Germination characteristics of Gymnocalycium monvillei (Cactaceae) along its entire altitudinal range

"Germination characteristics are important for understanding how species cope with environmental variation. The aims of this work were to analyze the effect of different temperatures (25 and 32 °C), water potentials (0, −0.2, −0.4, and −0.6 MPa), and light conditions (light vs. darkness) on the germination of five populations of the cactus Gymnocalycium monvillei (Lem.) Britton & Rose along its entire altitudinal distribution. The experiments to assess the effects of temperature, water potential, and light conditions were performed in germination chambers, and total germination (%) and mean germination time (T50) were recorded. Germination decreased in provenances from higher to lower altitudes, and the effect was very pronounced at temperatures of 32 °C. For all of the altitudinal provenances, germination decreased with lower water potential, with this effect being more pronounced at 32 °C. On the other hand, provenances at lower altitudes were less affected by lower water potentials than higher provenances. Provenances at all altitudes showed very low germination under dark conditions. T50 did not vary among altitudinal provenances at a temperature of 25 °C, but at 32 °C germination was slower at intermediate altitudes. Our results show that germination characteristics differ considerably among altitudinal provenances and seem to be important in determining the capacity of the species to inhabit such a broad gradient.

Are seed mass and seedling size and shape related to altitude? Evidence in Gymnocalycium monvillei (Cactaceae)

"Several studies reported a negative relationship between altitude and seed mass. In cactus species, seed mass has been also related to seedling morphology (size and shape). Here we studied Gymnocalycium monvillei (Lem.) Pfeiff. ex Britton & Rose, a cactus species with a wide altitudinal distribution, with the main aim of analyzing how altitude affects seed mass and seedling size (height and width) and shape (globose or columnar). We collected seeds from five sites along the entire altitudinal distribution of the species in the Córdoba Mountains (sites were located between 878 and 2230 m a.s.l.), encompassing a marked climatic gradient (6 °C of mean annual temperature difference between the extreme sites). Seed mass and seedling traits were measured in the laboratory. Seedling height increased with altitude, whereas seed mass was not related to this parameter. Seedlings became more globose (reduced surface/volume ratio) with decreasing altitude. Variation in seedling shape along the altitudinal gradient may be related to the contrasting climatic conditions to which seedlings are exposed, and could account for the wide altitudinal distribution of G. monvillei. Our results highlight the importance of seedling traits in the species’ response to climatic change.

Combined effect of water potential and temperature on seed germination and seedling development of cacti from a mesic Argentine ecosystem

"Global climatic change will be associated with an increase of droughts and heat waves, which can affect seed germination and plant population dynamics. Cactus species from mesic ecosystems are likely to be more affected by these events than species from arid ecosystems. The aim of the study was to assess the combined effect of water potentials and temperatures on seed germination and seedling traits in six globose cactus species from Córdoba Mountains: Echinopsis candicans, Gymnocalycium bruchii, G. capillense, G. mostii, G. quehlianum and Parodia mammulosa. A factorial experiment was performed in which four water potential levels (0, ?0.2, ?0.4 and ?0.6 MPa) were combined with two temperature levels (25 and 32 °C). Germination (%) and mean germination time (T50) were recorded and seedling shape (width and length) was measured. In general, a decrease in water potential and an increase in temperature resulted in low germination, with different behaviors among species. At 32 °C and low water potentials, germination was low or null for almost all species. There was not a clear trend in the response of T50 to the treatments. Seedling development was highly and negatively affected by the combination of factors, particularly at low water potentials. The responses of the analyzed cactus species to low water potential were similar to those of cactus species from more arid ecosystems. Our results suggest that the studied species would be severely affected by changes in temperature and precipitation as predicted under a climate change scenario.

Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses to Herpes Simplex Virus

Immune responses against HSV-1 and HSV-2 are complex and involve a delicate interplay between innate signaling pathways and adaptive immune responses. The innate response to HSV involves the induction of type I IFN, whose role in protection against disease is well characterized in vitro and in vivo. Cell types such as NK cells and pDCs contribute to innate anti-HSV responses in vivo. Finally, the adaptive response includes both humoral and cellular components that play important roles in antiviral control and latency. This review summarizes the innate and adaptive effectors that contribute to susceptibility, immune control and pathogenesis of HSV, and highlights the delicate interplay between these two important arms of immunity

Mala Skola Córdoba, Kolito

La inmigración croata en la República Argentina es muy interesante y conlleva varios matices, los croatas vinieron por razones económicas, otros escapando de la guerra o por motivos políticos. Llegaron en busca de un lugar donde establecerse, es por ello por lo que las vivencias y experiencias acaecidas en dicho movimiento migratorio adquieren un valor histórico incalculable en el presente, permitiendo comprender y dimensionar el proceso adaptativo que tuvieron que vivir. Muchos de ellos se agruparon y fundaron diferentes Dom, donde se juntaban para mantener sus costumbres y fortalecer lazos. Es así como en la ciudad de Córdoba, ubicada en el centro del país, en el año 1956 comenzó a funcionar el Dom croata. Con el tiempo, las nuevas generaciones hablaban cada vez menos el idioma e iban perdiendo la cultura, es por ello por lo que hubo varios intentos de formar escuelas de niños, donde además de un espacio para compartir y sociabilizar, los mismos podrían aprender la cultura de sus ancestros. Es así como en el año 2012 se crea el Kolito, que en español significa kolo pequeño, un espacio para que niños de 4 a 13 años aprendan el idioma, bailes, juegos, historia y cultura. En el presente trabajo se pretende recapitular la historia de esta escuela y las vivencias de los alumnos. Es por ello que a los integrantes del grupo se les realizó un cuestionario semi estructurado, con el objetivo de indagar su interés en la participación del Kolito. Pudimos observar que nuestros estudiantes corresponden a descendientes de todas partes de Croacia, siendo segunda, tercera o hasta cuarta generación de migrantes, y si bien la mayoría de estos comenzaron a estudiar cultura croata por que los padres los mandaron, luego surgió un interés personal por seguir aprendiendo sobre el país de sus ancestros.Fil: Bauk, Karen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaEncuentro Internacional Científico-Profesional procesos migratorios entre Croacia y América del Sur Historia, cultura y sociedadZagrebCroaciaHrvatski studiji Sveučilišta u Zagreb

Polyploidy in a phylogenetic context and correlation with the geography distribution of Cactaceae species in South America

Cactaceae are an important floristic component of arid and semiarid areas of America and the hybridization and polyploidy are the major evolutionary forces in the family. Ploidy levels are often correlated with morphological and geographic distribution, and are crucial to the evolution and systematics of the family. The great diversification in Cactaceae has been associated with polyploidy and few chromosome rearrangements visible with conventional staining, i.e., large duplications, pericentric inversions, and reciprocal translocations of segments of unequal size. In this sense, cumulative small and cryptic structural changes are proposed to play an important karyoevolutionary role in Cactaceae. The objective of this work is to see the origin and how polyploidy events relate to the species distribution. The ancestor would have these characters: diploid (2n=22, x=11), with a small genome. Chromosome numbers in Cactaceae are nearly always a multiple of eleven (x=11). We also present a review of chromosome counts reported for Cactaceae species in South America. Ploidy in these taxa ranged from diploid, 2n=2x=22 to nonaicosaploid, 2n=29x=319. Of the 875 species of Cactaceae in South American, only chromosome counts have been carried out for 23 %, (wich 26.2% are diploid, 13.4% are both diploid and polyploid, and 60.4% are polyploidy) confirming that the frequency of genome duplication in the group is far more common than diploidy. From theecological point of view, the ability of polyploids to thrive under rigorous conditions is known. A correlation between polyploidy and aridity was determined in each of the subfamilies. Finally, a greater number of polyploid species wasobserved in extreme environments of aridity and cold.Fil: Bauk, Karen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Las Peñas, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaInternational Conference on PolyploidyGanteBélgicaGhent Universit

Cytogenetic characteristics of four Gymnocalycium (Cactaceae) species along altitudinal gradients

Species can have broad altitudinal distributions and their characteristics may vary throughout distribution ranges. Ploidy level can vary along environmental gradients, such as altitudinal ones. However, the relationships between ploidy level and altitude may be diverse. The karyotype allows us to know the structural and quantitative characteristics of the chromosomal pairs and to relate these characteristics to the environment where the species occur. Species of the Cactaceae family can be found from sea level to 4500 m above sea level (asl). The greatest species richness is found in mountain areas, where species occupy wide altitudinal ranges. Gymnocalycium belongs to the subfamily Cactoideae; it is a genus endemic to southern South America and its main center of diversity is found in the mountain ranges of central and northern Argentina. The basic chromosome number for Cactaceae is x = 11, with polyploidy being the main existing variation. The aim of this work was to analyze cytogenetic variables in populations of four species of the genus Gymnocalycium (G. andreae, G. erinaceum, G. monvillei, and G. mostii) along their altitudinal distribution. Idiograms were constructed using HCl/Giemsa, CMA/DAPI fluorescent chromosomal banding and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The karyotypes of the analyzed populations of each species were symmetric and showed little variation in size and symmetry. All the populations of G. andreae, G. erinaceum and G. mostii were found to be diploid and had the greatest distribution; G. monvillei was found to be tetraploid in all the populations analyzed. CMA+/DAPIbands associated with secondary constrictions (NORs) were detected in all the populations of all the species. The cytogenetic characteristics of the studied species were constant along the altitudinal gradients, showing that they can occur at different altitudes without major cytogenetic modifications.Fil: Bauk, Karen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Las Peñas, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Contenido de ADN y patrón de genes ribosomales en el género monotípico Stetsonia (Cactaceae)

Stetsonia coryne es una planta de porte arborescente y con flores grandes (12 a 15 cm de largo) e infundibuliformes. Es originaria de los desiertos del noroeste de Argentina y Bolivia, y es la única especie del género Stetsonia. El objetivo de este trabajo fue caracterizar citológicamente a esta especie.Para ello se determinó el contenido de ADN nuclear, el número cromosómico, cariotipo, patrones de bandeo, y localización de genes ribosómicos de la especie. El análisis de contenido de ADN reveló una mezcla de núcleos con tres picos de 2C, 4C y 8C, lo que sugiere un proceso de endopoliploidía en la especie, siendo esto el primer reporte para la tribu Browningieae. Presentó número cromosómico somático de 2n=22. Con la técnica de bandeo cromosómico fluorescente se identificaron dos tipos de bandas. Por último, se aplicó la técnica de FISH, se observó una co-localización del locus 18-5,8-26S conla banda CMA+/DAPI- /NORs, la señal del 5S fue localizada en el par 10 en la región centromérica. Estos resultados son los primeros para la tribu.Fil: Bauk, Karen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Santiñaque, Federico F.. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable; UruguayFil: López Carro, Beatriz. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable; UruguayFil: Las Peñas, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Correlations among chromosome numbers, nuclear DNA contents and climatic variables of South American Cactaceae in a phylogenetic context

Cactaceae are American members of arid and semi-arid regions and are also present in tropical forests and temperate climates. The taxonomy is complex owing to large morphological variability, and polyploidy is a significant mechanism in cactus speciation associated with geographical and environmental range expansions. In South America, Cactaceae have a wide distributional range and provide an informative model in which to examine the correlation between ploidy levels and genome sizes with geographical and bioclimatic variables. We tested whether ploidy levels andDNA contents are related to elevation and the 19 WorldClim variables, and we mapped chromosome numbers and amounts of DNA on a molecular phylogeny to interpret their evolution. We performed Pearson correlation tests between the response variables and each climatic variable and used a multivariate analysis to assess the pattern of variation among variables and chromosome numbers. Our data suggest that polyploidy had independent origins within each subfamily. Chromosome numbers were related to variables associated with temperature, whereas DNA contents were related mostly to precipitation. A negative correlation was observed between the amount of DNA in one chromosome set and the increase in the ploidy level. Based on the results, the small genome can be considered ecologically important as an adaptation to higher temperatures and droughts.Fil: Las Peñas, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Bauk, Karen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Rossi, Nicola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal; ArgentinaFil: Bernardello, Gabriel Luis Mario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Ecological significance of determinate primary root growth: inter- and intra-specific differences in two species of Gymnocalycium (Cactaceae) along elevation gradients

Determinate primary root growth in Cactaceae has been interpreted as an adaptation to dry environments. However, little information is available regarding ecological patterns of this process. Our research question was whether primary root length is affected by the determinate growth pattern of the plant or following predictions from resource allocation theories. We analyzed the presence of apical meristem exhaustion and patterns of primary root length (PRL), days until the end of growth (day's post-germination, DPG) and seed mass in Gymnocalycium monvillei and G. quehlianum, which present different elevation distributions and wide elevation ranges. We analyzed five elevation provenances for G. monvillei (878, 1250, 1555, 1940 and 2230 m a.s.l.), and three for G. quehlianum (610, 950 and 1250 m a.s.l.). One hundred seeds per species per altitude were set to germinate in vertical petri dishes. We measured PRL and DPG in each seedling and also seed mass. Both species present determinate growth and PRL varied between species and among populations. PRL was higher in G. quehlianum. DPG was related to differences between species in PRL: roots of G. quehlianum grow for a longer period. In both species we found differences among elevation provenances, with higher PRL at the extremes of the distribution. Among elevation provenances, DPG was significantly related to PRL in G. monvillei, and marginally significantly related in G. quehlianum. Seed size was not related to differences in PRL between species or among elevation provenances. The comparison between species and among elevation provenances suggests that a higher PRL would be related to more extreme environments; this assumption agrees with plant resource allocation theories, which predict a lower shoot : root ratio with increasingly stressful environments.Fil: Martino, P. A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Bauk, Karen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Ferrero, María Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Las Peñas, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin