Three new or interesting dinoflagellates from Brazilian waters

The author describes two new species: Protoperidinium steidingerae and Gonyaulax Rutnerae, and a third, little known species, Protoperidinium norpacenses. Balech. The three of them were collected in plankton tows in the South Brazilian littoral. The present study of P. norpacense completes the original description and shows some differences with the thecae from the tropical Pacific. Its relationships with P. heteracamtum Dangeard are discussed. P. steidingerae has been described, by Steidinger & Williams as P. oblongum. It is close to P. venustum but it has several very peculiar features: pointed anterior horn; first apical plate conspicuously shorter than the epitheca; neither 1' nor 3' reach the apex where 2' is largely connected with 41 on the ventral side; seemingly there are no platelets P and X, Gonyaulax kutnerae, belongs to the tamarensis group: its size, shape and weak thecawalls and tabular details tell it apart from the other species of the group. The only species which is somewhat alike is G. brvisulcatum Dangeard which is almost a nomm nudum. Recently Taylor (1976) described as G. brevisulcatum a species which clearly differs from G. kutnerae and which seems to be a Peridinella.El autor describe dos nuevas especies: Protoperidinium steidingerae y Gonyaulax Rutnerae. La tercera especie que se incluye en el estúdio, Protoperidinium norpacenses Balech, es poco conocida y no se habia senalado en el Atlântico. Las tres fueron obtenidas en el litoral sudbrasileno. La descripcion actual de P. norpacense completa la primera y muestra ciertas diferencias con la correspondiente a material del Pacifico. Se discuten sus relaciones con P. heteracamtum Dangeard. P. steidingerae, fue ya descrita por Steidinger & Williams (1970) como P. oblongum. Se ubica próxima a P. venustum pero tiene vários caracteres muy peculiares: apical puntiagudo; placa 1' más corta que la epiteca; placas 1' y 3' que no alcanzan al ápice donde aparentemente faltan Po y Xy, por ultimo, que hay un amplio contacto ventral entre 2' y 4' . Gonyaulax kutnerae pertenece al "grupo tamarensis"; su tamaño, forma y teca débil la diferenciar, de las otras especies del grupo. La única que tiene cierto parecido con ella es G. brevisulcatum Dangeard que es casi nomen nandum. Recientemente Taylor describio como G. brevisulcatum unas tecas que difieren mucho de G. kutnerae y que parece ser una Peridiniella, no un Gonyaulax

Basques et béarnais : (Basses-Pyrénées)

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First evidence of cell deformation occurrence during a Dinophysis bloom along the shores of the Gulf of Tunis (SW Mediterranean Sea)

Never before observed or cited in Dinophysis studies, deformations in Dinophysis acuminata and Dinophysis sacculus are reported throughout their cellular division phases (cytokinesis, and sulcal list regeneration) in 5 in situ cell cycle studies in the Punic harbors of Carthage (northern Tunisia). Two types of deformation were observed: invaginations in the ventral and dorsal margin and protuberances at the base of the left sulcal list. No virus or bacteria were detected with Syber green stain. In situ division rates (m) varied among seasons and stations for the same species. D. acuminata exhibited moderate (0.22 day 1) to high (0.68 day 1) m rates which were however very low (0.02–0.17 day 1) for D. sacculus in autumn and moderate (0.21–0.35 day 1) in late spring. In 2009 the seasonal distribution of Dinophysis indicates maximum Dinophysis cf. ovum abundance in March and a high number of D. acuminata in early June, while in 2010 maximum abundance of the same species was found in mid-June. Molecular and genetic studies and staining with specific fluorescent strains should be addressed to hopefully explain these Dinophysis cell deformations during their in situ division.Postprin

Occurrence of toxigenic microalgal species and phycotoxins accumulation in mesozooplankton in Northern Patagonian gulfs, Argentina

In the Northern Patagonian gulfs of Argentina (Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José), blooms of toxigenic microalgae and the detection of their associated phycotoxins are recurrent phenomena. The present study evaluated the transfer of phycotoxins from toxigenic microalgae to mesozooplankton in Golfo Nuevo and Golfo San José throughout an annual cycle (December 2014–2015 and January 2015–2016, respectively). In addition, solid‐phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) samplers were deployed for the first time in these gulfs, to estimate the occurrence of phycotoxins in the seawater between the phytoplankton samplings. Domoic acid was present throughout the annual cycle in SPATT samplers, whereas no paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins were detected. Ten toxigenic species were identified: Alexandrium catenella, Dinophysis acuminata, Dinophysis acuta, Dinophysis tripos, Dinophysis caudata, Prorocentrum lima, Pseudo‐nitzschia australis, Pseudo‐nitzschia calliantha, Pseudo‐nitzschia fraudulenta, and Pseudo‐nitzschia pungens. Lipophilic and hydrophilic toxins were detected in phytoplankton and mesozooplankton from both gulfs. Pseudo‐nitzschia spp. were the toxigenic species most frequent in these gulfs. Consequently, domoic acid was the phycotoxin most abundantly detected and transferred to upper trophic levels. Spirolides were detected in phytoplankton and mesozooplankton for the first time in the study area. Likewise, dinophysistoxins were found in mesozooplankton from both gulfs, and this is the first report of the presence of these phycotoxins in zooplankton from the Argentine Sea. The dominance of calanoid copepods indicates that they were the primary vector of phycotoxins in the pelagic trophic web.Fil: D'Agostino, Valeria C.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Krock, Bernd. Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung; AlemaniaFil: Degrati, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; ArgentinaFil: Sastre, Viviana. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; ArgentinaFil: Santinelli, Norma Herminia. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; ArgentinaFil: Krohn, Torben. Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung; AlemaniaFil: Hoffmeyer, Mónica S.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Bahía Blanca; Argentin

Genetic Dissection of Heat Stress Tolerance in Faba Bean (Vicia faba L.) Using GWAS

Heat waves are expected to become more frequent and intense, which will impact faba bean cultivation globally. Conventional breeding methods are effective but take considerable time to achieve breeding goals, and, therefore, the identification of molecular markers associated with key genes controlling heat tolerance can facilitate and accelerate efficient variety development. We phenotyped 134 accessions in six open field experiments during summer seasons at Terbol, Lebanon, at Hudeiba, Sudan, and at Central Ferry, WA, USA from 2015 to 2018. These accessions were genotyped using genotyping by sequencing (GBS), and 10,794 high quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were discovered. These accessions were clustered in one diverse large group, although several discrete groups may exist surrounding it. Fifteen lines belonging to different botanical groups were identified as tolerant to heat. SNPs associated with heat tolerance using single-trait (ST) and multi-trait (MT) genome-wide association studies (GWASs) showed 9 and 11 significant associations, respectively. Through the annotation of the discovered significant SNPs, we found that SNPs from transcription factor helix–loop–helix bHLH143-like S-adenosylmethionine carrier, putative pentatricopeptide repeat-containing protein At5g08310, protein NLP8-like, and photosystem II reaction center PSB28 proteins are associated with heat tolerance

Evaluating the efficiency of DNA Metabarcoding to analyze the diet of Hippocampus guttulatus (Teleostea: Syngnathidae).

Seahorses are considered a flagship species for conservation efforts and due to their conservation status, improving knowledge on their dietary composition while applying a non-invasive approach, could be useful. Using Hippocampus guttulatus as a case study, the present study represents pioneering research into investigating the diet of seahorses by NGS-based DNA metabarcoding of fecal samples. The study developed and tested the protocol for fecal DNA metabarcoding during the feeding trials where captive seahorses were fed on a diet of known composition; the process was subsequently applied on fecal samples collected from wild individuals. The analysis of samples collected during the feeding trials indicated the reliability of the applied molecular approach by allowing the characterization of the effectively ingested prey. In the field study, among detected prey species, results revealed that the majority of the seahorse samples contained taxa such as Amphipoda, Decapoda, Isopoda, and Calanoida, while less common prey taxa were Gastropoda and Polyplacophora. As only a small amount of starting fecal material is needed and the sampling procedure is neither invasive nor lethal. The present study indicates DNA metabarcoding as useful for investigating seahorse diet and could help define management and conservation actions

Evaluating the efficiency of dna metabarcoding to analyze the diet of hippocampus guttulatus (Teleostea: Syngnathidae)

Seahorses are considered a flagship species for conservation efforts and due to their conservation status, improving knowledge on their dietary composition while applying a non-invasive approach, could be useful. Using Hippocampus guttulatus as a case study, the present study represents pioneering research into investigating the diet of seahorses by NGS-based DNA metabarcoding of fecal samples. The study developed and tested the protocol for fecal DNA metabarcoding during the feeding trials where captive seahorses were fed on a diet of known composition; the process was subsequently applied on fecal samples collected from wild individuals. The analysis of samples collected during the feeding trials indicated the reliability of the applied molecular approach by allowing the characterization of the effectively ingested prey. In the field study, among detected prey species, results revealed that the majority of the seahorse samples contained taxa such as Amphipoda, Decapoda, Isopoda, and Calanoida, while less common prey taxa were Gastropoda and Polyplacophora. As only a small amount of starting fecal material is needed and the sampling procedure is neither invasive nor lethal. The present study indicates DNA metabarcoding as useful for investigating seahorse diet and could help define management and conservation actions

Enriched biodiversity data as a resource and service

Background: Recent years have seen a surge in projects that produce large volumes of structured, machine-readable biodiversity data. To make these data amenable to processing by generic, open source “data enrichment” workflows, they are increasingly being represented in a variety of standards-compliant interchange formats. Here, we report on an initiative in which software developers and taxonomists came together to address the challenges and highlight the opportunities in the enrichment of such biodiversity data by engaging in intensive, collaborative software development: The Biodiversity Data Enrichment Hackathon. Results: The hackathon brought together 37 participants (including developers and taxonomists, i.e. scientific professionals that gather, identify, name and classify species) from 10 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. The participants brought expertise in processing structured data, text mining, development of ontologies, digital identification keys, geographic information systems, niche modeling, natural language processing, provenance annotation, semantic integration, taxonomic name resolution, web service interfaces, workflow tools and visualisation. Most use cases and exemplar data were provided by taxonomists. One goal of the meeting was to facilitate re-use and enhancement of biodiversity knowledge by a broad range of stakeholders, such as taxonomists, systematists, ecologists, niche modelers, informaticians and ontologists. The suggested use cases resulted in nine breakout groups addressing three main themes: i) mobilising heritage biodiversity knowledge; ii) formalising and linking concepts; and iii) addressing interoperability between service platforms. Another goal was to further foster a community of experts in biodiversity informatics and to build human links between research projects and institutions, in response to recent calls to further such integration in this research domain. Conclusions: Beyond deriving prototype solutions for each use case, areas of inadequacy were discussed and are being pursued further. It was striking how many possible applications for biodiversity data there were and how quickly solutions could be put together when the normal constraints to collaboration were broken down for a week. Conversely, mobilising biodiversity knowledge from their silos in heritage literature and natural history collections will continue to require formalisation of the concepts (and the links between them) that define the research domain, as well as increased interoperability between the software platforms that operate on these concepts

Pediatric TSH Reference Intervals and Prevalence of High Thyroid Antibodies in the Lebanese Population

The aims of this study are to establish reference values for TSH in Lebanese schoolchildren; to look at the relationship between TSH and age, gender, BMI, socioeconomic status (SES), and thyroid antibodies (TAb); and to investigate the prevalence of abnormal TAb in this population. 974 Lebanese schoolchildren aged 8–18 years were recruited from 10 schools of different SES. Third-generation TSH, TPO-Ab, and Tg-Ab measurements were performed using the IMMULITE chemiluminescent immunoassay. The mean TSH is 2.06±1.05 μUI/ml. TSH values are inversely correlated with age p<0.0001, are higher in boys than in girls (resp., 2.14±1.10 and 1.98±0.99 μUI/ml, p=0.017), and are positively correlated with BMI p<0.0001. They are also significantly higher in subjects from low-SES schools p=0.03 and in girls with positive TAb p=0.026. In boys, TSH is independently associated with age, BMI, and schools’ SES (p=0.01, p=0.03, and p=0.026, resp.) while in girls, the association is only significant for age and TAb (p=0.0001 and p=0.015, resp.). The prevalence of TAb is 4.3% (3% for TPO-Ab and 2.1% for Tg-Ab). Our results showed higher TSH values in the pediatric Lebanese population compared to western populations. TSH varies according to age, gender, BMI, and SES and is associated in girls with TAb