Implications of molecular characters for the phylogeny of the Microbotryaceae (Basidiomycota: Urediniomycetes)

BACKGROUND: Anther smuts of the basidiomycetous genus Microbotryum on Caryophyllaceae are important model organisms for many biological disciplines. Members of Microbotryum are most commonly found parasitizing the anthers of host plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, however they can also be found on the anthers of members of the Dipsacaceae, Lamiaceae, Lentibulariaceae, and Portulacaceae. Additionally, some members of Microbotryum can be found infecting other organs of mainly Polygonaceae hosts. Based on ITS nrDNA sequences of members of almost all genera in Microbotryaceae, this study aims to resolve the phylogeny of the anther smuts and their relationship to the other members of the family of plant parasites. A multiple analysis strategy was used to correct for the effects of different equally possible ITS sequence alignments on the phylogenetic outcome, which appears to have been neglected in previous studies. RESULTS: The genera of Microbotryaceae were not clearly resolved, but alignment-independent moderate bootstrap support was achieved for a clade containing the majority of the Microbotryum species. The anther parasites appeared in two different well-supported lineages whose interrelationship remained unresolved. Whereas bootstrap support values for some clades were highly vulnerable to alignment conditions, other clades were more robustly supported. The differences in support between the different alignments were much larger than between the phylogenetic optimality criteria applied (maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood). CONCLUSION: The study confirmed, based on a larger dataset than previous work, that the anther smuts on Caryophyllaceae are monophyletic and that there exists a native North American group that diverged from the European clade before the radiation of the European species. Also a second group of anther smuts was revealed, containing parasites on Dipsacaceae, Lamiaceae, and Lentibulariaceae. At least the majority of the parasites of Asteraceae appeared as a monophylum, but delimitations of some species in this group should be reconsidered. Parasitism on Polygonaceae is likely to be the ancestral state for the Microbotryaceae on Eudicot hosts

Zuverlässige Gruppenkommunikation in mobilen Ad-hoc-Netzen auf Basis eines verzögerungstoleranten Kommunikationsdienstes

Ein zuverlässiges Netz für die Kommunikation ist die Basis für eine erfolgreiche Organisation und Koordination von Rettungskräften in Katastrophenfällen. Die heutige Kommunikationstechnik der Rettungskräfte basiert auf dem digitalen Funksystem Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA). TETRA bietet keine ausreichende Datenrate für Multimediadaten und ist bei zerstörter Infrastruktur nur eingeschränkt nutzbar. Deshalb ist es notwendig die Kommunikation in Katastrophenfällen auf anderen Netztypen aufzubauen und Protokolle weiterzuentwickeln. Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit der zuverlässigen Gruppenkommunikation in Katastrophenfällen. Durch die oft fehlende Infrastruktur in solchen Szenarien, werden Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) verwendet, um eine Kommunikation kurzfristig wieder herzustellen. MANETs bilden sich selbständig und sind in ihrer Reichweite eingeschränkt. Das kann dazu führen, dass mehrere zu einer Kommunikationsgruppe gehörende Kommunikationspartner nicht direkt miteinander verbunden sind. Um trotzdem eine Kommunikation zu ermöglichen, wurde unter Nutzung eines verzögerungstoleranten Kommunikationsdienstes (Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN)) ein Gruppenkommunikationsprotokoll entwickelt. Dieses Protokoll (Reliable Multicast over Delay Tolerant Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (RMDA)) übermittelt Gruppennachrichten mit einer hohen wählbaren Zuverlässigkeit an die gewünschten Gruppenmitglieder unter Optimierung des Speicherplatzbedarfs der DTN-Knoten.A reliable network for communication is the basis for a successful organization and coordination of rescue services in case of disasters. Today’s communication technology of the emergency services is based on the digital radio system Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA). TETRA provides no sufficient data rates for multimedia data. In case of destroyed infrastructure it is available only to a limited extent. Therefore in case of disasters, it is necessary to provide communication services based on other network types and further development of protocols. This thesis is concerned with reliable group communication in disaster scenarios. By the frequent lack of infrastructure in such scenarios, Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) are used to restore quickly. MANETs build themselves autonomously and are locally limited. As a result, group members belonging to one multicast group could be not directly connected. Therefore, to enable a communication, a group communication protocol was developed using a delay-tolerant communication service (Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN)). This protocol (Reliable Multicast over Delay Tolerant Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (RMDA)) sends group messages with selectable high degree of reliability to the desired group members, while optimizing the buffer required on the DTN nodes

Interspecific Sex in Grass Smuts and the Genetic Diversity of Their Pheromone-Receptor System

The grass smuts comprise a speciose group of biotrophic plant parasites, so-called Ustilaginaceae, which are specifically adapted to hosts of sweet grasses, the Poaceae family. Mating takes a central role in their life cycle, as it initiates parasitism by a morphological and physiological transition from saprobic yeast cells to pathogenic filaments. As in other fungi, sexual identity is determined by specific genomic regions encoding allelic variants of a pheromone-receptor (PR) system and heterodimerising transcription factors. Both operate in a biphasic mating process that starts with PR–triggered recognition, directed growth of conjugation hyphae, and plasmogamy of compatible mating partners. So far, studies on the PR system of grass smuts revealed diverse interspecific compatibility and mating type determination. However, many questions concerning the specificity and evolutionary origin of the PR system remain unanswered. Combining comparative genetics and biological approaches, we report on the specificity of the PR system and its genetic diversity in 10 species spanning about 100 million years of mating type evolution. We show that three highly syntenic PR alleles are prevalent among members of the Ustilaginaceae, favouring a triallelic determination as the plesiomorphic characteristic of this group. Furthermore, the analysis of PR loci revealed increased genetic diversity of single PR locus genes compared to genes of flanking regions. Performing interspecies sex tests, we detected a high potential for hybridisation that is directly linked to pheromone signalling as known from intraspecies sex. Although the PR system seems to be optimised for intraspecific compatibility, the observed functional plasticity of the PR system increases the potential for interspecific sex, which might allow the hybrid-based genesis of newly combined host specificities

Thecaphora capensis sp. nov., an unusual new anther smut on Oxalis in South Africa

The smut genus Thecaphora contains plant parasitic microfungi that typically infect very specific plant organs. In this study, we describe a new species of Thecaphora from Oxalis lanata var. rosea (Oxalidaceae) in the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Molecular phylogenetic reconstructions based on large subunit ribosomal DNA sequence data confirmed the generic placement of the fungus and confirmed that it represents an undescribed species for which the name T. capensis sp. nov. is provided. The closest known sister species of the new taxon is T. oxalidis that infects the fruits of Oxalis spp. in Europe, Asia and the Americas. In contrast, T. capensis produces teliospores within the anthers of its host. This is the first documented case of an anther-smut from an African species of Oxalis and the first Thecaphora species described from Africa

Transient leaf endophytes are the most active fungi in 1-year-old beech leaf litter

The ecological significance of fungi occurring asymptomatically inside living plant leaves is poorly understood. Given the broad saprotrophic potential of many endophytic fungi, we hypothesized that they persist in decaying litter for an extended period of time after leaf abscission. Fungal assemblages were assessed by high-throughput sequencing in autumn leaves of beech (Fagus sylvatica) and in the corresponding leaf litter in 388 samples from 22 beech forest plots in three widely distant regions of Germany. A considerable proportion of the leaf-endophytic fungi was also found in 1-year-old litter. Co-occurrence networks revealed that the fungi formed unstructured assemblages inside the living leaves, rather than well-structured communities. Previously endophytic fungi constituted an integral part of the fungal litter community and were by far the most active fungi in 1-year-old litter. We therefore consider these endophytic occurrences to represent transient stages. Composition of the aboveground microbiome appears therefore to be closely connected to the process of litter decomposition. Considering the respective linked fungal habitat will facilitate predicting nutrient and carbon cycling and storage in forest ecosystems as well as elucidating the ecology of leaf microbiomes

Ravenelia piepenbringiae and Ravenelia hernandezii, two new rust species on Senegalia (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) from Panama and Costa Rica

Two new rust species, Ravenelia piepenbringiae and R. hernandezii (Pucciniales) on Senegalia spp. (Fabaceae) are described from the Neotropics (Panama, Costa Rica). A key to the species on neotropical Senegalia spp. is provided. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on 28S rDNA sequence data suggest that the representatives of Senegalia rusts distributed in the neotropics evolved independently from species known from South Africa. This is further supported by the teliospore morphology, which is characterised by uniseriate cysts in the neotropical Senegalia rusts and contrasting multiseriate cysts in the paleotropic Ravenelia species that infect this host genus

Nuevos registros de Anthracoidea pseudofoetidae (Anthracoideaceae) de Rusia y Microbotryum (Microbotryaceae) de Grecia y Marruecos

A rare smut fungus, Anthracoidea pseudofoetidae, is reported for the first time from Russia, based on a specimen from the Altai Republic. Carex enervis is a new host record for A. pseudofoetidae. Two new records for Greece, Microbotryum duriaeanum and M. moenchiae-manticae, and a new record for Morocco, Microbotryum moehringiae, are also presented. Microbotryum moehringiae is recorded for the first time from Africa. Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. roeseri is a new host record for Microbotryum duriaeanum. New molecular data are provided for these smut fungi. Updated phylogenetic trees for Anthracoidea and Microbotryum are also given.Anthracoidea pseudofoetidae, un raro hongo tizón, se cita por primera vez para Rusia, a partir de un espécimen de la República de Altai, and Carex enervis se reporta como un nuevo hospedador. Se presentan dos nuevos registros para Grecia, Microbotryum duriaeanum y M. moenchiae-manticae, y uno para Marruecos, Microbotryum moehringiae. Microbotryum moehringiae se registra por primera vez en África. Cerastium brachypetalum subsp. roeseri es un nuevo hospedador de Microbotryum duriaeanum. Se aportan nuevos datos moleculares sobre estos hongos. También se presentan árboles filogenéticos actualizados de Anthracoidea y Microbotryum

Reliable Multicast in Heterogeneous Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

In disaster scenarios, communication infrastructure could be damaged orcompletely failed. Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) can be used to substitutefailed communication devices and thus to enable communication. As group communicationis an important part in disaster scenarios, multicast will be used to addressseveral nodes. In this paper, we propose our new reliable multicast protocol RMDA(Reliable Multicast over Delay Tolerant Mobile Ad hoc Networks). We introducean efficient group management approach and a new method for reliable multicastdelivery over Delay Tolerant Networks. We show, that our protocol is adaptive todifferent kinds of MANETs, e.g. with or without clusterheads, respectively. Forthose without, we use our name resolution over adaptive routing approach

Nectar sugars and bird visitation define a floral niche for basidiomycetous yeast on the Canary Islands

Studies on the diversity of yeasts in floral nectar were first carried out in the late 19th century. A narrow group of fermenting, osmophilous ascomycetes were regarded as exclusive specialists able to populate this unique and species poor environment. More recently, it became apparent that microorganisms might play an important role in the process of plant pollination. Despite the importance of these nectar dwelling yeasts, knowledge of the factors that drive their diversity and species composition is scarce