historical isolation and Quaternary range expansion of divergent lineages in wild grapevine

Vitis vinifera subsp. silvestris, the wild subspecies of Vitis vinifera L., is a unique and valuable genetic resource for cultivated grapevines. At present, this wild form is rare and is spread from the Southern Atlantic coast of Europe to the Western Himalayas. In the present study, six nuclear microsatellite DNAs were analysed in 301 wild grape samples, using factorial correspondence analysis and the Bayesian model. The aim was to detect the distribution of genetic variability and admixture proportions and thus to identify the main routes of recolonization after the quaternary glaciation, as well as signals of secondary contacts in Europe. The results obtained show that some Caucasus and Italian areas played key roles as refugial areas. Moreover, the data suggest the existence of two main migration routes through central Europe during the post‐glacial or the inter‐glacial periods. The first started from Southern Italy and moved northward, whereas the second originated from refugia possibly located in eastern areas and migrated westwards. This scenario is most likely associated with the population expansion that followed the European Quaternary glaciations. In accordance with this assumption, central Europe is proposed as an admixture confluence of migration routes radiating from separate grapevine refugia. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 95 , 611–619.     

Killer sperm whale: a new basal physeteroid (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Late Miocene of Italy

Zygophyseter varolai , a new genus and species of Physeteroidea (Cetacea, Odontoceti), is based on an almost complete skeleton from the Late Miocene (Tortonian) in southern Italy. The extreme elongation of the zygomatic process of the squamosal and the circular supracranial basin (probably for housing the spermaceti organ) delimited by a peculiar anterior projection of the supraorbital process of the right maxilla are the most distinctive features of this bizarre sperm whale. Large body size, large teeth present in both lower and upper jaw, and anteroposteriorly elongated temporal fossa and zygomatic process of the squamosal indicate that this cetacean (for which we suggest the English common name killer sperm whale) was an active predator adapted to feeding on large prey, similarly to the extant killer whale ( Orcinus orca ). A phylogenetic analysis reveals that Zygophyseter belongs to a Middle–Late Miocene clade of basal physeteroids, together with Naganocetus (new genus for the type of ' Scaldicetus ' shigensis ). Moreover, the phylogenetic analysis shows evidence of a wide physeteroid radiation during the Miocene and that the extant Physeter and Kogia belong to two distinct families that form a clade representing the crown-group Physeteroidea.  © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2006, 148 , 103–131.     

Distribution of Carbohydrates Recognized by the Lectins Euonymus europaeus and Concanavalin A in Monoxenic and Heteroxenic Trypanosomatids

We observed a wide distribution of the carbohydrate epitopes galactosylα(1–3) galactose (galα1–3 gal), α-glucoside, and α-mannoside in mono- and heteroxenic trypanosomatids by using fluorescein-labelled lectins of Euonymus europaeus (EE) and Concanavalin A (Con A) as well as sera from acute chagasic patients who have very high levels of anti-galα(1–3) gal antibodies. The direct fluorescence test for galα1–3 gal with EE was positive at minimum concentrations of 6 μg/ml for heteroxenic trypanosomatids and 0.7 μg/ml for monoxenic ones and for the plant parasite, Phytomonas. On the other hand, heteroxenic trypanosomatids that infect vertebrates bound ten-fold more Con A than monoxenic flagellates and Phytomonas. These data were confirmed in ELISA and Western Blot assays carried out with peroxidase-labelled EE and Con A. Euonymus europaeus recognized several glycoproteins in all trypanosomatids that we tested. Con A, however, recognized a glycoprotein cluster in heteroxenic protozoa, which ranging from 60–120 kDa, seemed to lack monoxenic parasites and Phytomonas. These findings suggest that α-D-mannose and α-D-glucose might play an important role in the interaction between trypanosomatids and vertebrate hosts.