Identification of chalcone synthase genes and their expression patterns reveal pollen abortion in cotton

Chalcone synthase (CHS) is a key enzyme and producing flavonoid derivatives as well play a vital roles in sustaining plant growth and development. However, the systematic and comprehensive analysis of CHS genes in island cotton (G. barbadense) has not been reported yet especially response to cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS). To fill this knowledge gap, a genome-wide investigation of CHS genes were studied in island cotton. A total of 20 GbCHS genes were identified and grouped into five GbCHSs. The gene structure analysis revealed that most of GbCHS genes consisted of two exons and one intron, and 20 motifs were identified. Twenty five pairs duplicated events (12 GbCHS genes) were identified including 23 segmental duplication pairs and two tandem duplication events, representing that GbCHS gene family amplification mainly owned to segmental duplication events and evolving slowly. Gene expression analysis exhibited that the GbCHS family genes presented a diversity expression patterns in various organs of cotton. Coupled with functional predictions and gene expression, the abnormal expression of GbCHS06, 10, 16 and 19 might be associated with pollen abortion of CMS line in island cotton. Conclusively, GbCHS genes exhibited diversity and conservation in many aspects, which will help to better understand functional studies and a reference for CHS research in island cotton and other plants.     

The late Messinian Lago-Mare episode in the Mediterranean Basin: Preliminary report on the occurrence of Paratethyan ostracod fauna from central Crete (Greece)

In the Crete Island, late Messinian Lago-Mare facies are not well known. At present, the occurrence in Crete of the uppermost Messinian post evaporitic deposits is a matter of debate. According to several authors, the well-known late Messinian Lago-Mare facies does not occur in Crete. In this paper the preliminary results obtained from the biostratigraphical analysis of some sections sampled in the Messarà Plain will be shown. Nearby Faneromeni and Ano Akria villages, the Miocene/Pliocene boundary is well exposed. There, gypsum-bearing clay, laminated microcrystalline gypsum and gypsum-rudites characterize the evaporitic deposits of the Messinian stage. In these areas, above the Messinian evaporite, post-evaporitic fine-laminated polychrome clays, with intercalations of sandstones and conglomerates, have been found. In both the Faneromeni and Ano Akria area, the Pliocene grey clays and conglomerates rest unconformably on the uppermost Messinian post-evaporitic deposits. A 20 cm-spaced sampling has been performed in both the sections, for more than 100 samples collected. The results of the micropaleontological analysis performed on the Faneromeni and Ano Akria sections point to the occurrence of ostracod assemblages containing: Loxocauda limata (Schneider in Agalarova et al.), Loxocauda sp., Cytherura pyrama Schneider, Cyprideis anlavauxensis Carbonnel, Cyprideis agrigentina Decima, Amnicythere palimpsesta (Livental), Amnicythere propinqua (Livental), Amnicythere accicularia (Olteanu), Amnicythere costata (Olteanu), Amnicythere multituberculata (Livental), Amnicythere sp. D (Miculan in Bassetti et al.), Amnicythere sp. 2 Gliozzi and Grossi, Amnicythere sp., Euxinocythere (Maeotocythere) praebaquana (Livental in Agalarova et al.), Mediocytherideini indet., Pontoniella pontica (Agalarova), Camptocypria sp. 1 Gliozzi and Grossi, Caspiocypris sp., Zalanyiella venusta (Zalanyi), Tyrrhenocythere sp., Loxoconcha rhombovalis Pokorny, Loxoconcha eichwaldi Livental, Loxoconcha sp. A (Miculan in Bassetti et al.), Loxocorniculina djafarovi (Schneider in Suzin). In the analysed samples, reworked planktonic foraminifers and well-preserved charophyte gyrogonites have been also found. The ostracod assemblages found in the Messarà Plain belong to the Loxocorniculina djafarovi Zone (sensu Carbonnel, 1978), which characterizes the uppermost Messinian deposits of the whole Mediterranean Basin. At that time, the well-known Lago-Mare biofacies was also widespread on the Crete Island. The presence of Paratethyan ostracods in the post-evaporitic Messinian deposits of both Faneromeni and Ano Akria sections suggests that in the Crete Island the latest Messinian sedimentation took place in brackish water palaeoenvironments.     

Diversity of tropical forest landscape types in Hainan Island, China

A novel landscape classification system was proposed in this study based on landscape ecological theory and the differentiation in climate, topography, soil, vegetation and land use mode. Five basic units (zone, tract, province, region and type) and two assistant units (sub and group) were used in this system. The tropical forest landscape in Hainan Island was regarded as a landscape province, belonging to global tropical forest landscape zone, Asiatic (oriental) tropical forest landscape tract and Chinese tropical forest landscape subtract. Based on the grade system of region, sub-region, type-group and type, this landscape province (Hainan Island) is divided into 6 landscape regions (east moist forest landscape, west semi-arid forest landscape, central-south mountainous forest landscape, tropical evergreen needle-leaved forest landscape, tropical bamboo landscape and tropical plantation landscape), 11 tropical forest landscape sub-regions represented by tropical lowland valley rain forest landscape, 26 tropical forest landscape-type groups represented by tropical lowland valley Dipterocarpaceae forest landscape, and 54 forest landscape types (FLT) represented by lowland valley Vatica mangachapoi forest. Generally, this classification system represents the landscape diversity of the tropical forest in Hainan Island. Further studies are needed to better understand the landscape diversity of Hainan Island.     

Natural Occurrence ofChondrostereum purpureumin Relation to Its Use as a Biological Control Agent in Canadian Forests

The incidence of natural fructification ofChondrostereum purpureumwas estimated quantitatively on southern Vancouver Island during two winter seasons in randomly located 1000-m²plots and compared with potential added fructification that might occur as a result of using the fungus to control stump-sprouting of hardwood weeds in young forest stands. Fructification was surveyed in forests as well as in urban or agricultural areas by estimating the surface areas of woody substrates covered with basidiocarps. In addition to random plots, estimates were made also in locations where the fungus would be expected to occur (woodpiles, silvicultural thinnings, and killed trees). Basidiocarps were found throughout the area in various types of forest cover as well as in urban or agricultural situations. The amount of added fructification through the use of the fungus as a biological control agent was determined from inoculated plots as well as from calculated stump-surface areas developed from published stand-density data. Added fructification was multiplied by a factor representing the maximum biological control frequency in order to compare added fructification with natural fructification values. From the various calculations, it was determined that the added fructification ofC. purpureumis of the same order of magnitude as naturally occurring levels or even lower. In addition, there is a distinct geographical separation between predominantly forestry and predominantly settled areas where fruit and ornamental trees are cultivated. Accordingly, it was concluded that using the fungus as a biological control agent in forestry is not likely to pose a significant threat to fruit growing and commercial forests.     

The control of the development of a marine benthic community by predation on recruits

Recruitment is an important process in regulating many marine benthic communities and many studies have examined factors controlling the dispersal and distribution of larval immigrants. However, benthic species also have early post-settlement life-stages that are dramatically different from adult and larval stages. Predation on these stages potentially impacts measured recruitment and the benthic populations and communities that ultimately develop.We examined the consequences of post-settlement predation on 1-day-old to 1-month-old recruits of sessile invertebrates at two field sites in southern New England. One site (Breakwater) was in a protected area with few predators and the other (Pine Island) was <1 km away in an open coast area with three different predator guilds: small and large invertebrates and fish. The Breakwater site had been dominated for >10 years by colonial and solitary ascidians. These species were absent from the Pine Island site which was dominated by bryozoans. Our goal was to examine whether post-settlement predation influenced the development and subsequent structure of the epifaunal community.Here we examine long-term changes in community development resulting from post-settlement predation, and contrast these results to those of earlier experiments examining the reductions in observed recruitment by post-settlement predation. Our first long-term experiment examined natural community development at the two sites and whether transplanted communities changed when exposed to the different levels of predation at these sites. The communities that developed at both sites were consistently different from each other and similar to resident communities at their respective sites. On panels transplanted from the Breakwater to Pine Island, solitary ascidians and the colonial ascidian, Botryllus schlosseri, suffered high mortalities on both caged and uncaged treatments, indicative of predation by small predators that could enter cages. Some solitary ascidians did survive inside cages and the colonial ascidian, Botrylloides violaceus, became dominant on all transplanted treatments. On panels transplanted from Pine Island to the Breakwater, ascidians invaded and dominated all treatments except those that were originally caged at Pine Island.In the second long-term experiment, natural communities were allowed to develop on panels exposed at the Breakwater for 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. Each set was transplanted to three treatments at Pine Island: open uncaged pilings, caged pilings to exclude fish and large invertebrates, and racks suspended above the bottom to exclude all predators. When 1-week-old communities were transplanted, after 2-3 weeks only bryozoans were found on the open and caged pilings, while colonial ascidians dominated the suspended rack treatment. When older 2-week-old communities were transplanted, colonial ascidians also became dominant in the caged piling treatment and when 3- and 4-week-old communities were transplanted colonial ascidians dominated all three treatments. Solitary ascidians were never abundant on open pilings exposed to fish and large benthic invertebrate predators.Post-settlement predator-prey interactions involved newly settled and juvenile life-stages of a variety of prey species and many invertebrate and vertebrate predator species. The effects of these interactions on recruitment did result in differences in the development and eventual species composition of the communities, even though predators had little if any effect on the adults of the prey species.     

Pseudomonads from wild free-living sea turtles in Príncipe Island,Gulf of Guinea

Dissemination of antibiotic resistance is a major concern, especially in aquatic environments, where pollution contributes for resistant bacteria selection. These strains may have serious health implications, especially for endangered species, including the sea turtles’ hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata and green turtles Chelonia mydas.We aimed to evaluate the presence of antibiotic resistant pseudomonads in wild sea turtles from Príncipe Island, São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea Gulf. Isolates were obtained from oral and cloacal swabs of free-living turtles by conventional techniques. Pseudomonads screening was performed by multiplex-PCR (oprI/oprL) and biochemical identification and antibiotic resistance profiling were achieved using Vitek2. All pseudomonad isolates were genotyped by Rep-PCR.Thirteen isolates were oprI-positive and classified as pseudomonads, eight from the genus Pseudomonas with the species P. aeruginosa, P. stutzeri, and P. mendocina, and five co-isolated Alcaligenes faecalis. The P. aeruginosa isolate was also oprL-positive. Regarding isolates susceptibility profile, 38.5% were susceptible to all antibiotics tested, and multidrug resistant (MDR) strains were not identified. DNA fingerprinting did not show any specific clonal-cluster similarity.Data on the worldwide incidence of antibiotic resistance among wildlife is still very scarce, especially concerning remote tropical areas. Since Pseudomonas genus has emerged as a group of increasingly reported opportunistic microorganisms in human and veterinary medicine with high resistance levels, it could be used as a tool for environmental resistance surveillance, particularly considering their ubiquity.     

Island urbanization and its ecological consequences: A case study in the Zhoushan Island,East China

Islands, which provide multiple ecosystem services, are subject to increasing urbanization pressure due to the ongoing marine development, especially in developing countries. Insights into the island urbanization mechanism and its ecological consequences are essential to sustainable development. In the present paper, the satellite images, nighttime lights, and topographic data were integrated to characterize the spatially explicit urbanization process and mechanism during 1995–2011 in the Zhoushan Island, East China. Furthermore, the corresponding spatially explicit changes in ecosystem services, including net primary productivity (NPP), carbon sequestration and oxygen production (CSOP), nutrient cycling, crop production, and habitat quality, were quantified based on the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) and Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) models. The results showed that the Zhoushan Island had experienced a rapid urbanization over the years, with significant urban encroachment on the farmland and tidal flat. Moreover, the urban land expansion was positively correlated with that of the nighttime lights and negatively correlated with the elevation, slope, and the distance to shoreline. These indicated that the urban expansion was resulted from the enhancement of socioeconomic activities, and concentrated in the near-shore areas with low altitude and gentle slope. The urban encroachment on other land use types resulted in a decrease of 3.4 Gg C a⁻¹ NPP, 8.7 Gg a⁻¹ CSOP, 13.2 Gg a⁻¹ nutrient cycling, and 12.3 t a⁻¹ crop production, respectively. In addition, the habitat quality in 11% area of this island degraded substantially. Therefore, to achieve sustainable development of islands, it is urgent to implement more stringent policies, such as island spatial regulation, environmental impact assessment, intensive land use, and urban greening, etc.     

Observations of novel locomotion in the sea star Luidia senegalensis (Lamark, 1816) (Asteroidea: Paxillosida)

During abundance surveys of the nine-armed sea star Luidia senegalensis (Lamark, 1816) in shallow waters north of Cubagua Island, Venezuela, novel locomotive behaviour was recorded in one sea star. The animal was observed to ‘walk’ with four arms in contact with the benthos whilst the remaining five were held erect. This previously unreported means of locomotion may be: for chemosensory detection of the surroundings; to alter the characteristic track pattern left in sediments as a means to avoid detection by predators; or, to lift the arms to attract commensal cleaners, thus eliminating epibiont commensals that may occupy the ambulacral groove. Whilst the predators of L. senegalensis remain unknown, earlier observations of serranid fish biting this species may support the notion of this behaviour as a predator avoidance strategy.     

Evidence for interspecific hybridization between native white-spotted charr Salvelinus leucomaenis and non-native brown trout Salmo trutta on Hokkaido Island, Japan

Hybrids between native white-spotted charr Salvelinus leucomaenis and non-native brown trout Salmo trutta were identified in streams of Hokkaido, Japan, using both appearance and genetic characters. The DNA analyses indicated that the specimens were hybrids between female S. leucomaenis and male S. trutta . Occurrence of such hybrids implies increased mating opportunities between these species in wild streams.