Self-incompatibility in a distylous species of Rubiaceae: is there a single incompatibility response of the morphs?

Heterostyly is a genetically controlled floral polymorphism usually associated with an incompatibility system. This set of features is known to occur in several angiosperm families, but some aspects of its biology has not been well studied. The present study investigates cellular aspects of the pollen–pistil interaction after compatible and incompatible pollinations of Psychotria nuda, to increase our knowledge of heteromorphic self-incompatibility (HetSI). The use of bright field, fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy methods allowed us to demonstrate that pollen tubes behave differently after incompatible and compatible pollinations. Pollen tubes were particularly distinct after incompatible pollinations of L- and S-morph flowers. Relative to compatible pollen tubes, incompatible L-morph tubes had a drastic reduction in cellular contents, but no cell rupture. Incompatible S-morph tubes exhibited dense cytoplasm in apical regions, as well as in other regions, accompanied by a rupture of the apex. These results support the hypothesis that L- and S-morph flowers have different incompatibility mechanisms during HetSI.     

Diversity and abundance of phlebotomine of the genus Lutzomyia (Diptera: Psychodidae) in areas of forest in the northeast of Manacapuru, Amazonas State, Brazil

The genus Lutzomyia has great importance in the New World, with some species implicated in the transmission of causal agents of leishmaniases, bartonellosis and arboviruses. From April 2003 to June 2004 an investigation was undertaken on the richness and abundance of the sand fly fauna in the northeast area of Manacapuru county, Amazonas State. The captures were carried out, with 16 light traps CDC, in areas of forest known as terra firme along the highway Manuel Urbano. In the period of 13 months we collected a total of 10,446 sandfly specimens, 3,908 males (38%) and 6,465 females (62%), distributed in 43 species belonging to the genus Lutzomyia, 10 subgenera and six species groups. These results evidenced a diversified and abundant sand fly fauna, with some species not yet reported for Manaus county, close to the study area.     

A comparison of methods for identifying the Jacobian for uncontrolled manifold variance analysis

Uncontrolled Manifold (UCM) analysis has been used to identify a component of joint variance leading to pointer-tip position variability and a component representing motor abundant joint combinations corresponding to an equivalent pointer-tip position. A Jacobian is required for UCM analysis, typically derived from an analytic model relating joint postures to pointer-tip position. Derivation of the Jacobian is often non-trivial, however, because of the complexity of the system being studied. In this article, we compared the effect of different methods of deriving the Jacobian on results of UCM analyses during reaching. Jacobian matrices were determined at each percentage of the reach across trials using one of three methods: (M1) partial derivatives of the geometric model relating ten joint postures, segment lengths and pointer length to the position of a hand-mounted pointer tip; or (M2–M3) as the coefficients of linear regression between the ten joint postures and either (M2) the pointer tip position measured directly from motion capture or (M3) the pointer-tip position estimated from the geometric model. For all methods, motor abundant joint variance (V_UCM) was larger than joint variance leading to a variable pointer-tip position (V_ORT). Results did not differ among methods prior to the time of peak velocity. Thereafter, M2 yielded lower V_ORT and slightly higher V_UCM compared to M1. Method M3 was used to disambiguate the possible effect of estimating model parameters for the geometric model on the M1–M2 comparison. The advantages of the use of linear regression method in the UCM approach are discussed.     

Comparative Assessment of Genetic and Morphological Variation at an Extensive Hybrid Zone between Two Wild Cats in Southern Brazil

Increased attention towards the Neotropical cats Leopardus guttulus and L. geoffroyi was prompted after genetic studies identified the occurrence of extensive hybridization between them at their geographic contact zone in southern Brazil. This is a region where two biomes intersect, each of which is associated with one of the hybridizing species (Atlantic Forest with L. guttulus and Pampas with L. geoffroyi). In this study, we conducted in-depth analyses of multiple molecular markers aiming to characterize the magnitude and spatial structure of this hybrid zone. We also performed a morphological assessment of these species, aiming to test their phenotypic differentiation at the contact zone, as well as the correlation between morphological features and the admixture status of the individuals. We found strong evidence for extensive and complex hybridization, with at least 40% of the individuals sampled in Rio Grande do Sul state (southernmost Brazil) identified as hybrids resulting from post-F1 generations. Despite such a high level of hybridization, samples collected in this state still comprised two recognizable clusters (genetically and morphologically). Genetically pure individuals were sampled mainly in regions farther from the contact zone, while hybrids concentrated in a central region (exactly at the interface between the two biomes). The morphological data set also revealed a strong spatial structure, which was correlated with the molecular results but displayed an even more marked separation between the clusters. Hybrids often did not present intermediate body sizes and could not be clearly distinguished morphologically from the parental forms. This observation suggests that some selective pressure may be acting on the hybrids, limiting their dispersal away from the hybrid zone and perhaps favoring genomic combinations that maintain adaptive phenotypic features of one or the other parental species.     

Intermediates and Generic Convergence to Equilibria

Known graphical conditions for the generic and global convergence to equilibria of the dynamical system arising from a reaction network are shown to be invariant under the so-called successive removal of intermediates, a systematic procedure to simplify the network, making the graphical conditions considerably easier to check.     

Mass spectrometry-based strategies for characterization of histones and their post-translational modifications

Due to the intimate interactions between histones and DNA, the characterization of histones has become the focus of great attention. A series of mass spectrometry-based technologies have been dedicated to the characterization and quantitation of different histone forms. This review focuses on the discussion of mass spectrometry-based strategies used for the characterization of histones and their post-translational modifications.     

The SAUR gene family in coffee: genome-wide identification and gene expression analysis during somatic embryogenesis

Molecular Biology Reports - Small auxin-up RNA (SAUR) genes form a wide family supposedly involved in different physiological and developmental processes in plants such as leaf senescence, auxin...     

In silico and in vivo analysis of ABI3 and VAL2 genes during somatic embryogenesis of Coffea arabica: competence acquisition and developmental marker genes

Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) - The employment of biotechnology-based approaches such as somatic embryogenesis has been applied to several plants including Coffea sp. Despite the...