Plant diversity of the Pantanal wetland

This is a review of current studies in diversity of the flora and main vegetation types in the Brazilian Pantanal. The flora of this wetland, nearly 2,000 species, constitutes a pool of elements of wide distribution and from more or less adjacent phytogeographic provinces, such as Cerrado, dry seasonal forests, Chaco, Amazonia and Atlantic Forest. The most numerous group includes wide-distribution species, mainly herbs, while the second contingent comes from the Cerrado. Endemic plants are rare, numbering only seven. The vegetation of the sedimentary floodplain is a mosaic of aquatics, floodable grasslands, riparian forests, savannas (cerrados), cerrado woodlands, dry forests, and a large area of mono-dominant savannas, and pioneer woodlands. The main vegetation types are briefly described with their characteristic species, and their estimated areas are given according to the latest mapping

Synthesis and binding properties of guanidinium biscarboxylates

The ammonium ion binding site of the enzyme glutaminase HisF inspired us to design guanidinium biscarboxylates as potential self-organized ionophores in molecular recognition. The syntheses of the title compounds based on aliphatic and aromatic building blocks, along with a general method for the preparation of δ-aminoethoxyacetic acids, are presented in this work. Investigation of the binding properties of the title compounds in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and methanol solution revealed no ammonium ion affinity, but interaction of the guanidinium moiety with acetate ions

Expression Profile of Cytokines and Enzymes mRNA in Blood Leukocytes of Dogs with Leptospirosis and Its Associated Pulmonary Hemorrhage Syndrome.

BACKGROUND Dogs with leptospirosis show similar organ manifestations and disease course as human patients, including acute kidney injury and pulmonary hemorrhage, making this naturally-occurring infection a good animal model for human leptospirosis. Expression patterns of cytokines and enzymes have been correlated with disease manifestations and clinical outcome in humans and animals. The aim of this study was to describe mRNA expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators in canine leptospirosis and to compare it with other renal diseases to identify patterns characterizing the disease and especially its pulmonary form. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The mRNA abundance of cytokines (IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, TGF-β) and enzymes (5-LO, iNOS) was measured prospectively in blood leukocytes from 34 dogs with severe leptospirosis and acute kidney injury, including 22 dogs with leptospirosis-associated pulmonary hemorrhages. Dogs with leptospirosis were compared to 14 dogs with acute kidney injury of other origin than leptospirosis, 8 dogs with chronic kidney disease, and 10 healthy control dogs. Canine leptospirosis was characterized by high 5-LO and low TNF-α expression compared to other causes of acute kidney injury, although the decreased TNF-α expression was also seen in chronic kidney disease. Leptospirosis-associated pulmonary hemorrhage was not characterized by a specific pattern, with only mild changes noted, including increased IL-10 and decreased 5-LO expression on some days in affected dogs. Fatal outcome from pulmonary hemorrhages was associated with low TNF-α, high IL-1β, and high iNOS expression, a pattern possibly expressed also in dogs with other forms of acute kidney injury. CONCLUSION The patterns of cytokine and enzyme expression observed in the present study indicate a complex pro- and anti-inflammatory response to the infection with leptospires. The recognition of these signatures may be of diagnostic and prognostic relevance for affected individuals and they may indicate options for newer therapies targeting the identified pathways

Disentangling regional and local tree diversity in the Amazon

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this recordWe analyzed the most extensive data set of tree inventory plots spread over the complete Amazon basin and Guiana shield. We aimed to separate the regional and local tree alpha‐diversity to investigate the drivers of diversity at the relevant scale. Our results are consistent with the partitioning of total tree alpha‐diversity into regional and local components, which are controlled by evolutionary‐ and ecological processes, respectively. Regional diversity is correlated with palaeo‐climatic stability (31%), and long‐term large‐scale ecosystem dynamics (14%), as represented by the age of the geological formation. Both mechanisms contribute to high diversity in the central to western Amazon. Actual rainfall seasonality is correlated with regional tree diversity to a certain extent (19%), but we argue that this is of little consequence for the evolutionary drivers of the regional species pool. Frequency of disturbance is the main process driving local diversity, although its explanatory power is relatively small (17%).The first author was supported by PAN‐AMAZONIA project, Inst. Internacional de Educação do Brasil (BECA program) and Conselho Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia (CNPq – Brazil)